Grant-in-Aid support up to INR 10 Lakhs for Technology/Product Development in domains of Intelligent Collaborative Systems (ICS), Energy, Safety, Healthcare, Defense, Automotives and Agriculture
I. Background
About IPTIF:
The Department of Science and Technology (DST) has created a National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber Physical Systems (NM-ICPS), under which a total budget of Rs. 3660 Crores has been committed to establish 25 Technology Innovation Hubs (TIH) across India. The Technology Innovation Hub (TIH) is designed to facilitate product and technology development, promote skill enhancement, and encourage the growth of startups. Furthermore, it aims to establish collaborations with industries, corporates and academic institutions, both domestically and globally.
Under this National Mission, IIT Palakkad has established IIT Palakkad Technology IHub Foundation (IPTIF) to facilitate the Technology Innovation in Intelligent Collaborative Systems (ICS) with support from NM-ICPS coordinated by the DST, Govt. of India. IPTIF plans to attract potential and harness expertise available nationwide to foster research innovation, world class technology and product development.
Modeling, analysis, control, devices, networks, robotics, data and simulations are all building blocks of CPS technologies. Intelligent collaboration of these building blocks (Intelligent Collaborative Systems (ICS)) for developing technologies & products having applications in the fields of energy, safety, healthcare, automotives, agriculture and defense are the major focus areas of IPTIF.
After successful completion of IPTIF UYARE 1.0 program supporting 10+ technology/product development projects both Academia and Startups, IPTIF intends to launch a second version, UYARE 2.0, specially focused on Academic or Research Faculties from ST communities or Faculties working on Technologies relevant to Tribal Communities.
II. About “UYARE 2.0” Program:
“UYARE” in Malayalam language literally means “Up Above” or “At the Top”
UYARE (Unified Youth Advancement in Research and Entrepreneurship) is a special technology development funding program to support development of technologies and products in the IPTIF focused domains with Grant-in-Aid funding. The UYARE 2.0 program is specially designed under the Tribal Special Area Plan (TSP) budget from NM-ICPS to support academic / research faculty from Scheduled Tribe (ST) Community and/or Development or Implementation of Technologies /Products which will directly benefit the Tribal Communities.
Startups Applicants are NOT considered under UYARE 2.0
Equity-free, Grant-in-Aid funding is provided for technology/product development till prototype/proof of concept stage and above. In case of an implementation project, support is given for completing a pilot stage implementation of the technologies in the Tribal areas.
Exploratory research proposals are discouraged under this program
III. Eligibility
a. Applicants from ST Category
● Proposals are solicited in IPTIF format from Faculties, Researchers and Scientists under ST Category from academic and research institutions
● Project Investigators in ST category should submit caste certificates or any equivalent certificates in support of the applications.
b. Technology/Product development or implementation projects focused for Tribal Areas/Communities
● Proposals from Faculties, Researchers from any category for Technology/Product Development or Technology /Product Implementation focused on Tribal Areas/Communities
● Project to be implemented in India
IV. Scope UYARE 2.0 Program
Under UYARE program, funding support will be provided for technology development under the below categories
a. Category 1: Proof of Concept/ Prototype Development
Entry TRL: Idea & Proof of Principle stage (TRL 1 / 2).
End TRL: TRL-3 (Proof of Concept /Minimal Viable Prototype ready for validation & testing)
Note: Novelty to be protected through patents. Research & Conference publications without protecting the IP are highly discouraged under this call
b. Category 2: Technology/Product Validation or Technology/product Implementation
Entry TRL: Proof of Concept /Minimal Viable Prototype available (TRL-2)
End TRL: TRL 4-6 (A design-iterated prototype with critical technology components and
Bill of Materials (BoM) frozen & undergone limited filed testing under real/simulated working environment and ready for applicable safety/quality regulatory certifications)
Or
End TRL- TRL-6 and above (Pilot scale demonstration and implementation of Technology Products in the Tribal Areas / Communities)
V. Duration of support
Project duration to be maximum 12-18 months & Milestone based funding support based on availability of Funds from NM-ICPS, Department of Science and Technology
VI. Areas supported under this call
Proposals are invited for development, validation and demonstration of technologies and technology products in the domain of ICS, Energy, Safety, Healthcare, Automotive, Agriculture and Defense
VII. Funding Guidelines
● Total funding support up to INR 10 lakhs as Grant in Aid
● Only recurring budget heads are allowed.
● Funding will be released as milestone-linked tranches or one time support on a case-to-case basis as per the recommendation of the expert evaluation committee
● Flexibility is allowed in the budget break-up within the Recurring heads
● No Overheads will be given under this call.
● Recurring budget heads generally includes Human Resource, Consumables, Outsourcing, Travel, Contingency and Patenting cost.
● Manufacturing cost of Technology Products for validation, demonstration and Implementation will fall under recurring budget
VIII. IP Governing Framework
● Any background Intellectual Property (IP) on the technology on which the proposal is based has to be declared in the proposal. The background IP rights will remain with the Fund recipient.
● Any new IP generated from the supported projects will be held by IPTIF fully or in a joined manner with Fund recipient as agreed upon on a case-to case basis
IX. Acknowledgement of the support
Acknowledge the Grant in Aid assistance received from IPTIF under UYARE2.0 Program for the technology/ product development or implementation to be done while publishing, presentation or product branding of any manner at all fora.
X. Proposal Submission Guidelines
● Applications to be submitted online on the below link UYARE 2.0 Program Application Form on or before 20th February 2025, 11:59 PM hrs IST
● Project Proposal submission template is downloadable here Proposal Submission Format-UYARE 2.0 Program (Download and fill in the proposal format and save as .pdf file (Max 10 MB) for uploading in the application form.
Please name the file Applicant Name_Proposal)
Please prepare the below documents in .pdf format to be uploaded along with application:
1. KYC of Individual Applicant (Copy of Aadhar/Passport/DL) .pdf file Max 10MB
2. Caste Certificate in Support of ST Category (Category 1)
3. CV of the Individual Project Investigator/Collaborator- Max 3 pages- .pdf file Max 10 MB
4. Any Letter of Interest /Memorandum of Association from/with the collaborator (In case of Collaborators in the project)
5. Project Proposal (in the Prescribed Format, .pdf file, Max 10 MB)
6. Additional Background Information about the Product/Technology or Data in support of TRLs claimed by the Applicant (.pdf file, Max 10 MB)
7. Details of Ongoing/Completed projects on the proposed technology/product with support from other Funding agencies (.pdf file of less than 10 MB size (Please include a Table with Title of the project, Funding agency, Total Funding, Completion date, Status (ongoing/Completed) File name: Company name_List of funded projects)
8. Video of the product or Presentation Video, if any ( Max 20 MB)
XI. Tentative Schedule for the Proposal evaluation
Call opens on: 11th February 2025
Proposal Submission Deadline: 20th February 2025
Screening and Shortlisting of Proposals: February 28th 2025
Presentation to Technical Expert Committee: 03-05 March 2025
Announcement of Results: 10th March 2025
XII. Contact Details
Please write to rnd@iptif.tech with a copy to office@iptif.tech for any queries related to the application process