Thanks to the financial support of the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TA CR) provided within the GAMA2 programme, in 2020–2022 Palacký University can make use of up to €600,000 in support to finalize scientific findings for practical use. The UP Science and Technology Park (VTP UP) has started accepting applications for Proof-of-Concept sub-projects.
The projects are designed for researchers who want to get their ideas on the market while doing what they enjoy and what fulfils them. Applications will continue to be accepted until the funds, which amount to €200,00 for each year, become depleted.
The TA CR GAMA2 programme aims to support the verification of the results of applied research and to prepare their subsequent commercial use. “Do you need to build a prototype device or a software tool to showcase your project to potential customers or verify the qualities of the result so that it can be patented effectively? Do you wish to transform your research output into applicable practice? Then the Proof-of-Concept projects are here for you,” said Petr Kubečka, Head of the Technology Transfer Office.
Proof-of-Concept projects have proven to be a very effective tool for successful commercialisation in the past. “This year we have successfully completed the last seven sub-projects from the previous call of the GAMA programme, which was implemented in 2014–2019,” Kubečka said. “A total of 28 sub-projects were supported in this university-wide project, and 52 valuable results were achieved. Some of them have already been applied in practice, others are being negotiated with commercial partners and investors. In the new call, the VTP UP team will cooperate even more closely with all the investigators in order to implement the results quickly and efficiently,” he added.
In order to have their projects launched by 1 January 2020, project applications must be sent to VTP UP no later than 11 November 2019 and subsequently approved by the Commercialisation Board. All documents necessary for filing the application can be found on the VTP UP website, in the section “For download”. The budget of the projects can be used for material costs, travel, services, and salaries of the investigators. Applicants can apply for the project even after November 11, 2019, but projects approved by the Board will not be launched until the second quarter of 2020. More information is available here.