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 IMPACT program supporting technology/product development projects both Academia and Startups, IPTIF intends to launch its special technology development funding program, UYARE
II. About “UYARE” 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 program is
specially designed under the Tribal Special Area Plan (TSA) budget from NM-ICPS to support Entrepreneurs and Innovators from Scheduled Tribe (ST) Community and/or Development or Implementation of Technologies /Products which will directly benefit the Tribal Communities.
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 Innovators, Faculties, Researchers and Scientist under ST Category from academic and research institutions
● Indian Startups, Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) and Micro Small Medium Enterprise (MSMEs) registered under Indian Companies Act 2013 with at least one of the co- founders / co-owners are from ST Category
● Project Investigators in ST category should submit caste certificates in support of the applications.
● In case of Startups, LLPs and MSMEs shareholding / Ownership certificate along with Caste certificates of co-founders / co-owners from ST category
b. Technology/Product development or implementation projects focused for Tribal Areas/Communities
● Proposals from Innovators, Faculties, Researchers, Startups, LLPs, MSMEs from any category for Technology/Product Development or Technology /Product Implementation focused on Tribal Areas/Communities
● Minimum 51% of the shares of the Company should be held by Indian Citizens holding Indian passport [Indian Citizens do not include Person of Indian Origin (PIO) and Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) holders]
● Minimum half of partners in LLP documents should be Indian citizens
● Project to be implemented in India
IV. Scope UYARE Program
Under UYARE program, funding support will be provided for technology development under the below categories
a. Category 1: Proof of Concept/ Prototype Development
Applicants: Only for Innovators, Faculties and Researchers from ST community from Academic, R&D Institutions
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
Applicants: Startups, LLPs & MSMEs
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
● Major support under Recurring budget heads.
● Non-recurring budget, if any approved, will be maximum 20% of the total project cost
● Funding will be released as milestone-linked tranches 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 & release of installments on a case-to-case basis.
● 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
● Any capital equipment procurement required as part of the project, as approved, would fall under Non-recurring budget (Maximum 20% of the total project cost)
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 4 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 UYARE 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 ProgramApplication format - Accubate Forms on or before 20th October 2024, 18.00 hrs IST
● Project Proposal submission template is downloadable here Proposal Submission Format-UYARE Program - Google Docs (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. Company Documents (Merged .pdf file (Max 10 MB) of Certificate of Incorporation, Startup Certification, Shareholding certificate + any other relevant document)
4. CV of the Individual Project Investigator/Collaborator- Max 3 pages- .pdf file Max 10 MB
5. Any Letter of Interest /Memorandum of Association from/with the collaborator (In case of Collaborators in the project)
6. Project Proposal (in the Prescribed Format, .pdf file, Max 10 MB)
7. Additional Background Information about the Company, Product/Technology or Data in support of TRLs claimed by the Applicant (.pdf file, Max 10 MB)
8. 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)
9. Video of the product or Presentation Video, if any ( Max 20 MB)
XI. Tentative Schedule for the Proposal evaluation
Call opens on: 2nd October 2024
Proposal Submission Deadline: 20th October 2024
Screening and Shortlisting of Proposals: 1st November 2024
Presentation to Technical Expert Committee: 5th- 10th November, 2024
Announcement of Results: 25th November, 2024
XII. Contact Details
Please write to rnd@iptif.tech with a copy to office@iptif.tech for any queries related to the application process