Concept Commercialization Award
Purpose
The Concept Commercialization Award (CCA) will stimulate interest in and involvement with intellectual property development and commercialization to promote public health, safety, and welfare of the community and the economic welfare of the University. It will support the work of SIUE discoverers and inventors and support the surrounding community by encouraging industry investment.
The award is primarily intended for patentable inventions or discoveries but can also apply to trade secrets and copyrightable materials. (Hereinafter, "invention" refers to a patentable discovery, trade secret, or copyrightable material.) The function of the award is to help advance an invention by covering costs not otherwise met by the University or other means.
Selection Criteria and Process
Upon receipt of applications, the Graduate School and SIU Office of Technology Management and Industry Relations will solicit feedback on the applications. If the total funding requested by meritorious applications exceeds the available funds, the Graduate School may request reduced budgets for some or all of the applications. If the total funding requested by meritorious applications is less than the available funds, the excess funds will be retained until the next funding cycle.
Considerations to fund include but are not limited to the following.
- Value: The invention should have both monetary and societal value (primary evaluation criterion).
- Market Transferability: The invention should have a strong likelihood of being transferred to the market or made available for the benefit of the community.
- Well-Conceived Plan: A well-conceived plan must be presented for development of the invention.
- Intellectual Property Merit and Scope of Protection: Inventions with existing or developing intellectual property protection will be viewed more positively.
- Business or Legal Consultations: Prior business or legal consultations, small business development initiatives, or interested potential licensees will be viewed positively.
- Market Readiness: The budget and plan should align with the state of market readiness of the invention and move market readiness forward.
- Other Funding Received for Invention: Consideration will also be given to whether the applicant has received an externally-sponsored award for the same invention.
Eligibility
All applicants, including PIs and Co-PIs, must have completed the final reports and fulfilled all terms and conditions, including submission of an external grant proposal, of projects previously funded by the SIUE Graduate School at least 5 business days before this program deadline in order to be eligible for this program. This requirement applies to all PIs and Co-PIs of the previous internal award.
Applicants Subject to the above requirement, all current SIUE employees and students are eligible for the award. External collaborators are acceptable, but the applicant (i.e., principal investigator, or PI) must be an SIUE employee or student who is listed as an inventor on the associated invention. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply, including minorities, women, persons with disabilities, and protected veterans.
Inventions Patentable discoveries, trade secrets, and copyrightable material covered under the current University Policy Concerning Intellectual Property are eligible as long as the invention is currently active and has not been abandoned, gone expired, or been released to the inventor(s). The invention must have commercialization potential.
Application Process and Deadlines
Awards will be given annually based on funding availability. The maximum budget request is $15,000. Allowable costs include, but are not limited to, prototype development, travel to meet with interested companies or potential investors, contracting with outside consultants, and development of co-products (such as pedagogical materials). The award may not be used to supplement applicant salaries, support basic research and development, or to fund work on an idea that has not yet demonstrated a strong likelihood of marketability as intellectual property.
Disclosure of the invention is a requirement for eligibility, and MUST be done at least one month prior to the application submission deadline through the SIU Office of Technology Management and Industry Relations.
An invention will typically be supported through this program only once.
Applicants must:
- disclose their inventions at least one month before the application submission deadline (i.e., before the first business day of March) to the SIU Office of Technology Management and Industry Relations.
- submit the application through Kuali Build by 4:30 p.m. the first business day of April.
Contact: Associate Dean for Research
Applicants with disabilities desiring accommodations in the application process should contact the Office of Equal Opportunity and Access at (618) 650-2333.
Terms and Conditions
An award recipient who does not submit a final report in Kuali Build within the allotted timeframe may be ineligible to receive future Graduate School funding.
At one calendar year after the date of the award start, any remaining money will be returned to the CCA Fund.
The terms and conditions of this award are subject to review and may change at any time without advance notice.
