Partnerships for Innovation: Building Innovation Capacity  (PFI: BIC)

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PROGRAM GUIDELINES

Solicitation  12-578

Important Notice to Proposers

A revised version of the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG), NSF 13-1, was issued on October 4, 2012 and is effective for proposals submitted, or due, on or after January 14, 2013. Please be advised that, depending on the specified due date, the guidelines contained in NSF 13-1 may apply to proposals submitted in response to this funding opportunity.

Please be aware that significant changes have been made to the PAPPG to implement revised merit review criteria based on the National Science Board (NSB) report, National Science Foundation's Merit Review Criteria: Review and Revisions. While the two merit review criteria remain unchanged (Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts), guidance has been provided to clarify and improve the function of the criteria. Changes will affect the project summary and project description sections of proposals. Annual and final reports also will be affected.

A by-chapter summary of this and other significant changes is provided at the beginning of both the Grant Proposal Guide and the Award & Administration Guide.

SYNOPSIS

National prosperity today has become more dependent upon research and technology. Thus, NSF's role of supporting discovery research across all fields of science and engineering has become increasingly more relevant to economic development. By establishing and expanding partnerships, existing research discovery findings from institutions of higher education can be translated to innovations.

This program solicitation, Partnerships for Innovation: Building Innovation Capacity (PFI: BIC) starts with an existing sound scientific and/or engineering-based research discovery that can be translated to market-valued solutions through a partnership between academe and small technology-based businesses. The funds will provide support to an academic institution to partner with at least two small technology-based businesses that are not in direct competition with each other to carry out early translational-research activities The primary aims of the activities of this partnership are three-fold: (1) to build the innovation capacity of the individual participants from academe and from business; (2) to increase the viability of the small business concerns; and (3) to develop the next-generation workforce by providing opportunities for students at different levels to effectively learn from, participate in, and be profoundly changed by exposure to the process of building innovation capacity that occurs in BIC projects. The active collaboration between academe and business could result in solutions with potential for an impact on more than one market.

WEBINAR: A webinar will be held within 6 weeks of the release date of this solicitation to answer any questions about the solicitation. Details will be posted on the Industrial Innovation and Partnerships (IIP) website. (www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=iip) as they become available.

What Has Been Funded (Recent Awards Made Through This Program, with Abstracts)

Map of Recent Awards Made Through This Program