Collaboration

For over 20 years, CEIS has helped support university collaboration with dozens of companies in the Finger Lakes region and across New York State. We are fortunate to be located in a region that has a concentration of high technology manufacturing and strong synergies between university research and company focus. CEIS promotes collaboration in two ways: Support of research collaborations between faculty and businesses and community outreach

Collaborative Research

Over the past 5 years, CEIS has invested $4.6 million to support $5.9 million in collaborative research. This research has been leveraged to help our partner companies achieve $48.6 million in increased revenue and $21.8 million in cost reductions, and has resulted in 307 new and retained jobs. We currently support a variety of projects with small, medium, and mid-size companies in the region.

Community Outreach

We host an annual University Technology Showcase with the Center of Excellence in Data Science (CoE) at the University of Rochester where we invite members from the industrial community to learn about your research. There is ample time allowed for networking and one-on-one discussions. This event takes place in the spring and is open to all university researchers working on relevant projects whether or not you have been a past recipient of CEIS funding.

For Companies

At the Center for Emerging and Innovative Sciences, we provide our corporate partners with a tremendous competitive advantage when it comes to developing state-of-the-art products. At a time when many companies are reducing their research and development budgets, we provide access to a rich source of innovation and technology: New York State’s leading research universities. We identify university researchers whose interests match industry needs. We provide matching state funds to magnify the impact of the investment you make as a corporate sponsor.

View our Investigators.

For University Researchers

Are you interested in collaborating with a company on a promising line of research? If you are a research faculty member or scientist at the University of Rochester, RIT, or other participating New York university, we can help. We can match you with a company with similar research interests. And we will provide matching funding to support your industry collaboration

View our Corporate Sponsors.

Funding

Company-Sponsored Research on Campus

The Collaborative Innovative Research (CIR) Program

This is our primary funding mechanism and must be initiated by university-based principal investigators. We provide up to a 50% match for research sponsored by a New York State company. The maximum CEIS contribution is $30,000. Proposals are accepted once a year – in the spring – and funding for selected proposals starts July 1. Submissions are awarded on a competitive basis and are subject to the availability of funds. Proposals are judged on their technical merit and on the amount of economic impact that the research is expected to achieve.

The Short Term Applied Research (STAR) Program

The STAR program is a newer CEIS offering to support smaller, short term research activities. Applications are accepted once a year and awards are made subject to the availability of funds. The maximum CEIS contribution is $5,000 and only requires a 1:1 match.

Our Partners

We work primarily with faculty and scientists at the University of Rochester and the Rochester Institute of Technology although we do support research at other universities in New York. And we work closely with companies in the Finger Lakes region and across the state.

NYSTAR CAT Program

Diversification of Focus

Our focus in the past has been geared heavily toward electronic imaging and associated research in optics and photonics to support the Rochester region’s cluster of economic activity in these areas. While these areas remain prominent, we have broadened our support to include research in biomedical technology, energy, materials, nanotechnology, and electronics. We’ve done this to reflect the ongoing diversification of the Rochester regional economy.

Connecting Industry Leaders with University Researchers

We host an annual University Technology Showcase where we invite members from the industrial community to learn about your research. Our showcase is an important resource for networking and one-on-one discussions. The event takes place each spring and is open to all university researchers with fieldwork in optics, photonics, and imaging, or applications in biomedical, energy, and microelectronics.

University Technology Showcase