SFI Call for Proposals on Collaborative Research Centres
.jpg){kind=small}
The SFI Research Centres Programme will consolidate the existing Centres for Science, Engineering and Technology (CSET) Programme and Strategic Research Cluster (SRC) Programme into a ‘single-entry’ competition. The SFI informed attendees at a meeting on 26 January 2012 that it is soliciting proposals to create new research centres, or to extend the activity of existing research centres. SFI Research Centres will be eligible to receive up to six years of funding for its core activities and will also be eligible to receive funding for a number of targeted projects, each of which must include one or more industry partners. SFI is accepting initial expressions of interest now and closing date for same is 12 March 2012. There is a further information meeting being held on 10 February 2012 for interested industry parties.
SFI anticipates offering funding of between €1m and €5m per annum for SFI Research Centres, and anticipates funding a number of centres of diverse scale, proportionate to this funding range.
Proposals must have substantial industry participation, including, co-funding of research activities through cash, in kind contributions, or a combination of both.
It is intended that funding for the centres will break down between SFI and Industry contributions roughly as follows:
- 10% Industry cash
- 20% Industry in kind contribution (e.g. equipment, people, know-how, software etc)
- SFI – three times the cash contribution from industry
- SFI – three times the in kind contribution of industry.
Intellectual property ownership will be commensurate with the contributions made by Industry, for example, a small contribution may entitle the industry contributor to NERF benefits, a higher contribution may entitle it to first refusal on a licence or an exclusive licence and a large contribution might entitle it to ownership.
Revised National IP Guidelines are being developed by interest parties. The intention is that for new research centres there will not be one over-arching Collaborative IP Agreement but that rather the centres will enter into Targeted Project IP Agreements with the relevant industry parties that are supporting that project.
SFI has made it clear that any applicant to the call option must ensure that an IP Agreement with industry players is in place prior to an offer of funding being made by SFI. This will essentially mean that during the later stages of the call option if a particular centre proposal is in the running for funding, it will have to arrange for an IP Agreement to be drawn up with its proposed industry partner before the final stages of the competition in order to demonstrate agreement regarding possible IP developed by the centres targeted projects. This will presumably place certain demands on a proposed project before it has received funding from SFI and it will mean that project leaders will have to ensure that they have their legal ducks in a row prior to the final programme offer stages.
