Industry-university partnership grants offered

The New Hampshire Industrial Research Center, which supports short-term collaborations among New Hampshire companies and the engineers and scientists at the University of New Hampshire, Dartmouth College and other academic institutions, has issued a new request for proposals for funding through the Granite State Technology Innovation Grant program.

The RFP can be downloaded from the center’s Web site, nhirc.unh.edu, with letters of intent due March 15.

The Granite State Technology Innovation Grant is a competitive process. Applications are reviewed for scientific merit and commercial feasibility. While projects may be proposed in any discipline, applications are particularly encouraged in the following areas: bioinformatics; computational tools; environmental technologies; geospatial analysis; information technology; materials science; medical technologies; nanotechnology; optics; precision engineering; robotics; and sensors.

“Some of these projects tackle a technical problem the company has defined that may be standing in the way of product development, while others are focused on trying to improve existing products, or design and test a new product,” said Robert Dalton, director of the center. “The overall objective of these grants is to help New Hampshire companies retain or create high-quality jobs in scientific and technology-based fields, improve their profitability and contribute to the state’s economy.”

The New Hampshire Industrial Research Center, administered by the University of New Hampshire Office for Research Partnerships and Commercialization, was established in 1991 and has awarded 150 grants, totaling more than $4 million, to 103 companies. State funds are matched dollar for dollar by company contributions of cash, staff time, equipment, supplies or services.