Eligibility

Only applications from a select group of major research universities and biomedical research institutes identified by the Murdock Trust will be considered. This program is aimed at supporting projects that create an inflection point for commercialization, and it is not designed to enable investigators to generate data for their next major research grant application. Thus, funding is intended to support the commercialization of bench discoveries and translating those to the market. Only projects from the natural sciences, medicine and engineering will be considered. Requests for games and software applications will not be considered. 

The ideal time for submitting a proposal is when the science is solid and a feasible business plan is at hand. The goal of this program is to support the project early in the commercialization life cycle in order to enable the PI or inventor to reduce the science discovery into practice, secure IP and ownership, obtain proof of commercialization concept and position the development toward the next round of funding. The PI or inventor may request a two-year grant of up to $75,000 from the Murdock Trust, and the university is required to match at least an equal amount. 

The Trust has no equity interest in the intellectual property or commercialization of the invention. Submission of a proposal to this program from the university, however, is predicated on the expectation that the university has thoroughly vetted the scientific, technical and commercialization merits of the proposal.

Application Process

The Trust has an understanding with all major research universities and select biomedical research institutes in our funding region that only institutional priority requests are to be submitted. Only one proposal can be submitted for consideration by the Trust in a calendar year, and the proposals can come from departments within the natural sciences, engineering or medicine. The Trust does not accept grant requests from individual researchers unless the institution endorses that request as its priority to the Trust. The authority to provide this endorsement lies with the Chief Executive Officer of the institution or may be delegated to a Chief Academic or Research Officer.

There will be one window for submission of proposals each year: April and May. Only proposals submitted through the Grants Portal will be accepted. The deadline for receipt of these applications is June 1. Awards will be announced at the end of August.

Applications from individuals will not be considered.

Please contact Dr. Moses Lee by email or phone (360.694.8415) about applying for a Commercialization Initiation grant.