Oklahoma Applied Research Support

1. Oklahoma Applied Research Support

2. OARS Historical Data FY13 received 81 applications 52% approved for funding 55% of approved projects were awarded $4.6 million awarded

3. Key Terms Applied Research Principal Investigator Applicant/Additional Applicant Organization

4. Applied Research Goals • Provide state matching funds for R&D projects • Enhance employment opportunities within Oklahoma • Produce a new or improved commercially successful product, process or service

6. What’s the Difference? • Proof-of-concept projects are early-stage endeavors that seek to define a project or conduct exploratory development • Accelerated projects are later stage and have a more clearly defined project, market, and commercialization avenue

7. Eligible Organizations • Oklahoma institutions of higher education • Oklahoma non-profit research foundations • Private firms with their principal place of business in Oklahoma • Oklahoma farms

8. What Can I Research? Anything! As long as there’s a reasonable potential for commercialization

9. What Can’t I Do? • Anything that doesn’t involve research • Market surveys • Training or technical assistance for business firms • Fundamental or basic research • Anything that lacks commercial potential

10. What’s New in FY13? • Implementation of OKGrants • In-kind services can be used as match • Facilities and Resources section added

11. Review Process &Evaluation Criteria

12. Proposals Submitted Compliance Checked OARS committee assigns reviewers and builds panels Proposals made available to reviewers Panels meet in Oklahoma to evaluate and rank proposals Panels meet for final ranking of proposals Board acts on reviewer recommendations

13. Evaluation Weighting • Proof-of-concept: 30% potential for economic impact, 70% technical merit of and the ability to perform the research • Accelerated: 50% economic impact and 50% technical merit and the ability to perform the research

14. Evaluation Criteria Technical Merit of and Ability to Perform the Research 1. Creativity and inventiveness of the proposed research. 2. Degree to which state-of-the-art techniques and processes are to be used. 3. Quality of the research plan. 4. Probability of success of the research plan design. 5. Competence of investigator(s) as measured by training and research experience.

15. Evaluation Criteria Technical Merit of the Research and Ability to Perform the Research 6. Competence of support personnel as measured by training and research experience. 7.Adequacy of facilities. 8. Adequacy of equipment. 9.Commitment of the applicant organization(s) as evidenced by resources dedicated to the project 10. Appropriateness of budget.

16. Evaluation Criteria Potential for Economic Impact • Potential for leading to a commercially successful product, process or service within 2 years of project completion • Potential for leading to a commercially successful product, process or service within 5 years of project completion • Status of Intellectual Properties Agreement • Matching organization’s commitment to future commercialization • Commitment of financial resources to successfully bring product to market

17. Evaluation Criteria Potential for Economic Impact • Availability of marketing capability to successfully bring product to market • National/international market growth potential • Potential for creating jobs in Oklahoma, considering both the probability and number • Potential for positive short-term impact (within 5 years of project completion) on the Oklahoma economy • Potential for creating jobs that will enhance the technology base in Oklahoma

18. Standards &Requirements

19. Solicitation Solicitation and guidelines can be found online at http://www.ok.gov/ocast Application forms can be found online at https://grants.ok.gov

20. Application Deadline April 16, 2014 5 p.m. CST No statements of intent are required

21. Requirements Total section text page length includes everything you could ever want to include in your proposal No circumventing page limits

22. Resubmissions A resubmission is a new proposal, which includes: • Indication that the proposal is a resubmission. • A separate appendix with: • a letter responding to the reviewers’ comments from the previous review and noting all changes in the research plan, • a copy of the previously submitted application and • all reviews of that application.

23. Additional Requirements Refer to the solicitation for the following: • IRB • Biographical information • Letters of support/recommendation • OCAST, previous, and other support • Company profile • Contact Information • Post Award Support

24. Budgets

25. Matching Requirements Applicant organization must provide 50% of the total direct cost Funding sources cannot be from state-appropriated money Matching monies must be specifically for the OARS project Indirect costs are not allowed

26. Matching Requirements

27. In-Kind Services In-kind services provided by a non-state appropriated third party CAN be used to fulfill part of the matching requirements for businesses, nonprofit research foundations, and public universities In-kind services provided by a private university may be used as match.

28. Indirect Costs Indirect costs may be used to fulfill a portion of the required match Examples include expenditures made to • maintain facilities • provide utilities • provide computer/communications services • acquire insurance coverage No more than 50 percent of the total required match may be met through indirect costs

29. Commercialization Development, Economic Impact & Research Plan

30. Research Plan • Objectives for the period of the proposed work. State concisely what the research described in the application is intended to accomplish.

31. Research Plan • The significance of the research: • Briefly sketch the background • Evaluate existing knowledge in this area and identify the gaps that exist • State the importance of this research by relating its aims to longer-term objectives • Present related projects and demonstrate this effort does not repeat previous studies nor infringe on intellectual property rights

32. Research Plan • Preliminary and related studies: • Describe prior research by the investigator(s) that lead to formulating the proposal • Describe competence of the investigator(s) who will perform the proposed project

33. Research Plan • Research methodology: • Detail the research design • Describe the sequence of events • Discuss the means by which the data will be analyzed and interpreted • Discuss the methodologies and any potential limitations of procedures and alternative approaches • Note any procedures that may be dangerous to personnel and the precautions that will be used in these situations • Include indicators of success

34. Intellectual Property Relationships and Protection • Describe the plan to protect the intellectual property • Collaborative proposals • Provide a short statement describing how the intellectual property patent and licensing agreements will be effectuated • Existing agreements • Provide a short statement indicating the types of agreements that have been executed between the parties

35. Commercialization Development Strategy Proof-of-Concept: 4 pages maximum Accelerated: 10 pages maximum • Briefly describe the product, process or service to be commercialized and its end use • Describe the customers or clients. • Describe the domestic and global markets market size, market growth rates, number and nature of competitors

36. Commercialization Development Strategy • State the competitive advantage the project offers in the targeted markets. • Using a chart or table, describe the key steps required to commercialize the product, process or service. This plan should include a schedule of key business milestones. • Provide summary pro forma income statements and cash flow projections

37. Economic Impact Statement Maximum 4 pages • Discuss the project’s potential impact on Oklahoma’s economy during the project and at 2 and 5 years following the project. • Carefully discuss under a separate heading for each time period items A. through G., during the project, and at 2 and 5 years after completion

38. Economic Impact Statement • Increase in scientific and technical staffing levels • Increase in work force staff • Productivity, profitability or cost savings • Amount of capital investment in equipment and facilities at the organizations participating in the project

39. Economic Impact Statement • The estimated gross sales, net sales, and cost avoidance • If applicable, describe technology transfer plans • Other sources of funding and capital attracted to Oklahoma

40. Literature Cited • Number the references in order of appearance, and provide the complete citations. Do not scatter throughout proposal. • Each citation must include the title of the journal article or specific book chapter • While disciplines vary in the accepted style, the citation must by sufficient for a reviewer to locate the cited information with little searching • Use a referencing style suitable for your discipline

41. Common Reviewer Concerns • Incomplete list of team members • Suspect budget • Poorly developed research plan • Previous research not acknowledged • Unclear innovation/competitive advantage • No or poorly reasoned collaboration • LACK OF DETAIL

42. Release of Information OCAST is subject to the Open Meetings Act and the Open Records Act. Application abstracts and executive summaries from progress reports are considered public information. Marketing plans, financial statements, trade secrets, research concepts, methods or products, or any other proprietary information are exempt by statute.

43. Resources OCAST staff Grant writers Business planners Local researchers Previous winners

44. Tessa North tessa.north@ocast.ok.gov 405.319.8410