Announcement for Rutgers University proof of concept gap funding

The Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate and Professional Education announces the availability of a FY2012-2013 Proof of Concept for Technology Commercialization Award Program. This is the new name for The Technology Commercialization Fund of prior years. The Proof of Concept for Technology Commercialization provides resources of up to $50,000 to enable Rutgers investigators to develop a commercializable product based upon Rutgers intellectual property that has not yet been licensed. The Fund award shall only be used for technical salaries and benefits, equipment and/or supplies, and contracted services directed to the project. Note: This fund may not be used for obtaining in vivo data for biomedical inventions. A separate fund, focused solely on that topic will be announced shortly.

Funding Criteria

1. An invention or intellectual property disclosure must be submitted to the Office of Technology Commericalization on the key invention and The University must have clear rights to commercialize the intellectual property.
2. The intellectual property and prospective product must address a need in the marketplace and have a competitive advantage over existing products
3. The proposed work will start on July 1, 2012 and be accomplished by June 30, 2013
4. The proposed work is directed to commercial-type product development or testing. It is not for the creation of new inventions or basic research. It is for obtain a proof of concept that an invention meets a market need
5. Preference will be given to projects that can completed within six months or to projects that have matching funds from an outside company, i.e., the company will provide funding to Rutgers, matched by the Proof of Concept for Technology Commercialization Award Program, in exchange for an option to the technology.

Format of Proposal

1. Submit your application at http://www.easychair.org/account/signin.cgi?conf=poc2012by May 1, 2012. The website will go live by April 7,2012.
2. Include a cover sheet that includes title of project, name of principal investigator, names of project participants, and Rutgers Technology ID Number (assigned at time of disclosure).
3. Describe the current status of the invention and the funding history of the research (up to 1 page).
4. Describe the proposed product that would be commercialized and the problem it solves. Discuss exiting solutions available in the marketplace and the advantages of proposed product. Discuss who the customers of the proposed product would be and if possible, estimate the market size. Describe the strategy for approaching the market, e.g., licensing to an existing company or starting a new company (up to 2 pages).
5. Describe research at other universities and how your research is differentiated and superior (up to 1 page).
6. Provide a detailed description of project, the timeline, expected outcome and how resources will be used. Describe what additional steps will be need for commercialization at the conclusion of the project (up to 2 pages).
7. Include a Budget.

Application and Instructions

Applications are now being accepted through Easy Chair.. Instructions are available in PDF format.

More: http://vpr.rutgers.edu/rutgers-poc.php