Application Process
Texas Health Catalyst’s application process works to identify promising health and life sciences innovations and propel them toward real-world impact. Accepted applicants receive expert support and seed funding to accelerate their project’s journey toward viable solutions that enhance health outcomes.
Since Texas Health Catalyst’s inception, numerous projects have flourished after participation in the program, achieving significant milestones and garnering attention from investors and industry leaders.
Call for Proposals
Texas Health Catalyst’s fall application cycle offers a unique opportunity for University of Texas at Austin innovators to shape the future of health care through cutting-edge solutions that enhance patient experiences, empower the health care workforce and optimize hospital operations.
Dell Medical School collaborates with the Cockrell School of Engineering, College of Pharmacy, College of Natural Sciences and Discovery to Impact to offer the fall application cycle.
Fall Challenge
The application cycle’s “Robotics, Automation and Autonomous Care Challenge” aims to address critical gaps in health care delivery by leveraging robotic, autonomous and remote technologies to support clinical teams, extend care beyond hospital walls and empower patients.
Texas Health Catalyst seeks visionaries ready to drive transformative change in areas such as:
- Enhancing care delivery through robotic, automated and autonomous systems
- Streamlining clinical workflows with artificial intelligence-enabled and workflow-integrated technologies
- Extending access and improving outcomes using remote, virtual and telerobotic care models
Focus Areas
Tackling limitations in cost, adaptability and sensory feedback to broaden clinical applications
- Examples: adaptive robotic platforms, enhanced sensory feedback, cost-effective and modular robotics, AI for intraoperative assistance, and telerobotic interventions
Designing systems that integrate seamlessly into workflows and reduce burden on clinicians
- Examples: workflow-aware robotic assistants, intuitive human-robot control systems, and ethical AI for clinical decision support
Building solutions that preserve empathy, privacy and transparency for patients and families
- Examples: “digital navigator” platforms, privacy-preserving remote monitoring, virtual reality for patient empathy and education, and transparent AI decision support
Ensuring remote care technologies are inclusive and culturally competent
- Examples: low-bandwidth and accessible telehealth kits, AI-powered multilingual health companions, and community-based “telehealth hub” models
Overcoming barriers to remote interventions, including licensing and network reliability
- Examples: advanced telepresence surgical systems, home-based rehabilitation robots, and mobile health units with robotic integration
Supporting clinicians with training and tools to confidently adopt robotic systems
- Examples: AI-powered training simulators, human-robot collaboration, and peer-to-peer learning networks
Health Care Is About People, Not Just Technology
Yes, we love our robots and AI. But some of health care’s biggest challenges need decidedly human solutions — better ways to communicate with patients, innovations in care delivery, prevention strategies that are creative and effective, and tools that keep empathy at the center of medicine. Areas such as:
- Behavioral health innovations
- Community health solutions
- Patient experience improvements
- Health care accessibility tools
- Prevention and wellness approaches
- Care coordination platforms
Sometimes the most innovative thing you can do is remember that health care is, at its core, about human connection. If your idea helps make health care better, we want to hear from you — please apply.
Eligibility, Timeline & More
Eligibility
Texas Health Catalyst seeks innovators who are ready to collaborate, incorporate expert feedback and commit to advance their projects toward real-world impact. Innovators who meet either of the following criteria are eligible to participate in the application cycle:
- University of Texas at Austin faculty and staff
- University of Texas at Austin physicians in training (residents and fellows), medical students, postdoctoral students and graduate students (with faculty supervision)
Proposal Requirements
Applicant proposals should accomplish the following:
- Address a clearly defined unmet health care need aligned with the challenge.
- Provide compelling preliminary evidence of the solution’s novelty and potential.
- Describe a commercially viable path to market.
- Present a realistic one-year plan with milestoens to mitigate the most critical risks.
- Outline the use of up to $50,000.
Timeline
- Application opens: Aug. 4
- Information session: Aug. 20 (RSVP to attend »)
- Application closes: Sept. 12
- Finalists announced: Oct. 10
- Mentor meetings: Oct. 20-Nov. 21
- Showcase event: Dec. 9
- Award announcement: Jan. 3, 2026
Note: Key dates are subject to change.
Benefits
Texas Health Catalyst’s goal is to help innovators understand the path to market, refine their concepts, mitigate the most pressing clinical and commercial risks, and take concrete steps toward creating impactful health care solutions. To this end, Texas Health Catalyst provides accepted applicants the following benefits:
- Faciliated mentorship by clinical and industry experts
- Trained student associates to guide project development
- Invaluable insights on market potential and concept refinement
- Funding up to $50,000 to support critical research and development
- Subcontracts for the sole purpose of funded project activities
- Equipment, supplies and software for the sole purpose of funded project activities
- Principal investigator compensation (salary and fringe benefits)
- Resident, fellow, postdoctoral researcher, medical student and/or graduate student salaries
- Research staff support
- Software
- Indirect costs
- Administrative support
- Startup creation and support
- Computers
- Hiring expenses (background checks)
- Patient care
- Tuition
Contact
Questions? Contact the program at texashealthcatalyst@austin.utexas.edu.
Assessment Rubric
The program’s evaluation process ensures that proposals align with the overall goal of identifying health innovations with the highest potential for clinical impact and potential success. The rubric covers three key domains: clinical/scientific application, development and commercialization. Each domain includes specific criteria aimed at assessing the feasibility, potential impact and commercial viability of proposed innovationss.
The clinical/scientific application domain evaluates the potential impact of the innovation on patient outcomes and the scientific rationale behind it.
Texas Health Catalyst assesses whether the innovation addresses a significant unmet medical need, its potential to improve patient outcomes and its comparative advantage over existing therapies.
The development domain delves into the technical feasibility of the innovation, its intellectual property protection, resource availability, regulatory pathway and development timeline.
Texas Health Catalyst looks for a clear and realistic development plan, identification of key milestones and strategies to mitigate potential risks.
The commercialization domain explores the market potential, reimbursement landscape, competitive landscape and marketing strategy of the innovation.
Texas Health Catalyst assesses the potential market size, timing for commercialization, pricing strategy, barriers to entry and potential exit strategies.