FAQs

Q:  In terms of resubmitting shortlisted proposals, are there any formal requirements concerning the revision and extension of our submission with respect to the business aspect? Will the original requirements concerning the length apply? Are there any formal requirements or length limitations for a business plan and market analysis?

A:  No, there are no formal requirements concerning the length of the re-submission. As you are able to go beyond the original page limit, you can address the business requirements with little change to the science/technology components that are already there (though you can update those too if you wish). As well, there are no formal requirements for the business plan and market analysis either, but remember that many of the Selection Committee members have limited time to review the proposals so please don’t get too carried away – or if you do, then for the purposes of the submission, provide us with a succinct focused summary of the main points in each category. The point is to convince us of the disruptive market potential of your project and approach and that you and/or your team are uniquely positioned to make it happen.

Q:  Can Canadian Colleges (e.g. NAIT, Red River College, etc.) enter the DTC?

A:  Yes, but,  at this point, only by partnering with a principal investigator associated with one of the TRLabs affiliated universities (i.e.,  University of Alberta, Calgary, Regina, Saskatchewan or Manitoba).  TRLabs is currently seeking to formalize its relationship with Canadian Colleges so that they are able to enter subsequent DTCs directly.

Q:  How can companies take advantage and participate, directly or indirectly, in the TRLabs Disruptive Technology Challenge?

A:  Companies can take advantage of, and participate in, the TRLabs Disruptive Technology Challenge by partnering with a Principal Investigator (PI) associated with one of the Universities affiliated with TRLabs (i.e. the University of Manitoba, Regina, Saskatchewan, Calgary, or Alberta).

Q:   Do you need to have an interested student at the time of proposal submission?

A:   No, you do not need to have a student identified at the time of application.

Q:   Is a submission based on identifying the distinct advantages of a disruptive technology over the current state of the art acceptable?

A:   A submission based on identifying the distinct advantages of a disruptive technology is acceptable and might even be advisable if the follow-on project (i.e. a project that proposes to develop this disruptive technology) requires significantly more funding than is available from TRLabs (after taking into consideration what funding could be raised from other sources).

Q:   Is the $100 000 award amount available every year?

A:   Yes, but multi-year awards will impact the amount that will be available for new projects in subsequent years.

Q:   Can the award be used to fund course work?

A:   The bulk of an award should be directed toward those that will be actively engaged in doing the research. If graduate students will be engaged in this capacity, awards will be structured so that it pays in part or in whole for these students for the duration of their degree (typically a M.Sc. or Ph.D) knowing they will be doing some course work during the time of the award.

Q:   If the proposals are indeed focused on disruptive technology, how come the submission guidelines still require so much detail?

A:   Certainly the more potentially disruptive the technology, the more difficult it will be to respond too many of the application questions. The intent is to help you make the case why your idea is truly disruptive in a way that the selection committee can understand.

Q:   Can I make an application if I currently have funding from sources that already require the rights of first refusal?

A:   Yes, if you can convince your current sources to become members of TRLabs.

Q:   Can a post-doctoral fellow apply?

A:   Yes, if resident at one of the five universities affiliated with TRLabs.

Q:   Do you need to have an interested Principal Investigator (P.I.) at the time of proposal submission?

A:   No, but both student and industry led submissions would need to identify a P.I. prior to the award being disbursed.

Q:   If I submitted a project where I worked 1 day/week (outside of my PhD work), would this still be considered by the committee? If so, can I still submit an application?

A:   Yes, but you’ll need to scale your ask amounts according to the amount of time you'd be spending on it.


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Updated Thursday March 5th, 2009 11:21:35