Friday, August 29, 2008

Granite State seeks tech research grant RFPs

By Mass High Tech Staff

In an effort to coordinate industry research with university faculty and laboratories in the granite state, the New Hampshire Innovation Research Center is asking for proposals for funding partnership projects.

The organization expects to award four to eight Granite State Technology Innovation Grants from a wide-ranging pool of $20,000 to $150,000 per grant. The letter of intent is due September 15, while the final proposal is due November 3. Final notification of grant award recipients will occur on December 10, with state companies receiving the funds through the partnering university or college.

Although the NHIRC reports that the grant RFP is open to any discipline, the organization stresses particular interest in bioinformatics, computational tools, environmental technologies, geospatial analysis, information technology, materials science, medical technologies, nanotechnology, optics, precision engineering, robotics and sensors.

The NHIRC, developed in 1991 and run through the University of New Hampshire Office for Research Partnerships and Commercialization, aims to foster and retain companies in the state by easing collaboration between business and academia.

In 2007, 13 New Hampshire companies received grants from the New Hampshire Innovation Research Center, which said it doled out more than $700,000 in Granite State tech innovation grants last year.