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Opportunity Summary:

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Partnerships for Innovation (PFI) grant opportunity is designed to help move university-based research out of the lab and into real-world use. NSF frames this program around a simple idea: economic growth and national prosperity increasingly depend on fast-moving advances in science and technology, and product development cycles are shorter than ever across most industries. Because NSF funds discovery research across all fields of science and engineering, it sits in a strong position to help connect new knowledge to practical deployment. The PFI program is meant to strengthen those connections by building and expanding partnerships that speed up the transformation of research results into innovations such as new products, processes, systems, or services. The broader motivation is that effective innovation pipelines can lead to new jobs, wealth creation, and improvements in quality of life.

PFI is structured as an umbrella program with two complementary subprograms that target different points along the innovation pathway. One subprogram focuses on an earlier stage, emphasizing the building of “innovation capacity” within academic institutions and their partner networks so that research outcomes can become market-accepted innovations. The other subprogram targets a later stage, emphasizing acceleration and translation of research toward commercialization, particularly through NSF-funded research alliances. In this context, a research alliance is essentially a formal research partnership, funded by NSF, between universities and other entities that collaborate for mutual benefit. NSF highlights that, even though the two tracks are aimed at different stages, both are ultimately centered on the same goal: getting academic research effectively into the marketplace and generating societal and economic returns.

From an administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary NSF grant opportunity in the science and technology/research and development category (CFDA 47.041, Engineering Grants). The opportunity number is 12-511, with an estimated total program funding level of $15,000,000 and an expectation of about 22 awards. Individual awards can be as large as $800,000, and there is no cost sharing or matching requirement stated for this solicitation.

The eligibility rules depend on which of the two subprogram tracks an applicant is pursuing, and NSF is explicit about several structural limits. In general, the lead (submitting) organization must be a U.S. academic institution with appropriate accreditation and a campus located in the United States. Collaborative proposals, defined here as simultaneous submissions from different organizations requesting separate awards for a joint project, are not allowed under either subprogram, so teams need to organize under a single lead submission with partners participating through the proposal structure rather than through separate parallel submissions.

For the “BIC” track (the earlier-stage, capacity-building component), proposals may be submitted by U.S. universities and by two- and four-year colleges, including community and technical colleges, as long as they are accredited and have a U.S. campus. A key requirement is that at least two or more small business concerns must participate in the proposal, reinforcing the program’s goal of strengthening market-facing pathways and early customer/industry engagement. There are also leadership constraints: the principal investigator cannot already be a PI on a PFI award that would remain active after June 1, 2012. In addition, one of the co-PIs must be a senior administrator at the level of dean or above, and that person must show a demonstrated commitment to knowledge transfer from university research. NSF also expects this senior administrator to have a clearly defined, active role on the project and a specified time commitment, signaling that institutional support and operational involvement from leadership are central to this track.

For the “AIR” track (the later-stage, acceleration and translation component tied to NSF-funded alliances), proposals may be submitted by U.S. universities and four-year colleges accredited in and located in the United States. NSF requires that one and only one institution within a research alliance serve as the lead/applicant institution. The solicitation provides examples of what NSF considers research alliances, including but not limited to Engineering Research Centers (ERC), Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers (I/UCRC), Science and Technology Centers (STC), Nanoscale Science and Engineering Centers (NSEC), and Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSEC), as well as prior PFI awardees. The PI structure is also tighter for AIR: proposals may include only the PI and one co-PI, which keeps leadership streamlined and emphasizes focused execution.

The timeline in the posted announcement is straightforward and includes a required letter of intent followed by the full proposal. The opportunity was posted on November 14, 2011. The letter of intent deadline is January 4, 2012 (due by 5 p.m. local time of the proposer), and full proposals are due March 1, 2012 (also by 5 p.m. local time). The archive date is April 1, 2012, which indicates when the opportunity would be formally archived in the system after the submission period.

Finally, NSF points applicants to the official solicitation document (NSF Publication 12-511) for full details. For access or technical issues related to the announcement, the provided support contact is NSF’s Grants.gov support at grantsgovsupport@nsf.gov.

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