Applications are now open for the Innovation Incubator 4.0 program

The Knowledge and Technology Transfer Center, as part of the Program, supports the financing of projects in the proof of concept phase, as well as work aimed at increasing the technology readiness level (TRL) of existing inventions that have high implementation potential and may therefore attract the interest of business partners. Expenses eligible for funding from the Innovation Incubator may include, among others, the purchase of materials and raw materials, small laboratory equipment, software/software licenses, external services such as expert opinions and reports. Support from the Program may also be granted for expenses related to patent protection, including patent application fees, domestic and international business trips, and participation in promotional events such as fairs or exhibitions.

The company Excento, within the Program, offers support in the process of establishing spin-off companies. Expenses eligible for funding from the Incubator regarding spin-off company formation include, among others: entrepreneurship and business management training, technology valuation, market analysis for the proposed solution, legal services costs in the company establishment process, substantive support for company formation, and various forms of promoting the spin-off company’s offer at trade fairs, in the media, and on internet portals.

CTWT or Excento brokers may also identify other forms of support that prove useful in the company formation process during discussions with the research team.

Purchases and orders for services under the Innovation Incubator 4.0 are subject to procedures compliant with the Public Procurement Law. Each submitted project will receive the care of an Innovation Broker, who will support the project team in contacts with Gdańsk Tech experts (public procurement specialist, patent attorney, legal advisor) and business partners/clients to facilitate the commercialization of the results from the conducted pre-implementation works.

An essential condition for submitting a research project to the Innovation Incubator 4.0 is demonstrating its commercialization potential. In practice, this means that the invention/innovative solution should be of interest to industry representatives. Therefore, during the qualification process for funding from the Incubator, it is required to obtain a non-binding declaration from a company representative indicating potential interest in the results of the ongoing research work.

For students and doctoral candidates, it is required to find a supervisor from among Gdańsk Tech’s academic staff who will join the project team and submit the funding application. Projects with high industry implementation potential have better chances of receiving funding.

Applications to the Program, in the form of a completed Project Form along with a Cost Estimate, should be submitted electronically to: inkubator.ctwt@pg.edu.pl, with the subject line “Innovation Incubator 4.0 – project application.” They will be verified for formal compliance, and qualified applications will be assigned a project supervisor (Innovation Broker from CTWT or Excento), who will contact the Project Leader directly.

Detailed information about the Innovation Incubator 4.0 is available on the Program page.

So far, 3 editions of the Innovation Incubator program have been completed, during which the Knowledge and Technology Transfer Center and the company Excento have supported over 70 scientific projects carried out by teams including Gdańsk Tech academic staff. The total amount of funding for these projects exceeded PLN 2 million.

The call is open until 2 November 2021, at 10:00 AM