Travel grant competition

About the event

This year, featured events include competitions for seed and travel funding, matchmaking flash talks, and workshops for faculty and graduate students. We will announce competition winners and recognize research achievements by faculty and staff during an awards ceremony and reception. All are welcome to come and take advantage of professional development and networking opportunities.

The Innovation and Research Engagement Office is bridging the gap between academia and industry.

The Innovation and Research Engagement Office (IREO) works with students, faculty and staff to position WSU’s creative, scholarly and technical assets in ways that maximize impact and return value to our state and national stakeholders. In celebration of 2019’s Research Week, we are inviting you to submit a project proposal that communicates your innovative product/idea and its potential impact in key companies.

Two teams or individuals will be awarded with a $2,500 travel grant and receive administrative support from IREO to initiate contact and develop strategic, industrial partnerships with desired companies. The funding will help supplement travels in CY 2020 to pursue sponsored research partnerships.

Application Guidelines
Applicants are required to submit a written proposal and deliver a 3-minute presentation. Awards will be judged based on the scale of the problem and perceived business value of the solution. We encourage faculty, post-docs, research scientists, and graduate students to participate in this competition.

The proposal must contain the following components:
• Background: Please include description(s) of the individual and/or team working on this project, including disciplinary expertise. (300-word max per individual, maximum of 5 profiles.)
• Problem statement: Please define the problem you’re attempting to solve, and what solutions you are proposing. What is novel about your approach? How is this different from the current process? (500 words max)
• Approach: List and briefly describe conferences, tradeshows, and/or companies of interest including dates and locations, if available. (Title plus 100-word description per entry, 3 entries max)
• Partnership Contacts: Please list any prior engagements or contacts with industry here; include project titles and abstracts, where possible. We will NOT contact anyone without your explicit involvement or introduction.

Timeline
Applications Due September 15, 2019, 5:00 p.m.
Presenters Notified October 5, 2019, 5:00 p.m.
Research Week Presentations October 21, 2019, 10:00 a.m.
Awards Announced October 24, 2019, 3:00 p.m.

Frequently Asked Questions?
Send an e-mail to innovation@wsu.edu with subject title “IREO Research Week Competition” for more information about the competition.

For more information about Research Week, visit www.researchweek.wsu.edu.