Elman
Family
Innovation
Fund

Mr. Richard Elman made a multi-year donation of $10M to the CNSI in 2020, which enabled the creation of the Elman Family Innovation Fund to support basic and translational seed research at the nanoscale. Multidisciplinary projects funded by the Innovation Fund are selected based on their potential for commercialization and societal impact. To date, we have seen an amazing impact from Mr. Elman’s initial donation. The more than 30 seed projects funded to date have generated:

Publications in Scientific Journals

New Intellectual Property Filings


3
Start-up companies founded based on IP generated from these projects

$20M+
Research funding generated as a result of the initial seed projects findings

*An additional $20M NSF Center proposal under final consideration for funding

The Elman Family Foundation Innovation Fund (formerly the Noble Family Innovation Fund), established with a $10 million philanthropic commitment to the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA, supports basic and translational research involving interactions on the nanoscale — measured in billionths of a meter. Funding is earmarked for projects with substantial promise for commercialization and societal impact. The 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.
Mr. Elman’s generous philanthropic investment in CNSI and UCLA has been a vital avenue to bring cutting edge research to fruition, and we express our appreciation for his support. 

2021 Funded Projects
2022 Funded Projects

The objectives of the 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 funding (i.e., federal, foundation, private, and/or other University fund sources such as the TDG-sponsored UCLA Innovation Fund)
  • Support discovery, innovation, invention, and entrepreneurship at UCLA

The Elman Family Foundation Innovation Fund adds momentum to our efforts at the CNSI to facilitate basic discovery, and to translate our discoveries into knowledge-driven commercial enterprises,” said Jeff F. Miller, UCLA’s Fred Kavli Professor of NanoSystems Sciences and the director of the CNSI. “This is a remarkable example of philanthropy with the potential to not only accelerate game-changing technologies on the path to the market — where they can do the most good for the most people — but also feed job creation in California.