The purpose of the program is to support research in the Proof of Concept (POC) stage, a stage in which the level of technological/commercial maturity is low, and therefore commercial entities have no interest in investing in it
The Planning and Budgeting Committee of the Council for Higher Education and the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology launched a joint program, to the extent of NIS 100 million, to accelerate applied research through competitive grants to support the performance of proof of feasibility for excellent scientific and academic research, with potential for commercial application. The program will be open to all institutions of higher education budgeted by the Ministry of Education, as well as to research institutes that are not institutions of higher education.
The purpose of the program is to support research in the Proof of Concept (POC) phase, a phase in which the level of technological/commercial maturity is low, and therefore commercial entities have no interest in investing in it. Feasibility studies include, for example, financing raw materials for building a prototype, commissioning various works and services, performing technical and engineering tests, reviewing patents, etc. The phase of proving the feasibility is critical for advancing applied projects to a level where they can be of interest to a business entity, but suffers from an inherent market failure due to the very fact that this is a preliminary phase in which it is not at all clear whether the ideas can be turned into commercial projects. The founders of the program assume that funding this phase of the research will significantly contribute to increasing the transfer of knowledge from academia to industry for the benefit of society and the economy.
The program will be open to all fields of academic knowledge, but the research proposal is required to have a clear application potential (industrial, public or social). The grants will be up to NIS 350,000 for a period of a minimum of one and a half years and a maximum of two years, and the proposals will be judged according to criteria of excellence, innovation and originality of the research, the level of applicability and its commercialization potential, and the quality of the leading team.
The program will be jointly operated by VT and the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, in the first stage as a pilot for 3 submission cycles starting from the current academic year, to the extent of NIS 20 million for the first reader's vote and up to NIS 40 million for the second and third readers' votes.
Chairman of the Faculty of Science and Technology, Prof. Yossi Makori: "In today's dynamic world full of challenges, it is of critical importance to promote scientific and academic breakthroughs in order to realize their applied potential, and benefit the public and the economy. I have no doubt that the new program, in collaboration with the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, will help Israeli academia continue to be a world leader in innovation in all fields."
Director General of the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, Gadi Arieli, added that: "The joint program is expected to increase awareness and the importance of applied research in academia and research institutes. We see academia and research institutes as the engine of growth for high-tech and the Israeli economy, and we expect to see more and more technologies from academia that will mature into commercialization and the establishment of start-up companies. The Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology is constantly working to promote applied research activity in academia and research institutes in Israel, through supporting applied research, awarding postgraduate scholarships and research development programs, promoting ventures and encouraging entrepreneurship in academia and research institutes, moves that contribute to the economic establishment of the State of Israel and place it at the forefront of science and technology .”
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