April 17, 2023
Pathway to Commercialization Program launches
A primary tenet of K-State's land-grant mission is developing and delivering technological innovation to the marketplace to enhance the well-being and prosperity of global constituents.
The Office of the Vice President for Research is continuing to provide additional opportunities to help faculty inventors get started down this path. The Pathway to Commercialization Grant Program is a new collaborative program implemented by the Office of the Vice President for Research in partnership with K-State Innovation Partners to encourage the advancement of commercially viable early-stage "pre-disclosure" research by faculty at K-State.
This opportunity is open to all K-State faculty in any department or college and at any K-State campus. Pathway to Commercialization is a competitive grant program that is intended to help faculty inventors get started down the commercialization pathway with concepts or research that have not yet yielded a technology disclosure, and which are currently purely conceptual in nature or have not yet advanced to the point of garnering other state, federal, or industry grant funding.
Successful applications will support early-stage research on technologies that have definable or demonstrated commercial impact and for which identification, selection and investment by the Office of the Vice President for Research and engagement with Innovation Partners will help set the research on a development path that can garner additional grant funding and could eventually yield disclosures of associated commercially viable intellectual property. Up to $200,000 will be distributed through this program in amounts ranging from $20,000-$50,000 per grant based on demonstrated need.
"This program will help drive technology commercialization which will lead to more funding opportunities and eventually licensing, startups and more," said David Rosowsky, vice president for research. "We are thrilled to launch this new program for K-State faculty and look forward to seeing the successes that come from it."
"This funding mechanism will allow faculty to cultivate new ideas and get them started on a path to commercialization, while also increasing engagement with the university's commercialization staff," said Rebecca Robinson, CEO and president of Innovation Partners. "We are excited about the additional economic benefit this will create for our faculty, K-State, and the State of Kansas."
More information regarding the criteria and process can be found on the Office of the Vice President for Research website. An information session will be scheduled for early May, with details to be announced in the coming weeks. Applications are due by 5 p.m. July 6, and awards will be announced in early August.