The Texas Innovation Center provides funding for faculty and students to commercialize their discoveries. This ranges from exploring product feasibility to conducting market discovery of customer demands to developing a proof-of-concept derived from a class project or lab research.
This year, TxIC is partnering with the Texas Proof of Concept (POC) Awards to offer Cockrell Faculty up to $50,000 in commercialization support.
POC Awards are made internally to UT faculty and researchers and have the following two formats:
- Texas POC Awards
- Maximum value of $25,000 in POC Funds
- No matching requirement
- Submit pre-application through this application portal
The next application will open in January 2026 for the Spring 2026 cycle. Email
About Cockrell Innovation Grants
Proof of Concept (POC) Award applicants with a primary appointment within the Cockrell School of Engineering (Cockrell) can also be considered for a Cockrell Innovation Grant.
Cockrell Innovation Grants are meant to help researchers better prepare their technologies and discoveries for commercialization. They are designed to move forward pioneering research, translate it into impactful business ventures, and close the funding gap between research and commercialization. Projects with well-defined milestones that are moving toward the marketplace will be prioritized.
Whether faculty are in the early stages of considering a startup venture or have established a company, we welcome them to apply. The awards are intended to help ideas and concepts move forward to evaluate commercial potential. This ranges from exploring product feasibility to developing a proof-of-concept derived from a class project or lab research.
Application Format:
POC Award applicants wishing to be considered for a Cockrell Innovation Grant will complete the POC Awards application with two additional slides in their POC Awards Full Application: 1) Cockrell Innovation Grant Scope, and 2) Business Model.
For full format requirements, please see the application page.
Application Timeline and Process:
For Cockrell Innovation Grants, the same POC Awards timeline and process will be used.
Review and Selection Process:
For Cockrell Innovation Grants, the same POC Awards review criteria will be used, except that the review committee will also include members of the Texas Innovation Center Board. These external, non-UT board members will have signed appropriate confidentiality agreements to cover any confidential or proprietary information.
Final award decisions will be made by the Managing Director of the Texas Innovation Center.
Reporting:
The same POC Award reporting requirements will be used for Cockrell Innovation Grants.
Eligibility:
The same POC Award eligibility requirements will be used, except that applicants may only apply for and receive one Cockrell Innovation Grant every two years, and applicants must commit to completing a NSF I-Corps Regional or National program before or during the course of their proposed work.
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