The Flash Grant program aims to identify and energize creative ideas that exhibit early indications of commercial potential. Like a flash of inspiration, Flash Grants infuse a quick jolt of funding at a critical early point when a small, targeted influx of funds can be crucial to shaping innovative research ideas into high potential life sciences technologies.

Flash Grants support short, tightly focused research projects that are designed to:

• Demonstrate the disruptive potential of a life sciences technology
• Prepare a technology for translational development

The Cycle 1 solicitation is open to proposals focused on topics related to fertilizer and soil health within North Carolina, except consumer products and/or mobile apps. Proposals primarily focused on artificial intelligence (AI), in silico modeling and/or simulations, or in-silico experiments are highly discouraged. 

Fertilizer and soil health topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Soil microbiome inoculation and engineering
• Metagenomics and/or transcriptomics of soil microbiome
• Carbon sequestration in soil
• Organic and slow-release bio-based fertilizers
• Novel soil conditioner, biochar, or co-composting manufacturing methods and technologies
• Soil remediation using biologically-based methods such as, but not limited to, bioremediation, phytoremediation, microbial remediation, or biomining
• Biologically-based methods and technologies for removal of microplastics from soil

Funds are available to researchers at any North Carolina university or non-profit research institute.

Flash Grant FAQs are found here: www.ncbiotech.org/grant-faq