Research Categories

The Competitive Advantage Awards program invests in researchers of exceptional quality to create a competitive advantage in three strategic areas: Sustainable Systems (SUS), Information Communication Technologies (ICT) , and Biosciences (BIO).  The purpose of the CAA program is to identify research proposals that have the greatest potential to secure significant federal grants following a Science Foundation Arizona investment award.

The Small Business Catalytic funding program focuses on making “seed” investments in innovation at Arizona’s research-performing institutions that potentially have high-impact commercial outcomes.  SFAz investments are intended to leverage the ability of Arizona’s researchers to secure larger amounts of funding for technology commercialization.  Companies created as a result of SFAz investments must remain in Arizona for a minimum of five years. The purpose of this focus is to create a catalyst for technology development, company formation and high-tech job creation in Arizona.

The Strategic Research Group investments seeds partnerships between researchers at research-performing institutions and industry partners in areas of strategic importance to Arizona . The purpose of this investment is to increase the probability of attracting major federal research center funding or large group grants.  Each investment proposal must define how it manages and/or leverages intellectual property to the competitive advantage of Arizona.

Bisgrove Post-doctoral Scholars Program

The future of Arizona and the nation is linked to the creativity and competitiveness of the next generation of academic researchers in science and engineering.  To this end, SFAz has initiated a new program for the recruitment and mentoring of top-tier, post-doctoral scientists and engineers in Arizona. This program is named the Bisgrove Post Doctoral Scholar Award ('Bisgrove Scholars'), in recognition of businessman and philanthropist, Mr. Jerry Bisgrove, who made a $25 million donation to SFAz in 2007 to help create a stronger culture for science and engineering entrepreneurship in Arizona.  Read More