Discovery Partners InstituteSeed Grant ProgramMay 21, 2020

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Our team and today’s (short) agenda

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What DPI Is1

DPI Value Proposition3

Seed Grant Process4

Our Approach to Research

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Q&A5

BILL JACKSONExecutive Director

MATT BELLManaging Director

PHYLLIS BAKERDir. Acad. Affairs

ANNABELLE CLARKEDir. Administration

MARK HARRISDir. External Engagements & Partnerships

MICHAEL KELLEYDir. Development

CHARLIE CATLETTSenior Research Scientist

JOE CHENGDPI Partnerships

MIKE FLAVINDPI Corporate Relations

ALAN SOLOWSpecial Advisor, External Relations

PRADEEP KHANNADPI International Relations

MARCIA LAMPELADPI Site Management

V.N. VENKATAKRISHNANInterim Dir. R&D

BEN TAYLORDPI Communications

MANDY WISEHARTAdmin. Support to DPI Director

EVA LOZANODPI Site Management

The Discovery Partners Institute has three missions

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Tech Talent Development

Tech Research, Basic and Applied

Ecosystem to Foster Economic

Development

Aim to provide the best available support for faculty teams to succeed

Build trust through open communication and active engagement

Faculty engagement values

Believe active engagement of faculty key to success of DPI

Seek to build partnerships across university system around research opportunities

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For R&D, we are focused on team science at the intersection of advantaged sectors and capabilities

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AI/ ML Systems & Networking

Human-centered

ComputingCybersecurity

& Privacy

Health & Wellness

Food & Agriculture

Transportation & Logistics

Finance & Insurance

Information Technology

Water, Environment,& Climate

Capabilities(Computing & Data Examples given)

Sect

ors

Science teams across partner institutions

combine capabilities and sectors to create economic

and societal impact

teamscience

The role of DPI is to help make science teams successful

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* What we plan to offer as we scale: proposal development, review, and submission support; project management and reporting assistance for grants; technical staffing pool for common skills such as web development, software development, data preparation, etc.; liaison with industry to assist in identifying industry funding opportunities

• Multi-disciplinary, ideally cross-institutional

• Leaders with a clear shared vision for intellectual, economic, and societal impact

• Potential to build to research program targeting large (center-scale) grant opportunities

• Actionable and measurable plan to capture this potential

What We Seek • Support for growing your research capacity

• Networking with a growing community of scientists from all campuses, DPI partner organizations, enabling teams to expand rapidly

• Access to industry contacts and possible industry funding

• Joint research, commercialization…

• Resources

• Seed funding for team vision refinement, planning, and startup

• Space in Chicago for collaboration, workshops, etc.

• Proposal-development and project management services

• (Chicago-based) education, outreach, and training programs to assist teams in rounding out their broader impact

What We Offer

The goal of the seed program is to help teams secure significant long-term funding

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The DPI Process

Detailed Planning and Pre-Execution

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• Team development of common vision

• Academic / industry workshop facilitated by DPI

• Key output: detailed execution plan, including specific opportunities for long-term funding

• Funding: up to $25,000

Team Startup3

• Moving into execution• DPI facilitation and industry

connections / support

• Key result: one or more large secured grants, with supplemental industry funding,

• Funding: up to $125,000 total (including prior stage)

Initial Team Formation

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• Team vision, opportunity roadmap, and initial action plan

• Ad hoc DPI support, including making industry connections

• Key output: quad chart

~1 month

2-4 months

9-15 months

Seed grant focus

Review criteria

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Scientific Merit2

• Potential to create a “best in class” R&D effort within one or more DPI sectors

• Exploration of creative, original, or potentially transformative concepts with potential for large-scale impact

• Well-reasoned and well-organized action plan

Broader Impact3

• Potential for positive impact on the Illinois economy

• Potential for positive social impact (workforce diversity, economic opportunity, societal well being, etc.)

• Potential to link to educational mission—at UI and partner campuses, and potentially for K-12 also

Team1

• Clear vision and targets• Leadership and mix of

interdisciplinary expertise

• Right partnerships• Ability to execute the vision

and strong potential to capture significant non-DPI funding

Proposal submission guide

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Science Team

Plan

Resources Required

Proposal submission mechanics

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1. R&D Abstract (<250 words)2. Description of activities including timeline and milestones

(<4p)3. Brief description on DPI alignment and potential for economic

impact (<1p)4. Statement of work and timetable for the seed grant activities

(<1p)5. Statement on external (governmental, foundation, corporate,

NGO, etc.) funding. Please provide titles and links to specific proposals/partners (if known):• List any existing external funding commitments which currently

support the applicants’ research activities • List any identified external funding programs/prospects that the

proposed team intends to pursue6. Faculty and team members, include 2p CVs of investigators7. Letters of support from partners (if any) that describe their

role8. Bibliography

Budget for requested funding, with narrative justification, that does not exceed $125,000.• Expenses should be divided into major

categories (e.g. personnel, equipment/use fees, supplies, travel, support).

• PIs may not receive more than $5,000 from this program.

• Faculty from DPI partner institutions (external to the UI System) are encouraged to participate but cannot receive salary/wages from this program.

• Indirect costs are not permissible.

Plan Resources Required

For proposal formatting please follow font and margin guidelines typical of federal funding proposals with the goals of readability and fairness. Specifically:• Arial, Courier New, Palatino at 10pt or larger; Times New Roman 11pt or larger except for

mathematical formulas, captions, tables, etc.• Maximum 6 lines of text per vertical inch; blank margins minimum 1”; paper size 8.5x11”• Standard, single-column pages.

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Q&A