For Professors – Overview – Partnerships Programs

Intellectual Property Mobilization Program (IPM)

Duration	Application Deadline	How to Apply
Up to two years	August 23, 2006	No form – see Application Guidelines – Group Awards
Program Contacts

Program Description

NSERC, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) are pleased to announce the next competition in the Intellectual Property Mobilization Program.

The limited funds available for the 2006 competition will be used to a) create new IPM Networks and/or b) allow individual institutions to join existing IPM Networks. Awards for new internship training programs in technology transfer will not be offered at this time.

NSERC

NSERC is the federal granting agency responsible for promoting and supporting research in the natural sciences and engineering. NSERC invests in people, discovery and innovation to build a strong Canadian economy and to improve the quality of life for all Canadians. The Council promotes excellence in the creation and productive use of new knowledge. As part of its mandate, NSERC supports high-quality research with societal or industrial relevance and the transfer of the results to Canadian-based organizations.

CIHR

CIHR is Canada’s premier federal funding agency for health research. Its objective is to excel, according to internationally accepted standards of scientific excellence, in the creation of new knowledge and its translation into improved health for Canadians, more effective health services and products, and a strengthened Canadian health care system. CIHR has created 13 institutes, each dedicated to tackling health issues of importance to the national health agenda.

SSHRC

SSHRC is Canada’s foremost granting agency for research and training in the social sciences and humanities. The Council is committed to the principles of independent peer review, national competitions, transparency and accountability, and consultative process in order to achieve its objective of fostering and promoting new knowledge in the social sciences and humanities that will contribute to the well-being of Canadians and Canadian society.

Objective

The objective of the IPM program is to accelerate the transfer of knowledge and technology residing in Canadian universities, hospitals, and colleges for the benefit of Canada. IPM grants are intended to further strengthen the ability of these institutions to manage their intellectual property, attract potential users, and promote the professional development of intellectual property personnel through a network approach. The ultimate goal is to contribute to strengthening Canada’s competitiveness in a knowledge-based global economy.

Description

The IPM program provides funding in partnership with universities, hospitals, and colleges to support activities related to managing and transferring intellectual property resulting from research falling under the jurisdiction of the three federal granting agencies. Specifically, the IPM program encourages institutions to coordinate their approaches and activities in support of innovation on a local, regional, and national basis. The IPM program also aims to increase the pool of trained technology transfer personnel with hands-on experience available to Canadian academic institutions.

The program consists of two components: group awards and awards for internship training programs in technology transfer. Due to the limited funds available, awards for new internship training programs in technology transfer will not be offered at this time. For the 2006 competition, institutions may participate in only one application.

Eligibility

Groups of universities, research hospitals, and colleges are eligible to apply for funding. Applications from existing IPM Networks will be accepted but only to allow new (individual) institutions to join the network.

In this document “college” refers to community college, institute of technology, and CEGEP. Only colleges that have been declared eligible to administer grants by one of the three federal granting agencies may apply for IPM funding, as part of a group.

Groups applying for IPM funding can include non-academic organizations – however, these organizations are not eligible institutions and must contribute their own resources to the collaboration.

IPM – Group Awards

New and innovative approaches are strongly encouraged. These awards will provide funding for institutions (universities, hospitals, colleges) to undertake cooperative activities and broaden existing capabilities. In this document, a “group” consists of several eligible institutions, which may be organized in more formal networks or consortia. In the case of group applications, the lead institution must be a university or research hospital. Groups applying for IPM funding may be in the planning stage, about to be launched or already established.

The funding will enable institutions to participate more effectively in local or regional networks of technology transfer offices and respond to particular regional or local needs. The program is intended to be flexible and to accommodate a variety of activities. Funds may be used for, but are not limited to, the following activities undertaken from a group perspective:

• administrative costs in support of group meetings and activities;
• salary (shared with institutions) of a regional technology transfer expert servicing the needs of member institutions;
• travel expenses for representatives of member institutions to attend meetings of the group;
• outreach to potential users, business development activities and development of international linkages;
• sharing of expertise;
• bundling of technologies and marketing of intellectual property;
• projects of interest to members of the group (for example, developing business cases and plans, demonstrating the commercial potential of research results);
• development of information or training material for faculty and students of member institutions in order to increase their awareness of intellectual property issues and opportunities;
• in exceptional circumstances, requests from smaller universities or hospitals wishing to establish a technology transfer office will be considered, as a component of a group application.

Institutions must demonstrate their engagement in the group and are expected to contribute to the cost of the activities for which support is requested. The contribution from the institution(s) may be in cash or in-kind, and can vary from year to year. Overall, the member institutions would normally be expected to cover half of the total cost. Grants will be awarded for up to two years. While there is no limit on the amount of a request, it is anticipated that the awards will be between $100,000 and $400,000 per annum, depending on the number of institutions in the group.

To apply, applicants must follow the Application Guidelines – Group Awards.

Review Procedures and Selection Criteria

Applications will be evaluated by a panel with expertise in intellectual property management, marketing, commercialization, and/or entrepreneurship, in addition to knowledge of the Canadian and international, academic, medical, and industrial research and development environments.

The selection criteria for group applications are described below. The quality and value-added benefit of the proposed activities will be of primary importance.

Potential to increase knowledge and technology transfer

• demonstrated ability and/or potential of institution(s) in knowledge and technology transfer;
• commitment of institution(s) to establish or increase their knowledge and technology transfer capability by networking with other institutions, and the relationship of the proposal to the institutions’ strategic plans;
• impact of the proposed group activities on the institution(s)’ operations and how they will contribute to increasing commercialization;
• extent to which the use of complementary technology transfer resources have been integrated into the proposed activities;
• involvement of, and impact on, various partners in the community (business and industry, including SMEs, universities, local municipalities, etc.);
• potential social, cultural, health, and economic benefits to the local, regional, or national economy.

Quality of the proposal

• focus and clarity of the specific objectives of the proposal;
• appropriateness of the proposed activities to meet the objectives of the proposal;
• feasibility of the plan to use the requested resources to carry out the proposed activities;
• appropriateness of the group management structure and membership to achieve the stated objectives;
• appropriateness of performance measures identified in the proposal.

Demonstrated need for resources and budget

• need for increased level of activities and coordination among institution(s) to manage and commercialize intellectual property effectively, relative to the nature and extent of the research activity in the institutions;
• need to increase the level of interaction with potential users in the context of the research activity at the institution(s);
• challenges of exploiting research for the benefit of Canada in the context of the research activity at the institution(s) and impact on the local environment;
• cost effectiveness, appropriateness of the overall budget and justification of individual budget items.

Anticipated Impact of the IPM Program

In the long term, the IPM program will accelerate the transfer of knowledge and technology resulting from research funded by the three granting agencies into economic activities, policy initiatives, and social benefits, and will contribute to improving the health of Canadians.

In the short term, the impact of IPM-funded activities will be demonstrated by:

• increased involvement of institutions with key players in the community or region;
• evidence of new or improved policies, procedures, and practices in intellectual property management;
• an increased pool of trained technology transfer personnel available to universities, hospitals, and colleges;
• increased awareness by faculty of intellectual property management issues and opportunities (as reflected by the increase in number of disclosures);
• increased interaction of research institutions with potential users of the research results;
• adoption of new technologies arising out of university research by Canadian businesses;
• transfer of knowledge resulting in new policy directions;
• increased productivity or expansion of Canadian businesses; and
• other specific impacts identified by the applicants.

Reporting

Grantees are required to provide annual reports on performance and expenditures. Payment of subsequent instalments of the grant will depend on satisfactory progress.

Performance will be based on the degree to which the objectives of the original proposal have been achieved and on demonstration of the short-term impacts. All applicants are required in their application to provide baseline information on appropriate performance measures, identify any additional measures for their proposed activities, and make projections on changes to these measures during the tenure of the grant. A form is provided in the Application Guidelines – Group Awards.

Within six months of the end date of the grant, grantees must submit a final report outlining the outcomes and impact of the funded activities.