R-3 What Happens
to Nonfunded Projects?
Through cost-shared funding
awards, the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) helps companies pursue
high-risk Research and Development (R&D) with great potential for
broad-based economic benefit. To assess the funding impact of an ATP
award, one can consider what happens to project proposals that are not
selected for an award. Evidence from the Survey of ATP Applicants
2002 indicates that without ATP support these projects are generally not carried
out as originally proposed.
Nonawardees
were asked to indicate whether they are currently carrying
out any part of the project they proposed to ATP. They were
asked to describe any current effort as larger, smaller,
or about the same as originally proposed to ATP. These survey
data were collected about 18 months after ATP’s decision
not to award funding to these projects in the 2002 competition. |
Most
nonfunded projects are either no longer active or have
been greatly reduced in scope
- When
ATP decides not to fund a proposed project, the company
applicants often do not carry out the work on their
own. Among Nonawardees, 39% report that their company
is no longer pursuing any part of the project (see
Figure 1).
- Among
Nonawardees, 44% report they are still working on
their proposed projects on a scale smaller than what
was proposed to the ATP (see Figure 1).
- These
findings are very similar to what was found for the
year 2000 Nonawardees.
- Among
those Nonawardees reporting that their proposed projects
are being conducted on a smaller scale, the vast
majority (87%) indicate the project is now “less
than 40%” of the scale initially proposed to
the ATP. Over half (57%) describe it as “less
than 20%” of what was originally proposed (see
Figure 2). A similar pattern was found for the year
2000 applicants.
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Figure 1 - Current
Status of Nonfunded Projects (Year 2002 ATP Competition)
Note:
Data shown based on 458 Nonawardees.
Figure 2 - Current
Scale of Effort for Nonfunded Projects with Some Continued Company
R&D Activity
Note:
Data shown based on 197 Nonawardees who reported that they are still working
on their proposed ATP project, though on a smaller scale than what was originally
proposed.
Many nonfunded
joint venture projects are no longer active as R&D collaborations
- ATP fosters R&D
collaboration among companies by supporting research joint ventures,
which allow companies to share the risk of R&D and gain synergies
from combining complementary skills and resources.
- Forty joint venture
proposals were represented among the Nonawardees asked to respond
to the survey. For 30 of these joint ventures, one or more companies
responded to the survey.
- For half of these
30 joint venture proposals, at least one company reports they are
no longer working on any part of the proposed project. This may be
an underestimate of the degree to which companies abandon these proposed
joint venture projects, since companies no longer working on any
part of the project are probably less likely to respond to the survey.
Companies seeking to partner
with the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) submit proposals to the ATP.
Proposals must be for the development of innovative technologies that
could not obtain private funding due to the high technical risk and that
have the potential to produce widespread benefits to the economy and
society. Proposals are evaluated for technical and economic merit in
a rigorous competitive review process.
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Date created: July 22,
2005
Last updated:
August 11, 2005
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