EMERGE is an NSF-Supported pilot project powered by Halo

The pilot will help uncover and drive connections that accelerate breakthrough technologies to impact

The U.S. National Science Foundation announced a new $1.2 million pilot effort designed to create new, diverse partnerships among emerging research institutions in U.S. higher education and industry innovators to accelerate breakthrough technologies to impact.

The 18-month effort will be led by Halo, an artificial intelligence-powered technology platform that helps corporate research and development (R&D) teams more efficiently connect with scientific partners and bring innovations to market faster. As part of the NSF-funded pilot, Halo will initially focus on matching industry researchers with academic scientists in materials science and engineering at emerging research institutions, or institutions of higher education that receive less than $50 million in federal research expenditures. By democratizing access to industry partners among a broader set of institutions, NSF seeks to advance and commercialize a growing number of exciting early-stage innovations to address urgent challenges facing the country and the planet. 

Read the complete announcement from the NSF here.

As part of this initiative, our institution now has a presence on Halo, a platform where researchers can discover industry-sponsored funding opportunities, connect with corporate R&D teams, and showcase their work to potential partners.

Key areas of expertise of interest to EMERGE partners:

• Materials Science
• Mechanical Engineering
• Chemical Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Agricultural Engineering
• Aerospace Engineering
• Textile Science & Engineering
• Environmental Science & Engineering
• Civil Engineering
• Chemistry
• Food Science
• Packaging

We encourage you to join our institution’s presence on Halo by creating a free Halo account. This will allow you to:

• Receive updates on relevant partnership opportunities from industry sponsors.
• Explore funding calls and research challenges tailored to your expertise.
• Respond to funding calls quickly and easily (less than one hour!)
• Engage with companies looking for academic collaborators.

If you prefer to receive fewer recommendations from Halo, you can adjust your notification settings in your Halo account at any time.

This is an exciting opportunity for our university’s research community, and we hope you take advantage of it. Please reach out to the Office of Research Development or Zoe with Halo if you have any questions!

Connect with the Office for Research

The Office for Research has tools to support your work as it relates to intellectual property, commercialization, and other topics the commonly arise with industry partnerships.

In addition, many of these projects will operate like grants. So please continue to connect with the Office of Sponsored Programs as you pursue these opportunities!