Research Corporation

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The Research Corporation is an organization in the United States devoted to the advancement of science, funding research projects in the physical sciences. It was also a major supporter of the research that led to the presentation of Interlingua in 1951. The Research Corporation was founded in 1912 by Frederick Gardner Cottrell, with initial funding derived from the profits from his patents on the electrostatic precipitator. During the 1920s and 1930s, many scientists took out patents on their developments and assigned them to the Research Corporation in order to guarantee that any profits made from their work would be used for further scientific research (one notable example is Ernest O. Lawrence, who assigned his cyclotron patent to the company). The Research Corporation played a major role in the minds of many scientists of the period in formulating ideal policies about the role of intellectual property in science. It was one of the first foundations in the United States. In 1987, their invention-handing facilities became Research Corporation Technologies, a wholly-independent company which handles technology transfer.