Working with CASE

CASE Helps Companies – and Faculty – Find Support for Collaborative Research

CASE Research Collaboration Grants

CASE, the Syracuse University Center for Advanced Systems and Engineering, is a NYSTAR-designated Center for Advanced Technology, or CAT, and receives support from the Empire State Development Division of Science, Technology, and Innovation, NYSTAR, to provide cost-sharing grants in support of collaborative research between NYS businesses and Syracuse University investigators.

CASE supports SU collaboration with company partners to conduct research aimed at developing and improving products and services that utilize large quantities of different types of information about the environment (physical, biological, cyber) or human behavior (marketing, financial, social networks) analyze the information and determine an appropriate action or response. These systems depend on sensors, hardware, software, humans and on reliable and secure information networks both wired and wireless. Specific applied research areas will include high assurance software and systems including cyber security and verification, distributed networks and data mining including information fusion, situation awareness for unmanned systems, real-time targeted customer data delivery, and wireless telecommunications. CASE’s capabilities are expressed as interdisciplinary expertise in complex information intensive systems, including monitoring and control, predictive analysis, intelligence, security, and assurance.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, and anticipated NYS economic impact is the primary criterion for project selection.

 Matching Grants Overview & Eligibility Requirements

• Applicants must be an eligible PI at Syracuse University.
• Applicants must have a genuine collaboration with an NYS for-profit company that can have potential significant impact on the economic development in NYS.
• The CAT grants require collaborative applied research between a Syracuse faculty member and New York State (NYS) for-profit company partner having a sponsored research agreement in place with Syracuse University.
• The industry partner must have a fixed place of business in New York State employing regular full-time employees that either: a) has its worldwide corporate headquarters in New York State; or b) has a business unit with which the PI is collaborating having a fixed place of business in New York State housing its business unit headquarters, research, development, or manufacturing facilities.
• The Syracuse University CAT funds projects with potential for applications in information systems, sensor networks, wireless communication, cybersecurity, and related domains.
• A letter of commitment, including the specified funding contribution, by the NYS company (to be matched by a CAT grant, if awarded).
• Outcomes of awarded projects should lead to quantifiable economic impacts in NYS.
• The proposed work may be related to and expand upon ongoing research work, but it must not duplicate projects funded elsewhere.

If you don’t have a company partner, we can help you identify possible matches.

Award Amounts and Industry Partner Obligations

CASE provides CAT grant cost-sharing of up to $50,000 per year and are renewable for projects longer than one year in duration. The NYS company partner must provide at least a 2:1 match to the awarded CAT funds.  A company having its principal place of business in NYS and fewer than 100 total employees is eligible with 1:1 match.

The company commitment letter must provide a statement relating the impact of CASE funding to date, the potential impact of additional CASE funding, as well as the impact of other any other NYSTAR or NYSERDA funding or support company has received.  Impact should reflect both the improvement or development of new products and services in NYS, as well as economic value of the research collaboration activity and outcomes.

For a multi-investigator CAT project, support will be based on total company matching dollars of all investigators on the project.

Matching funds and CAT funds must be expended at approximately the same rate during the period of the award.

The expectation is that the company support will be a cash match. Per NYSTAR, an “in kind” match is not a cash match. PIs may contact us for clarification.

Non-NYS companies and not-for-profit entities may be part of a proposal, and may support the project monetarily.  These funds cannot be counted towards the NYS partner cash match requirement.

Budget Restrictions

CASE funds cannot be used for building renovations, faculty salaries, foreign travel, entertainment, consultants, journals and books, or office equipment. Requests for equipment must be preapproved by NYSTAR.

How to Apply for CASE Matching Grants

The application process for an SU PI with an industry partner requires completing the following documents and submitting via email to Jeff Fuchsberg, Director of CASE, at jrfuchsb@syr.edu :

1. CASE Research Collaboration Grants Overview
2. CASE Company Letter Template (To be completed by company partner)
3. CASE Economic Impact Letter (To be submitted annually by company partner – we will follow up with the company at the appropriate time, but want companies to be aware of this obligation at project inception)
4. CASE Application Narrative (To be completed by SU PI with company input)
5. CASE Project Budget (To be completed by SU PI with company input)

For any questions or additional information, please contact Jeff Fuchsberg, Director of CASE, at jrfuchsb@syr.edu