PURPOSE:
To recognize ground-breaking innovation and impact in one (1) or more of the following areas:
- Sustainability, Competitiveness, and Resilience of Agricultural Production
- Coastal Food Systems and Marine Conservation
- Food Innovation for Health, Markets and Access
- Working and Natural Landscapes from the College of Agricultural Sciences
The Faculty Innovator Award honors outstanding College of Agricultural Sciences faculty who are actively working to promote the commercialization of university intellectual property through invention disclosures, patent applications, technologies licensed, or spin-off companies formed. The award is based on creativity, novelty, and the commercial benefit to society of the innovation.
NATURE:
One cash award will be made - individuals will receive $1,000 and a team will receive $4,000. Recipients will also receive a commemorative award.
ELIGIBILITY:
Nominees must be current CAS faculty who are actively engaged with the OSU Advantage Office to file invention disclosures, submit patent applications, develop licensed technologies, or form spin-off companies. To be eligible, a significant research effort at OSU must have contributed to the development of the innovation. Individual investigators and teams of investigators are eligible for this award. A team will be defined as two (2) or more people and can exist within a single administrative unit or cross administrative units.
CRITERIA:
Evaluations will be based on the following criteria:
- Outstanding commitment to developing a groundbreaking invention.
- Related activity pursuant to the use of the invention in society.
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The invention has the potential to significantly impact or has already made an impact and brought value to their field of science and society.
- The level of impact can be measured in a number of ways. Examples include, but are not limited to: the number of people impacted or expected to be impacted; economic impact; cultural and societal benefits; economic investment received; sales; number of jobs.
- The nominee’s performance, creativity, and commitment demonstrated throughout the invention and commercialization process.
- The invention’s potential for further development and commercialization/adoption.
NOMINATION MATERIALS:
In addition to the base nomination materials required for all awards (one (1) paragraph bio-summary, letter of nomination, and three (3) supporting letters), nomination packets must also include:
- The nomination packet must include a description of the invention and the status of the intellectual property and licensing.
- If nominating a team, the nomination packet must highlight the combined efforts of all members.
- Professional resume. For teams, a resume for each team member should be included.
- OPTIONAL: No more than three (3) pages of reprinted materials supporting the candidate’s achievements pertinent to this award nomination, such as professional and/or press articles.
Complete nomination packets (combined into one PDF document) should be emailed to CAS-Deans.Approval@oregonstate.edu no later than 5:00 pm on April 28, 2025. Corrections or updates to nomination packets will not be accepted after the nomination deadline.
SPONSORS:
This award is sponsored jointly by OSU Advantage and the College of Agricultural Sciences.