At a symposium at the Boston University (BU) Photonics Center this fall, the attendees broke for coffee as usual. But something was amiss. Instead of professors munching cookies and chatting about the latest research, men in suits stood facing blank walls, whispering into cell phones. They are high-powered investors, but they're not from Silicon Valley-they're from the research center's ninth floor.

Better toss out the old stereotypes about academia and get with the latest rage-ivory tower goes venture capital. Bidding to spin off more technologies, boost local economies, and just plain make money, many research institutions and universities are creating their own venture capital funds.