Accelerating Research Translation (ART)

Overview

Higher Education (IHEs) and to enhance their role in regional innovation ecosystems. In addition, this program seeks to effectively train graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in translational research, benefiting them across a range of career options. 

A particular intent of ART is to support IHEs that want to build the necessary infrastructure to boost the overall institutional capacity to accelerate the pace and scale of translation of fundamental research outcomes into practice by supporting the development of a range of activities essential for this activity. The ART program is not intended to support IHEs that already have high levels of translational research activity as part of their R&D enterprise (as noted by their number of invention disclosures, patents issued, start-ups, licenses/options, revenue from royalties, the overall volume of industry-funded research, broad adoption of research outputs by communities or constituents, etc.). Such institutions are encouraged to become part of the ART network as valuable collaborators, providing expertise in building the necessary infrastructure for translational research at other IHEs responding to this solicitation. The ART program is also not intended as a resource for conducting additional fundamental research. 

The ART program is intended for IHEs that clearly see the benefits of building capacity and actively seek the infrastructure necessary for scaling translational research activities. The program aims to increase such institutions' capacity to conduct and accelerate translational research activities with a clear emphasis on capturing the resultant societal and economic benefits to their surrounding communities and regions. 

The ART program provides funding to build institutional capacity and the infrastructure needed to conduct translational research activities. The programmatic intent of ART is to support IHEs where the fundamental research activity is high, but the level of translational research activity is relatively low. NSF data on research expenditures can be used by the IHEs considering proposal submission for this program to determine whether their respective institutions are operating at high fundamental research levels. There are different research translation and entrepreneurship metrics (e.g., number of invention disclosures, patents issued, start-ups, licenses/options, revenue from royalties, the overall volume of industry-funded research, broad adoption of research outputs by communities or constituents, etc.) that can reflect the current capacity and the status of an infrastructure for translational research activities at an IHE. However, these metrics do not necessarily provide a complete picture. As a result, for this solicitation, each submitting IHE must provide data to justify their current capacity and infrastructure for translational research activities, using multiple evidence-based methods and metrics to determine such capacity. Most importantly, IHEs submitting a proposal to this program should clearly articulate why there is significant potential and an opportunity to build institutional capacity for translational research activities and its transition to practice. 

Expected Outcomes 

This solicitation seeks proposals in which an IHE describes its plans to achieve all of the following outcomes: 

(1) Develop institutional capacity and infrastructure for translational research activities in the short (during the four-year duration of the award) and long terms (beyond the duration of the award).

(2) Create and continually train new cohorts of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers versed in translational research to successfully create economic and/or societal impact through various career pathways, e.g., as entrepreneurs, in industry or public sectors. 

(3) Support a nationwide network of 'ART Ambassadors' who will be the agents of change within their institutions and region to support equal importance for translational research and its ensuing impact.

The first important expected outcome of the ART program is growing the capacity for research translation and creating and strengthening the institutional innovation ecosystem to be more robust and sustainable. A range of metrics can be used to measure the scale of translational research activities or evaluate their economic or societal impact. It is up to the proposing institution to use any of the metrics to determine a baseline and then set goals for accelerating the pace and scale for making discoveries, supporting industry needs, and contributing to the innovation-driven economy for the region. The expectation is that research translation at ART awardee institutions will be seen and valued as an organic and vital next step to leverage the knowledge and discoveries stemming from fundamental research. Translational research activities at ART awardee institutions should be treated on par with fundamental research activities in faculty recruitment, tenure, and promotion decisions. 

The second expected outcome is that ART will serve as a model for IHEs to create a new genre of postdoctoral researchers and graduate students who will successfully pursue translation-focused career pathways and enable societal and economic impacts through their work. Recently published NSF data show that the fraction of new doctorates gaining employment in tenured and tenure-track positions is much smaller than that gaining employment in non-academic professions. These data also show that the trend towards more significant numbers of doctorate holders employed in non-academic professions has accelerated over the last three decades. Despite this, most of the training for doctoral students still focuses on academic career pathways, which leaves most doctoral degree holders unprepared for other pathways, such as those in start-ups, established mid- and large-scale industries, federal, state, and local governments, and other non-academic sectors. The ART program encourages participating IHEs to create mechanisms to train a different genre of graduate students who will learn first-hand about translational research opportunities. These students could receive opportunities to engage in translational research projects and experientially learn: 

• the benefits associated with the societal and economic impacts of use-inspired and translational research, transition to practice, and 
• the skills needed to work in interdisciplinary teams focused on specific deliverables while receiving opportunities to network with peers and mentors. 

The third outcome expected from this program is creating a network of 'ART Ambassadors' from different institutions throughout the United States. The ambassador cohorts, coming together from many different geographical regions, will include senior research administrators, faculty members, technology transfer officials, entrepreneurs, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students. The ambassadors will be practitioners of translational research at their institutions and open to learning and sharing each other's experiences. These ambassadors will serve as advocates and mentors for research translation, guiding other faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and students. The ART program expects that the best practices emerging from awardee institutions will spread to a broader range of institutions across the United States and accelerate R&D innovation and impact across the country.

An eligible IHE can submit a maximum of one proposal as a lead organization per solicitation. Apply to ASU's internal limited submission competition on InfoReady.

A proposal can involve multiple organizations, but the proposal must be submitted by a lead organization with subawards to other participating organizations. Separately submitted collaborative proposals are not permitted. 

An IHE can serve on no more than two proposals as a sub-awardee per solicitation. Any IHE that receives an ART award is not allowed to submit a proposal to this program as the lead organization in any future competitions of this solicitation.

An individual can serve as a PI on only one proposal. An individual can serve as a co-PI on multiple proposals.

Estimated Number of Awards: 10 

Up to 10 awards per round of this solicitation, with up to $6,000,000 per award and a duration of 4 years, are anticipated.