Concept Development Award

Concept Developement Award Forms


Award Goals and Scope

The primary objective of the Concept Development Award (CDA) is to stimulate interest in and involvement with technology development and the technology transfer process at SIUSM. Another Objective is to assist in moving technologies into the market to improve the public's health and welfare. Commercial development of SIUSM technologies will help promote the economic welfare of the University and the surrounding community by encouraging industry investment. 

The award is primarily intended for patentable inventions or discoveries, but can also apply to trade secrets and copyrightable materials (hereinafter "invention" refers to a patentable discovery, trade secret, or copyrightable material). The function of the award is to help advance an invention by covering costs not otherwise met by University or other means. Such costs include, but are not limited to, prototype development, travel to meet with interested companies or potential investors, contracting with outside consultants, hiring for additional development assistance (e.g. extra researchers), producing marketing materials, etc. The award may not be used to supplement applicant salaries, support basic research and development, or to fund work on an idea that has not yet demonstrated a strong likelihood of marketability as intellectual property, as evidenced by prior discussion with the Office of Technology Transfer (OTT). Disclosure of the invention to the OTT is a requirement for eligibility, and MUST be done at least one month prior to the application submission deadline for a particular funding cycle.  

The award will be given semi-annually (two funding cycles per fiscal year) if possible based on funding availability within the Office of the Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Affairs. Each application can request up to $15,000. Recipients cannot receive the award for consecutive funding cycles for the same invention. 


Eligibility  

     1. Applicants All current SIUSM employees are eligible for the award. Collaboration with other schools (e.g. SIU College of Engineering) is acceptable, but the applicant must be an employee from SIUSM who is listed as an inventor on the associated invention.  

     2. Inventions Development of patentable discoveries, trade secrets, and copyrightable material are all eligible under this award. Any such invention covered under the current Intellectual Property Policy is eligible, as long as the invention is currently active and has not been abandoned, gone expired, or been released to the inventor(s).


Application Process and Procedures  

     1. Application Requirements Applications must be submitted on the official Concept Development Award Application form. Detailed instructions can be found on the form itself. APPLICATIONS MUST BE SUBMITTED AS A SINGLE PDF DOCUMENT. ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES ARE PERMITTED.

     2. Application Formatting The CDA Application is formatted with Arial 11-point font and 0.5 inch margins. Applications with different formatting will be administratively withdrawn.  

     3. Application Process and Deadlines APPLICANTS MUST DISCLOSE THEIR INVENTIONS TO THE OTT AT LEAST ONE MONTH BEFORE THE APPLICATION SUBMISSION DEADLINE FOR A PARTICULAR FUNDING CYCLE. Disclosure forms can be obtained by contacting the OTT. Applications for Cycle A will be accepted between 8:00 A.M. on the first Monday in October and 4:30 P.M. on the third Monday in October. Applications for Cycle B will be accepted between 8:00 A.M. on the first Monday in February and 4:30 P.M. on the third Monday in February. Applications must be submitted to the OTT via email (techtransfer@siumed.edu) between these times. PAPER APPLICATIONS AND LATE APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. Incomplete applications or applications that do not adhere to the proper page limitations will be administratively withdrawn.


Selection Criteria  

Each application will be assigned a merit score and ranked based on the review criteria listed below. Details regarding the scoring process can be found in the CDA Ranking Form and Ranking Instructions. 

-Value: The invention should have both monetary and societal value (primary evaluation criterion).

-Well-Conceived Plan: A well-conceived plan must be presented for development of the invention.

-Intellectual Property Merit and Scope of Protection: Inventions with existing or developing intellectual property protection will be viewed more positively and patentable inventions will be viewed more positively than trade secrets and copyrightable material.

-Market Transferability: The invention should have a strong likelihood of being transferred to the market or made available for the benefit of the community.

-Business or Legal Consultations: Prior business or legal consultations, small business development initiatives, or interested potential licensees will be viewed positively. 

Consideration will also be given to whether the applicant has received an award previously for the same invention and the state of market readiness of the invention.


Selection Process and Procedures  

     1. Selection Committee The Concept Development Award Committee (CDAC) will be comprised of the following, assuming they are not current applicants: the Chair or designee of the Patent and Copyright Committee (P & CC), the Chair or designee of the Grant Review Committee (GRC), the Chair or designee of the Research Policy Committee (RPC), the Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Affairs (ADRFA), and the Director of the OTT.  

     2. Ranking Process After the application submission deadline for a funding cycle, the CDAC will meet to review and discuss all eligible applications. The Chair or designee of the P & CC, the Chair or designee of the GRC, the Chair or designee of the RPC, and the Director of the OTT will assign individual merit scores to each application based on the selection criteria. The ADRFA will serve as a consultant and will not score the applications. 

     3. Allocation Process The CDAC will develop funding recommendations for the ADRFA. If the total funding requested by meritorious applications exceeds the available funds, the CDAC may recommend reduction of the submitted budget of some or all of the applications. If the total funding requested by meritorious applications is less than the available funds, the excess funds will be retained until the next funding cycle. 

     4. Funding Timeline Awardees for Cycle A will be announced on the first Monday in December. Awardees for Cycle B will be announced on the first Monday in April. Each awardee will receive up to $15,000 for use within one calendar year from the announcement date of the award. Extensions are not allowed.

At the end of the funding period, AWARDEES WILL BE REQUIRED TO SUBMIT A COMPLETED CDA PROGRESS REPORT INDICATING WHAT EVENTS WERE CARRIED OUT WITHIN THE YEAR AND HOW THE AWARD MONEY WAS USED TO ADVANCE PROGRESS ON THE INVENTION. Progress Reports must be submitted as a single pdf document to the OTT via email (techtransfer@siumed.edu). Complete instructions can be found within the Progress Report. For Cycle A, Progress Reports must be submitted to the OTT no later than 4:30 P.M. on the second Monday of January of the following fiscal year (approximately 13 months after the date of the award announcement). For Cycle B, Progress Reports must be submitted no later than 4:30 P.M. on the second Monday of May of the following fiscal year. 

     5. Award Recipient Terms and Conditions

-At one calendar year after the date of the award announcement, any remaining money will be returned to the CDA Fund. 

-An award recipient who does not submit a CDA Progress Report within the allotted timeframe may be ineligible to receive future awards. 

-Recipients may use award money for items not included in the budget if: 1) expenses listed in the budget have been met; 2) the extra expenses are allowable expenses under the award; and 3) a CDA Budget Change Form is submitted to the OTT and approved by the ADRFA. The Budget Change Form must be submitted as a single pdf document to the OTT via email (techtransfer@siumed.edu). 

-Substantial unapproved alterations in budget use (i.e. using award money budgeted for travel or researcher salary) may result in ineligibility to receive future awards. 

-If an applicant received external funding for the project funded under a CDA, the CDA funding will be returned to the ADRFA CDA Fund. 


Forms


* The terms and conditions of this award are subject to review and may change at any time without advance notice.