We put ideas into action
CooperVision is dedicated to raising the bar on product excellence and creating the next generation of contact lenses. To accomplish this, we maintain a strong commitment to advanced research and development.
The goal of the Science and Technology Award Program is to bring award recipients and CooperVision scientists together to explore new areas of technology advancement. Proposals should demonstrate significant potential for research discoveries within CooperVision key focus areas for 2023. We recognize and highly value the need to find the best ideas that have the potential to deliver benefits to people across the globe.
2023 Focus Areas
The key focus areas for 2023 are:
Understanding Childhood Myopia Development
- Pathogenesis, mechanisms, and risk factors
Technologies to Prevent Myopia Onset, including:
- Prophylactic technologies
- Proposals for glasses, contact lenses, interactive, and combination therapies
Strategies to prevent development of symptomatology in new contact lens wearers, with emphasis on:
- Diagnosis and early intervention therapies for new lens wearers
- Understanding biochemical changes in newly fitted contact lens wearers over time
- Controlled release technologies for delivery of beneficial agents, as well as approaches to improve moisture retention
Impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on Contact Lens Fitting and Diagnostics, including:
- ChatGPT , Bard, etc. – Applications for Optometry and Orthokeratology (Ortho-K)
Award Types
Research proposals may span proof-of-concept through translational stages. For this purpose, two types of awards are offered:
CooperVision Seedling Award
The CooperVision Seedling Award is intended to incentivize collaborations with CooperVision in a new research area for a one-year period. The maximum total cash amount for a CooperVision seedling is $100,000.
CooperVision Translational Research Award
The CooperVision Translational Research Award is a multi-year award for a substantive translational research project with funding over two years, totaling up to $400,000.
Applicant Eligibility
Any researcher with Principal Investigator (PI) status holding a MD, OD, or PhD is eligible to apply. Applicants, such as postdoctoral fellows, with a waiver of PI status must submit appropriate documentation before funding can be received.
To Apply
Submission of a Letter of Intent (LOI)
Letter of Intent submissions are closed for 2023.
Proposal Submission
Proposal submissions are closed for 2023.
Please note that animal model proposal studies will not be accepted for 2023 Science & Technology Awards
Please contact STAward@coopervision.com with questions.
CooperVision will make an effort to limit access to the LOIs and full proposals to CooperVision employees involved in implementing the Science & Technology Award. However, due to the numbers received, CooperVision will not enter into a confidentiality agreement as a condition for receipt of a LOI or full proposal. Therefore, applicants should take care to exclude confidential information from their submissions.
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