Project Proposals

Submitting a Project

To be eligible for Bell University Labs' funding program, research projects must: be submitted by university research teams or public research centres; be of interest to Bell and be aligned with a group within Bell.

Research project selection and evaluation criteria

In order to ensure that the Bell University Labs' objectives are achieved, project funding requests are evaluated according to the criteria described below. During the funding term, selected projects that are covered by research contracts are also evaluated according to these same criteria.

Relevance and project quality

• Research projects that are consistent with and relevant to Bell's own R&D projects;
• The expertise of the researchers and their ability to contribute to the research project.

Knowledge transfer and operation of technology

• The possibility of creating new products, processes or services that could be operated by Bell or its partners;
• The possibility of obtaining a patent and/or license for the technology spawned by the research projects;
• The expected impact on Bell's technological and scientific capacity and the potential for transferring the knowledge and technology to Bell.
• The economic and commercial viability of the project.

Partnership arrangement

• Forge solid R&D ties between members of the research team and Bell employees;
• Determine the existence, nature and scope of other contributions (of federal and provincial funding agencies);

Procedure for submitting a project

Letter of intent

Candidates proposing new projects must first submit a one- to two-page letter of intent summarizing:

• the project objectives;
• the problems addressed;
• the interest for Bell;
• the funds requested;
• the duration of the project;
• the research team.

Bell evaluates the letters of intent according to the above selection criteria and the relevance of the request in relation to the objectives of Bell University Labs' research program.

In all cases, an acknowledgement is sent to the candidates, followed by a decision from the Management Committee. If the project is accepted, the project leader will be required to submit a detailed request.

Submit a project proposal at innovations@bell.ca.