Sponsor
Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance
Description
The Gryphon's LAAIR (Leading to the Accelerated Adoption of Innovative Research) Funding Program provides Innovation Grants to academic innovators at the University of Guelph to increase private sector commercialization of new technologies that will enrich the Ontario agri-food sector. These Innovation Grants provide targeted financial support to researchers to reduce existing barriers that are preventing the industry from adopting and commercializing these innovative technologies. Grants will be used to turn new technologies into innovations through disciplined, evidence-based market research, prototype development, product feature optimization, market analysis, business model design, value proposition enhancement, new venture creation, and customer discovery.
These grants provide targeted financial support to help researchers:
- Market Validation Grants: Validate and confirm the market opportunity for a new technology by performing primary and secondary market research.
- Product Development Grants: Develop and optimize their Minimum Viable Product (MVP) based on a new technology and remove any existing barriers that are preventing the industry from adopting and commercializing the technology.
For further information about this call, please visit the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance and consult the 2021 Gryphon’s LAAIR Program Guide.
A town hall information session will take place October 18, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. via Microsoft Teams. Join the meeting. The presentation will be recorded and posted to the Alliance website.
Eligibility
University of Guelph faculty members are eligible to be the lead applicant and/or a co-applicant on any project funded by the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance. Adjunct faculty members may also apply if they are eligible to hold research funding at the University of Guelph and are not employed by or have a financial interest in any of the collaborating organizations or co-funders. Consult the program guide for more details.
Applicants must be fully compliant with all reporting requirements prior to a new proposal being reviewed under any Alliance Research Program. The Lead Applicant and the Co-Applicant will have 30 days from the submission deadline to complete any outstanding compliance requirements, including reporting. If applicants are not compliant at that time the submitted proposal will be withdrawn from the review process and declined.
Funding Availability
A total of $325,000 will be allocated to successful proposals using two types of grants. Funds will be available to start projects in May 2022.
Market Validation Grants:
- Up to $20,000 each, three to five grants will be awarded
- Project duration up to one year
Product Development Grants:
- Up to $100,000 each, three to four grants will be awarded
- Project duration up to three years
Special Notes
Successfully funded and completed Market Validation Projects will be useful to increase the probability of securing a Product Development Grant in the following year.
COVID-19: Please note that research activities carried out in the context of COVID-19 need to adhere to the University of Guelph COVID-19 research principles, policies, guidelines and processes as they may be updated from time to time and communicated on the Office of Research web-page.
Deadlines
If College-level review is required, your College will communicate its earlier internal deadlines.
| Type | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
External Deadline | If College-level review is required, your College will communicate its earlier internal deadlines. Call opens: Tuesday, September 28, 2021; Program Town Hall (information session): October 18, 2021 at 2:00 p.m.; Full proposals due: Wednesday, December 1, 2021 at 1:00 p.m.; Award decisions: February 2022. |
How to Apply
Online Application Process
Applications must be submitted online using the OMAFRA Research Management System (RMS). A new RMS platform was launched in October 2019.
If you have an RMS account but have not accessed the RMS since October 2019 enter your uoguelph.ca email address on the RMS login page, select “Forgot Password” and follow the prompts. If you have never used the RMS system, select “Register” on the login page to create a new account. Consult the program guide for more information or contact rescoord@uoguelph.ca for login assistance if needed.
Pre-submission Consultation
All applicants are strongly encouraged to contact staff at the Research Innovation Office (RIO) before applying to discuss the suitability of a potential proposal.
For questions, please contact: David Hobson, Gryphon’s LAAIR Research Program Coordinator, at dhobson@uoguelph.ca for all questions relating to the funding program, criteria, or project fit, or the Research Program Coordinators at rescoord@uoguelph.ca for all questions relating to RMS technical issues.