Catalyst Grant Program in Advanced Automation
Overview: The UWM Research Foundation’s Catalyst Grant Program in Advanced Automation is designed to seed promising early stage research in the area of advanced automation. Rockwell Automation, the program’s sponsor, has committed $850,000 over a period of five years to the program. The long-term objective of the program is to build research capabilities in the area of advanced automation, strengthen corporate partnerships with regional companies, foster collaborative research, and create opportunities for internships and employment of UWM students and graduates.
Research Areas: UWM industry partners, including Rockwell Automation, are interested in building research capabilities at UWM in three areas viewed as critical to technology evolution in advanced automation:
- Software and Manufacturing Informatics
- Sensors and Devices
- Advanced Materials
Award Amounts: Up to $170,000 in Catalyst Grants will be awarded with the support of the Rockwell Automation Charitable Corporation. It is expected that three awards in the amount of $50,000 to $75,000 will be made with target for funding to start January 1, 2009.
Program Design: Investigators will be asked to submit a short, three-page pre-proposal. A limited number of full proposals will be invited based on assessment of the commercial and intellectual property potential by the UWM Research Foundation. Full proposals including a budget will be reviewed by external scientific reviewers. Final selection of grants for funding will be made by a committee of the UWM Research Foundation.
Qualification Criteria: All grant applications will be screened for initial qualification criteria upon receipt of proposals.
- Field of Study – as specified by the donor, the fields of study must be in software/informatics, sensors/devices or advanced materials
- UWM Researchers – project is for UWM-based research
- Funding Period – funding period shall be for one year; applicants may seek additional funding in future years
- Amount of Funding – amount of requested funding shall not be limited; however, researchers should be aware that the program expects to support two to three grants in year one at the $50,000 to $75,000 level
Programmatic Criteria: (evaluated by Research Foundation committee)
- Field of study supports growth of UWM’s capabilities in advanced automation; interdisciplinary collaborations are encouraged
- Potential for commercial return – including intellectual property, licensing revenue, corporate partnerships, and/or start-up companies
Scientific Evaluation Criteria: Full proposals will be evaluated by external scientific reviewers who will be asked to rank proposals against national standards (top 10%, next 40%, bottom 50%).
Timeline:
- 8/25/08: Call for pre-proposals
- 9/26/08: Deadline for submission of pre-proposals
- 10/10/08: Invitations for full proposals issued
- 11/7/08: Deadline for full proposals
- 11/10/08 - 12/12/08: Scientific review of full proposals
- 12/12/08 - 12/19/08: Final selection of proposals by Research Foundation
- 12/19/08: Target for notification of awards
- Award Period: Target beginning 1/1/09
Application Process: Email the completed pre-proposal applications in PDF form to:
catalyst-grants@uwm.edu. WISPER routing and approval is not required for the pre-proposal.
A limited number of full proposals will be invited for submission on 11/7/08. Full proposals will include a budget, five-page narrative, and WISPER routing and approval. Templates will be supplied for invited full proposals.
Questions should be directed to the Research Foundation:
Brian Thompson, briant@uwm.edu, 414-229-3397
