NSF ART: Track 2: GROW: Rebel Innovation

"The University of Nevada, Las Vegas project will strengthen the pathways that help university discoveries move from early research findings into useful products, services, partnerships, and public benefits. Many promising discoveries require additional support before they can be tested, protected, matched with industry or community needs, and advanced toward real-world use. This project will address that gap by expanding the university’s capacity to evaluate inventions, support researchers and students, connect discoveries with external partners, and advance selected technologies through structured translational research activities. The project will serve the national interest by promoting the progress of science and advancing national health, prosperity, and welfare through stronger research translation infrastructure, improved workforce preparation, increased industry collaboration, and broader access to innovation-based opportunities throughout the Southern Nevada region. It will also support public-benefit outcomes through seed projects with the potential to advance health, prosperity, and welfare while contributing to regional economic development and helping students and researchers gain practical skills in commercialization, customer discovery, intellectual property strategy, and partnership development. The primary goal of the project is to increase the quality and quantity of commercialized innovative research. To accomplish this goal, the university will implement the following methods: build a scalable research translation system that combines expanded staffing and workflows in the university’s economic development office; develop an interdisciplinary ambassador network; and create a pipeline of structured seed translational research project selection, stage-gated project monitoring, targeted mentoring, and industry engagement. Seed projects will be selected based on demonstrated proof of concept, defined translational milestones, readiness for advancement, intellectual property and market considerations, and potential for public or commercial impact. Each seed project will be monitored through decision gates that assess technical milestone completion, technology readiness advancement, customer or stakeholder discovery, partner interest, commercialization pathway progress, and evidence supporting continuation, redirection, or discontinuation. The Industry Advisory Council will serve as a university-wide, cross-disciplinary mechanism for identifying industry needs, advising on project relevance and partner-readiness, and connecting researchers with commercialization and deployment pathways. Arizona State University will provide targeted mentoring on commercialization practices, project review, industry engagement, and student training. The contribution of the project is to increase invention evaluation capacity, improve time-to-decision and project advancement processes, strengthen industry and community engagement, prepare students and researchers for translational careers, and generate transferable practices for institutions seeking to scale research translation systems. The ART Program, supported by the NSF TIP Directorate, seeks to advance the U.S. scientific and economic leadership by building capacity and increasing the number of robust translational research ecosystems in Institutions of Higher Education that span across the full geography of our nation. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.