Sponsored by OSU Advantage

The Faculty Innovator Award honors an outstanding Oregon State University inventor who has made a contribution leading to commercialization that significantly impacts their field and society. The award is given based on the criteria of creativity, novelty, and the commercial benefit to society.

Nominations for the Faculty Innovator Award are now closed.

Nomination Process & Criteria

The award is open to any current OSU faculty, emeritus, or retired faculty who has submitted an invention disclosure through the Advantage Office (formerly the Office for Commercialization and Corporate Development) and who are actively engaged with commercializing an OSU innovation at the time of nomination. The nominee must be a primary inventor or creator of an OSU invention disclosure for which a significant research effort conducted at OSU contributed to the advancement of knowledge in the field.

Nominations may be submitted by anyone from the OSU community who is knowledgeable about a successful OSU Inventor. Self-nominations are also encouraged.

   Key Dates

Application Deadline: Friday, April 14, 5:00 pm PST

Selection of the Award Recipient: May 31, 2023 

Awards Ceremony: University Day: September 19, 2023

Questions: Please contact Lynn Nappi

   Award

Awardee: $5,000 & a desktop award

Awardee’s Department: $5,000

Submission Instructions

Nomination material should include a completed Nomination Award Application and a statement explaining why the nominee should be considered for the OSU Faculty Innovator Award. You may include, but are not limited to, a brief background of the inventor, a description of the invention, status of the intellectual property and licensing, and the impact and value the invention has made to the field and society. Please do not exceed 750 words.

OPTIONAL: No more than three (3) pages of other materials supporting the candidate’s achievements, such as professional and/or press articles.

 

 

Selection Criteria

An internal University review team will recommend the top three candidates for consideration. The team will review all nominations and deliberate on whom has shown outstanding commitment in developing a groundbreaking invention and is activity pursuing it’s use in society. The final selection will be made by the OSU Advantage leadership team and will be based on the following criteria:

  • The nominee’s invention has the potential to significantly impact, or has already made impact* and brought value, to their field and society;
  • The nominee’s performance, creativity, and commitment demonstrated throughout the invention and commercialization process;
  • The invention’s potential for further development and commercialization/adoption.

*Level of impact can be measured in a number of ways. Examples include: number of people impacted or expected to be impacted; nice-to-have through life saving; economic: investment received, sales, # of jobs.

 

Award and Notification

The selection of the Faculty Innovator Award recipient will be made by May 31, 2023. The awardee will be notified early June. The awardee will receive a $5,000 cash award in addition to a desktop award to be presented during OSU’s University Day, September 19, 2023. The awardee’s department / unit to which they report will also receive a $5,000 cash award.