Oregon also appropriated funds as a relocation incentive. Ultimately, it was decided that affiliation with Cornell offered the most varied research opportunities. In 1978 a new building designed by Ulrich Franzen was built next to the Cornell Veterinary School, and the move was made. Although affiliated with Cornell, the institute maintains its independence with a separate endowment, Board of Directors, business office, and employee benefits program. Close ties between BTI and Cornell foster collaborative relationships. In 2015, in an effort to revamp the brand, the organisation officially renamed itself from Boyce Thompson Institute of Plant Research to Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI). BTI has 15 faculty investigators conducting plant research and training graduate students and post doctoral fellows. "The Scientist" magazine survey of post doctoral fellows ranked BTI the 12th best place to work. For example, BTI is part of the consortium that is sequencing the tomato genome and creating a database of genomic sequences and information on the tomato and related plants. Each summer, BTI's 10-week Plant Genome Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program enables undergraduates selected nationally to conduct individual research. BTI also runs after-school science enrichment programs at local grade schools. BTI's research facilities, including the BTI Mass Spectrometry Facility and the Plant Cell Imaging Center, are available to researchers from Cornell University and SUNY Cortland. The Boyce Thompson Institute’s Technology Transfer office is committed to bringing new technologies to the market so that its research may “improve agriculture, enhance human health, and protect the environment.” Additionally, BTI strives to fill voids in the market by helping establish startup companies on the foundation of new technology. The Technology Transfer Office is directed by Julien Fey, and Kelli Monce is the office’s Technology Transfer Specialist. The Boyce Thompson Institute has 80 issued or pending patents in the United States and across the world. These new technologies include methods for creating virus-free cell lines, using small nematode-derived compounds to increase plant resistance to nematode and other pests and pathogens, using RNAi as natural plant defense against phloem sap-feeding insects, and methods for the growth and sporulation of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Ascribe Bioscience is a startup based on a new BTI technology. Ascarosides, nematode-derived small molecules, are the basis of their seed coating technique to improve pest resistance and plant survival rate. Ascribe Bioscience received a Phase 1 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant of $225,000 from the NSF in January 2019.