NEI offering awards for best new ideas for advancement of vision science

The National Eye Institute has opened submissions for its “Challenge to Identify Audacious Goals in Vision Research and Blindness Rehabilitation” contest, a tool that aims to gather new ideas and forge new approaches to persistent challenges in vision research, according to an institute press release.

"Whether basic, translational or clinical, a goal is audacious if it fundamentally changes research or vision care by closing critical knowledge gaps, opening developmental bottlenecks or providing key elements to translate scientific discoveries into clinical applications,” NEI director Paul A. Sieving, MD, PhD, said in the release.

People in the private, government and nonprofit sectors, including scientists, engineers, health care providers, inventors and entrepreneurs, as well as the general public, are all encouraged to submit ideas.

The NEI is offering $3,000 to as many as 20 contestants who submit the most compelling one-page idea to advance vision science, according to the release.

Submissions should be limited to 4,000 characters including spaces (about one page), and must address why the audacious goal is important, how to achieve the goal and how realization of the goal will affect the NEI mission. Criteria include relevance to the NEI mission; whether the goal is bold, daring, unconventional or exceptionally innovative; and general feasibility. Goals should be broad in scope and attainable in about 10 years, the release said.

More specific submission guidelines are available at http://www.nei.nih.gov/challenge.

Deadline for submissions is Nov. 12. Winning contestants will be invited to present, discuss and refine their ideas at the NEI Audacious Goals Development Meeting, Feb. 24 to 26, 2013, in Washington, the release said.