The board of directors of state-funded research grant organization NCInnovation will hear research grant proposals from seven state universities, including the University of North Carolina Wilmington, for its pilot funding round on May 14.
The group’s board will hear and approve grants for six to eight research projects, dolling out the first grants from its $500 million endowment. The total grant amount for the first funding round is expected to be much smaller than the subsequent rounds, NCI spokesperson Patrick Ryan told the Business Journal, to test processes before scaling to larger funding rounds.
Two UNCW projects were submitted for the pilot grants, Justin Streuli, UNCW’s director of the Office of Innovation and Commercialization told the Business Journal. University officials expect to know the results of the board’s proposal review by the end of next week, according to Streuli.
Submissions by each state university were limited for the first round of grants. Of the two UNCW research projects, one is focused on a novel flu virus vaccine and the other is a “machine-learning medical assessment tool” used for “strengthening protocols to reduce head trauma,” according to Streuli. University leaders decided which projects to put forth for review during the pilot round, according to NCI.
If not awarded a pilot grant, UNCW officials plan to submit the projects again, along with several others, for the following funding rounds. NCI plans to grow the pilot program to a larger, statewide proposal request later this year, according to an NCI release.
The research proposals that will be heard next week have been honed through a review process over the past month through NCI’s network of industry professionals in research and commercialization. The board’s hearing of the proposals is the last step before funding is granted, Ryan said. There is no guarantee any of the applications will be approved, he said, all researchers could receive grants or no one could.
Full story: NCInnovation to consider UNCW research for commercialization grant | WilmingtonBiz