La ministra de Ciencia e Innovación, Diana Morant, ha destacado que 81 organismos repartidos por todas las comunidades van a recibir ayudas de esta convocatoria, financiada con fondos europeos del Plan de Recuperación, Transformación y Resiliencia.
El objetivo de esta convocatoria es impulsar proyectos que permitan acelerar la transformación de ideas, conocimientos o resultados científicos en productos, bienes, aplicaciones o beneficios para la economía, la sociedad, la cultura, las políticas públicas o los servicios.
Asimismo, estas ayudas pretenden fomentar la transferencia de conocimiento entre los actores públicos y privados del Sistema de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación, así como incrementar las capacidades de divulgación y comunicación de la I+D+I a la sociedad.
La convocatoria de 2022 es la segunda edición del programa ‘Prueba de Concepto’, que en 2021 tuvo una gran acogida y dedicó otros 40 millones de euros a proyectos de I+D+I.
The Spanish public research body Ciencia e Innovación has recently announced that it has granted 40 million Euros to 356 ‘Prueba de Concepto’ (Proof of Concept) projects.
This is the first call for the Proof of Concept funding programme launched by the CONACYT (National Council for Science and Technology), within the framework of the ‘Strategy for Scientific and Technological Innovation’ 2020.
The aim of the funding programme is to promote the creation of innovative technologies and businesses in the country by strengthening collaboration between the public research community and industry. The projects will take a maximum of 18 months to complete, with the funds being awarded in 3 cycles of 6 months each.
All 356 projects are based on research and development activities that have been carried out in the last five years. The main objective is to bridge the gap between the lab and the incorporation of new technologies and other innovative applications in society or in the industry. All projects must have relevance to the country’s socio-economic needs, and correspond to one of the 14 sectors of strategic research according to Ciencia e Innovación. The technologies and businesses developed by the funded projects must also comply with specified criteria in terms of technological maturity, economic feasibility and replicability.
In addition to the financial support provided by the programme, the projects will receive close support from specialists from the Agency for the Quality of Scientific and Technical Research (CICA), as well as from experienced external professionals from the innovation and business ecosystems.
Given the potential of research and innovation in the country, Ciencia e Innovación is confident that the new funding programme will result in the development of innovative solutions with a positive impact on society, economy and industry.
