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Accelerating from Lab to Market Pre-Seed Grant Program

General Information

Description

Penn makes significant commitments to academic research as one of its core missions, including investment in faculty research programs. In some disciplines, the path by which discovery makes an impact on society is through commercialization. Pre-seed grants are often the limiting step for new ideas to cross the “valley of death” between federal research funding and commercial success. The Accelerating from Lab to Market Grant aims to help to bridge this gap. Accelerating from Lab to Market pre-seed grants are awarded to Penn faculty for promising inventions disclosed to Penn Center for Innovation (PCI) and to Penn faculty with existing Penn spinout companies based on Penn-owned intellectual property.

Limitation

Schools may submit an unlimited number of applications for Penn’s internal competition.

Eligibility

Grants can be awarded to Penn faculty for promising inventions disclosed to Penn Center for Innovation (PCI) and to Penn faculty with existing Penn spinout companies based on Penn-owned intellectual property. Please note that awards will be given to the Penn faculty member to be spent on research in Penn facilities.

For any sponsored research projects, the applicant must be eligible to serve as Principal Investigator for the project, unless otherwise noted in the LSO. Please see Penn’s PI Eligibility requirements to ensure you are eligible.

Award Information

A research award from $10,000 to $50,000 (total $200k) for 1 to 2 years.

Unexpended funds must be returned.

A no cost extension must be approved by the Vice Provost for Research. Requests for a no cost extension should be made prior to the expiration of an award. No cost extensions will only be granted for extenuating circumstances. Extensions will not be made for longer than six months. A progress-to-date report including a revised budget will be required. Funding may be used for, but not limited to, translational and proof-of-concept research, prototype development, support for pre-clinical development for drug candidates, field testing, market research, and validation expenses, matching funds to SBIR/STTR awarded grants, and other types of technology development funding sources.

  • Scholarly merit, creativity, impact, and innovation
  • Feasibility
  • Significance of the research
  • Prospects for future extramural funding

Review Process

Selection Criteria

Funding decisions will be made by the VPR based on recommendations of a Commercialization Committee consisting of representatives of OVPR, PCI, Entrepreneurs in Residence, and Faculty.

OVPR Internal Review Process

Applications must include the following:

  1. Cover Page which includes:
    • Proposal Title
    • Candidate’s name, academic rank, department, email address, phone number, and campus address.  
  2. Abstract (200-word limit): Complete online. Write in simple (non-technical) language a description of the proposed work that is suitable for a lay audience. State the objectives. The description should explain the compelling reason for the proposal. Do not include your PI name or proposal title.
  3. Letters of Recommendation (maximum 1 page):
  4. Research Proposal (maximum 3 pages):
    • Include your name, your department, and the proposal title on the first page.
    • Include background, hypothesis/purpose, methods used, work to be undertaken, and outlook for future (continued research and external funding).
    • Include background, purpose, aims, methods used, work to be undertaken, and outlook for future (continued research and external funding). Please be mindful of the interdisciplinary backgrounds of the reviewers and make the proposals accessible to the readers. Include, where possible:
      • Purpose: Company name (if established, not necessary), short description of technology/product, mission, and vision
      • Business Proposition: Define the problem you are approaching, your potential target market, your competitive advantage, and why you are best suited to solve this problem
      • Competitors: Identify your primary competitors; what is your key competitive position?
      • Customer Profile: Who are/will be your customers, decision makers, end users, and influencers?
      • Team: Who are your current team members? Who do you still need on your team?
      • Accomplishments: describe your three most significant accomplishments to date
      • Additional Funding: What follow-on funding could result from the success of the proposed work
      • Milestones: Provide details on your top milestones for the next 12 months, how will this grant get you to the next level?
  5. A Biosketch/CV (Using NIH format, if relevant) (maximum 3 pages)
  6. Research Support: Include current annual funding directly related to the proposed discovery, title, award amount, sponsor, grant period, and pending applications (include notification of pending applications). Failure to provide an accurate description of other support available to the PI will disqualify this application.
  7. Budget (maximum 1 page): Download the budget template. NOTE: Do NOT use commas when answering budget questions.
  8. Appendix: Additional documents. Do not use the appendices to circumvent page limits.
  9. Home departments must have a 26-digit budget code.
  10. All materials must be submitted in a single pdf document in the above order to vprgrant@upenn.edu
  11. Subject line of the email should be, URF_SCHOOL_applicant LAST name_ applicant FIRST name.