Texas Proof of Concept Award (Tier 1)
Supports University of Texas researchers with early-stage gap funding to validate emerging technologies across research fields.
The Texas Proof of Concept Award (Tier 1) is a gap-funding program managed by Discovery to Impact, the technology commercialization unit at the University of Texas at Austin. The award provides $25,000 to UT Austin researchers to de-risk early-stage technologies by validating technical feasibility and enhancing market readiness before external funding is pursued. The program is designed to bridge the gap between laboratory discovery and commercialization and is open to researchers from any college, school, or unit across the UT Austin campus. The program has deployed over $1 million across UT Austin innovations since its launch.
Applications are accepted in Fall and Spring cycles. Researchers may receive a maximum of two Proof of Concept awards per year across both the Tier 1 (Texas) and Tier 2 (Texas+) tracks. If a researcher wins both a Tier 1 and a Tier 2 award for the same innovation, the combined funding is capped at $125,000 total. The two tiers may be applied for in any order — sequential application from Tier 1 to Tier 2 is not required. Eligibility is restricted to UT Austin faculty, researchers, and affiliated innovators; external applicants are not eligible. Technology sectors eligible for support are not restricted by field, covering life sciences, engineering, computing, and physical sciences.
The Texas Proof of Concept Award is administered through pocawards@austin.utexas.edu. Exact cycle opening and closing dates are not published on public-facing web pages; researchers should contact the Discovery to Impact office directly to confirm the current application window. Strong applications demonstrate a clear technical risk that the $25,000 award will de-risk, identify the relevant market and potential pathway to commercialization, and articulate what validation or prototype milestone will be reached by the end of the award period.
Gap funding of $25,000 for UT Austin researchers to de-risk and validate early-stage technologies across any field, bridging discovery to commercialization.
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