Sponsoring Units

UNLV Office of Economic Development (OED), the UNLV William F. Harrah College of Hospitality, International Gaming Institute, and Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering.

Program Purpose

The goal of this program would be to seed promising research and development in areas of hospitality, gaming, and entertainment innovation. It aims to foster collaboration between UNLV faculty, students, industry partners and to promote interdisciplinary applied research within these sectors, aligning with the missions of the OED, Harrah College of Hospitality, International Gaming Institute, and Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering.

Overview

The UNLV Office of Economic Development (OED) utilizing its Black Fire Innovation Lab (“BFI”) and in collaboration with the UNLV William F. Harrah College of Hospitality, International Gaming Institute, and Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering is pleased to announce a call for Product and Service Development (“PSD”) grant proposals under the Faculty Opportunity Award: Catalyst Grant Program Spring 2026. The funding awards will be made to accelerate innovations through collaborations between UNLV and Industry aimed at addressing key Hospitality, Gaming, and Innovation initiatives.

Award Type

Faculty Award for: Product & Service Development (PSD): Intended to support new collaborations between UNLV faculty and an industry partner (an "Industry Sponsor") in hospitality, gaming, or entertainment. fields.

The program prioritizes funding for initiatives that align with its mission to enhance Hospitality, Gaming, Entertainment applied research and practice.

Funding Priorities

 Projects should aim to address key initiatives in hospitality, gaming, and entertainment innovation and must have an industry collaborator providing a dollar-for-dollar match and a significant portion of the project must be conducted at BFI. Drawing inspiration from BFI and the strengths of the Harrah College of Hospitality, priorities could include: 

  • Hospitality/Gaming Technology Use/Enhancement: Projects aimed at using, developing, and/or enhancing technology applications within the hospitality, gaming, or entertainment industries.
  • Hospitality/Gaming Economic Development: Projects aimed at fostering current academic-industry collaborations, building new collaborations, and/or entrepreneurial efforts by faculty (e.g., patentable products/ideas) within these sectors.
  • Innovation in Specific Hospitality Areas: Projects focusing on innovation in areas like Gaming, Event Design and Management, Gaming / Hospitality Management, Hospitality Beverage Management, Human Resource Management, or Innovative technologies in Hospitality, Gaming and Entertainment.

Catalyst Grant Outcomes

The success of the Catalyst Grant Program is measured in multiple areas:  creation of new intellectual property, advancing ideas to commercially viable opportunities, licensing of intellectual property to the industry collaborators, use of funds to advance opportunities to available products and services, applied research and scholarship, and economic development indicator. These areas provide both leading indicators and outcome measures.

Eligibility Criteria

The program is open to all fields of research where the proposed project fulfills the goals and funding priorities outlined above. Projects that are solely for basic research, theoretical development, or generating data for academic curiosity, or requiring more than one year to accomplish, are ineligible.

Applicant Eligibility

  • Any Principal Investigator who meets University eligibility and has an Industry collaborator that will match the grant funding amount dollar for dollar. 
  • Recipients of past Catalyst Grants are eligible. 

Funding Amount

Project funding up to $75,000 per award.

How to Apply

Required application packet materials include: 1) online application form; 2) proposal including Bio of PI and any Co-PI(s); 3) budget; 4) budget justification (see below); and 5) Letter of commitment from industry collaborator that they will match dollar for dollar (no in-kind will be counted towards match) and agreement that upon successful award the company will sign UNLV’s standard (without material change) sponsored research agreement that will govern the industry collaborators participation in the grant. Submit your application packet through the UNLV InfoReady Opportunities Portal in the Catalyst Grant Program Spring 2026 opportunity. No late submissions will be considered. The Principal Investigator will receive an automatic notification when the application has been received. By submitting a proposal, the PI is attesting that the technology is unencumbered by prior obligations (e.g., obligations assumed under a consulting agreement).

  • Proposal PDF
  • Budget utilizing the OSP Budget Template (Include salary (RA’s, graduate students, and summer salary), major purchases, etc. Requests for summer salary must include strong justification. Note that tuition and fringe benefits must be included where appropriate. Overhead charges will not apply.
  • Budget justification utilizing the OSP Budget Justification Template.
  • Letter of Commitment from industry collaborator

The proposal must include the following components

  • Executive Summary: Overview of the initiative, objectives, Industry collaborator and expected outcomes (e.g., limit 1 page).
  • Background and Rationale: Explanation of the importance and potential impact of the proposed initiative. 
  • Methodology/Approach: Detailed action plan, timelines, milestones, and resources required (limit 6 pages). This section could detail how industry collaboration will occur or how Black Fire Innovation facilities might be utilized.
  • Budget and Justification: Comprehensive outline of requested funding, including Industry collaborator match, and justification for expenses (limit 2 pages).
  • Qualifications: Applicant qualifications and experience relevant to the proposed initiative (limit 2 pages).
  • Evaluation Plan: Criteria for measuring success and expected impacts within the target industries (limit 2 pages).

Review Criteria

Qualification Criteria

Qualifying proposals must meet the following criteria:

  • UNLV researcher – UNLV PI Eligible
  • Industry Collaborator with matching funds commitment
  • Hospitality, Entertainment, Gaming focus 
  • Funding period – funding period shall be for up to one year (no extensions available)
  • Amount of Grant funding – project funding up to $75,000

Programmatic/Commercial Criteria

Qualifying proposals will be reviewed by the OED based on programmatic and commercial criteria. In keeping with the program’s goal of fostering economic development, review of the full proposal will be made based on the following criteria:

  • Intellectual Property – proposals advancing currently disclosed inventions to OED will be given preference.
  • Market Assessment – total market size, addressable market, other market dynamics including a well-defined path to market.
  • Licensing Potential – potential licensees, assessment of license revenue potential.
  • Corporate Collaboration – the potential for corporate collaborations and/or startups, tie-in with regional industrial clusters; and
  • Commercial Return – Ability of the project to advance a technology toward commercialization – through a key proof of concept, prototype development, cooperative research effort with a company or other means. Commercialization may be measured by the completion of a license agreement, the launch of a startup company or ability to secure outside investment.

Evaluation Criteria for Grant Applications

Complete proposals will undergo peer-review by subject matter experts using criteria established for the UNLV Faculty Opportunity Awards program. Reviewers will be asked to prioritize all submissions and rank proposals against national standards (top 10%, next 40%, bottom 50%).

  • Quality – Excellence and novelty of the concept, approach, and methodology; clarity and appropriateness of project plans; desirability and impact of potential results on the national and international scholarly community.
  • Return – Return on investment (ROI) through one or more of the following:
    • follow-on extramural funding
    • Hospitality economic development (e.g., commercialization)
    • other sources of revenue that enhance Hospitality and OED initiatives.
  • Risk – Availability of necessary skills and experience, the likelihood of achieving the intended outcomes; probability of securing extramural funding or engaging in commercialization; and potential for self-sustainability after the seed investment phase

Nevada Benefit

Applications will be reviewed for intended sport and economic development impacts within Nevada as demonstrated by:

  • Accelerating innovation and creating a path to commercialization of new technologies and products
  • Increasing competitiveness of Nevada companies, by attracting greater investments and retaining jobs in Nevada
  • Establishing the basis for founding new Nevada companies
  • Identifying new solutions to problems critical to Nevada
  • Creation of new jobs

Review Process

Proposals will be reviewed in multidisciplinary panels by experts. 

Final recommendations for funding will be submitted to the UNLV Vice President for Economic Development and will be made based on internal and external assessments and commercial assessment by the OED.

Protected and confidential information should not be included in the proposals. Although reviewers are required to sign a confidentiality agreement prior to the review, protected or proprietary information should not be included in proposals. Applicants are encouraged to avoid jargon and to prepare their proposals in a manner comprehensible to a general audience.

Applicants may request the exclusion of certain reviewers, and such requests must include a brief explanation/justification for such exclusion. Hospitality, Engineering and OED will constitute the panels, assign reviewers, and make final determinations regarding panel composition. Reviewers are expected to disqualify themselves in cases of potential conflict of interest.

Review panels will evaluate proposals based on the scoring criteria and generate a rank-ordered list of applications that are recommended for funding.

Awards are subject to final approval by the Vice President for Economic Development and are contingent on the availability of funding.

Milestones & Progress: Funded projects will be required to report milestone achievement and progress quarterly, using templates provided by OED.

 

Contact

Mike Fahnert
Business Development Officer, Industry and Business Engagement
702-895-2825
mike.fahnert@unlv.edu