Identifying Revolutionary Platform Technologies for Advancing Life Sciences Research

Platform technologies – tools, techniques, and instruments that enable entirely novel approaches for scientific investigation across a broad range of disciplines – have captured a significant fraction of all the science Nobel Prizes in the last 10 years.  This Challenge seeks to identify exceptional ideas for revolutionary new platform technologies (from across the full breadth of science, technology, engineering, and math) that could lead to breakthrough advances in the broadly defined life sciences. 

In addition to the guaranteed monetary award for this Challenge, Solvers may be provided with multiple types of opportunities to publicize their submissions with other potential funders, if they so choose.  The Seekers for this Challenge are Burroughs Welcome Fund, The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, The John Templeton Foundation, The Kavli Foundation, Research Corporation for Science Advancement, and W. M. Keck Foundation. 

A webinar about this Challenge is now available that includes comments from Dr. Robbie Barbero of the US White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and Maria Pelligrini of the W. M. Keck Foundation.  The video can be viewed at: https://innocentiveevents.webex.com/innocentiveevents/lsr.php?AT=pb&SP=EC&rID=7807317&rKey=38ee2a5df8362672

Platform technologies – tools, techniques, and instruments that enable entirely novel approaches for scientific investigation across a broad range of disciplines – have captured a significant fraction of all the science Nobel Prizes in the last 10 years, including for the development or discovery of MRI, green fluorescent protein, and the CCD sensor.  Given the clearly recognized impact of this type of research, this Challenge seeks to identify exceptional ideas for revolutionary platform technologies (from across the full breadth of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) that could lead to breakthrough advances in the broadly defined life sciences. 

This is a special Ideation Challenge, which has the following unique features:

• Guaranteed Monetary Awards – The awards will be paid to the best submissions as determined by the Seekers. The Seekers will be assisted in identifying the best submissions by a judging panel of distinguished scientists and engineers, with broad scientific expertise and interdisciplinary research foci. There will be one award of $40,000, two awards of $5,000, and two awards of $1,000. 
• Event Invitation – As many as 5 finalist Solvers may be invited to participate in an upcoming, high-profile event to be held in Washington, D.C. attended by thought leaders from various sectors of the economy, including academia, non-profits, government, and investors.  
• Potential Visibility to Funding Sources – Beyond providing the guaranteed award for this Challenge, the foundations sponsoring it may contact Solvers directly about advancing their ideas, through financial support or other types of assistance.  Additionally, every Solver who submits to this Challenge may choose whether or not the foundations sponsoring this Challenge may independently share the Solver’s submission with other potential funding sources.   
• Intellectual Property – Solvers are not required to transfer exclusive intellectual property rights to the Seekers.  Rather, by submitting a proposal, the Solvers grant to the Seekers a royalty-free, perpetual, and non-exclusive license to use the title and a general description of the proposed platform technology, but not the general approach that the Solver proposes for developing the technology. For this Challenge, the Seekers may use submissions in the following ways:
  • The Seekers will share Solvers’ entire submissions with members of the judging panel, solely for the purpose of determining finalist and awarded submissions.
  • The Seekers may choose to follow up directly with a Solver about an idea to encourage its advancement, by requesting the direct submission of a grant application by that Solver.
  • Only if explicitly authorized by a Solver, the Seekers may choose to share a Solver’s entire submission with other potential funding sources and/or the general public.
  • The Seekers may decide to initiate a broader funding call to encourage the advancement of a proposed platform technology submitted by a Solver. The Seekers will not, however, publicize the details of the Solver’s general approach to developing the technology. 

After the Challenge deadline, the Seekers and judges will complete the review process and will select the Winning Solution(s). All Solvers that submitted a proposal will be notified on the status of their submissions; however, no detailed evaluation of individual submissions will be provided. 

ABOUT THE SEEKERS

Burroughs Wellcome Foundation

Burroughs Wellcome Foundation is an independent private foundation dedicated to advancing the biomedical sciences by supporting research and other scientific and educational activities.  Within this broad mission, BWF seeks to accomplish two primary goals – to help scientists early in their careers develop as independent investigators and to advance fields in the basic biomedical sciences that are undervalued or in need of particular encouragement. 

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation believes in bold ideas that create enduring impact in the areas of science, environmental conservation and patient care.  Intel co-founder Gordon and his wife Betty established the foundation to create positive change around the world and at home in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Science looks for opportunities to transform – or even create – entire fields by investing in early-stage research, emerging fields and top research scientists.  Our environmental conservation efforts promote sustainability, protect critical ecological systems, and align conservation needs with human development.  Patient care focuses on eliminating preventable harms and unnecessary healthcare costs through meaningful engagement of patients and their families in a supportive, redesigned healthcare system. 

The Kavli Foundation

The Kavli Foundation is dedicated to advancing science for the benefit of humanity, promoting increased public understanding of scientific research, and supporting scientists and their work. The Foundation's mission is implemented through an international program of research institutes, professorships, and symposia in the fields of astrophysics, nanoscience, neuroscience, and theoretical physics. The Foundation is a founding partner of the Kavli Prizes, which recognize scientists for their seminal advances in astrophysics, nanoscience, and neuroscience. 

Research Corporation for Science Advancement

Dedicated to funding scientific research since 1912, RCSA is the oldest foundation continuously funding science in the US. The foundation provides catalytic funding for early-stage, discovery research in the physical sciences, including the allied areas of biochemistry, biophysics, and  materials science, and the development of academic scientists, thereby advancing US competitiveness in science and technology. 

The John Templeton Foundation

The John Templeton Foundation serves as a philanthropic catalyst for discoveries relating to the Big Questions of human purpose and ultimate reality. We support research on subjects ranging from complexity, evolution, and infinity to creativity, forgiveness, love, and free will. We encourage civil, informed dialogue among scientists, philosophers, and theologians and between such experts and the public at large, for the purposes of definitional clarity and new insights. 

W. M. Keck Foundation

The W.M. Keck Foundation was founded with the goal of generating far reaching benefits for humanity.  Following the ideals of our founder the Foundation supports outstanding science, engineering and medical research projects nationally, undergraduate education regionally and arts and culture education and health and community service in Los Angeles.  The Foundation strives to fund endeavors that are distinctive and novel in their approach. It encourages projects that are high-risk with the potential for transformative impact. "High-risk" comprises a number of factors, including questions that push the edge of the field, present unconventional approaches to intractable problems, or challenge the prevailing paradigm.