Partnerships for Innovation Opens
Partnerships for Innovation (PFI), a National Science Foundation (NSF) program started just last year, has released its Program Solicitation for FY 2001. The program will support 10-15 new government-university-industry partnerships that explore new approaches to support and sustain innovation. An academic institution must be the lead for the partnership
The program was designed to:
- catalyze partnerships for innovation that will enable the transformation of knowledge created by the national research and education enterprise into innovations that create new wealth, build strong local, regional, and national economies, and improve the national well-being;
- broaden the participation of all types of academic institutions and of citizens in NSF activities to better meet the broad workforce needs of the national innovation enterprise; and
- create enabling infrastructure necessary to foster and sustain innovation for the long-term.
Approximately $6.2 million is available for FY 2001 proposals. While partnerships must include academic institutions and private sector organizations, the involvement of state and local governmental entities is strongly encouraged. There is a ten percent cost sharing requirement for all selected projects. Letters of Intent are to be submitted by March 30, 2001, but are not required; proposals must be submitted via Fastlane by May 30, 2001. To download the solicitation, visit http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?nsf.0179
Last year, NSF selected 24 unique partnerships averaging $600,000 in annual funding over the next two to three years. Awards generally supported two types of projects, those assisting communities in developing the necessary infrastructure to encourage innovation and those projects focused on a specific technology area.
A full listing of FY 2000 winners can be found at http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/press/00/pr0068.htm and detailed abstracts can be found on Fastlane, at http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov under “Award Data” (select “List of Awards by Program” and then click on “List all NSF programs” follow the prompts to do a search for the Partnerships for Innovation program.
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