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October 2017

W.M. KECK FOUNDATION

October 19, 2017Watt Family Innovation Center

[Funding for High-Risk, High-Reward Science]

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INTRODUCTION TO ORD AND CFRKeck Foundation: Funding for High-Risk, High-Reward Science

SEZ ATAMTURKTUR JANE JACOBI KELLY MCSWAIN ANN MARIE ALEXANDER AMBER PADGETT

OFFICE OF RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT (ORD) CORPORATE AND FOUNDATION RELATIONS (CFR)

Sr. Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations

E: amalex@clemson.edu

P: 864-656-7013

Development Coordinator - Corporate and Foundation

Relations

E: day6@clemson.edu

P: 864-656-2247

Assistant Vice President of Research; Director, Office of

Research Development

E: sez@clemson.edu

P: 864-656-3003

Team Leader, Office of Research Development

E: jacobij@clemson.edu

P: 864-656-1296

Program Manager, Office of Research Development

E: kmcswai@clemson.edu

P: 864-656-0260

Development and Alumni Relations DivisionResearch Division

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OVERVIEW OF THE W.M. KECK FOUNDATIONKeck Foundation: Funding for High-Risk, High-Reward Science

The W.M. Keck Foundation was established in 1954 in Los Angeles by William Myron Keck, founder of The Superior Oil Company.

The Keck Foundation is one of the nation’s largest philanthropic organizations, with assets of more than $1 billion.

Mr. Keck envisioned a philanthropic institution that would provide far-reaching benefits for humanity. By taking a bold, creative approach to grantmaking, he created a legacy the Foundation upholds today.

The Foundation focuses its grantmaking on Science and Engineering Research, Medical Research, Undergraduate Education, and Southern California.

Each of Keck’s grant programs invests in people and programs that are making a difference in the quality of life, now and in the future.

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RESEARCH GRANT PROGRAMKeck Foundation: Funding for High-Risk, High-Reward Science

Keck’s Research Program seeks to benefit humanity by supporting projects in two specific areas:

• Be innovative and interdisciplinary and focus on important and emerging areas of research;

• Demonstrate a high level of risk due to unconventional approaches;

• Have the potential for transformative impact, such as the founding of a new field of research, the enabling of observations not previously possible, or the altered perception of a previously intractable problem;

• Not focus on clinical or translational research, treatment trials, or research for the sole purpose of drug development; and

• Fall outside the mission of public funding agencies.

• Be distinctive and novel in their approach, question the prevailing paradigm, or have the potential to break open new territory in their field;

1. Medical Research2. Science and Engineering Research

Projects must:

Research Program awards range from $500K to $5M, but most are between $1M and $2M.

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KECK RESEARCH GRANT PROCESSKeck Foundation: Funding for High-Risk, High-Reward Science

Keck’s research program has a three-step application process.

1. Concept Paper Submission/Consultation with Keck Program Officer• Faculty teams should submit one-page concept papers describing their proposed research project. Up to 8 concept papers can be submitted to the Keck

Foundation (4 in Science & Engineering, 4 in Medical Research) per institution. • Each institution’s Development office submits the selected concept papers to Keck and schedules one conference call with a program officer to discuss

all submitted papers. PIs do not participate in this call. • *NOTE: Amber Padgett is Clemson’s official institutional liaison to the Keck Foundation. Per their requirements, only the institutional liaison can

communicate with the Foundation on behalf of Clemson.• The program officer will provide feedback on concept papers submitted and advise whether or not the proposals should move forward to the Phase I

application. Only one proposal from the Science & Engineering Research area and one proposal from the Medical Research area can be submitted by Clemson University in Phase I.

2. Phase I Application• The Phase I application consists of a project summary (1 page), project description (2 pages), a project budget, and various institutional forms. One

project leader must be defined in the application. • The Foundation will notify those applicants who are invited to submit a full proposal 10 weeks after the Phase I applications are due.

3. Phase II/Full Proposal• Phase II proposals are by invitation only and must be submitted in hard copy form one month after the invitation date. If a full proposal is invited, site

visits or conference calls are conducted at the discretion of the Foundation.

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KECK RESEARCH GRANT TIMELINEKeck Foundation: Funding for High-Risk, High-Reward Science

Keck’s research program has two grant cycles annually. The application cycle being discussed today is the December cycle (awards made in December 2018). Clemson’s internal timeline and deadlines are included on slide 13.

Pre-Application Counseling

Phase I Application Deadline

Notification of Invitation to Submit Full Proposal

Full Proposal Submission Deadline

January 1 - February 15 May 1 July 15 August 15

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WHAT DOES HIGH-RISK RESEARCH LOOK LIKE?Keck Foundation: Funding for High-Risk, High-Reward Science

KECK SCIENCE & ENGINEERING RESEARCH AWARDS - 2017

Cornell University | $1,000,000Team: Darrell G. Schlom (Professor), J.C. Seamus Davis (Professor), Craig J. Fennie (Professor), Eun-Ah Kim (Assoc. Professor), Kyle M. Shen (Asst. Professor)Summary: Researchers at Cornell University will develop an odd-parity topological superconductor (OPTSC) material that will lay the practical foundation for a stable and scalable quantum computing (QC) technology.

Temple University | $1,200,000Team: C. Jeff Martoff (Professor), Eric Hudson (Assoc. Professor - Penn State), Andrew Renshaw (Asst. Professor - Univ. of Houston), Peter F. Smith, Hanguo Wang (Adjunct Professor - UCLA), Paul Hamilton (Asst. Professor - UCLA)Summary: A team of researchers from Temple University, the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Houston plan a laboratory-scale experimental search for a new “sterile” type of neutrino.

Stony Brook University | $1,000,000Team: Lilianne R. Mujica-Parodi (Assoc. Professor), Ken Dill (Professor), Steven Skiena (Professor), Steven Stufflebeam (Assoc. Professor - Harvard), Jacob Hooker (Assoc. Professor - Harvard)Summary: In moving towards the goal of personalized medicine, investigators at Stony Brook University in collaboration with researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School approach brain network connectivity, assessed by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and associated cognitive function, as a dynamic emergent phenomenon.

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WHAT DOES HIGH-RISK RESEARCH LOOK LIKE?Keck Foundation: Funding for High-Risk, High-Reward Science

KECK MEDICAL RESEARCH AWARDS - 2017

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center | $1,000,000Team: Cyrus Ghajar, Peter Nelson, Patrick Paddison, Slobodan Beronja, Stephen Tapscott, Kirk Hansen (Assoc. Professor - University of Colorado)Summary: Using skeletal muscle (SkM) as a model of infertile soil, a team of investigators at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and at the University of Colorado, Denver proposes a series of experiments at the biological and technological cutting edge to specify the molecular mechanisms by which SkM suppresses metastasis.

Mayo Clinic | $1,200,000Team: Jan van Deursen, Darren Baker, Atta Behfar, Hu Li, Andre Terzic Summary: A multidisciplinary team of Mayo Clinic investigators discovered that, in adult mice, senescent cells accumulate in the pericardium with aging and that the systemic elimination of senescent cells from midlife on attenuates fundamental aspects of car-diac aging, including cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, loss of stress tolerance and diastolic dysfunction, all of which are linked to heart failure.

Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Insitute | $1,000,000Team: Duc Dong, Clyde Campbell, Joseph Lancman, Sean ZengSummary: To bypass obstacles related to the use of in vitro cells for regenerative medicine, Sanford Burnham Prebys investigators plan to generate replacement cells by directly converting any cell of choice, while they remain in the body (in vivo).

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WHAT DOES HIGH-RISK RESEARCH LOOK LIKE?Keck Foundation: Funding for High-Risk, High-Reward Science

“Popular” topics for Keck over the past four years:

• Physics and astrophysics• Materials science• Computing• Quantum information

Average team size: Ranges from 2–6, but average seems to be 4–5

Seniority of team: Also ranges; most proposals have at least one full professor as a team member.

• Geophysics• Planetary science• Atomic science• Paleontology

• Marine ecosystems• Cancer• Regenerative tissue• Genomics

• DNA sequencing• Neuroscience• Cognitive science• Biosensors

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WHAT WE’VE LEARNED FROM PAST SUBMISSIONSKeck Foundation: Funding for High-Risk, High-Reward Science

• If an investigator knows what the outcome of the research will be before starting, it isn’t risky. Don’t submit.

• If there is a chance the idea will fail, but if successful, the outcome outweighs that risk of failure, it is risky.

• If NIH or NSF would fund it, the idea likely isn’t risky.

• While the NSF or NIH might never directly say “We can’t fund it; it’s too risky,” reviews from a panel will hold indicators of such. The language might include phrases such as “not enough preliminary data” of “high level of risk.” Keck will actually ask to read panel reviews if a team is invited to submit a full proposal.

• Another route for measuring the innovation level of a concept is to have a conversation with an NSF or NIH program officer to get anecdotal evidence that a concept is highly novel or innovative and not a good match for current programs with government agencies.

• Keck understands the concept of “noble failures,” where the idea didn’t work, but something important was learned anyway.

• Interdisciplinary work is a must. A successful team should be comprised of stars at Clemson who represent different fields. Those who have significant name recognition in their fields are most likely to be funded.

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WHAT WE’VE LEARNED FROM PAST SUBMISSIONSKeck Foundation: Funding for High-Risk, High-Reward Science

In summary, Keck’s bar for innovation is astronomical, but in taking risk and being innovative, a team should never make too many assumptions or the idea will not be funded. There is a balance that needs to be achieved and argued.

Clemson Funding History• Clemson received a Research award from the Keck Foundation in 2000

PI: Dr. Dan Edie, Dow Chemical Professor Emeritus and Research Professor, High Performance Fibers, Composite Materials, Polymer Processing, and Rheology

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FORWARD THINKING: POSITIONING YOUR WORK FOR FUTURE KECK AWARDS

Keck Foundation: Funding for High-Risk, High-Reward Science

1. Keep a file of reviewer comments that state or suggest that your work is too risky, “blue sky,” etc.

2. Subtly solicit such comments from program officers via email so you have a paper trail upon which you can draw in future Keck submissions.

3. Cultivate connections with potential colleagues in Southern California.4. Allow yourself to dream big! Keep a journal.5. Make a habit of following up on out-of-the-box ideas and generating concept papers.

6. Align yourself with other creative thinkers and generate concept papers together.7. Keep an eye on funding agency trends such as the NSF “Big Ideas”; Keck seems to fund projects that are in these areas.

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CLEMSON’S INTERNAL PROCESS & TIMELINEKeck Foundation: Funding for High-Risk, High-Reward Science

VPR Announcement: October 20, 2017Clemson’s Internal Deadline: November 15, 2017Announcement of Selection: November 29, 2017Pre-Application Counseling: January 1 to February 15, 2018Phase I Application Deadline: May 1, 2018

• Solicitation of one-page concept papers for internal review

• Selection of concept papers on the basis of the Keck criteria

• Presentation of selected concept papers to Keck during the pre-counseling period by the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations, the Vice President for Research, and the Assistant Vice President for Research Development. On the basis of this presentation during the pre-counseling period, Keck Foundation program officers will recommend one concept paper per category to advance to Phase 1 application.

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CLEMSON’S INTERNAL PROCESS & TIMELINEKeck Foundation: Funding for High-Risk, High-Reward Science

Submission Format• Single-page concept papers for the Research Program should be in 12-point font

with 1-inch margins and should include: ¤ an overview of the proposed project emphasizing any unique aspects and

pilot studies and identifying under which Research Program category the project falls (medical research or science and engineering research);

¤ a description of the methodologies and key personnel; ¤ a brief justification of the need for Keck support; and ¤ an estimated budget broken down, if possible, by major areas, e.g., personnel,

equipment, consumable supplies, etc.• Authors are free to add other details (e.g., background to put the research into

perspective, description of the institution’s prominence in the field, etc.) while staying within the 1-page limit.

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October 2017

QUESTIONS?

Primary Contacts:

Amber Padgett | day6@clemson.edu | 864-656-2247

Sez Atamturktur | sez@clemson.edu | 864-656-3003