The Blazer Bridge Fund, underwritten and administered by the Bill Harbert Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (HIIE), is an early-stage translational fund aiming to support the development of novel intellectual property (IP) to attract licensee interest and/or position the technology for intellectual property protection.
The Blazer Bridge Fund is slated to fund five to six projects per round at a maximum of $50,000 per project. The 2024 funding round is now open for applications.
APPLY NOW Opens an external link.
Please note: Upon submitting your application, you should receive a confirmation email. If you do not receive this confirmation email, please email Nadia Cantu at
Eligibility
Faculty members, staff, and postdoc IP contributors are eligible to apply. Graduate students may apply with a faculty lead.
To be eligible for the award, the applicant must submit or have previously submitted an IP disclosure covering the proposal's project.
If you have issues with your submission, please contact
Terms of Award
The funds must be spent within 12 months of the award date, and a no-cost extension may be available on request. Applicants may submit multiple proposals.
The Blazer Bridge Fund supports:
- Prototype or software development
- Contract work with CROs
- Wages for students, if allowed under departmental/UAB rules*
- Wages for consultants
- Humanization of antibodies
- Research that leads to enhancing existing IP, including lead optimization, toxicity studies, etc.
*Please note that salary support is restricted to $10,000 per award, and no salary support for UAB faculty and staff is allowed.
The Blazer Bridge Fund WILL NOT support:
- Target discovery or high throughput screening (HTS)
- Basic research
Further, if the project funded by the BBF is commercialized and results in revenue to the HIIE, the HIIE will reimburse the BBF award amount to the fund (similar to patent cost reimbursement) before distributions are made, per UAB Patent Policy.
Application, Timeline, and Evaluation Process
- Timeline:
- April 1: Applications open
- May 17: Application deadline
- May 27: Evaluation process begins
- August 31: Evaluation process ends
- September 17: Winners announced
- October 1: Beginning of award use period
- An internal committee will evaluate proposals and select 10 to 15 semifinalists.
- An external committee will evaluate all the semifinalist proposals.
- Both the internal and external committees will evaluate proposals based on the criteria listed below.
- The internal committee will provide feedback to all applicants, and both committees will provide feedback to semifinalists.
- Awardees must provide an account number within two weeks after the winners' announcement to maintain their award.
- Awardees must provide a mid-year update by March 15, 2025, and a final update no later than two weeks after the 12-month award period.
BBF Proposal Evaluation Criteria
- Project outcome
- Commercial promise
- Development status
- Approach
- Expertise
- Prospects for raising additional capital
TThe Blazer Bridge Fund aims to foster collaboration across UAB departments and schools. Therefore, projects involving cross-disciplinary or interdepartmental collaboration will receive additional consideration.
Previously Successful Proposals
- First-ever Blazer Bridge Fund grant recipients announced
- Faculty member’s Blazer Bridge Fund project aims to support classroom teachers
Apply
APPLY NOW Opens an external link.
Please note: Upon submitting your application, you should receive a confirmation email. If you do not receive this confirmation email, please email Nadia Cantu at
Contact
For questions about the BBF, please reach out to your Licensing Associate or send an email to