Evaluation of Proposals for Technology Maturation (TM) Funding

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All TM Proposals will be judged on their merits and appropriateness for funding under the Technology Maturation program. All proposals should use the Technology Maturation Proposal Information Questionnaire (PIQ). Proposals not following the PIQ format will be rejected.

Evaluation Process

Evaluation Process for Proposals Requesting Less Than $50,000

Proposals requesting less than $50,000 will undergo an abbreviated evaluation. All such proposals will be reviewed by the TM Commercial Selection Committee for the stage of development and commercial viability of the proposed research project. Awardees will be notified in the spring.

Evaluation Process for All Other Proposals

All other proposals will be reviewed in a two-part process. Upon submission each proposal will be forward to the Intellectual Property Practitioner (IPP) primarily responsible for the corresponding field of research. It will be reviewed for the stage of development and commercial viability, and the TM Commercial Selection Committee will select proposals to be reviewed by the Full Selection Committee.

After the first review, the PIs will be contacted by the appropriate IPP. The scientific and commercial staff will then revise the proposal, if necessary, to better describe the proposed research. Concurrently, the IPP will generate a Business Case to be submitted to the Full Selection Committee as part of the proposal package.

PIs of selected proposals will be invited to present the proposed research to the Full Selection Committee. After presentations, the Full Selection Committee will decide on the proposals to be recommended for funding and at what level.

Evaluation Criteria

Stage of Technical Development

Technology Maturation funding is intended to bridge the gap between projects at the proof of principle stage and mature technologies ready for transfer to the private sector. As such it occupies a niche between LDRD or DOE funding and commercial funding. In general, projects appropriate for LDRD are at too early a stage for TM. Projects receiving TM funding should achieve a level of technical maturity sufficient to support its transfer to an industrial partner without significant additional effort.

Commercial Criteria

Proposals are evaluated for commercial criteria assuming successful achievement of each technical milestone. Commercial considerations include the market sector(s) in which the technology would be used, the fraction of that market addressable by products or processes using the technology, the number of firms active in the market, time to market, and commercial interest already expressed, among others.

Technical Criteria

Proposals are evaluated for technical merit without regard for commercial potential. Technical criteria include the duration of the project to the current stage, the degree of technical success to date, the degree of difficulty of proposed project, and the potential disruptive nature of the technology, among others.

Last Modified: February 4, 2008
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One of ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security. Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities available to university, industry and government researchers. Brookhaven is operated and managed for DOE’s Office of Science by Brookhaven Science Associates, a limited-liability company founded by Stony Brook University, the largest academic user of Laboratory facilities, and Battelle, a nonprofit, applied science and technology organization.

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