IUCRP and UC Discovery Grants

The Industry-University Cooperative Research Program (IUCRP) offers the UC
Discovery Grant as a matching grant mechanism that uses state and university
funding to leverage industry investments in UC research, effectively forming a
3-way research partnership between UC, California Industry, and the State.  The
IUCRP was founded in 1996 to strengthen California's R&D economy.  UC Discovery
Grants help California R&D companies and University of California researchers
build long-term partnerships through cooperative research projects.  Companies
report that UC Discovery Grants enable them to perform research that they could
not have undertaken in-house, and young companies say the grants help them
raise money from investors.

UC Discovery Grants support research in 5 fields of science and engineering
that drive the competitiveness of California's economy: Biotechnology,
Communications and Networking, Digital Media, Electronics Manufacturing and New
Materials, and Information Technology for Life Sciences.  In addition to these
five fields, a Pilot Project for Multidisciplinary Research in three fields
(Energy and Environment, Health and Wellness, and Rapid Application of
Nanotechnologies) has been added to the call for proposals.

Highlights about the UC Discovery Grant: frequent proposal solicitations (fall
and spring), funding for multi- and inter- disciplinary research, rapid
turnaround time (~100 days from proposal submission to project start date), no
funding limits (funded projects have ranged from $50K to $5million in joint
funding), up to 4 years of funding and support for research projects, 1:1 match
on direct costs, company sponsors may provide required matching funds in the
form of cash and in-kind contributions (some limits and restrictions apply),
and online proposal submission.

The IUCRP also offers Opportunity Awards, which are small awards (up to
$15,000) for conferences, workshops, and outreach events that promote dialogue
between University and Industry Communities. For more information, please go to
http://ucdiscoverygrant.org/ .




Mona D. Lee, Ph.D., Research Development Officer

As part of the outreach team, Mona helps to build research partnerships between
California industry and UC researchers. She is responsible for the development
and implementation of initiatives and outreach to California R&D companies and
UC researchers to raise awareness of mechanisms that support
industry-university research collaborations. Prior to joining the IUCRP in
2006, she was a medical director at Helix Medical Communications, where she was
responsible for publication and strategic communications planning for biotech
and pharmaceutical clients.  Prior to that, she was a researcher at a start-up
company, Trega Biosciences, Inc. (previously Houghten Pharmaceuticals, Inc.),
as part of the preclinical pharmacology group.Mona received her Ph.D. in
Pharmacology from Cornell University in a joint program with Sloan Kettering
Institute, an M.S. in Toxicology from the Graduate School of Public Health at
San Diego State University, and a B.A. in Immunology from the University of
California, Berkeley.