The provincial governments of Alberta and Ontario have reached an agreement to work with academic and industry partners to collaboratively pursue research projects that have strong potential for commercialization, according to an announcement made earlier this month.
The two year Alberta-Ontario Innovation Program (AOP) will be jointly managed by the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) and Alberta Innovates-Technology Futures (AITF). Each province will provide up to $2 million for the project with the aim of industry partners matching those sums in each province as well.
According to an Ontario government backgrounder on the program, AOP "will draw on academic expertise to address challenges faced by industry, such as the conservation of water and energy, developing better insulated building materials, environmental remediation, stormwater management, converting waste into energy, and modular manufacturing and assembly."
In order to participate, applicants will have to go through a two-step selection process, and their proposed projects must span no more than two years.
To be eligible, projects must include at least one industry partner that operates in both provinces, or multiple industry partners that collectively operate in both; a research partner from an accredited Ontario academic institution; and a research partner from an accredited Alberta academic institution.
The first step in the process is submitting an Expression of Interest, due by June 9, 2014. A review committee will assess those EOIs, and select applicants will be invited to continue to the next stage of the application process. Complete details are available on the
AOP website.
Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation