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Binational FoundationsBinational Industrial Research and Development Foundation (BIRD) The United States and Israel established the Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation (BIRD) in 1977 to fund joint U.S.Israeli teams in the development and subsequent commercialization of innovative, nondefense technological products from which both the Israeli and American company can expect to derive benefits commensurate with the investments and risks. Grants are paid back, with interest, if revenues are shown from the R&D project. The limit on the amount due from any one project is 150 percent of the BIRD investment. Most grant recipients are small businesses involved with software, instrumentation, communications, medical devices and semiconductors. BIRD derives its primary income from the interest on a total endowment of $110 million that was contributed in equal parts by the two governments. An increasing share of funds comes from repayment income from companies participating in successful BIRD-funded projects. BIRD funds 50 percent of the companies' expenses in developing a product to the stage of commercial readiness. There are two main types of projects: Mini and Full-Scale. Mini projects have a maximum budget of $200,000. The average full-scale project has a budget of $1.2 million, spread over 12-15 months. Since its inception, BIRD has funded 672 joint high-tech R&D projects through conditional grants totaling more than $214 million. Products developed from these ventures have generated direct sales of $4.1 billion, tax revenues of more than $700 million in both countries and created an estimated 20,000 American jobs. Dov Hershberg BIRD Foundation P.O. Box 58054 Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund (BARD) The United States-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund (BARD) was created in 1978 with contributions of $40 million by both the United States and Israel. The endowment fund was augmented in 1984 by another $15 million from each country. In 1994, an agreement was reached that Israel would match any U.S. suplement to the fund u to the amount of $2.5 million annually. Since 1998, this annual supplement has been substantially reduced. The result has had serious deleterious effects upon BARD’s ability to provide adequate funds for each research project. In addition, the reduced funding has forced a reduction in the approval rate, with the result that BARD is not able to adequately fund all the outstanding proposals received. The interest on the endowment fluctuates. After deducting operating expenses, the total income of the fund is used to support research projects. An external review of BARD's performance in its first 20 years found that the foundation supported a very high caliber of research and development projects and attracted proposals from the top echelon of scientists. The final scientific reports are subject to peer review and two-thirds of the projects were classified as excellent or outstanding. The projects also generate a large output of scientific papers, many of which are published in the most prestigious journals. Since its inception, BARD has funded more than 870 projects in 42 states. In 2003, projects were funded at 28 U.S. institutions in 16 states. It is difficult to break down the impact on a statebystate basis, but, overall, an independent economic review team estimated dollar benefits of 10 BARD projects to total $440 million to the United States alone, by conservative estimate through the year 2010. An additional $300 million will accrue in benefits to Israel. The returns from these 10 projects alone exceed, by far, the total investment in the BARD program since its inception in 1979. BARD now also has created new special joint programs with Maryland, Texas, and Cornell. BARD-sponsored research has led to new technologies in drip irrigation, pesticides, fish farming, livestock, poultry, disease control and farm equipment. BARD also conducts a fellowship program and supports joint workshops. Dr. Edo Chalutz BARD Lynn Gipe USDAARS Binational Science Foundation (BSF) The United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF) is a grant-awarding institution that promotes research cooperation between scientists from the United States and Israel. BSF's income is derived from interest on an endowment of $100 million. Each government contributed $30 million in 1972 and added another $20 million each in 1984. BSF was established by the two governments in 1972 and has awarded more than 3,260 research grants, involving more than 2,000 scientists from more than 400 institutions located in 41 states. Most of the proposals and awards were in basic research; however, grants were also given to applied and technological research. Proposals are submitted by individual scientists through their institutions, and are evaluated on the basis of their scientific merit, as well as the degree of cooperation. Grant requests can be made for a period of up to four years. Proposals are evaluated by a peer review process. Assistance in the review and evaluation of proposals is rendered by science advisers. Advisers are recruited on a part-time basis from among senior research scientists in Israel and the U.S. Each of them is assigned a group of proposals in his or her field of specialization with the charge to select suitable referees. Final recommendations for grant awards are made by the science advisers' panels, together with the Executive Director, and are presented to the Board of Governors for approval. As of 2001/02, pursuant to the Board of Governors resolution, submission of grant applications is on a split-program basis, namely: the eligibility to submit applications is limited, in alternate years, to either health sciences, life sciences and psychology or to exact, natural and social sciences. Prior to that, applications were accepted every year in all areas of research supported by the BSF. In 2002, the BSF supported 370 research projects, of which 75 new projects in health and life sciences were activated as of September 2002 and 295 were ongoing projects in their second or third year. In 2003, 130 new projects in exact, natural and social sciences were approved, commencing September 2003, and 247 ongoing projects received funding for their second and third year research. Altogether, in 2003, the BSF supported 377 grants. In 2004, the BSF supported 341 research projects, of which 91 new projects in health and life sciences and psychology were activated as of September 2004 and 198 were ongoing projects in their second or third year The benefits to the United States from BSF-sponsored studies include the extension and elaboration of research to achieve milestones that might not have been reached otherwise; the introduction of novel thinking and techniques that led American researchers to move in new directions; confirmation, clarification and intensification of research projects; access to Israeli equipment and facilities unavailable elsewhere and early access to Israeli research results that sped American scientific advances. BSF documented no less than 75 new discoveries that probably would not have been possible without foundation-supported collaboration. These advances included the development of new methods and techniques, the discovery of new phenomena and major theoretical breakthroughs. Jacob Bartura United StatesIsrael Binational Science Foundation Jerusalem, Israel 91450 |
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