NSPF® Industrial-Focused Research Grants

The National Swimming Pool Foundation^®; (NSPF^®;) board of directors has approved a new mechanism for companies and organizations to fund applied scientific research and have the unbiased results published in scholarly journals.

NSPF^® has developed a program that allows manufacturers and organizations to donate targeted research funds through the NSPF^® to fund such research. Manufacturers often wish to have unbiased researchers verify potential product benefits or to understand key issues. Some examples of the types of manufacturers who may wish to validate performance of either their products or their product class include filtration, heating, chemical treatment products, fixtures, pumps and motors, construction design, and others.
Universities are often hesitant to accept industry funding due to the perception that their study would be biased in the manufacturer’s favor. Manufacturers are often hesitant to donate funds for unbiased university research because the research publications acknowledge the donating manufacturer. As a result, the studies are often discredited or received skeptically from the scientific community based on the link to the manufacturer.

“This situation creates a ‘Catch 22’, reducing research in a field already depleted of scientific knowledge,” says Thomas M. Lachocki, Ph.D., CEO of NSPF^®. “NSPF^® is committed to finding ways to help science guide our future and to remove barriers to fund knowledge,” he adds.

“The new NSPF^® grant program creates a mechanism to benefit researchers, manufacturers, the pool, spa, and aquatics field, and ultimately, consumers,” says NSPF^® Grant Review Committee chair, Bill Kent. “The result will be more funding, more science, more solutions, and more prosperity. This program creates ‘blind studies’ that will raise standards and prevent inappropriate industry influence,” Kent explains. “It frees universities to help find solutions.” Once the general ‘research problem’ is defined, and the donation is made to NSPF^®, the manufacturer/donor has no contact with the university.

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Guidelines for Funding Industrial-Focused
Research Programs

Shown below are the National Swimming Pool Foundation^® guidelines for coordinating or facilitating research projects of interest primarily to the “for profit” industry. The goal for this type of funding is to provide unbiased research results on important issues presented and published in the open scientific literature.

Download Grant Guidelines (PDF)

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