Travel fund grants

The NAU Innovations travel fund is a pilot program intended to provide funding for NAU inventors to travel to face-to-face meetings with potential industry partners to build relationships and discuss NAU intellectual property, tech transfer services, research capacity, and collaborative opportunities. Other objectives include supporting research and scholarly projects for which outside funding is not available and facilitating contact with representatives of partner companies who may be unwilling or unable to travel to NAU.

Eligibility

Eligibility criteria are as follows:

• Faculty members with the rank of instructor or above and research professional staff are eligible to apply. Junior faculty are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Each grant is awarded for a single trip.
• A member of the NAU Innovations team will accompany the NAU researcher on the trip to meet with potential industry partners.
• A trip may include one or more inventors meeting with the company, in addition to an NAU Innovations representative.
• Travel fund grants cannot be used for academic conferences, conference fees, or salaries.
• Other exclusions and restrictions may apply.

How to apply for a travel fund grant

To get started, download and complete the travel fund application form. Submit the completed form to NAU Innovations via mail or email at nau.innovations@nau.edu.

An NAU Innovations representative will review your application and meet with you to discuss the company, current contacts with the company, the status of the company’s relationship with NAU, potential outcomes from the meeting, and strategic preparation for the meeting.

Expected outcomes

By providing funding for travel related to industry partnerships, NAU Innovations expects to increase activity at NAU in the following areas:

• Invention disclosures
• Research collaboration agreements
• Sponsored research
• Sponsored service
• Licensing of NAU intellectual property
• Regional economic development and corporate relations