SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that—
(1) innovation in high technology fields, includ-
ing the development of new generic basic infrastruc-
ture technologies, and the rapid adoption and com-
mercialization of these technologies and processes
are increasingly important to ensuring—
(A) the continued growth of the Nation’s
economy;
(B) the Nation’s continued leadership and
competitive strength in the emerging global
market;
(C) the health and well-being of our Na-
tion’s citizens; and
(D) national security;
(2) United States research universities have
played and will continue to play a vital role in laying
the foundation for innovation in high technology
fields;
(3) timely commercial application of the results
of basic research underway at our Nation’s univer-
sities depends on the actions and skills of business
and labor;
(4) encouraging the participation of State and
local government in the development and commer-
cialization of new technologies is in the Nation’s in-
terest;
(5) many of the industrialized nations with
which the United States competes in the global mar-
ket have developed national policies to support uni-
versity-based innovation and development in high
technology fields and to support rapid commercial
adoption of advanced manufacturing technologies
and processes, including—
(A) reducing the cost of capital to busi-
nesses developing these technologies and proc-
esses;
(B) promoting the continued education of
the workforce; and
(C) providing numerous other measures
designed to lessen the risk and cost to individ-
ual enterprises of long-term investments in new
technologies and systematic upgrades of manu-
facturing processes;
(6) current United States national policy does
not provide similar levels of support of the kinds de-
scribed in paragraph (5); and
(7) in order to accomplish the goals stated in
paragraph (1)(A) through (D), the United States
must develop and implement policies of the kinds de-
scribed in paragraph (5).
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.
(a) UNIVERSITY TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT PRO-
GRAMS.—The Secretary shall establish a program for the
selection of University Technology Development Pro-
grams, in accordance with the requirements of this Act,
that will further the goals stated in subsection (c). Such
program shall provide incentives and assistance to univer-
sities seeking to develop broad university-led programs de-
signed to foster the discovery, evaluation, and initial devel-
opment to the proof of concept stage of commercially
promising basic research undertaken at the university or
universities taking part in the program.
(b) UNIVERSITY-INDUSTRY TECHNOLOGY PARTNER-
SHIPS.—The Secretary shall establish a program for the
selection of University-Industry Technology Partnerships,
in accordance with the requirements of this Act, that will
further the goals stated in subsection (c). Such program
shall provide incentives and assistance for businesses and
universities, in coordination with State and local govern-
ments, to enter into partnerships to develop commercial
applications for new technologies and processes.
(c) GOALS.—The goals referred to in subsections (a)
and (b) are—
(1) continued growth of the Nation’s economy;
(2) the Nation’s continued leadership and com-
petitive strength in the emerging global market;
(3) the health and well-being of our Nation’s
citizens; and
(4) national security,
through the development of innovations in high technology
fields and processes critical to meeting those goals and
promoting the long-term vitality of local communities.
SEC. 4. REGULATIONS.
Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Secretary shall issue regulations—
(1) that specify the required contents and form
of preliminary requests for consideration required
under section 5 and of applications required under
sections 7 and 8;
(2) that establish procedures and schedules for
the approval of preliminary requests for consider-
ation under section 5, and for the selection of Uni-
versity Technology Development Programs and Uni-
versity-Industry Technology Partnerships under sec-
tion 11;
(3) that determine the forms of assistance
available to applicants under section 6, procedures
for determining the cost of completing an application
required under section 7 or 8, and procedures for
determining the amount of assistance each applicant
shall receive under section 6;
(4) that determine the forms of assistance
available to University Technology Development Pro-
grams and University-Industry Technology Partner-
ships under section 12; and
(5) as required under section 15.
SEC. 5. PRELIMINARY REQUEST FOR CONSIDERATION.
(a) TIME OF SUBMITTAL.—After final regulations
are issued under section 4, at a time determined by the
Secretary to be appropriate, and annually thereafter for
an additional 5 years, any party or parties may submit
to the Secretary a preliminary request for consideration
under this section.
(b) CONTENTS.—A preliminary request for consider-
ation submitted under this section shall include—
(1) a description of the proposed University
Technology Development Program or University-In-
dustry Technology Partnership and the ways that it
will further the goals described in section 3(c);
(2) an estimate of the amount and nature of
Federal assistance that will be required in the imple-
mentation of the proposed University Technology
Development Program or University-Industry Tech-
nology Partnership; and
(3) any request for assistance under section 6,
along with an explanation of the reasons for the
need for such assistance and the estimated cost of
completing an application under section 7 or 8.
(c) APPROVAL.—The Secretary shall approve prelimi-
nary requests for consideration that the Secretary deter-
mines show that the proposal has substantial potential to
meet the selection criteria described in section 10. As part
of such approval, the Secretary shall indicate the amount
of assistance under section 6 that will be available to the
applicant.
SEC. 6. APPLICATION ASSISTANCE.
To assist an applicant in conducting research, stud-
ies, business plans, models, and other technical work, as
requested under section 5(b)(3) and necessary for the de-
velopment of an application required under section 7 or
8, the Secretary, to the extent appropriations are available
for such purpose, shall provide—
(1) financial assistance, through grants, loans,
or loan guarantees in an amount not to exceed
$250,000 per application; and
(2) technical and other forms of assistance de-
termined necessary by the Secretary.
Funding under paragraph (1) of this section shall not ex-
ceed 50 percent of the amount necessary for the develop-
ment of such application. After the first year that prelimi-
nary requests for consideration are submitted under sec-
tion 5, not more than 20 percent of the funds appropriated
for carrying out this Act each fiscal year shall be available
for assistance under this section.
SEC. 7. UNIVERSITY TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT PRO-
GRAM APPLICATION.
(a) SUBMITTAL.—A university or universities seeking
to create a University Technology Development Program
whose preliminary request for consideration is approved
by the Secretary under section 5(c) may develop an appli-
cation for submittal to the Secretary under this section.
(b) CONTENTS.—An application submitted under this
section shall set forth the information required by regula-
tions issued under section 4(1), and shall include, at a
minimum, the following:
(1) A detailed plan setting out the nature and
goals of the proposed University Technology Devel-
opment Program including, to the extent possible,
the differences between the proposed program and
existing technology transfer programs, and expected
returns on investment for each of the participants or
investors.
(7) A full description of the nature and dura-
tion of the contributions that each of the partici-
pants has agreed to contribute to the University
Technology Development Program.
SEC. 8. PARTNERSHIP CONFERENCE APPLICATION.
(a) SUBMITTAL.—A party or parties seeking to create
a University-Industry Technology Partnership whose pre-
liminary request for consideration is approved by the Sec-
retary under section 5(c) may form a Partnership Con-
ference for the development of an application for submittal
to the Secretary under this section.
(b) PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENT.—An application
under this section shall be developed by a Partnership
Conference convened for such purpose, which shall consist
of, at a minimum, the following:
(1) The individual faculty members whose re-
search is to be developed and commercialized by the
University-Industry Technology Partnership, or a
fully informed representative of such faculty mem-
bers.
(2) The Governor, or the Governor’s designee,
of the State or States in which the University-Indus-
try Technology Partnership is to be located.
(3) State agencies, in any State in which the
University-Industry Technology Partnership is to be
located, that are charged with developing or carrying
out technology transfer programs or economic devel-
opment programs and which the Governor of such
State determines should participate in the Partner-
ship Conference.
(4) A representative from any local government
in whose jurisdiction the University-Industry Tech-
nology Partnership is to be located.
(5) A representative of any university whose
faculty member or members are to participate in the
University-Industry Technology Partnership.
(6) Representatives of any private enterprise
who will be participating in the University-Industry
Technology Partnership.
(c) PARTICIPANT APPROVAL REQUIREMENT.—An
application may not be submitted under this section with-
out the approval of each of the participants described in
subsection (b). In the case of participants described in
paragraph (1) of that subsection, approval by the individ-
ual faculty members, rather than their representatives, is
required.
(d) CONTENTS.—An application submitted under this
section shall set forth the information required by regula-
tions issued under section 4(1), which shall include, at a
minimum, the following:
(1) A detailed plan setting out the technical
and business goals of the University-Industry Tech-
nology Partnership and the means by which the par-
ticipants will achieve these goals, including, to the
extent possible, the expected returns on investment
of each of the participants. These plans shall include
a business plan for each specific business venture in-
cluded in the goals of the University-Industry Tech-
nology Partnership. Applications proposing multi-
disciplinary or multitiered activities from which spe-
cific business plans cannot yet be developed fully
shall set forth, to the extent possible, the anticipated
areas of economic activity that will benefit from the
research and development activities of the Univer-
sity-Industry Technology Partnership.
(2) The location or locations at which the ac-
tivities of the proposed University-Industry Tech-
nology Partnership will be undertaken, and a review
of the anticipated economic and social benefits to the
community of these proposed activities.
(3) A review of the expected systems integra-
tion and coordinated activities that will be employed
for achieving the goals of the University-Industry
Technology Partnership.
(4) A complete explanation of how the activities
of the proposed University-Industry Technology
Partnership meet the selection criteria described in
section 10.
(5) A full description of all agreements entered
into and expected to be entered into between the
participants for carrying out the University-Industry
Technology Partnership, including agreements relat-
ing to capital and other contributions, patent rights,
copyrights, and royalty and licensing payments.
(6) An explanation of the specific nature of
Federal financial or technical assistance under sec-
tion 12 that the University-Industry Technology
Partnership is seeking, and justification for this re-
quest.
(7) A full description of the nature and dura-
tion of the contributions that each of the partici-
pants in the Partnership Conference has agreed to
contribute to the University-Industry Technology
Partnership.
SEC. 9. ADVISORY PANEL.
(a) MEMBERSHIP.—(1) There shall be established an
advisory panel whose membership shall include—
(A) the Secretary of Labor;
(B) the Director of the National Institutes of
Health;
(C) the Director of the National Science Foun-
dation;
(D) the Director of the National Institute of
Standards and Technology;
(E) the Director of the Advanced Research
Projects Agency; and
(F) the Director of the National Economic
Council.
(2) In addition, the President shall invite one rep-
resentative each of—
(A) the National Academy of Sciences;
(B) the National Academy of Engineering; and
(C) the Institute of Medicine,
to serve on the advisory panel.
(3) In addition, the President shall appoint—
(A) a representative of the business community;
(B) a representative of higher education; and
(C) a representative of organized labor,
to the advisory panel, on the basis of each individual’s ex-
pertise and accomplishments relevant to carrying out the
functions of the advisory panel, and each member ap-
pointed under this paragraph shall be appointed to a term
of 2 years.
(b) FUNCTIONS.—The advisory panel established
under this section shall by majority vote annually rec-
ommend to the Secretary, from among the applications
submitted under sections 7 and 8, no fewer than 25 and
no more than 50 meritorious proposals, and shall assist
the Secretary in undertaking the study required under sec-
tion 17.
(c) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—If a member of the ad-
visory panel has a financial interest in or is otherwise af-
filiated with any participant of a proposed University
Technology Development Program or University-Industry
Technology Partnership for which an application is sub-
mitted under this Act, that member shall not participate
in the assessment by the advisory panel of such applica-
tion.
SEC. 10. SELECTION CRITERIA.
(a) AREAS OF REVIEW.—Recommendations by the
advisory panel under section 9(b), and selections by the
Secretary under section 11, shall be made on the basis
of a competitive assessment as to which applications sub-
mitted best further the goals described in section 3(c), in-
cluding consideration of—
(1) the diversity of the proposals submitted in
terms of size, cost, complexity, duration, and num-
ber of participants;