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660 S. Euclid Avenue Campus Box 8013 St. Louis, MO 63110 (314) 747-0920 (314) 362-5872 (fax) Street Address: 724 S. Euclid Avenue Suite 2259 St. Louis, MO 63110 |
Bear Cub Fund
Bear Cub Fund awards are designed to support research or development, extending basic observations to serve as the "foundation" for a start-up company or to increase the possibility for commercial licensing and/or investment potential. Such "proof of concept" studies, often required by investors, whether operating companies or venture capitalists, provide additional confidence that the idea will work in an "applied" setting.
The Bear Cub Fund program has two (2) application cycles each year - March and September, with award decisions being made within 45 days from each of the submission deadline dates. The individual awards of $20,000 - $50,000 are intended to support short-term projects of one (1) year or less by providing financial assistance for technical staff salaries and/or supplies.
A review committee comprised of people from the University and commercial sectors will make award decisions based on scientific and business criteria. The Director of OTM will chair the committee.
APPLICATION DEADLINES:
November 14, 2008
INVENTION DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENT: Bear Cub Fund applications require that inventors submit, or have submitted, an Invention Disclosure to the Office of Technology Management (OTM) at least four (4) months prior to the submission of a Bear Cub Fund application. If you have an invention with commercial applications but have not yet submitted an invention disclosure, please contact OTM for help with this process.
WHO MAY APPLY: Any faculty, post doctoral fellow, graduate student or other employee of Washington University in St. Louis, who have submitted an invention disclosure, may apply.
CRITERIA FOR AWARDING OF BEAR CUB GRANTS: Remember that the purpose of the Bear Cub award is to fund the development of an invention by moving it significantly forward down the path toward commercialization. In most cases that means the development of a prototype or completion of critical proof of concept experiment(s).
Thus, a proposal that meets the following criteria will more likely be funded over others:
a) Proposals that are to develop technology that is already, or could be, supported by a patent application.
b) Proposals that relate to a recently submitted invention disclosure to OTM.
c) Proposals that will enable a shorter time-to-license for the technology.
d) Proposals that include a detailed timeline for the expected deliverables.
e) Proposals that have a budget below $50,000.00
f) Proposals that do not include salaries for faculty, staff, or students that are normally supported by a grant or department funds (short term salaries or subcontracts to normally unsupported individuals for specific development purposes, e.g. writing software code, writing wiring schematics, additional technical development, production of antibodies, peptides, small molecule compounds, etc., may be acceptable).
For additional information, contact Brad Castanho at the Office of Technology Management. Contact information can be found at http://otm.wustl.edu.
When completing the application, concentrate on the following issues:
- Clearly define the stage of research.
- Identify those who would benefit most from your ideas.
- Describe what the University should expect from investing in your work.
- Budget proposal.
Bear Cub Application (.doc)
Bear Cub Application (.pdf)