Event Type : Pathways Newsletter

The Department of Energy’s American-Made Program is running the Storage Design Strategies to Ease Production (STEP) Prize, a $500,000 two-phase competition for novel energy storage technologies that build manufacturability and supply chain resilience into the design from the start.

Phase 1 asks competitors to identify and conceptualize solutions to anticipated production challenges in their storage design; Phase 1 winners advance to Phase 2, where they further develop and validate those solutions.

The prize is open to individuals, academic institutions, nonfederal government entities, small businesses, start-ups, and entrepreneurs working on nascent or emerging energy storage innovations. Submissions are due October 8, 2026. To review the rules and enter, click on the link here.

AUTM is hosting a webinar on how the Federal Circuit’s Wyeth v. AstraZeneca decision reshapes patent strategy for university drug-repurposing and reformulation inventions. Speakers Lisa Mueller (Casimir Jones) and Michael Coyle (Vanderbilt University) will apply that ruling to method-of-treatment, dosing-regimen, formulation, and more, with practical guidance on timing provisional filings around data generation and preparing claim-to-disclosure maps for licensing diligence.

The session is aimed at technology transfer officers, licensing professionals, and university IP counsel. It takes place October 15, 2026 from noon to 1:00 p.m. ET. To register, click on the link here.

ARPA-H is calling on researchers, clinicians, and innovators across academia, industry, and government to accelerate early-stage Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials of ibogaine as a treatment for opioid use disorder. No federally authorized clinical trials of ibogaine for OUD currently exist in the United States despite early anecdotal reports of reduced cravings and withdrawal symptoms, and the program aims to close that evidence gap with trials that prioritize patient safety and translation into Phase 3 testing. The effort aligns with Executive Order 14401 on accelerating medical treatments for serious mental illness.

Solution summaries are requested by October 15, 2026 at 9:00 p.m. ET. To review the notice, click on the link here.

Nucleate is accepting applications for the 2027 cohort of its Activator, a free, non-dilutive accelerator for academic trainees building ventures. The program supports teams across therapeutics, diagnostics, medtech, synthetic biology, food, energy, agriculture, and climate, taking founders from team formation through venture-building workshops, mentor office hours, and a final pitch showcase. More than 800 teams have gone through Nucleate to date, collectively raising over $650M.

The Activator is open to academic trainees (PhD, MD, MBA, JD, MS) candidates and postdocs, and takes no equity. Admissions are rolling through October 20, 2026, so earlier applications get earlier review. To apply, click on the link here.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is accepting applications for Innovation Crossroads, a two-year funded fellowship for entrepreneurs with early-stage energy and advanced manufacturing technologies. Part of the Department of Energy’s Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program, it supports innovations too technically uncertain to attract venture capital yet, embedding fellows at ORNL to move them from proof of concept to proof of product. Fellows receive a $115,000 annual living stipend, a health insurance stipend, and a professional development allowance, plus R&D funding, access to ORNL’s facilities and researchers, and business mentorship.

Applicants must apply as individuals rather than as a company, hold a doctoral degree or equivalent experience, be U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents, and be willing to relocate to the Knoxville–Oak Ridge area for two years. Companies that have raised more than $2 million in non-government funding in the prior three years are not eligible.

Applications are open now and close October 30, 2026 at 8:00 p.m. ET, with the cohort selected in spring 2027 and starting that August. To apply, click on the link here.

The editors of Science, in partnership with the BioInnovation Institute (BII) in Copenhagen, are accepting entries for a prize recognizing researchers working at the intersection of life sciences and entrepreneurship. The award goes to scientists who combine strong basic research with a clear eye toward commercial application such as work protected as intellectual property and licensed to a commercial entity, including drugs and biologics, diagnostics, therapeutics, health IT, or biobased production of fuels, chemicals, and foods. Applications that took real risks are welcome even where the outcome was a negative result.

The grand prize winner receives $25,000 and publication in Science, in print and online; up to two runners-up receive $10,000 and online publication. The prize is judged on a 1,000-word essay describing the applicant’s research, and winning essays are published in Science. Submissions are due November 1, 2026. To review the full rules and apply, click on the link here.

ARPA-H is accepting applications for SURPASS, a program to modernize clinical trials so drugs and biologics can be evaluated faster, at lower cost, and with fewer participants. The program aims to build perpetual, adaptive platform trials that combine predictive computational models, shared trial infrastructure, and real-time analysis to replae today’s fragmented, decade-long development process. Teams will work across three coordinated technical areas: faster trials with fewer patients, a continuous inference engine for faster decisions, and an agentic operations layer to cut time and cost.

ARPA-H is looking for cross-disciplinary teams spanning biostatistics, AI, clinical operations, regulatory science, and patient-centered trial design. A solution summary is due November 30, 2026 and is required to move forward. To access the solicitation documents (ARPA-H-SOL-26-164 and learn more, click on the link here.