The Delaware Bioscience Center for Advanced Technology (CAT) program supports the growth of Delaware’s economy by fostering innovative research and development activities. The CAT program sponsors four grant mechanisms to attract and retain life science businesses and help to create new high-tech jobs in Delaware. CAT grants are awarded for one year (a one-time no-cost extension may be allowed).

The CAT program is currently accepting applications to three Funding Mechanisms:

• iHIT – Ideas – High-return, Innovative, Transformative
  1. Supports ideas in bioscience research that are in the development stage and promise to have a high economic return for innovative and transformative research projects.
  2. This mechanism intends to support applicants to develop novel lines of multidisciplinary research different from their ongoing research.
  3. Up to $75,000 for 1 year
• ARC – Applied Research Collaborations
  1. Supports bioscience research projects that have a collaboration between Delaware academic and business partners.
  2. Single PI proposal may request up to $100,000; multiple academic PI proposals may request up to $150,000 for 1 year
  3. Industrial Partner must provide project cost share equal to the amount of funding requested from CAT by the academic partner (1:1 match). 
• EPoC – Entrepreneurial Proof of Concept
  1. Supports proof of concept research towards establishing a new Delaware-based business by the end of the grant period.
  2. Up to $75,000 for 1 year

Full proposals are due on or before 03/01/2025 at 11:59 pm.

Eligibility
1. Principal investigators (PIs) from any Delaware academic research institutions are eligible to apply for research funding through iHIT, ARC, and EPoC (see below for more details). Eligible institutions include:

• Christiana Care Health System
• Delaware State University
• Delaware Technical Community College
• Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children
• University of Delaware

2. PIs are NOT eligible to apply for additional CAT funding if they have a current CAT grant at the time of application.

3. PIs must be eligible to serve as a PI at their home institution. Each PI can have only one active CAT award at a time.

Full Proposal Application Information: Applicants are required to submit the following:

• Cover page
• Project Summary (< 30 lines)
• Budget and Budget Justification
• Biographical Sketches for PI and Key Personnel (< 5 pages)
• Specific Aims (1 page)
• Research Plan (< 6 pages)
• Bibliography & References Cited (no page limit)
• Resources and Environment (no page limit)
• Letter of Support from PI's Department Head/Chair
• Partner Letter of Support (for ARC proposals only; < 1 page)
• Plans for Vertebrate Animal Use, if applicable (no page limit)
• Plans for Human Subjects Research, if applicable (no page limit)
• Human Subjects Clinical Trial Forms
• Statement of success from prior CAT awards (1 page), if applicable

Instructions for the FULL Proposal can be downloaded below or found on the DBI CAT website at: DE Bioscience CAT Program.