Details
| Opportunity Name | Idea to Innovation (I2I) Grants Program |
| Agency | Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) |
| Value | Market assessment — Up to $15,000 Phase I — Up to $125,000 Phase IIa — Up to $125,000 Phase IIb — Up to $350,000 years |
| Indirect Costs | Ineligible |
| Duration | Market assessment — Up to 1 year Phase I — Up to 1 year Phase IIa — 6 to 18 months Phase IIb — Up to 2 years |
Deadlines
| Application due to FSc RO at sciapps@yorku.ca for full review | 10 business days prior to agency submission |
| Application and fully signed ORS checklist due to FSc RO at sciapps@yorku.ca for mandatory review | 5 business days prior to agency submission |
| Final application and fully signed ORS checklist due at ORS for mandatory review | 2 business days prior to agency submission, by 9:00AM |
| Application due at agency | January 8, 2025 March 31, 2025 June 20, 2025 & September 22, 2025 Note: Applications must be submitted on the NSERC online system by 10am to allow ORS enough time to e-approve and submit to NSERC for peer review. |
Objective
- To accelerate the pre-competitive development of promising technology originating from the university and college sector and to promote its transfer to a new or established Canadian company.
- To provide funding to college and university faculty members to support research and development projects with recognized technology transfer potential.
Eligible research and development activities include (but are not limited to):
- refining and implementing designs
- verifying application
- conducting field studies
- preparing demonstrations
- building prototypes
- performing beta trials.
Eligible technology transfer activities include:
- consulting fees to develop the strategy to protect the technology’s commercial value
- market investigation
- consulting fees for business plan, market survey, etc.
- business mentoring by experienced entrepreneurs
- sharing of patenting expenses
- expenses associated with creating a partnership (such as travel, etc.)
Eligibility
See eligibility requirements here.
How to Apply
Proposals under this program must include a detailed technology transfer and commercialization plan prepared and endorsed by the university. Please contact Suraj Shah, Associate Director, Commercialization & Industry Partnerships at shahss@yorku.ca prior to preparing your application.
York University researchers are reminded that all applications for external research funding, including Letters of Intent, must be reviewed and approved by the Office of Research Services before they are submitted to the granting agency. For internal approval, the application must be accompanied by a completed ORS Checklist, which requires the Dean’s signature. Please send the complete application, with the finalized budget and a completed ORS checklist to sciapps@yorku.ca, five days prior to agency deadline.
ORS is accepting electronic applications – the process is outlined here.