Industry Challenge Program
Healthy Lives, Healthy Economy, Healthy Planet through Genomics
Purpose
With the Industry Challenge Program, Ontario Genomics will provide teams with funding for novel and innovative projects to solve pressing challenges and address industry opportunities through the application of genomics-based solutions across key sectors of the Ontario economy with the intent to drive economic growth, improve quality of life and Ontario’s global leadership.
Ontario Genomics is issuing an “Open Call for Challenges” for genomics and engineering biology innovators to solve industry and other end-user identified challenges within and across agriculture and agri-food, human health, industrial biotechnology and natural resources and the environment in one or more of the five areas identified below.
- Sustainable Food and Biomaterials Production
- Rapid Genomic Diagnostics in Healthcare, Food Safety & Agriculture, and the Environment
- Biomanufacturing and Scale Up from the Lab to the Factory
- Roadmaps for Reducing Red Tape, Regulatory Burden or other Barriers
- New Paradigms for Rare Disease Treatment
The Industry Challenge 2020 Program intends to catalyze and support collaboration in the application of genomics and engineering biology solutions to solve challenges identified by industry. This “industry-pull” approach is designed to enable market-informed outcomes and maximize the impact of these projects. This program is open to creative partnerships and collaborative teams (e.g. teams comprising industry, industry-academia, industry-industry, industry-other) that are in the position to address the identified challenge or opportunity and implement the results from the project.
Project outcomes should enable the applicant to implement the next steps, e.g. follow-on investment, increase technology readiness through next level applied research, validate a new business opportunity, obtain future partners etc. It is expected that the knowledge generated will have a high potential for future implementation by the industry, resulting in a marketable or translatable asset and will ultimately create social and/or economic benefit for Ontario, including the creation of jobs.
Funding
Ontario Genomics will provide up to twelve (12) individual awards of $25,000 each for teams to be used for short duration (up to 12 months) research projects. Each project must be matched with a minimum of $25,000 contribution from the industry (cash and in-kind acceptable), to a total project size of $50,000 or more. Higher funding could be requested in exceptional cases and would have to be matched dollar for dollar by the industry partner. Applicants must ensure that the research funded through the Industry Challenge Program is independent of current funding or is incremental to previously funded projects.
Eligibility
To be eligible for Industry Challenge 2020, a proposal must conform to the following criteria:
- The proposal must respond to the objectives and intent of the Industry Challenge 2020 program (as described above)
- The project must address an industry-identified challenge within one or more of the five areas identified above that can be solved with a genomics or engineering biology solution
- The team must comprise of an Ontario-based industry or other industry partnerships (as described above)
- If the industry is a company, the company must be incorporated prior to the application date
- Funded research must be performed in Ontario, and awarded funds will not flow outside of Ontario
- Ontario Genomics funds must flow to the industry team member. In exceptional cases, it may go to another team member and only if agreed upon by all parties
- Co-funding is required from the industry, at a minimum of $25,000 (cash and in-kind acceptable)
- Project duration should not exceed one year in length unless agreed upon by all parties
For more information click "LINK TO ORIGINAL" below.
This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:
https://www.ontariogenomics.ca/funding-opportunities/open-competitions/industry-challenge-program-2020/?fbclid=IwAR1ImWwwIz-bpsrerm2E5Pz84PaY-6woRJsx6BUjpwQZehTtUX52Ie8AUps