January 2024 NSERC Idea-to-Innovation (I2I) Grants

Eligibility

Applicants:

1. You must hold or have a firm offer of an academic appointment at an eligible post- secondary institution. For university faculty the appointment can be:
   • a tenured, tenure-track or professor emeritus position, or
   • a term or contract position of no less than three continuous years
2. Your position at the eligible post-secondary institution must:
   • require you to engage in natural sciences and engineering research (relevant exceptions are noted in certain funding opportunity descriptions) that is not under the direction of another individual, and
   • permit you to supervise or co-supervise the research* of postdoctoral fellows or students registered in an undergraduate or graduate degree program
3. Your faculty appointment must not be conditional on obtaining NSERC grants or other non- NSERC sources of support, including salary support.
4. Your salary must not be paid by NSERC, SSHRC, or CIHR grant funds. Exceptions include: scientific directors of Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) and those under the agencies’ salary support programs.

Partner Eligibility (if applicable)

NSERC will evaluate the eligibility of sponsors before accepting proposals for review. The following organizations may be considered as eligible partners:

1. Early stage investment group: This term refers to either venture capital, a seed capital funding entity, angel investors, university technology transfer corporations, incubators, or other similar funding or technology transfer organizations. Organizations that have received public funds as seed funding, but are functioning in a competitive environment and are required to achieve self-sufficiency within a pre-determined time period, may be considered as equivalent to industry.
2. Companies: Normally, participating companies must be Canadian. Companies outside Canada may also be considered as partners provided they can demonstrate that there will be clear and direct benefits to the Canadian economy as a result of their participation. As partners, companies must demonstrate that they have, or have the potential to acquire, the capability to commercialize the technology under development.
3. Researcher-owned companies: A researcher's own consulting company or sole proprietorship is not eligible to collaborate on a project in which the researcher is the applicant or co-investigator. Situations in which the researcher is a part owner are reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and the company’s stage of development will be taken into consideration in determining eligibility. The commercial activity must conform to the institution’s established policies relating to the disclosure of commercial interest and conflict of interest.

Summary

There are four distinct funding options, characterized by the maturity of the technology or the involvement of an early stage investment entity or industrial partner.

Lab2Market

NSERC is partnering with the  Lab2Market program to offer teams (researcher and student, supported by their ILO) the chance to assess the commercial potential for their technology. The program is based on successful initiatives elsewhere in the world and consists of a 16-week program to help researchers validate their ideas with the purpose of finding business/commercial value. Funding is available for up to 12 months, with a maximum contribution from NSERC of $20,000, of which $5,000 will be used to pay the Lab2Market consultants, $10,000 will be paid to the Entrepreneurial Lead (student) as a stipend, and $5,000 will be held by the principal investigator for program-related expenses (e.g., travel, mentoring, consultation, etc.). NSERC will assume 100% of the costs of the program, and the grant is non-renewable.

A round of L2M-NSERC grants will be offered for applications submitted to the January 8, 2024 deadline. Note that the L2M in-take deadline will be December 1, 2023. Contact your local ILO (Innovate Calgary) and consult the Lab2Market application guide to prepare an application.

All teams must fill out the form on the Lab2Market website; applications must be submitted to Lab2Market by December 1, 2023. After the Lab2Market program’s review of the proposals, selected applicants will be invited to move to the next step: team interviews, which will run from December 4 to 8. Should your application be selected, you will be advised to proceed with the I2I application using the NSERC online system.

Market Assessment

Market assessment projects are designed to enable institutions to conduct a market study for a product, process or technology they plan to develop. Understanding market potential is crucial when developing a new technology. The market assessment funding option is a tool to help gain impartial market opportunity information and validate important business elements before embarking on the development process for a technology. It can be used to better position a proposed technology in an I2I application (providing the reviewers with a better understanding of the market for a given technology) or to identify the appropriate NSERC program.

The market assessment should precede a phase I proposal, if the applicant and ILO or its equivalent have not yet developed an understanding of the potential market. In certain instances, such as the development of a platform technology, requests for a market assessment can be submitted as a stand-alone proposal at the same time as a phase I application.

The market assessment should objectively establish the size of addressable market segments and present a clear portrait of the competitive landscape. The market assessment should focus on  primary research used to enter into a discussion with potential customers and/or partners (identified with the researcher and ILO) to flesh out their thoughts about the new technology. Funding is available for up to 12 months, with a maximum contribution from NSERC of $15,000.

Phase I: Reduction-to-Practice Stage

Phase I reduction-to-practice projects are designed to advance promising technologies in order to attract early stage investment and/or to build valuable intellectual property (e.g., strengthening the commercial value of the technology, broadening patent claims or strengthening licensing opportunities) in anticipation of transferring the technology to a new or established company.

One of the main reasons why phase I proposals are rejected is that the technology is at too early a stage to be eligible for the I2I grants. Phase I proposals must be based on strong scientific evidence and present the following elements:

• The technology must be sufficiently mature. The basic parameters of the concept must have already been explored, and sufficient testing should have been done to assess the potential of the innovation to work in a “product” environment or for its intended purpose. This represents at least technology readiness level (TRL) 4. 
• There must be a clearly identified and well-described potential market. Meaningful letters of support from potential receptors, end-users/clients and industrial value-chain players may be very useful.
• The content of the technology transfer section should address the essential questions asked through the market assessment portion.
• Involvement of experienced business mentors is recommended when the team is planning to spin off a new company.

Funding is available for up to 12 months, to a maximum of $125,000, and is non-renewable. NSERC will assume 100% of the direct costs of research for phase I projects. NSERC offers an I2I phase Ib supplement. This funding of up to $60,000 for six months can be made available for successfully completed phase I projects with high promise to secure an investor or a licensing company. ILOs or their equivalent should contact NSERC staff for more information.

Phase II: Technology Enhancement

Phase II projects are designed to provide scientific or engineering evidence that establishes the technical feasibility and market definition of the technology, process or product. Phase II projects require an early stage investment entity (phase IIa) or a company (phase IIb) to share the costs of the project. The supporting organization is expected to participate actively in planning the project. The proposals fall into two categories according to the partner involved, as described below.

Phase IIa: early stage investment partner

Proposals with an early stage investment entity must be designed with a “go/no-go” decision point after 6 to 18 months, which represents the achievement of a predefined scientific or engineering milestone that justifies moving forward by further developing the technology either through a new (i.e., start-up) or established company. NSERC can support up to two-thirds of the costs of the project, with the early stage investment entity providing the balance in cash. Funding requested from NSERC should not exceed an average of $125,000 per year.

Projects that achieve critical milestones may be pursued for another 6- to 24-month period with either the newly created company or an established Canadian company, provided the cost-sharing arrangements for phase IIb projects are met.

Phase IIb: partnership with a Canadian company

Most of the requirements for phase IIa listed above also apply to phase IIb applications. As well, if the development of the technology was supported by a previous I2I phase, proof that the objectives of the earlier project were achieved must be provided, specifically

• the “prototype” must already be in existence
• a strong business plan is required
• involvement of experienced business mentors is required when the team is planning to spin off a new company
• the receptor capacity to manufacture, distribute, license, etc. must be substantiated
• adequate budgets are required to show that the product will be at the marketing/manufacturing stage at the end of the phase IIb grant
• the “in-kind” contributions should be fully justified, as they will be carefully scrutinized

Phase IIb proposals with a Canadian company are expected to be completed within two years, and funding requested should not exceed $350,000 for the duration of the project. NSERC may fund up to half the cost of the project, with the company providing the other half through a combination of cash and in-kind contributions. Each case will be evaluated on its merits; however, the cash component should equal at least 40% of the amount requested from NSERC.

Objectives

The objective of Idea to Innovation (I2I) grants is to accelerate the pre-competitive development of promising technology originating from the university and college sector, and to promote its transfer to a new or established Canadian company. I2I grants provide funding to college and university faculty members to support research and development projects with recognized technology transfer potential. This is achieved through defined phases by providing crucial assistance in the early stages of technology validation and market connection.