Research Customization Program

In January of 1997, the Research Customization Program (RCP) was launched to increase member benefits by providing the flexibility for eligible members to directly select a few university projects that are of particular interest to that member. The projects that a member selects must be consistent with the GRC mission, and suitable for university research. Unless a unique situation exists, the nominal commitment is for three years of at least $50K per year, which is the bare minimum for a project with a Ph.D. candidate to achieve meaningful results.

Research Selection and Management Process

• A member company ascertains the amount of funding available for Research Customization Programs. The Finance Department provides quarterly reports outlining the available funding to the Executive TAB (ETAB) representative and Board of Director of eligible members.
• A member company makes a preliminary selection after reviewing a short written description of the planned research. The ETAB representative for the member company makes the final selection of the project after receiving inputs from within the company.
• The ETAB representative then verifies the nature of the desired research with the Principal Investigator (PI), provides the PI with the name of the Liaison(s), obtains a Proposal ID from SRC, and requests the PI to submit a formal proposal in the standard format to GRC.
• The ETAB representative provides an official authorization for funding to GRC.
• When the GRC has received both the proposal and the member company authorization, the project is reviewed by the Research Management Committee (RMC). Projects meeting the RCP project guidelines will be approved for funding.
• A standard GRC contract is made with the university. The appropriate Thrust Area implements and manages the project in a manner similar to the other projects in the research portfolio.

Portfolio management includes the opportunity for all members to attend the annual program review. Groups of similar programs are usually scheduled together for annual review by the Thrust Area monitor. Other members may also assign Liaisons to the program to monitor progress. The Research Catalog page which contains research goals, task background, description, and deliverables along with links to research results and student participants is available on the secured website. The primary exception to the research management process is that only the sponsoring company has the authority to demand a significant change in the project (including redirection and/or termination).

Background Intellectual Property

Background Intellectual Property (BIP) is defined as patents, patent applications, or computer software of any party that is required to practice the anticipated results of the research. GRC funds University research on the condition that GRC Member companies will have the freedom to practice the results of the research. The existence of BIP of any party can seriously impair or even block the ability of GRC Members to exercise this freedom to practice. Therefore it is important that GRC be informed as early as possible of the extent, if any, that your proposed research requires the use of BIP. If you have any questions, please contact the SRC Contracts and Intellectual Property Office at 919-941-9400 or by email.