Second Edition, 2022 Call IOV PoC 

The InnOValley Proof of Concept Fund is co-funded by the OeirasValley, IGC and ITQB NOVA.

SCOPE

The goal of InnOValley PoC is to identify and fund projects in a translational stage that have shown promising and exciting results with innovation potential and need further validation/proof of concept in any of the scientific fields of IGC and ITQB NOVA. All proposals should have a clear translational focus.

IOV PoC aims to help IGC and ITQB NOVA projects move forward in the translational pathway to stages where the data package is robust enough to fill for Intellectual Property Protection and/or be engaged in activities with industry and/or investors. The PoC is not intended to fund the creation of spin-off companies per se.

The scheme typically supports projects inline within the Technology readiness levels (TRL) 2-4

The total budget for the 2022 call is €200k. Awards are typically in the range of €40-50k directly incurred costs only, for up to 12 months. Projects seeking lower amounts could be considered.

The InnOValley PoC is fully aligned with United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, namely SDSs 2, 3, 9, 15, and 17, among others.

PROJECT ELIGIBILITY

IOV PoC provides funding for projects that:

• propose new solutions in the fields of biology (molecular, cellular, populational), chemistry, biochemistry, plants, bioinformatics – i.e. any of the scientific fields of IGC and ITQB NOVA;
• have already demonstrated successful results in the research environment and need further validation;
• have progressed beyond the stage where research funding opportunities are typically available, but capital from industry or an investment partner is unlikely to be secured at that stage.

IOV PoC shall NOT provide funding for projects that:

• are basic research, to generate models, new ideas with no previous preliminary data, or assess the feasibility of a research project;
• with prior funding by any other source, i.e. industry sponsorship, an investment partner, or research grant support, unless funds from such sources are devoted to match these of the PoC.

APPLICANT ELIGIBILITY

Applicants can be one or more IGC or ITQB NOVA Principal Investigators or Post-Doc researchers and in any case applicants need to agree and comply with the internal rules of the affiliated institute. In the case of Post-Doc as lead applicant, it is mandatory that the respective PI agrees with this application.

There is no limit on number of applications per research group. However, only one project can be awarded for the same research group.

Co-investigators from other organizations can be added to the application in cases where such co-investigators already share the ownership of prior results, or that agree to share with or assign future rights to IGC or ITQB NOVA as it applies. In such cases, joint ownership or similar agreement needs to be in place, or at least the minimum terms and conditions for joint ownership must be agreed in advance amongst institutions. Such co-investigators from other organizations can only perform up to 10% of the project and those costs are not eligible to request funding from the IOV PoC.

In case of leaving the institution, the award does not follow the applicant.

PROJECT SUBMISSION AND SELECTION

Application launch – November 16^th  2022

Application submission deadline – January 31^st 2023, 5pm Lisbon Time

Review Panel meeting – February- March 2023

Panel consensus meeting – end-March/beginning of April 2023

Event for the announcement of awarded projects – end-March/beginning of April 2023

Start of projects – not before May 1st 2023, not after July 1st 2023

PROJECT EVALUATION CRITERIA

Applications will be evaluated by an external and international panel of experts.

Panel review will be supported by the Innovation Unit, which will have no vote in the project’s decisions. Selection will be made based on a clear background IP, the commercial potential of the technology, as well as the commitment of the researcher and the feasibility and suitability of the suggested plan. Projects will be ranked and granted according to available resources. A panel consensus meeting will occur among the evaluation panel for the final decision of selected projects to be awarded. Awarded projects will be communicated in an event to occur by end-March/beginning April 2023.

Despite eligibility and selection criteria, a detailed plan with steps, at least 1 mid-term milestone, timelines and budget duly identifying Go/No Go decision points and alternatives for development will be critical for funding awarded. Funding will be provided in two tranches, the first upon signing the declaration of acceptance of award and the second following the achievement of the proposed mid-term milestone. Therefore, it is mandatory that each project defines at least 1 mid-term milestone (as per section 5.2 of the application form).

The following criteria will be considered during the evaluation of applications:

• Unmet societal and/or market need
• Originality
• Feasibility
• Potential

Additional information:

•  Compliance with project progress reporting, written reports and/or oral presentations, to members of InnOValley and possibly panel members is a condition of InnOValley PoC award acceptance.
• One page of supporting data may be included as part of the application as an appendix. Please refer to the figures in the application text.
• No overheads will be charged for the award. Please fill in the budget table with the “directly incurred” total cost sections, without overheads. • There is no limit on number of applications per research group. However, only one project can be awarded for the same research group.
• Only projects evaluated above the cut-off defined by the panel will be financed.
• If your project employs the use of biological materials (such as animal work, human data, human samples, and/or pluripotent cell lines) you will need to provide as part of project submission a PDF copy of valid ethical approval. If the approval has not been obtained yet, the applicant is expected to i) have an understanding on the rules and timelines to obtain such, and ii) consider such process when defining the starting day of the project, if awarded. Bottom line, projects should not be delayed because of pending ethical approvals.
• Completed and signed application forms, including a budget, the Gantt chart and the optional one-pager supporting data are to be emailed in a single pdf file to the InnOValley email: if from IGC – innovationunit@igc.gulbenkian.pt; if from ITQB NOVA innovationunit@itqb.unl.pt. Both the email subject and the single PDF should have the following name/subject: IOV PoC 2022 – LEAD APPLICANT NAME.

Submission form here.