Auburn receives $6 million NSF award to advance research commercialization
The four-year initiative will offer faculty proof-of-concept funding, mentoring and entrepreneurship training to help move discoveries into practical use.
Auburn University has received a four-year, $6 million award from the U.S. National Science Foundation to help faculty turn research discoveries into products and other practical applications through startups, industry partnerships and technology licensing.
The award, through the foundation’s Accelerating Research Translation program, will fund training and early-stage research to help faculty identify potential uses for their discoveries, assess market demand and develop prototypes.
“Auburn researchers are making discoveries across a wide range of disciplines, and we want to ensure they feel supported as they take those discoveries to market and put them to work in ways that can make a difference in people’s lives,” said Steve Taylor, Auburn’s senior vice president for research and economic development. “This award gives us an opportunity to strengthen the culture of innovation at Auburn.”
Patrick Reed, Auburn’s assistant vice president for innovation and partnerships, will lead the initiative. Its Launch Innovation Fund will offer up to $50,000 for proof-of-concept research and prototype development. LaKami Baker, a professor in Auburn’s Raymond J. Harbert College of Business and a certified I-Corps instructor, will lead a Faculty Venture Studio that will help researchers identify potential customers and assess how their discoveries might be used. The studio will also offer mentoring and entrepreneurship training.
The initiative brings together faculty and administrators from Auburn’s colleges of sciences and mathematics, engineering, agriculture and business. Baker will serve as a co-principal investigator alongside Mark Liles, associate dean for research in the College of Sciences and Mathematics, and Alan David, associate dean for research in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering.
The first project funded through the initiative will test a seed coating designed to protect crops from fungal disease. Liles leads the team developing the coating, which combines beneficial bacteria with a pectin-based material. The team will refine the formula, test it in the field and work with farmers and industry partners to identify potential uses. The treatment may also promote root growth and help crops withstand drought.
“Thanks to this award, we’re going to be able to put some things in the field that have a real-world benefit to U.S. farmers,” Liles said. “To us, it’s all about fulfilling the land-grant mission of Auburn University.”
The initiative will also give students opportunities to gain experience in entrepreneurship and innovation. It will explore ways to help researchers document and explain how their work affects communities.
The University of Georgia Research Foundation and its Innovation Gateway will advise Auburn as it develops the program.
