In the Partnerships for Innovation program NSF seeks to stimulate and capitalize on innovation by catalyzing partnerships among colleges and universities, state and local governments, the private sector and other relevant organizations. Key factors in the innovation enterprise include creation of and access to new knowledge; a scientifically and technologically literate workforce prepared to capitalize on new knowledge; and an infrastructure that enables innovation. For the purposes of this program, innovation explicitly extends both to developing the people and tools and to creating the necessary organizational conditions to foster the transformation of knowledge into the products, processes, systems and services that fuel economic development, create wealth and generate improvements in the national standard of living. The academic institutions that are NSF's traditional clientele play an essential role in generating new knowledge and creating a scientifically and technologically literate workforce.

Partnerships are an important means for developing an innovation capability that links new knowledge and a knowledge-rich workforce to economic growth and other societal benefits. Partnerships involving various combinations of colleges and universities, private sector firms, and local, state, and federal governments, have the potential to increase the value of each of the partners' portfolios, and to mobilize innovation in a systemic manner. For example, private sector firms gain access to new knowledge and a workforce that can capitalize on it; academe gains financial support, the ability to capitalize on intellectual property, and access to real-world problems for field training; and local and state governments gain sustainable regional and local economic development activities. The innovation process is facilitated by students moving into the workplace.

Some of the nation's colleges and universities have a long tradition of active research and education programs and strong connections to the private sector, and many have offices responsible for enabling knowledge transfer and stimulating the growth of new businesses. However, few academic institutions have all of the necessary capacity to provide the infrastructure to foster innovation. Institutions that have not participated as actively in Federal R&D programs may not have capabilities and infrastructure that are as finely honed.

Likewise, many states have taken action to develop programs that facilitate innovation. Colleges and universities in some states have access to an infrastructure that allows them to tie their research emphases to areas the state regards as important. This infrastructure enables innovation at the state and local level where innovation generally happens; at the same time it enhances the institutions' ability to conduct research. States without this infrastructure may find it more difficult to take full advantage of opportunities for innovation.

The Partnerships for Innovation program is intended to forge connections between new knowledge created in the discovery process to learning and innovation, while broadening the participation of people and institutions in NSF activities. For the purposes of this program, innovation is defined as the transformation of knowledge into the products, processes, systems and services that fuel economic development, create wealth and generate improvements in the national standard of living. The goals of the program are to: 

• Stimulate the transformation of knowledge created by the national research and education enterprise into innovations that create new wealth, build strong local, regional and national economies, and improve the national well-being; 

• Broaden the participation of all types of academic institutions and all citizens in NSF activities to more fully meet the broad workforce needs of the national innovation enterprise; and 

• Catalyze or enhance enabling infrastructure necessary to foster and sustain innovation in the long-term.

In order to accomplish these goals, proposals may propose any one or combination of the following activities: (1) research, technology transfer, and/or commercialization, (2) workforce education and/or training, and (3) establishing the infrastructure to accomplish or enable innovation. Proposals should show how all activities being proposed are related to innovation as the ultimate outcome.  Proposals should also have a plan to ensure that the innovation can be sustained in the long term.  Innovation should be the proposed outcome.  Formation of partnerships should not be proposed as the outcome. Appropriate activities for projects in the program might also include the planning and/or implementation of new models for innovation that connect scientific and technological discovery to use through knowledge transfer; education and training activities that explicitly address the workforce needs of the innovation enterprise; and the development and deployment of new tools or mechanisms that support the innovation infrastructure. They may focus on creating a critical level of innovation activity in a technology area, an industry sector, or a geographical region. Since many emerging and small businesses fail for lack of sufficient business or marketing expertise, partnerships could include participation of the business or management schools where appropriate.

At a minimum, proposed Partnerships must include academic institutions as the lead and private sector organizations as partners.  Partnerships that also include state/local government entities are strongly encouraged. The outcomes for proposed activities must foster economic and/or societal well-being that can be self-sustaining in the long term. In all Partnerships, NSF seeks to optimize the participation of the private sector to foster innovation-driven growth per se, as well as to ensure appropriate workforce development activities. Since innovation is critically dependent upon a diverse workforce poised to innovate, Partnerships led by and involving academic institutions of all types are essential for the program's success. The participation of institutions that serve groups currently underrepresented in the science, engineering and technological workforce, as well as those institutions that serve regions and or sectors not yet fully participating in the innovation enterprise, is strongly encouraged. NSF seeks to enhance the roles such institutions play in contributing to and participating in innovation. 

Partnerships for Innovation may:

• Capitalize upon the shared interests of regional academic institutions, local and state governments and the private sector to contribute to the innovation enterprise;

• Enable small- and medium-sized businesses to utilize the resources and capabilities of academic institutions;

• Promote and enable innovation as a specific goal by increasing the scientific and technological capabilities of the workforce;

• Strengthen the capabilities of all academic institutions to contribute to the innovation process;

• Enable technological innovation through the synergistic development, integration and transfer of new knowledge to partners that can create economic or societal well-being; and

• Create and validate new generalized models that integrate research and education capacity to create a critical level of technological innovation in a state or a region.
  

This competition will support the planning and early implementation of new activities designed to support and sustain innovation in the long-term. Proposed Partnerships may request from NSF total budgets up to $600,000 for total award durations of two or three years.  A complete list of all current Partnerships for Innovation awards, with project descriptions is available at: http://www.nsf.gov/home/crssprgm/pfi/  The list of current awards is not to be interpreted to cover the entire range of activities or goals that can be proposed.