Opportunities for Funding U.S.-Israel Cooperation in Innovative Homeland Security Technologies

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Jul 30, 2012, 07:15 ET

TEL AVIV, Israel, July 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

The BIRD Foundation announced its next funding cycle with a call for U.S.-Israel joint project proposals focusing on innovative R&D collaborations between U.S. and Israeli companies. In general, to be considered, a proposal should have significant commercial potential and the project outcome should lead to commercialization. Relevant R&D topics include Life Sciences, Cleantech, Communications, Electronics, Software, Homeland Security, etc.

With the goal of enhancing U.S.-Israel collaborations in Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Israeli Ministry of Public Security (MOPS) have recently shared with the BIRD Foundation a list of high-priority topics in the areas of First Responders, Disaster Management, Cyber Security and Explosive Detections. A joint DHS-MOPS document specifying high-priority topics for research and development collaborations can be downloaded from http://www.birdf.com.

The maximum conditional grant per project is up to 50% of the R&D costs associated with the joint project, and no more than $1 million per project.

The application process is web-based and requires prior discussion with the BIRD Foundation. Executive Summaries are due by September 23, 2012. Final full scale proposals are due by October 23, 2012. Decisions will be announced December 18, 2012. Please refer to BIRD's website for submission details - http://www.birdf.com.

About the BIRD Foundation

The BIRD (Binational Industrial Research and Development) Foundation works to encourage cooperation between Israeli and American companies in the various areas of technology, and provides free assistance in locating strategic partners from both countries for developing joint products. Since 1977, the BIRD Foundation has invested in more than 850 projects, which have yielded direct and indirect revenues of about $8 billion.

The BIRD Foundation supports projects without receiving any rights in the participating companies or in the project itself. The financial assistance is repaid as royalties from sales. The Foundation provides support of up to 50% of a project's budget, beginning with R&D and ending with the initial stages of sales and marketing. The Foundation shares the risk and does not demand that the investment be repaid if the project fails to reach the sales stage.

The BIRD Foundation works in full cooperation with the Chief Scientist's Office at the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Labor in Israel, and with the U.S. Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

For further inquiries:

Dr. Eitan Yudilevich
[email protected]
Tel: +972-3-6988300

SOURCE The BIRD Foundation