Travel Grant 2020

The Innovation and Research Engagement Office is bridging the gap between academia and industry.

 

Travel Grant Competition – COVID Edition

The Innovation and Research Engagement Office (IREO) works with students, faculty and staff to position WSU’s creative, scholarly and technical assets in ways that maximize impact and return value to our state and national stakeholders.  As part of the 2020 Research Week, we are inviting submission of proposals that communicate an innovative product/idea and its potential impact in key industries.

 

Two teams or individuals will be awarded with a $3,000 grant and receive administrative support from IREO to initiate contact and develop strategic, industrial partnerships with desired companies. The funding will help supplement activities in CY 2020-21 to pursue sponsored research partnerships. Due to the current state of affairs, funds may be applied to other industry-engagement supporting activities such as consulting time, student support, summer salary support, database access, software development, etc.

 

Winning teams will be asked to complete the 100% virtual short course series Working with Industry 101 prior to disbursement of funds, which emphasizes strategies and tactics for meaningful engagement with industry. For more information on that program, please click here.

 

Application Guidelines

Applicants are required to submit a written proposal and deliver a 10-minute presentation. Awards will be judged based on the scale of the problem and perceived business value of the solution. We encourage faculty, post-docs, research scientists, and graduate students to participate in this competition.

The proposal must contain the following components:

  • Background: Please include description(s) of the individual and/or team working on this project, including disciplinary expertise. (300-word max per individual, maximum of 5 profiles.)
  • Problem statement: Please define the problem you’re attempting to solve, and what solutions you are proposing. What is novel about your approach? How is this different from the current process? (500 words max)
  • Approach: List and briefly describe conferences, tradeshows, and/or companies of interest including dates and locations, if available. For COVID edition, please describe ideas for other non-travel use of funds. (Title plus 100-word description per entry, 3 entries max)
  • Partnership Contacts: Please list any prior engagements or contacts with industry here; include project titles and abstracts, where possible. We will NOT contact anyone without your explicit involvement or introduction.

Timeline

Applications DueSeptember 30, 2021, 5:00pm
Presenters Notified October 4, 2021, 5:00pm
Research Week PresentationsOctober 11, 2021, 10:00am
Awards RecognizedOctober 15, 2021, 3:00pm

Questions

Send an e-mail to innovation@wsu.edu with subject title “IREO Research Week Competition” for more information about the competition.