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The focus of the program is to assist the principal investigator in commercializing technologies. As these are development awards, priority will be given to projects with preliminary data. They are not designed to test hypotheses. Applications for ideas that require considerable experimental research to determine how to proceed with the concept will generally not be considered. The most import single focus is the commercial potential of the technology.
The general criteria used to evaluate each proposal are as follows:
- Quality and reputation of research team
- Quality of research hypothesis and experimental design
- Definition of eventual "product"
- Length of time to commercialization
- "Phase" of research and time to enter development
- Market size for potential product
- Overall commercialization potential
- Competitive enviroment
- Ability of Ignition Award capital to significantly move research forward
Proposals with technologies that have the potential to create significant commercial value (or social impact in the case of the Social Entrepreneurship category) will be favored over proposals that provide incremental improvements in existing technologies. Competitive applications will show a demonstrable milestone which can be met using the award funding. This milestone will significantly increase the likelihood that the technology will be licensed or developed through a start-up company.
Market Segments:
Healthcare
Proposals to the Healthcare review committee should be directed toward the development of new drug therapies, diagnostics and/or medical devices. Competitive proposals will have data showing that the proof of concept is complete (e.g., target validated) and the aims of the proposal should be directed toward gathering evidence that would support proposals for follow-on funding from a commercial source (e.g., collection of initial animal data or prototyping of a device).
Communications
Proposals to the Communications review committee should be directed toward the development of hardware or software that will lead to improvements or new product categories in our information/communications infrastructure including internet, wireless, semiconductor, fiber optic or other related technology platforms.
Clean Energy
Proposals to the Clean Energy review committee should be directed toward the development of materials systems, system integration, control software, or mechanical systems that will lead to reduced energy consumption, energy harvesting, or energy production approaches that greatly reduce or eliminate carbon dioxide emissions.
Social Entrepreneurship
Proposals to the Social Entrepreneurship review committee should be directed toward the development of concepts that provide benefit to underserved populations. Proposals will be accepted for a wide variety of application settings including Global Health, Community Health, and Community Enterprise. Competitive proposals will include a well constructed plan for implementation and demonstrate how the Ignition Award funds will be used to begin or continue the implementation. We understand that the size of the Ignition Award may only provide enough resources to kick-start implementation but it is highly important that the applicants understand the scope of their proposed undertaking and provide that information to the committee for review.
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