42 U.S.C. § 19111 — Planning and capacity building awards

(a) In general — Under the program established in section 1862p–2 of this title and the activities authorized here, the Director^* must competitively award Directorate funds to eligible entities. The Director must coordinate with other federal agencies when the Director considers it appropriate. The awards must advance the development, adoption, and commercialization of technologies, consistent with the Directorate's purposes in section 19102 of this title.

(b) Eligible entity — To receive an award, an entity must be:

(1) an institution of higher education^*, which may be a community college, or a consortium^* of such institutions;

(2) a nonprofit organization that is affiliated with an institution of higher education or is designed to support technology development or entrepreneurship; or

(3) a consortium that includes:

(A) an entity described in paragraph (1) or (2) as the lead award recipient; and

(B) one or more additional individuals or entities that are:

(i) an economic development organization or similar entity focused mainly on improving science, technology, innovation, or entrepreneurship;

(ii) an industry organization or firm in a relevant technology or innovation sector;

(iii) an industry-experienced executive with entrepreneurship experience who is focused mainly on reducing the scientific and business risks of technologies; or

(iv) an individual or entity with industry and startup expertise, including a mentor network, across relevant technology or innovation sectors.

(c) Use of funds — In addition to the activities listed in section 19103 of this title, an eligible entity may use its award to:

(1) identify academic research with potential for technology transfer and commercialization, especially research relevant to the Directorate's purposes in section 19102;

(2) ensure that staff are available, including technology-transfer professionals, entrepreneurs in residence, and other mentors needed for this section's purpose;

(3) help pay the domestic and international costs of patenting and licensing research products;

(4) revise institution policies, including intellectual-property and faculty-entrepreneurship policies, and take other necessary steps to use relevant best practices^* for academic technology transfer;

(5) develop local, regional, and national partnerships among higher-education institutions and between those institutions and private-sector entities and other relevant organizations, including investors. These partnerships must build networks, expertise, and other capacity to identify promising research with possible market value and help researchers further develop and transfer their ideas for possible commercial or other uses;

(6) develop seminars, courses, and other educational opportunities for students, postdoctoral researchers, faculty, and other relevant higher-education staff. These opportunities must increase awareness and understanding of entrepreneurship, patenting, business planning, research security, and other areas relevant to technology transfer, and connect students and researchers with relevant resources, including private-sector mentors; and

(7) create, support, or fund entities or competitions that let entrepreneurial students and faculty show the commercialization potential of their ideas, including through higher-education institution venture funds.

(d) Limitations on funding:

(1) Awards must last at least three years and may not exceed $1,000,000 per fiscal year.

(2) Awards may not support developing or operating capital investment funds.

(e) Application — An eligible entity seeking funding must submit an application to the Director at the time, in the way, and with the information and assurances the Director requires. At a minimum, the application must describe:

(1) how the entity plans to continue the proposed activities after the award ends;

(2) the steps the applicant will take to enable technology transfer and adoption, and why those steps are likely to work;

(3) how the applicant will encourage training and participation by students and potential entrepreneurs and the movement of research results into practice, including the development of new businesses;

(4) when relevant, potential steps to drive economic growth in a particular region by collaborating with industry, venture-capital entities, nonprofit organizations, and state^* and local governments in that region; and

(5) background information the Director considers relevant to show that the applicant's proposed models for supporting innovation and entrepreneurship can successfully commercialize technologies.

(f) Collaborative innovation resource center program:

(1) In general — The Director must award funds under this section to eligible entities to establish collaborative innovation resource centers. The centers promote regional technology-transfer and technology-development activities that are available to more than one institution of higher education and to other entities in a region.

(2) Use of funds — An eligible entity receiving an award under this subsection must use the funds for one or more of the following activities, for the benefit of the region where the center is located:

(A) Give start-ups and small business concerns, as defined in section 632 of title 15, in the region access to facilities, scientific infrastructure, personnel, and other assets needed for technology maturation.

(B) Support entrepreneurial training for start-up and small-business personnel.

(3) Provide students enrolled in participating higher-education institutions with engineering and entrepreneurial experiences and hands-on training.

(g) Reporting on commercialization metrics — The Director must establish:

(1) commercialization-related metrics for an award under this section; and

(2) a reporting schedule for award recipients that accounts for both the short-term and long-term goals of the programs under this section.

(h) Geographic diversity — The Director must ensure regional and geographic diversity when issuing awards.

(i) Authorization of appropriations — From funds authorized for the Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships, $3,100,000,000 is authorized for activities under this section for fiscal years 2023 through 2027.