Overview

The Moore Inventor Fellows program aims to prrovide freedom and support to promising scientist-inventors at a critical stage of research to capture opportunities that otherwise might be missed. 

In 2019, the competition will focus on early-career staff at major research universities, additional institutions from among the top 50 National Institutes of Health-funded medical schools and universities, and selected non-academic environmental research and patient care institutions. Each eligible institution may nominate two people.

Funding Amount

Each fellow will receive funding for three years at a level of $200,000 per year from the foundation. In addition, the foundation will provide the host institution with $25,000 each year to cover costs associated with administering the grant award, resulting in a total three-year award amount of $675,000. Please note: BWH will cover funds to meet the minimum 15% IDC rate.

Elligibility

Candidates must be faculty, research scientists, postdocs or other full-time staff at eligible institutions. Candidates must be no more than 10 years past receiving the terminal advanced degree in their field (M.S., Ph.D. or M.D.).

Scope

The scope of this call is intentionally wide: proposed projects do not need to fall within our current funding priorities but should be broadly within the program areas of foundation interest (science, environmental conservation and patient care). The exception is for nominees proposing ideas and inventions that target patient care. Within this realm, we seek overlap with our current emphasis on improving the experience and outcomes of patients, including solutions in the areas of diagnostic excellence, medication safety in the community and community-based serious illness care. We aim to support inventions at an early stage that could lead to proof-of-concept work on an invention 2 or advance an existing prototype that tackles an important problem. We seek innovations with the promise of making a long-lasting impact by addressing underlying problems in their field, but a clear path toward commercialization is not a requirement. We are not interested in supporting projects that are already at a stage where significant venture capital is available. As with all our grants, we seek to measure progress toward a defined goal during the three years of support. The foundation’s policy is that intellectual property that results from a grant must be managed and disseminated in a manner that leads to the greatest impact. Each award will include IP terms to reflect the needs of that project.

We recognize that real invention can take surprising turns, so we seek creative individuals who have big ideas, deep knowledge and the courage to take smart risks. We recognize that inventors and innovators come from a diversity of backgrounds, disciplines and experiences, and seek creative individuals across a broad array of academic programs and research departments. Examples of such programs include, but are not limited to environmental science and conservation, oceanography, biology, engineering, physics, chemistry, materials science, neuroscience, public health and gerontology.