An aeriel view of the Israeli gas rig Tamar, situated off the Israeli northern coast. Photo: Albatross Aerial photography/Nobel Energy/Flash90.

JNS.org – The Israel-US Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation, a collaboration initiative between the two countries to promote technological development, has been calling for project ideas centering on renewable energy and natural-gas technologies.

To qualify, proposals must include research and development cooperation between a US company and an Israeli firm, or between a university and a company in which one party is in the United States and the other is in Israel, said BIRD in a statement.

The conditional grant per project is up to 50 percent of the R&D costs associated with the joint project and up to a maximum of $1 million per project.

“The proposal should have significant commercial potential and the project outcome should lead to commercialization,” the statement said.

The new BIRD Energy program is sponsored by the US Department of Energy and the Israeli Ministry of Energy, alongside the Israel Innovation Authority, according to the statement.

“The BIRD Energy program continues to expand, and this year we are adding innovation in natural gas to the scope of the program. We encourage companies and research institutes in Israel and the US to reach out to us to promote their collaboration ideas for technological developments in the energy sector,” said BIRD Executive Director Eitan Yudilevich. “Since the beginning of the BIRD Energy program, close to 40 projects have been funded with a total government investment of close to $35 [million]. Several of these projects are starting to generate commercial success and initial sales.”

The deadline for executive summaries is July 2 and entire proposals are due August 21. Project selections will be made towards the end of October.