Ontario Centre of Innovation (OCI)
OCI works directly with academia and industry, bringing partners together to solve industry’s innovation challenges.
OCI Funding Programs
OCI has a number of funding programs which are available to University of Guelph researchers. Please review OCI’s website for a complete listing. There is one main funding program in their Industry Academic R&D Collaboration Program stream: Voucher for Innovation and Productivity (VIP) (formerly VIP I and VIP II).
Interested in leveraging your industry funds with OCI?
If you are interested in applying to an OCI program, you are encouraged to contact OCI Business Development and Commercialization Managers Jeff van Heumen and Amir Pahlevanpour and/or Gregor Lawson (lawsong@uoguelph.ca [1]), Industrial Liaison Manager at the University’s Research Innovation Office to discuss your research project and possible funding opportunities.
Application Development
An OCI Business Development Officer aligned with your program of research will be assigned to your file and will work closely with you and the Research Innovation Office to strengthen your application prior to submission.
Intellectual Property (IP)
Terms governing intellectual property must be agreed to by both the University and the Industry Partner and should be discussed prior to the submission of the application to OCI. If your application is successful, these intellectual property terms will be formalized in a research contract with the partner.
If you would like the Office of Research to negotiate non-standard Intellectual Property terms with your industry partner, please contact Gregor Lawson (lawsong@uoguelph.ca [1]) at the Research Innovation Office early in the application process.
Deadlines
Consistent with Minimum Processing Timelines [2], OCI proposals must be submitted to the Office of Research at least two (2) weeks in advance of the proposed submission date to OCI.
Application Submission to Research Services Office
A complete submission package, which includes a completed OR-5 form and full OCI application must be submitted to research.services@uoguelph.ca [3]. See Research Alerts [4] for more detailed information and timelines.
Resources
For More Information
Please contact:
Jeff van Heumen, Business Development Team Lead
Ontario Centre of Innovation
Phone: 226-235-0444
E-mail: jvanheumen@oc-innovation.ca [8]
Amir Pahlevanpour, Business Development and Commercialization Manager
Ontario Centre of Innovation
Phone: 519-500-3306
E-mail: apahlevanpour@oc-innovation.ca [9]
Or
Gregor Lawson, Industry Liaison Manager
Research Innovation Office, University of Guelph
Phone: 519-821-4120 ext. 53351
E-mail: lawsong@uoguelph.ca [1]
For questions related to the University’s administrative process
Please contact:
Kristin Zimmermann, Awards and Agreements Officer
Office of Research, Research Support Services
E-mail: kristin5@uoguelph.ca [10]
Or
Devon Staaf, Senior Grants and Contracts Specialist
Office of Research, Research Support Services
E-mail: dstaaf@uoguelph.ca [11]