Earlier this month, a new $12 million state funding program for life sciences research was launched. (We published a story about this state matching-grant program back in October when the program was first approved.)
There are 3 types of grants:
- for industry-sponsored research at universities/colleges—$250,000 per year for up to 3 years (must be matched 1:1 by industry partner)
- for “nationally prominent” faculty per year for up to 3 years (must be matched 1:1 by the research institution)
- for new investigators —$100,000 per year for up to 3 years (must be matched 1:1 by the research institution)
The bidders conference for the new investigators grants will be this Friday, Feb 29 in downtown Boston.
Deadlines can be found here
This new program is part of Gov Patrick’s $1B life sciences plan that is now being debated in the state House. Press reports have said that the bill should pass relatively unscathed pretty soon.
In time for this (or perhaps a little too late), the Globe has today an op-ed giving 10 reasons why the “biotech giveaway” is a “bad idea.” (Reminder: the plan includes $250M in tax breaks for the biotech industry) Jim Stergios, executive director of a Boston-based policy think-tank writes:
Attempting to stimulate the economy by buying jobs and subsidizing selected industries is the road to ruin. A far wiser path would be to leverage the skilled, educated workforce that is our greatest economic advantage by controlling the costs that chase jobs away from Massachusetts. That will take the hard work of reform and compromise, not more announcements about how the government is buying jobs.