Call for FY2010 Proposals

Background

One of the major challenges in the commercialization of university technology is the prototype funding gap--the void between early stage research and a technology ready to commercialize. It is not unusual for university research to evolve to a point where obtaining basic research federal funding is difficult because the work is too applied. Obtaining industrial or venture capital support is often problematic as well because the work is considered too early or too risky.

Purpose

The goal of technology-to-market gap funding is to break down the barriers to industry licensing of UNM technology or funding of a start-up company based on UNM technology. Gap funding helps the inventor reduce an invention to practice, develop more experimental data for better patent applications or make an invention or copyright more commercially interesting to a company or an investor.

Qualifications

In order to be eligible for funding from the Gap Fund @ UNM, the underlying technology must be disclosed to STC.UNM in an invention or copyright disclosure form (see the STC web site at http://my.stc.unm.edu/disclosures/create/ to disclose your discovery online) .

Proposal Review

Projects will be selected for funding through a review process. A committee made up of UNM, STC and business community members will evaluate the proposals for the merit and uniqueness of the technology as well as its potential for commercialization. Some of the questions to be considered by the committee are:

• Is the project technically sound?
• How novel is the technology? Is it likely to lead to patents or other forms of intellectual property?
• Has the proof-of-concept been demonstrated sufficiently to justify funding a project at this time?
• Can the project be successfully completed within the timeframe and budget indicated?
• Does there appear to be a strong market need for the product?
• Would the product have sufficient advantages and features to give it a sustainable competitive advantage?
• Does your perception of the market opportunity—relative to market size, ease of entry, competitive situation, etc.—justify the project cost?
• Will licensing and/or new company formation be difficult or easy?
• Is there a benefit to new or existing New Mexico companies either directly or indirectly?

Proposal Outline

The PI for the project will need to prepare a proposal using the following outline as a guideline:

• Project Title
• Background Information (what need does this project address?)
• Current State of the Technology
• Timeline (including milestones) (note that projects can be for no longer than one year)
• Regulatory Approvals Required (IRB, etc.)
• Market (what do you believe are the application(s) and market(s) for the technology?)
• Deliverables (what do you anticipate the outcome and work product to contain? Please include the preparation of a final report as one of the deliverables)
• Budget (salaries, excluding funds for faculty salary compensation; travel; fringes; supplies; equipment. Please note that projects are expected to be in the range of $10,000-$25,000)
• No page limit for proposal document

Decisions will be made by October 30, 2009.

Submission

Submissions for gap funding for FY2010 are no longer being accepted.