While technology transfer at universities has received considerable attention in the innovation and entrepreneurship literature, we know much less about technology transfer at national/federal labs and (non-university) public research institutes. In this article and the related special section, we aim to fill this void. We provide a rationale for our special section on technology transfer from national/federal labs and public research institutes, summarize the papers in the special section, highlight research questions, theories, data and methods, key findings and conclusions. We conclude by outlining a research agenda for multi-level research on agents, institutions, and regions to improve our understanding of the managerial and public policy implications of technology transfer from these institutions.