IUSSTF
Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum
(IUSSTF)
Fulbright House, 12 Hailey Road
New Delhi 110 001
Email: endowment@indousstf.org
United States - India Science and Technology Endowment Fund
(USISTEF)
Commercializing Technologies for Societal Impact
CALL FOR EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
SUBMISSION DEADLINE AUGUST 16, 2014
The governments of the United States of America
(through the Department of State) and India (through the Department of Science
& Technology) have established the United States–India Science &
Technology Endowment Fund (USISTEF) for the promotion of joint activities that would
lead to innovation and technopreneurship through the application of science and
technology. The aim of the Fund is to support and foster joint applied R&D
to generate public good through the commercialization of technology developed
through sustained partnerships between U.S. and Indian researchers and entrepreneurs.
The U.S.- India Science and Technology Endowment Fund activities are
implemented and administered through the bi-national Indo-U.S. Science and
Technology Forum (IUSSTF).
Program
Areas
Healthy
Individual: Supports the development of affordable biomedical devices, diagnostic/preventive/curative
measures, or food and nutrition products to improve health.
(Drug development and clinical trials are not
eligible activities in this category).
Empowering
Citizens: Supports efforts to reduce the digital/technology divide. This
could include information and communication technologies with societal impact
in areas such as water, agriculture, financial inclusion, and education, among
other areas.
Eligibility
Funding Proposals must include a minimum of one
partner from each country. Bi-national teams applying to the Endowment Fund
will work together to commercialize technologies for societal impact.
The bi-national teams can include:
(i) Incorporated companies including start-up
companies; or
(ii) Non-incorporated entities; or
(iii) Individuals or consortia from academia,
government laboratories, non-government R&D institutions
Each bi-national team must include at the time of
application an entrepreneurial (small-scale as opposed to large-scale) entity
that will receive a portion of the grant and take the technology to the market.
If partners are planning to form a new venture to commercialize the technology,
the proposal should include planned incorporation date and the amount of grants
requested for the new entity.
The teams should be able to accept the terms and
conditions of the award (Annexure-I) in case the proposal is approved.
The relationship between the U.S. and Indian
partners must be clearly defined, including ownership of intellectual property
rights for the technology proposed to be developed and commercialized.
The applicants must make a credible case that the
proposed technology can enter the market within 2-3 years.
Grants of up to Rs. 2.50 crores or approximately
$400,000 (subject to prevailing exchange rate). Proposals outside this range
may be considered under exceptional circumstances at the discretion of the
U.S.-India Science & Technology Endowment Board (hereafter referred to as
the 'Board').
It may be noted that Endowment Fund is an Indian
Rupee Fund and all the grants are denominated in Indian rupees (INR) only.
Awards are made in tranches according to project milestones and installment
amounts are fixed in Rupees. For U.S. Awardees, the grant is transferred after
converting it into USD at the prevailing exchange rate as on the date of disbursement
with no adjustment made for foreign exchange rate fluctuations. However, the applicants
are encouraged to consider requesting a provision under the contingency line
item of up to ten percent (10%) of the total budget
in the event of a devaluation of the rupee against the dollar.
The Board will give stronger preference to
proposals that include a reasonable balance in the distribution of work and the
grant between Indian and U.S. partners.
Grants will be released in a phased manner based on
successful completion of milestones (which may include requirements to raise/
invest additional outside funding to support the project).
All milestones for the grants will be specified at
the time of the award.
The Board reserves the right to limit its award to
selected project activities and milestones and in doing so approve partial
funding.
Things to
Remember
The applicants should thoroughly review the entire
Information Handbook for detailed information and understanding the processing
of the U.S. - India Science and Technology Endowment Fund at different stages .
The evaluation of all the submitted applications
will be undertaken by the U.S.-India Science and Technology Endowment Board in
consultation with external experts and per the need of the application.
Application
Process
For more details: http://usistef.org/pdf/Endowment_Information-Handbook.pdf
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