For the third consecutive year, CooperVision is proud to offer the CooperVision Science and Technology (S&T) Awards Program. The goal of this awards program is to bring recipients and CooperVision scientists together to explore new areas of technology advancement in contact lens applications and enable the translation of concepts into real world solutions. The focus on this year’s program is two-fold: 1) approaches to improve contact lens discomfort, including intervention and management strategies, and 2) technologies to enhance the functionality of contact lenses beyond conventional vision correction.

“The CooperVision Science and Technology awards continue to bear fruit,” said Arthur Back, Chief Technology Officer for CooperVision. “We have converted two of our seedling awardees from 2013-2014 into multi-year translational research awards. We encourage scientists and engineers from all fields to apply their competencies to our S&T needs as we have found that many applicants have embarked on collaborations with CooperVision scientists outside of the awards program. That is an unseen opportunity for applicants to understand; that your ideas and talents might be supported by CooperVision through alternate funding mechanisms outside of the awards program as well.”

The CooperVision S&T Awards Program is comprised of two awards: The CooperVision Seedling Award and the CooperVision Translational Research Award. Research proposals should demonstrate significant potential for research discoveries and technological advancements that CooperVision can rapidly commercialize to improve the performance, enhance the functionality, and/or broaden the use of contact lenses.

The CooperVision Seedling Award is intended to incentivize collaborations with CooperVision in a new research area for a one-year period. The award enables investigators to generate preliminary data that could be used toward a future CooperVision Translational Research Award. The maximum total cash amount for a CooperVision seedling is $100,000, including indirect costs.

A CooperVision Translational Research Award is a multi-year award for a substantive translational research project. Research under this award is milestone-driven in order to remain focused on a well-defined goal. A CooperVision Translational Research Award provides funding for up to two years, totaling up to $400,000, including indirect costs. A maximum of $250,000 can be requested for any one year. A CooperVision Translational Research Award may be considered for renewal at the end of the initial research period.

For information of the application process and materials, please visit http://coopervision.com/our-company/science-and-technology-awards