NBIC Confirm Funding of a Further 15 Projects Tackling and Exploiting Biofilms
The National Biofilms Innovation Centre (NBIC) are delighted to share that a further 15 projects have been awarded funding from our fifth Proof of Concept (PoC) call launched earlier this year.
Since December 2017 we have carried out 5 calls for PoC projects amongst our community. We have awarded funding to 97 collaborative projects, from a total of 230 applications, from 49 different research institutions and 143 Principal Investigators.
This represents a total investment of £5.3m from NBIC and an overall project value of £7.2m.
We designed, led and managed these calls using a transparent independent process with our partners’ input. We have also seen a widening of sectorial spread and balance of interventional themes.
“We received a diverse range of applications from various sectors across the UK for this Proof of Concept round. The 15 awarded projects are collaborations between academic partners and SMEs and were selected for their outstanding quality and potential to create significant societal and environmental impact. We look forward to working closely with the project teams to help realise this potential.”
Professor Jo Slater-Jeffereis, NBIC CEO.
NBIC were involved with the formation of several partnerships via their targeted matching of need and solution leading to POC applications. The collaboration between NBIC’s affiliated research institutions and industry is key to understanding biofilms and producing innovative solutions to the societal challenges they present, currently impacting ~$5 trillion dollars in global economic activity (approx. double the UK GDP). All projects work across the major strategic NBIC themes: Prevent, Detect, Manage and Engineer biofilms, and are a step forward in capitalising on the world-class research based in the UK to tackle the sectoral challenges identified with industry partners.
All project applications were sent to NBIC’s volunteer pool of around 70 independent assessors from academia and industry, and each project was assigned to at least one academic and one industry assessor. Projects were assessed rigorously, across a number of key criteria, including: the quality of the collaboration; the quality of the science; the level of innovation; the potential for future application and the next steps if successful; the credibility of the project plan and the work needed to be done; the demonstrated extent of engagement with industry or external stakeholders and their level of commitment, and the alignment of project goals with the NBIC strategy. The review panel consisted of 2 Academics, 3 industry partners, a startup specialist, an IP Professional and was chaired by an experienced entrepreneur. Finally, the whole process was checked and approved by the NBIC Non-Executive Board.
NBIC’s contribution ranges from 25-75k for each project. In total they are investing approximately £874,000 in these projects. Projects were also encouraged to propose additional sources of funding and in-kind support (in order to enhance the quality of the bid and the outcomes anticipated), bringing the total value to £1.9m. NBIC will help to support and facilitate the relationship between research institutions and industry partners, and project leads are expected to report to NBIC on a regular basis regarding project progress.