I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5094 

To authorize the National Science Foundation to carry out a pilot program 

to award innovation inducement cash prizes in areas of research funded 

by the National Science Foundation. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 21, 2010 

Mr. LIPINSKI (for himself and Mr. WOLF) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Science and Technology 

A BILL 

To authorize the National Science Foundation to carry out 

a pilot program to award innovation inducement cash 

prizes in areas of research funded by the National 

Science Foundation. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. PRIZE AWARDS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National 

5 Science Foundation shall carry out a pilot program to 

6 award innovation inducement cash prizes in any area of 

7 research supported by the Foundation. The Director may 


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1 carry out a program of cash prizes only in conformity with 

2 this section. 

3 (b) TOPICS.—In identifying topics for prize competi4 tions under this section, the Director shall— 

5 (1) consult widely both within and outside the 

6 Federal Government; 

7 (2) give priority to high-risk, high-reward re8 search challenges and to problems whose solution 

9 could improve the economic competitiveness of the 

10 United States; and 

11 (3) give consideration to the extent to which the 

12 topics have the potential to raise public awareness 

13 about federally sponsored research. 

14 (c) TYPES OF CONTESTS.—The Director shall con15 sider all categories of innovation inducement prizes, in16 cluding— 

17 (1) contests in which the award is to the first 

18 team or individual who accomplishes a stated objec19 tive; and 

20 (2) contests in which the winner is the team or 

21 individual who comes closest to achieving an objec22 tive within a specified time. 

23 (d) ADVERTISING AND ANNOUNCEMENT.— 

24 (1) ADVERTISING AND SOLICITATION OF COM25 PETITORS.—The Director shall widely advertise 


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1 prize competitions to encourage broad participation, 

2 including by individuals, institutions of higher edu3 cation, nonprofit organizations, and businesses. 

4 (2) ANNOUNCEMENT THROUGH FEDERAL REG5 ISTER NOTICE.—The Director shall announce each 

6 prize competition by publishing a notice in the Fed7 eral Register. This notice shall include the subject of 

8 the competition, the duration of the competition, the 

9 eligibility requirements for participation in the com10 petition, the process for participants to register for 

11 the competition, the amount of the prize, and the 

12 criteria for awarding the prize, including the method 

13 by which the prize winner or winners will be se14 lected. 

15 (3) TIME TO ANNOUNCEMENT.—The Director 

16 shall announce a prize competition within 18 months 

17 after receipt of appropriated funds. 

18 (e) FUNDING.— 

19 (1) FUNDING SOURCES.—Prizes under this Act 

20 shall consist of Federal appropriated funds and any 

21 funds raised pursuant to donations authorized under 

22 section 11(f) of the National Science Foundation 

23 Act of 1950 (42 U.S.C. 1870(f)) for specific prize 

24 competitions. 


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1 (2) ANNOUNCEMENT OF PRIZES.—The Director 

2 may not issue a notice as required by subsection 

3 (d)(2) until all of the funds needed to pay out the 

4 announced amount of the prize have been appro5 priated or committed in writing by another entity 

6 pursuant to paragraph (1). 

7 (f) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to win a prize under 

8 this section, an individual or entity— 

9 (1) shall have complied with all of the require10 ments under this section; 

11 (2) in the case of a private entity, shall be in12 corporated in and maintain a primary place of busi13 ness in the United States, and in the case of an in14 dividual, whether participating singly or in a group, 

15 shall be a United States citizen or national, or an 

16 alien lawfully admitted to the United States for per17 manent residence; and 

18 (3) shall not be a Federal entity, a Federal em19 ployee acting within the scope of his or her employ20 ment, or a person employed at a Federal laboratory 

21 acting within the scope of his or her employment. 

22 (g) AWARDS.— 

23 (1) NUMBER OF COMPETITIONS.—The Director 

24 may announce up to 5 prize competitions through 

25 the end of fiscal year 2013. 


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1 (2) SIZE OF AWARD.—The Director may deter2 mine the amount of each prize award based on the 

3 prize topic, but no award shall be less than 

4 $1,000,000 or greater than $3,000,000. 

5 (3) SELECTING WINNERS.—The Director may 

6 convene an expert panel to select a winner of a prize 

7 competition. If the panel is unable to select a win8 ner, the Director shall determine the winner of the 

9 prize. 

10 (4) PUBLIC OUTREACH.—The Director shall 

11 publicly award prizes utilizing the Foundation’s ex12 isting public affairs and public outreach resources. 

13 (h) ADMINISTERING THE COMPETITION.—The Direc14 tor may enter into an agreement with a private, nonprofit 

15 entity to administer the prize competition, subject to the 

16 provisions of this section. 

17 (i) INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.—The Federal Gov18 ernment shall not, by virtue of offering or awarding a 

19 prize under this section, be entitled to any intellectual 

20 property rights derived as a consequence of, or in direct 

21 relation to, the participation by a registered participant 

22 in a competition authorized by this section. This sub23 section shall not be construed to prevent the Federal Gov24 ernment from negotiating a license for the use of intellecVerDate Nov 24 2008 03:17 Apr 22, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5094.IH H5094

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1 tual property developed for a prize competition under this 

2 section. 

3 (j) LIABILITY.—The Director may require a reg4 istered participant in a prize competition under this sec5 tion to waive liability against the Federal Government for 

6 injuries and damages that result from participation in 

7 such competition. 

8 (k) NONSUBSTITUTION.—Any programs created 

9 under this section shall not be considered a substitute for 

10 Federal research and development programs. 

11 (l) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 5 

12 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the National 

13 Science Board shall transmit to Congress a report con14 taining the results of a review and assessment of the pilot 

15 program under this section, including— 

16 (1) a description of the nature and status of all 

17 completed or ongoing prize competitions carried out 

18 under this section, including any scientific achieve19 ments, publications, intellectual property, or com20 mercialized technology that resulted from such com21 petitions; 

22 (2) any recommendations regarding changes to, 

23 the termination of, or continuation of the pilot pro24 gram; 


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1 (3) an analysis of whether the program is at2 tracting contestants more diverse than the Founda3 tion’s traditional academic constituency; 

4 (4) an analysis of whether public awareness of 

5 innovation or of the goal of the particular prize or 

6 prizes is enhanced; 

7 (5) an analysis of whether the Foundation’s 

8 public image or ability to increase public scientific 

9 literacy is enhanced through the use of innovation 

10 inducement prizes; and 

11 (6) an analysis of the extent to which private 

12 funds are being used to support registered partici13 pants. 

14 (m) EARLY TERMINATION OF CONTESTS.—The Di15 rector shall terminate a prize contest before any registered 

16 participant wins if the Director determines that an unreg17 istered entity has produced an innovation that would oth18 erwise have qualified for the prize award. 

19 (n) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

21 (A) AWARDS.—There are authorized to be 

22 appropriated to the Director for the period en23 compassing fiscal years 2011 through 2013 

24 $12,000,000 for carrying out this section. 


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1 (B) ADMINISTRATION.—Of the amounts 

2 authorized in subparagraph (A), not more than 

3 15 percent for each fiscal year shall be available 

4 for the administrative costs of carrying out this 

5 section. 

6 (2) CARRYOVER OF FUNDS.—Funds appro7 priated for prize awards under this section shall re8 main available until expended, and may be trans9 ferred, reprogrammed, or expended for other pur10 poses as authorized by law only after the expiration 

11 of 7 fiscal years after the fiscal year for which the 

12 funds were originally appropriated. No provision in 

13 this section permits obligation or payment of funds 

14 in violation of section 1341 of title 31 of the United 

15 States Code (commonly referred to as the Anti-Defi16 ciency Act). 

Æ 


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