Technology Transfer Office Information For:
 
 


Proof of Concept Programs

2011 Request Proposals

The deadline to apply for a Colorado Bioscience Research Grant is Friday, September 9, 2011 at 5:00PM.

University of Colorado researchers are eligible for awards of $50,000 to $200,000 for commercial proof-of-concept (POC) work; eligible fields include therapeutics, diagnostics, medical devices, platform technologies, and biofuels. Applications and more information are available online.  For questions, please contact your invention case manager at TTO, and if you do not have one, then please call Rick Silva, 303-724-0222 (UC-Denver)or Kate Tallman, 303-492-5732 (CU-Boulder and CU-Colorado Springs).

Eligibility Criteria

Principal Investigator: The Principal Investigator must be the inventor of a technology disclosed to the University of Colorado Technology Transfer office. Additional collaborators may be included as co-PIs. 
Research Topic: Advancement of a bioscience invention which has been submitted as a written disclosure to the CU Technology Transfer Office by August 15, 2011 along with a Project Summary.  Project Summaries should be no more than 2 paragraphs followed by the proposed specific aims.  IMPORTANT:  these proposals should describe projects with a commercial endpoint. They are not basic research grants; consult your TTO licensing manager for guidance on aims. 

Matching Funds Requirement: Investigators who proceed to submit a full proposal will need to identify an internal or external source of matching funds.  The amount of match required varies depending on the investigators’ campus and department.  As they become available, details on the matching funds requirement will be available for UC Denver, UC Colorado Springs, and CU Boulder. Colorado based small businesses may financially support the project by providing matching funds through a Sponsored Research Agreement with the University specifically designated for this project.  Specifics of these matching arrangements should be discussed with the invention case manager prior to application or at the links below:   

Faculty at the University of Colorado- Boulder click here.
Faculty at the University of Colorado- Denver click here.
Faculty at the University of Colorado- Colorado Springs click here.

Eligible Fields of Research:   Development of therapeutics, diagnostics or devices to improve human health or agriculture or biofuels. BDEG 2011-2012 Rules and Applications will be posted here when it becomes available.

Ineligible Fields of Research:  Investigators who have received a previous BDEG award may only apply for research directed to new applications, new products or new uses that relate to a previous award, not continued development of the same application, product or use for the technology related to a previous BDEG award.

Funding Amounts:  A minimum of $50,000 and a maximum of $200,000.  A Facilities and Administration Fee (i.e., overhead rate) of 8% will be charged against the total grant amount. 

Project Duration: Maximum time 18 months, but projects of shorter duration are encouraged.  Please do not include specific dates, simply identify an 18 month time window, as funding of the projects may not occur on a known date.

Designated Facilities and Administration Fee: An overhead fee of up to 8% of direct costs is permitted.  For example:  A $92,000 direct cost proposal would be allowed to add $7,360 F&A for a total grant application of $99,360.

Commercial Disposition:  Given the program is partially funded by the State of Colorado, it is expected that the commercialization of the intellectual property will occur within the State and lead to jobs created within the State.  Accordingly, BDEG project-derived intellectual property should be highly relevant to either existing Colorado bioscience companies or start-up companies that will be formed and operated in Colorado. 

Selection Process

Technologies will be selected by the following competitive application process:

August 15, 2011 - IMPORTANT FIRST DATE: Invention disclosures must be on file or submitted to TTO along with the Project Summary to qualify.    

Sept 9, 2011: Final proposals are due to the TTO.  For UCB investigators, please submit the proposals through your OCG Proposal Analyst.  The TTO will be available to work with investigators during that time frame should the proposal need review and amendment.

Sept 10-21, 2011:  The pool of proposals surviving First Level Review (which will include a patentability analysis and a commercial assessment of the clinical applicability of the project) will be further assessed by CU TTO staff in Second Level Review.  This process will be completed by September 21, 2011.  Investigators whose applications do not advance beyond this Second Level Review will receive e-mail notification at the conclusion of the review by September 30, 2011.

Sept 21 – Oct 21 - Successful proposals will move to the Third Level Review and will be distributed via e-mail to an independent panel of senior faculty, venture capitalists, and senior operating executives in Colorado bioscience companies.  This panel will conduct the Third Level Review with scoring and ranking of proposals due by October 21, 2011.  After Third Level Review, some proposals will be identified that will be automatically funded.  Of the remaining proposals, there will be a Fourth Level Review, the process for which shall include oral presentations in front of a panel of reviewers and TTO employees.  Proposals that advance to oral presentations will be made in Denver on November 15th from noon to 5:00PM at 1800 Grant Street in downtown Denver. The Fourth Level Review will result in one of the following outcomes: (1) a proposal is recommended for full funding without any change of development objectives, work activities or budget; (2) a proposal is recommended for either increased or decreased funding and/or a change of development objectives or work activities; (3) a proposal is declined with written feedback provided to the PI.   

Post Award – Mid to late November:  TTO will work with investigators whose proposals received a recommendation to revise budget or objectives.  These proposals will be revised in conjunction with the appropriate campus Office of Grants and Contracts.  

Recommended projects will be submitted to the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) by December 1, 2011 for State review and formal approval.  The State review is expected to be completed by the second half of December 2011, but there are no assurances as to when the funds will be allocated.  Investigators must not encumber or otherwise spend awarded money until they have funds in their account.  It is entirely possible funding will not be disbursed for as long as six months so please plan accordingly.

TTO will work with the campus Offices of Grants and Contracts to establish a contract for transferring state and matching funds to the project account.  The University will set up accounts and the research can begin as soon as possible. 

Application guidelines are available at https://www.cu.edu/techtransfer/proof/state_guidelines.html.  The OEDIT application form and rules for the 2011-2012 year are now and can be downloaded at www.advancecolorado.com/bdegp.