December 5, 7, 12 and 14 this year. The World Bank project implementation group “Modernization of the National Innovation System of Uzbekistan” (“MUNIS”) under the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation of the Republic of Uzbekistan held workshops to explain the conditions for grants, application processes, examination and selection of projects in the Research Commercialization Program grant program (RCP). In total, more than 500 scientists, entrepreneurs, innovators, startuppers, designers, inventors, and information technology specialists took part in the seminars, organized in online and offline formats at the INNO technology park.

The purpose of the RCP program is to finance projects for the commercialization of research and development results at the stage of proof of business concept and small-scale prototyping; providing mentoring for projects with commercialization potential.

The key speakers were foreign consultants of the World Bank: Abylay Akhymbekov – international expert in the field of commercialization of technologies and promotion of innovations, Evgeniy Evdokimov – international expert in the field of venture financing, technology transfer and development of the innovation ecosystem, Ekaterina Runova – international expert in the field of intellectual property management , innovation marketing, patent research and technology transfer.

At the seminars, a presentation was given about the RCP program, detailed information was given about the features of applying for participation in the program, and the procedure for reviewing applications, conditions and requirements for providing a grant were explained. At the final part of the seminars, Q&A sessions were held, at which participants received answers to their questions.

Basic conditions of the BIRD program:

• Grant amount – up to $600,000 for 1 project;

• Duration and geography of the project – up to 24 months, on the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

• Joint financing – the presence of an investor is required, the investment amount must be at least 25% of the grant amount (the source of financing can be an industrial partner, a financial partner or own funds);

• Thematic areas are not limited, projects can be interdisciplinary;

• The applicant is the scientific and technical manager of the project, an individual (citizenship of the Republic of Uzbekistan is required);

• The project team should include a business development specialist.

The deadline for submitting applications will be published on the MUNIS project website https://wbgrants.uz/ in the competition announcement.