Limited Submission Opportunity: 2024 Moore Inventor Fellows

Applications due Sept. 20

This is a joint competition for VU and VUMC investigators. All investigators should follow these instructions.

Vanderbilt (VU and VUMC combined) may nominate up to two candidates for the Moore Inventor Fellows competition. The Moore Foundation aims to support scientist-inventors who create new tools and technologies with a high potential to accelerate progress in the foundation’s areas of interest: scientific research, environmental conservation and patient care. The Moore Foundation recognizes that inventors and innovators come from a diversity of backgrounds, disciplines and experiences and seeks creative individuals across a broad array of academic programs and research institutions. Each fellow will receive $675,000 over three years. Fellows’ departments are required to contribute an additional $50,000 in annual support of the inventor’s work, for a total award of $825,000.

Eligibility

• Must be within 10 years of receiving advanced terminal degree (M.S., Ph.D. or M.D. received on or after 2014).
• Must be faculty, research scientists, postdocs or other full-time staff.
• May come from a broad array of disciplines, including, but not limited to, environmental science and conservation, remote sensing, artificial intelligence, big data, climatology, emerging infectious diseases, oceanography, biology, engineering, physics, chemistry, materials science, neurosciences and public health.
• For patient care, inventions should resonate with the Moore Foundation’s focus on improving the experience and outcomes of patients with solutions that improve clinical diagnosis.

Applications will be evaluated by considering the following questions:

• Rate the candidate’s capabilities as an inventor.
• Rate the potential impact of the proposed project.
• Rate the plausibility of the invention to achieve its stated impact.
• Rate the potential for measurable progress within a three-year period.
• Rate the overall application, considering both the inventor and invention.

See the past recipients, and review the guidelines and FAQs for more information.

Internal review process

Anyone interested in being considered as one of Vanderbilt’s nominees must submit the following (in PDF format) to LSO@vanderbilt.edu by 5 p.m. on Sept. 20, 2023:

1. Statement of invention (no more than two pages, including citations; single-spaced, 12-point font and 1-inch margins). The first paragraph should describe clearly and without jargon the invention, the problem it seeks to address, and its potential impact. The statement of invention should also include the following information:
   1. Description of invention
   2. Stage of invention
   3. Feasibility
   4. Current funding
   5. Importance to the foundation’s focus areas (science, patient care and environmental conservation) – please select one
   6. Potential impact
   7. Risks (please describe any technical risks that might lower chances of success and what you will do to mitigate these risks)
   8. Approach for measuring progress during the grant term
2. Budget narrative that outlines how grant funds will be used (1 page)
3. Brief CV (5-page max.) or NIH Biosketch
4. Statement from department chair to ensure that the nominee has at least 25 percent of their time to devote to their invention and $50,000 in annual direct support from the department (total of $150,000 direct support over the project period).
   1. This can be “in kind” as released time or access to special facilities for which there is normally a charge. This could also include support for undergraduate or graduate students, equipment, supplies and other needs that will enable the fellow to make progress on their work.
   2. Funds that were designated for a fellow’s use before the fellow was awarded a Moore Inventor Fellows award (such as startup funds) do not qualify.

Submissions should reference the program name in the subject line of the email.

If selected as the nominee, you will be asked to complete the application in two separate parts. The preliminary application will be due to the sponsor on Nov. 14, 2023, and the full application will be due Dec. 13, 2023.

Please contact us at LSO@vanderbilt.edu if you have any questions about the program, foundation or internal review process.