A. 1. The Council, in consultation with the Committee, shall establish the initial guidelines, procedures, and criteria for (i) the application for grants and loans from the Fund; (ii) the review, certification of scientific merits, and scoring or prioritization of applications for grants and loans from the Fund; and (iii) the evaluation and award by the Committee of grants and loans from the Fund. After the adoption of the initial guidelines, procedures, and criteria, the Committee shall be responsible for maintaining, administering, updating, and approving the guidelines, procedures, and criteria, with the assistance of staff of the Council.

2. Such guidelines, procedures, and criteria, and any updates thereto, shall be submitted to the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance.

B. The guidelines, procedures, and criteria shall include, but not be limited to, requirements that applicants demonstrate and that the reviewers and the Committee consider:

1. Other grants, awards, loans, or funds awarded to the proposed program or project by the Commonwealth;

2. Other applications from the applicant for state grants, awards, loans, or funds currently pending at the time of the application; and

3. The potential of the program or project for which a grant or loan is sought to (i) culminate in the commercialization of research; (ii) culminate in the formation or spin-off of viable bioscience, biotechnology, cybersecurity, genomics, or similar companies; (iii) promote the build-out of scientific areas of expertise in science and technology; (iv) promote applied research and development in the areas of focus identified in the Roadmap; (v) provide modern facilities or infrastructure for research and development; (vi) result in significant capital investment and job creation; or (vii) promote collaboration among the public institutions of higher education.

C. Upon establishment or update of the guidelines, procedures, and criteria, the Committee shall (i) announce publicly these policies and principles, (ii) open and initiate the application process, and (iii) receive applications for grants and loans from the Fund in accordance with the procedures developed pursuant to subsection B.

D. Upon confirmation that an application is complete, the staff of the Council shall forward the application to an entity with recognized science and technology expertise for a review and certification of the scientific merits of the proposal, including a scoring or prioritization of applicant programs and projects deemed viable by the reviewing entity. Such entities include the Virginia Biosciences Health Research Corporation, the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Investment Authority, the Virginia Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine, or any other entity deemed appropriate by the Council, including a scientific advisory committee created by the Council for the sole purpose of reviewing one or more applications received pursuant to this article.

E. Upon an application receiving a favorable evaluation pursuant to subsection D, the Council shall forward the application, along with the scoring or prioritization, to the Committee for further review and a decision whether to award a grant or loan from the Fund.

F. 1. Upon receipt of a reviewed application, the Committee shall evaluate the application in accordance with the criteria developed in subsection B, taking into account the review, scoring, or prioritization received in accordance with subsection D. The Committee shall then decide whether to approve the application for an award of a grant or loan from the Fund.

2. The award of a grant or loan from the Fund shall be subject to any terms and conditions set forth by the Committee for the award.

3. All decisions by the Committee shall be final and not subject to further review or appeal.

4. The Governor may announce any award approved by the Committee.

2016, c. 775, § 23-307; 2017, cc. 314, 796, 816.