FUNDING OPPORTUNITY
California NanoSystems Institute Noble Family Innovation Fund
Seed Funding Program – Letter of Intent Solicitation
The California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA (CNSI) has recently received a philanthropic commitment of $10 million over three years to establish the Noble Family Innovation Fund. The Noble Fund will focus on identifying, supporting and accelerating high‐risk, high‐reward research, from basic to translational, with promise for commercialization and societal impact. Our goal is to create a model for academic research and entrepreneurship that enables strategic investment to seed discoveries that have the potential to be translated for the public good.
Objectives:
The objectives of the Noble Family Innovation Fund at CNSI are to:- Drive leading‐edge research in materials, energy, information technologies, environmental sustainability, life and biomedical sciences and related areas for the benefit of society
- Accelerate high‐risk/high‐reward interdisciplinary research, from basic to translational, and the development of new tools and technologies with exceptional promise
- Provide investigators with resources to jump‐start new research efforts and directions by providing seed‐funding to generate results that will lead to follow‐on federal and/or private funding
- Support discovery, innovation, invention, and entrepreneurship at UCLA
Eligibility:
- The Principal Investigator must be a current or new CNSI member with campus eligibility to serve as a PI. (CNSI membership information and application materials available at: https://cnsi.ucla.edu/members)
- Priority will be given to team science projects that propose to advance bold research concepts for maximized societal impact
- Proposed projects should exhibit the potential to secure external funding (i.e., federal research support, foundation support, capital investment, etc.) at the end of the funding period
- Applicants are encouraged to collaborate with and/or utilize CNSI Technology Centers to advance their research mission
Award Duration and Budget:
Proposals may request up to $250,000 (total direct costs) for up to 2‐years of funding. Awarded amounts will depend on the scope of work proposed and the availability of funds. Projects with shorter timelines are also encouraged, and budget requests should be based on realistic expected expenses. We expect to fund approximately 10 new projects per year for each of the next three years. The following budget items will not be supported:- Faculty salaries
- Equipment acquisition over $25,000, with the exception of equipment to be housed in a CNSI Technology Center
- Travel
- Subcontracting outside of UCLA unless prior approval is obtained
Letter of Intent: Due April 15, 2021
The Noble Family Innovation Fund application process involves two steps. First, applicants must submit a letter of intent by email to grants@cnsi.ucla.edu with the header “Noble Family Innovation Fund LOI.” Letters of intent received on or before April 15, 2021 will be reviewed by the steering committee and, if selected, PIs will be invited to submit a full proposal (guidelines provided upon invitation). Invitations for full proposals will be extended within 15 days of the LOI submission deadline and will be due on June 1, 2021. Letters of intent should be no longer than 2 pages and include the following:- Proposed Project Title
- Lead Investigator(s) and Affiliations
- Project Abstract (one paragraph lay language summary)
- Brief Project Description (0.5 – 1 page concise description of research project and goals
- Estimated Project Duration (maximum 2 years) and Estimated Budget (brief description of major anticipated budget components – detail budget not required at this phase).
- List of suggested reviewers
- Current NIH or NSF format biosketch for PI and Co‐PIs (not included in 2 page limit)