Science Foundation Arizona (SFAz) has awarded $10 million in grants to eight research partnerships through its Strategic Research Group (SRG) program. The grants will support collaborations of scientists and businesses in three fields especially vital in Arizona: sustainability, information and communications technologies, and the biosciences.
“We have to create a competitive advantage for the industry and universities,” SFAz President and CEO William Harris told the Arizona Republic. “This is the first step to do that.” The SRG grants require 1-to-1 matching contributions from the scientists’ industry partners; the collaborating companies would stand to benefit if research should yield marketable discoveries and innovations.
The SRG grants include:
- $2.16 million to Jeffrey Cossman of The Critical Path Institute, partnering with Ventana Medical Systems, for research into testing that would enable personalized application of cancer drugs;
- $2.17 million to David Galbraith of University of Arizona and the BIO5 Institute, partnering with High Throughput Genomics, for establishment of the Chemical Genomics and Translational Research Center;
- $2 million to Robert Penny of the International Genomics Consortium, partnering with AmeriPath, for development of the Expression Project for Oncology;
- $625,000 to Anthony Muscat of UA, partnering with Semiconductor Research Corporation, Intel, SEMATECH, SEZ America, and ASM, for development of a sustainable process for the high-volume manufacturing of electronics and photonics;
- $500,000 to Yong-Hang Zhang of ASU, with UA and several industry partners, for development of high-efficiency solar cells that employ semiconductor nanostructures;
- $50,000 to Chieri Kubota of UA and Guy Cardineau of ASU, to plan for research to demonstrate controlled-environment production of biopharmaceuticals;
- $50,000 to Cun-Zheng Ning of ASU, with UA and Motorola, to plan establishment of a federally funded Photonics Research Center with the universities and industry partners.
Details on the eighth SRG grant will be released in the next few weeks.
The just-announced grants represent the fifth group of awards made this year by SFAz. Previously, the foundation has announced grants that include: Graduate Research Fellowships, Small Business Catalytic program grants, Competitive Advantage Awards, and K-12 Student & Teacher Discovery program grants.
SFAz seeks to build and strengthen scientific, engineering, and medical research programs and infrastructure in Arizona. The nonprofit organization was established in 2006 by the Greater Phoenix Leadership, Inc., Southern Arizona Leadership Council, and the Flagstaff 40, with support of the Arizona Legislature and private foundations.
For more information:
“Science Foundation awards $10 mil in grants,” Arizona Republic, 08/17/2007
“Science group grants $10M,” Business Journal of Phoenix, 08/17/2007
“Local scientists get part of $10M grant,” Arizona Daily Star, 08/17/2007
Science Foundation Arizona news release, 08/16/2007