Purdue University researchers at all campuses could receive an award of up to $50,000 to develop their innovations for the marketplace.
Purdue faculty, staff and researchers who have submitted a disclosure to the Purdue Innovates Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) are eligible to submit proposals for the Trask Innovation Fund. The fund supports short-term projects that enhance the commercial value of Purdue intellectual property.
The application deadline is Sept. 25, 2026. Researchers should inform their OTC Business Development Manager of their intent to apply at least two weeks before the deadline.
Applications must be submitted to apply4Trask@prf.org. Within 45 days of the deadline, Purdue Innovates will shortlist applicants invited to the Trask Innovation Fund Advisory Council meeting, based on internal review.
More information about Trask Innovation Fund eligibility and submission guidelines is available online.
Criteria to determine recipients and their award amounts are:
- The significance of the invention
- Its stage of development
- Its commercialization appeal
- The path to commercialization
- The intellectual property landscape
- The applicant’s commitment to commercialization
There are three Trask Innovation Fund tracks:
- Innovation Sparks for Life Science and Medical Devices. Eligible innovations are life sciences and medical devices applications including, but not limited to, therapeutics, drug discovery and development, diagnostics, and agriculture. The technology must not be under any option or license.
- Innovation Sparks for Physical Sciences. Eligible innovations are engineering, chemistry and computer sciences applications and other fields outside of life sciences. The technology must not be under any option or license.
- Commercialization Partner Spark. Technologies in any domain are eligible if OTC has signed an option agreement with a potential licensee or the applicant is engaged with PRF to establish a commercialization partnership and will sign an option for the technology before receiving Trask funding.
Abhijit Karve, OTC’s director of business development, said the funding supports projects to make intellectual property even more appealing to companies.
“The additional validation these projects provide often are what companies want to see before they license intellectual property,” he said. “Previous Trask funding has been used by Purdue researchers to develop prototypes, conduct tests, support students and generate data.”
