Small Times Gives Nano at Rice Top Marks

Nanotechnology-related programs at Rice received high marks in Small Times magazine’s latest university rankings, placing among the top five in three out of seven categories reported.

Rice’s strongest showing was in the patent portfolio category, where it not only beat out heavyweights like MIT and Michigan but also topped the combined performance of the entire University of California system.

The magazine, one of the nation’s premier nanotechnology trade publications, based its patent portfolio rankings on an analysis by 1790 Analytics LLC, a New Jersey-based firm that specializes in evaluating intellectual property portfolios. Rankings for the other six categories were based on surveys of more than 100 U.S. universities.

Rice’s patenting activities, commercial spin-offs, and licensing deals landed it the top spot in the commercialization category, and Rice ranked No. 2 in the facilities category.

“We are proud of where we stand today, and we are committed to staying at the leading edge of nanotechnology,” says Wade Adams, director of Rice’s Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology.

The rankings appeared in the May/June issue of Small Times. For more information, visit www.smalltimes.com.