New Orleans, Louisiana – September 11, 2026
Tulane University has been selected for a rare $6 million National Science Foundation grant, one of only nine awarded nationwide in 2026, to build a university-wide research translation engine that will connect academic discoveries to commercial applications and high-wage jobs in the Gulf South.
The grant comes from the NSF's Accelerating Research Translation (ART) program, which aims to strengthen the pipeline between university research and market-ready innovations. The award supports SMART Tulane—a Success Model to Advance Research Translation initiative designed to move faculty and student discoveries from the laboratory into new technologies, licensed products, startup companies, and careers across the Gulf South region.
Addressing a Structural Gap in Research Commercialization
According to the NSF, research universities in under-resourced regions often produce high-quality science without the pathways, incentives, or resources needed to translate discoveries into economic and societal impact. This disconnect limits regional growth and slows the diffusion of innovations that could benefit the broader public.
SMART Tulane aims to bridge that gap. The initiative will certify more than 120 research translation leaders—called ART Ambassadors—across all nine of Tulane's schools. These faculty members will understand and champion the path from discovery to deployment, creating a distributed network that supports translational work across disciplines.
An additional 152 undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral researchers will receive hands-on translational training through fellowships, Seed Translational Research Projects, I-Corps programming, and the Tulane University Innovation Institute's Founder Lab. Participants will gain practical skills in customer discovery, intellectual property strategy, market assessment, and venture formation.
Technology Transfer Reinvented with AI
A distinguishing feature of SMART Tulane is its integration of artificial intelligence into technology transfer operations. Ibrahim Demir, the Michael A. Fitts Presidential Chair in Environmental Informatics and Artificial Intelligence, said the program will deploy intelligent agents to autonomously scout intellectual property, analyze market fit, and match innovations with industry needs.
"We are leveraging our expertise in generative AI and agentic workflows to fundamentally rewire how technology transfer operates," Demir said. "By deploying intelligent agents to autonomously scout IP, analyze market fit and match innovations with industry needs, we plan to remove friction from commercialization, ensuring that Tulane and the broader Louisiana ecosystem can translate breakthroughs into societal impact with unprecedented speed and efficiency."
This approach builds on existing university infrastructure, including the Tulane Innovation Institute and the ongoing transformation of the historic Charity Hospital building into a national research hub. The new facility, with a $500 million investment, will house scientists, students, entrepreneurs, and industry partners working side by side.
Partnership with Georgia Tech
Under the ART Track 2 model, Tulane will partner with Georgia Institute of Technology, which has consistently ranked among the top U.S. universities for technology commercialization and startup formation. Georgia Tech will help adapt and embed its proven practices within Tulane's Gulf South mission and research priorities.
The collaboration allows institutions to share institutional strategies, tools, and practices. This peer-learning component is a core requirement of the ART program and ensures that successful approaches can be replicated at other universities, particularly in under-resourced regions.
Economic and Workforce Impact
By year four of the initiative, SMART Tulane aims to support 12 or more startup formations annually—more than double the current rate of five per year. Jobs created from this effort are expected to have median salaries of $80,000, nearly three times the regional median income.
Tulane President Michael A. Fitts said the NSF grant would allow the university to build systems, training, and culture that connect its research assets into a single translational engine.
"SMART Tulane represents the critical next step in a transformation we have been building for more than a decade," Fitts said. "We have the research talent, we have the Innovation Institute, and with the Charity redevelopment project we will greatly expand our world-class facilities and research infrastructure. The National Science Foundation's support will allow us to build the systems, training and culture that connect all of these assets into a single translational engine. This project will ensure that discoveries made at Tulane reach the marketplace, create well-paying jobs and strengthen the Gulf South economy for generations to come."
Faculty-Led Seed Projects
Robin Forman, Tulane's senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, said the funding would expand the university's existing Provost's Proof of Concept Fund. Faculty will gain access to grant funding, mentorship, and commercial expertise to advance promising innovations.
"This much-needed funding will allow us to dramatically enhance the support we offer faculty-led Seed Translational Research Projects," Forman said. "We will be able to more effectively advance the most promising innovations while accelerating and amplifying the direct benefits of Tulane discovery to the broader society."
Donald Gaver, the Alden J. "Doc" Laborde Professor of Biomedical Engineering and co-investigator on the grant, called the funding rocket fuel for science, engineering, and innovation.
"I'm thrilled about the support for Strategic Translational Research Projects — they are the engine that will transform Tulane discoveries into startups, products and high-wage careers," Gaver said. "This funding lets us back our best ideas with the postdoctoral researchers, resources and expertise they need to succeed."
Broader Implications for Research Policy
The ART program, supported by the NSF's Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, seeks to advance U.S. scientific and economic leadership by building capacity for translational research ecosystems across the full geography of the nation. This approach acknowledges that innovation is not evenly distributed geographically and that targeted investments can correct regional disparities.
SMART Tulane's practices, tools, and institutional strategies will be shared with peer institutions. The NSF intends for these approaches to extend benefits far beyond New Orleans, strengthening the national research translation ecosystem.
The initiative builds on a decade of transformation at Tulane, during which federal research funding has nearly doubled. With SMART Tulane, the university aims to convert that research investment into commercial outcomes and economic growth for the Gulf South.
Source: Tulane University, September 11, 2026. National Science Foundation Accelerating Research Translation Program, 2026.
FIRAT Editorial Board
Institutional Research Desk · Foresight Institute of Research and Translation
The collective editorial and research translation board of FIRAT, synthesising peer-reviewed evidence, policy briefs, and division milestones across our seven foundational research pillars.
