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Industrial Initiatives
A major CRDF objective stated in its founding legislation is to develop programs that provide economic benefits to the FSU and to the United States. That legislation directed the CRDF to assist in the establishment of a market economy in the countries
of the FSU; to provide mechanisms for FSU scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs
to better understand commercial business practices; and to provide access for U.S.
companies to technologies, talent, and markets in the FSU.
Economic benefit is a factor incorporated into the review of all CRDF programs, even those that are primarily oriented toward scientific cooperation or defense conversion.
In addition, the CRDF has undertaken some targeted industrial initiatives that directly focus on the organizational objective of economic benefit.
By the mid-1990s, the continuing science funding crisis in the countries of the FSU had resulted in a serious deterioration of the research base. Major experimental equipment had become obsolete, and upgrades often were not possible because of domestic budget problems. The second of the CRDF's inaugural programs, the $1.15 million RESC Program, addressed that situation by placing new equipment in selected FSU research facilities to enhance and augment their experimental capabilities. Through its RESC Program investments, the CRDF sought to foster both technological development and sustainable economic growth in the regions served by the equipment.
To determine the best sites for RESC Program installations, the CRDF invited partner countries to submit proposals identifying key facilities and individual equipment that would jointly serve academic and industrial users and boost regional technological capabilities. The Foundation competitively evaluated the eighteen proposals that were submitted and conducted site visits to assess supportive infrastructure, plans for equipment use and access, expected participation by industrial research communities, and long-term viability. The following six RESC awards were made in June 1997: (Click on each photograph to enlarge and see caption.)
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ArmeniaMolecular Structure Research CenterPanosyan, Henry A. (NMR Spectrometer) GeorgiaMining Mechanics InstitutePeikrishvili, Akaki B. (X-Ray Diffraction Equipment)
Republican Center for Structural Research |
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RussiaNizhny Novgorod State UniversityMaximov, George A. (Scanning Probe Microscope and Associated Devices) UkraineKavetsky Institute of Experimental Pathology, Oncology and RadiobiologyChekun, Vasyl F. (NMR Spectrometer) |
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The awards supported purchase, shipping, installation, and first-year operating costs of the major equipment listed as well as user training provided by equipment manufacturers. Research facility management training at Western organizations with experience in the administration and management of shared research facilities and instrumentation was also included.
In the fall of 1997, the equipment was installed at the six RESC sites, and all equipment training and planned facility management training was completed.
The financial crisis in FSU science has made it extremely difficult for scientists and engineers to participate in international conferences. Their insularity has deprived them of opportunities to present research results to peers in their fields and also
has limited scientific communication. International assistance programs, notably those of the ISF and the International Association for the Promotion of Cooperation with Scientists from the Independent States of the Former Soviet Union (INTAS), helped to alleviate the situation in the early 1990s. However, by 1995, domestic FSU programs still had not been re-funded, and the problem of isolation
persisted.
Figure 10 shows the distribution of travel grants by country of the grantee. (Click on figure to enlarge.)
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Figure 10 Travel Grants by Country |  |
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In response, the CRDF Board approved the Travel Grant Program, an industrial initiative to provide FSU researchers with short-term support for participation in meetings of scientific societies or industrial associations in the United States. Only researchers working in applied fields leading to possible near-term commercial outcomes were eligible to apply for support.
The Travel Grant Program targeted those scientists and engineers who had the fewest opportunities for foreign travel—young and former defense sector researchers in the non-Russian countries of the FSU. The application screening process favored applicants who planned to visit American research facilities to explore opportunities for collaboration in addition to participating in scientific meetings. It was a requirement that the travel be the grantees' first visit to the United States.
From mid-1996 through 1997, the CRDF made Travel Grant Program awards totaling approximately $470,000. The awards provided airfare and per diem support to 193 travel grantees. Over the life of the program, host contributions—including waiver or payment of conference registration fees, additional per diem, and local travel funds—amounted to at least $100,000.
At the conclusion of their stay in the United States, all travel grantees were required to submit trip reports describing the accomplishments of their visits. They reported that through face-to-face meetings with American scientists engaged in related or complementary research, they were able to develop a communication network that enhanced the progress of their research when they returned home. Many have written joint publications with American colleagues as a result of their visits, and some have subsequently presented collaborative research proposals to U.S. Government agencies or to the CRDF Next Steps to the Market Program (described below).
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Next Steps to the Market Program
In April 1997 the CRDF Board of Directors authorized a new industrial initiative—the Next Steps to the Market Program. It is a $1.3 million experimental thrust that aims to bridge the critical gap that exists in the FSU between R&D and commercialization. The program facilitates and expedites the movement of research results from the laboratory into products and processes to be offered in the marketplace.
The Next Steps Program supports two modes of activity:
Cooperative R&D Projects carried out by joint U.S./FSU research teams. The FSU partner is typically based in a research or educational institution. The primary American partner must be a for-profit corporation that shares in the project's cost and agrees to future pay-back of the CRDF investment if the project results in revenue.
The CRDF has awarded three Next Steps grants for cooperative R&D projects between Ukrainian researchers and American companies that were developed from contacts the Ukrainian scientists made while they were in the United States under the auspices of the CRDF Travel Grant Program. Other proposals from former travel grantees are pending.
During 1997 a total of $132,000 in CRDF funds was allocated to the Ukrainian side of the three awards. Corporate partners are contributing an additional $405,000 to the joint projects.
Riabtsev, Anatoliy, Donetsk State Technical University, Donetsk, and Mark Benz, General Electric Company, Schenectady, "Electroslag Refining of Titanium Alloys"
(UE2-506)
(Click on photo to enlarge and see caption.)
Business Development Activities to facilitate the transformation of research results into commercial products. Examples of such activities are the following:
With the assistance of experts in technology application and marketing, the CRDF invited 40 Cooperative Grants Program grantees working on projects with a strong potential for commercial applications to submit Next Steps proposals for business development activities. Approximately 30 proposals were under review at the end of 1997.
The CRDF's counterpart agencies in the FSU provide facilitative assistance for Next Steps to the Market Program projects such as ensuring duty-free customs clearances for any equipment or materials shipped for those projects. In addition, partner agencies such as the Russian Foundation for Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises and the Innovation Agency extend special consideration to Next Steps projects for inclusion in their financial support programs.
Commercialization and Technology Management Workshop. In 1997 the State Committee for Science and Technology of Uzbekistan solicited the Foundation's assistance in convening a workshop on the subject of advancing applied R&D projects toward commercial products and processes. The goal of the workshop, scheduled for March 1998 in Tashkent, is to provide a forum for Uzbek participants with scientific, legal, and business backgrounds to work closely with American experts. The State Committee will share the cost of the workshop with the CRDF.
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