The Intellectual Property Accelerator Fund awards gap funding to Princeton investigators with the goal of fostering and advancing the development of nascent technologies from university labs into commercial development and, ultimately, the global marketplace.
The Fund addresses the development gap between early stage research and attractive, investment- and venture-grade opportunities. The fund is meant to support proof-of-concept work, data collection, and/or prototyping that can yield important information or further development that would make a technology more commercially attractive.
Request for Proposals 2012
A Request for Proposals was issued on July 20, 2012 with a deadline of September 17, 2012. Princeton plans to make four to six awards ranging from $25,000 to $100,000 with a starting date of approximately December 1, 2012.
Requirements: Principal investigators are requested to submit a two-to-three page executive summary and a budget describing the development (e.g. proof-of-concept work, data collection, prototyping, etc.) of a technology/invention previously disclosed to the Office of Technology Licensing. The executive summary should specifically describe how the funds will be utilized to make the technology more readily licensable to venture capitalists and/or existing companies. Individual awards can be as large as $100,000 and will be for a six- to twelve-month period. The awards can cover salaries, benefits, consultants, equipment, and other research expenses. No overhead will be charged for these awards.
Criteria: Proposals will be reviewed by a committee comprised of faculty and venture capitalists and chaired by the Dean for Research. The selection of proposals for funding will be based on criteria related to scientific/technical merit, commercial potential, potential for obtaining broad patent protection, and the potential for technology transfer. The following factors comprise the major threshold evaluation criteria which will be taken into consideration as part of the proposal review process:
I. Scientific and Technical Merit
• Quality of the proposed research and scholarship.
• Innovation and novelty of the proposed research and/or technology.
• Technical feasibility and risk of the project and/or technology.
• Probability of achieving project goals within the proposed budget.
• Clarity and focus of the research objectives and proposed technical milestones.
• Potential impact and significance of research results and public benefit.
II. Potential for Technology Transfer
• Probability that research results will enable and support obtaining a strong patent position, or enhancing an existing patent position.
• Significance of market need and opportunity.
• A relatively clear and short path to a commercially viable technology.
• Whether, and the extent to which, the technology in question offers a competitive advantage over currently available technologies.
• Probability that funding will result in significant advances leading to additional extramural funding (from industry) and/or technology transfer.
Deadline: September 17th, 2012. Awards will be announced in the late fall.
Submission: Proposals should be submitted electronically to John F. Ritter, Director, Office of Technology Licensing jritter@princeton.edu. Each proposal will receive a prompt acknowledgement that it has been received.
Contact: John F. Ritter, Director, Office of Technology Licensing jritter@princeton.edu or call 258-1570 with questions.