Call for Projects: Research and Innovation Bridges in Mauritius

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Deadline: 30-Jun-23

Under the Research and Innovation Bridges (RIB), a local company in partnership with an international company/Research institution can submit applications for innovative, collaborative research and development projects with commercial potential.

The Research and Innovation Bridges (RIB) aims to improve the competitiveness of Mauritius through bilateral and multilateral collaborative research and innovation partnerships between Researchers and Industry of the two or more countries.

Objective of any project should be to:

• To improve competitiveness of the company through a collaboration between Research and Industry.
• To develop a new/ improved product, process, and/or technique

Priority Areas

• Applications should be in line with the following priority areas:
  • Renewable Energy
  • Ocean/ Marine Technology, Resources and Services
  • ICT/BPO/Telecommunications (including High Performance Computing and Cloud Computing)
  • Life Sciences (including Health, Medical, Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology)
  • Manufacturing

Funding Information

• Successful applicants may be awarded a matching grant up to Rs 10 million.

Eligibility Criteria

• It is mandatory to have at least two (2) partners for any application: one (1) from the private sector and one (1) from an international company/research institution. The main applicant must be the private sector company and it should be registered for at least one year in the Republic of Mauritius.
• The two partners may include other local/international collaborators from either the private sector or the academia/research
• Under this scheme, a Mauritian Company (Small, Medium and Large1 ) wishing to undertake a project must partner with any of the:
  • A Company (Small, Medium, Large) from any of the partner country(ies)
  • A public/private Research Organisation /Academic Institution from any of the partner country(ies)
  • Besides any public/ private organizations either local or overseas (as proposed) could also form part of the consortium.
  • Any Mauritian Company (Small, Medium and Large)
  • Any Mauritian Research Organisation/Academic Institution, either public or private
  • Any Partner Country(ies) Company (Small, Medium and Large)
  • Any Partner Country(ies) Research Organisation /Academic Institution, either public or private
  • Any proposal submitted under this scheme should comprise of one Mauritian Company and at least one partner from Overseas Company (small, medium and large)/Research Organisation(s)/Academic Institution(s).
  • No awards will be made to applicants/ consortia who are already recipient of full project funding from other agencies for the same or any similar project.
• Eligibility of Applicant – The Mauritian Company
  • Only companies headquartered, owned and registered in the Republic of Mauritius, including small, medium and large companies are eligible to submit proposals under this scheme. The applicant should outline how the collaboration will increase the likely impacts of the research and innovation.
• Eligibility of Key Collaborators
  • Partner Country(ies) Company
    • Only companies headquartered, owned and registered in the Partner Country(ies), including small, medium and large companies are eligible to partner under this scheme.
  • Mauritian Research/ Academic Collaborator
    • The Mauritian Research/ Academic Collaborating Partner, will be either a public or private Research Organisation/ Academic Institution which is involved in research and development.
  • Partner Country(ies) Research/ Academic Collaborator
    • The Research/ Academic Collaborating Partner from the Partner Country(ies) will be either a public or private Research Organisation/ Academic Institution which is involved in research and development.
• Eligibility of the Co-Project Leaders
  • One Co-Project Leader must be employed by the Mauritian Company submitting the project proposal. Other Co-Project Leaders, one from each partner country, could be employed by the Partner Company(ies)/ or Joint Venture Company forming part of the consortium. The individuals who are proposed as the Co-Project Leaders at the time of the submission of the proposal are expected to be the CoProject Leaders at the time of the inception of the project. A change in Co-Project Leaders prior to an award could affect whether an award will be made.
• Other Eligibility Criteria
  • The application should also meet the following criteria for eligibility:
  • Relevance to the objective of the scheme
    • Priorities of the Call for Proposals
    • Mutually relevant to the needs of the Private Sector in Mauritius and Partner Country(ies)
    • Particular added-value elements
    • Capacity to innovate
    • Capacity Building
    • Industrial research and development
  • Management of the Research and Innovation Bridges The Mauritian Company must provide satisfactory evidence that it will exercise management, control and audit of the performance of the funds to be allocated under this grant. Regardless of the proportion of the work or funding of each of the participants under an award, the Mauritian Company is to be the grantee with overall responsibility for performance.

For more information, visit RIB.