2023 Focus Areas


The key focus areas for 2023 are:



  • Understanding Childhood Myopia Development:
    • Pathogenesis, mechanisms, and risk factors


  • Technologies to Prevent Myopia Onset, including:
    • Prophylactic technologies 
    • Proposals for glasses, contact lenses, interactive, and combination therapies


  • Strategies to prevent development of symptomatology in new contact lens wearers, with emphasis on:
    • Diagnosis and early intervention therapies for new lens wearers 
    • Understanding biochemical changes in newly fitted contact lens wearers over time
    • Controlled release technologies for delivery of beneficial agents, as well as approaches to improve moisture retention


  • Impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on Contact Lens Fitting and Diagnostics, including:
    • ChatGPT , Bard, etc. – Applications for Optometry and Orthokeratology (Ortho-K)





Award Types

Research proposals may span proof-of-concept through translational stages. For this purpose, two types of awards are offered:

CooperVision Seedling Award
The CooperVision Seedling Award is intended to incentivize collaborations with CooperVision in a new research area for a one-year period. The maximum total cash amount for a CooperVision seedling is $100,000.

CooperVision Translational Research Award
The CooperVision Translational Research Award is a multi-year award for a substantive translational research project with funding over two years, totaling up to $400,000.

Applicant Eligibility


Any researcher with Principal Investigator (PI) status holding a MD, OD, or PhD is eligible to apply. Applicants, such as postdoctoral fellows, with a waiver of PI status must submit appropriate documentation before funding can be received.


To Apply

Submission of a Letter of Intent (LOI)

Applicants must submit a LOI before June 23, 2023.  If the LOI is accepted, applicants will be notified and invited to submit a full proposal.

Proposal Submission
Upon approval of the LOI, applicants may submit a full proposal. The complete proposal must be submitted by the deadline September 22, 2023.

Please note that animal model proposal studies will not be accepted for 2023 Science & Technology Awards


Please contact STAward@coopervision.com with questions.


CooperVision will make an effort to limit access to the LOIs and full proposals to CooperVision employees involved in implementing the Science & Technology Award.  However, due to the numbers received, CooperVision will not enter into a confidentiality agreement as a condition for receipt of a LOI or full proposal.   Therefore, applicants should take care to exclude confidential information from their submissions.  



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