Greetings, Future Entrepreneur!
If you’re reading this, it’s likely because you’re contemplating a leap from your current job to start your own business. Maybe you’ve spotted a market need and have a technological solution in mind, or perhaps you’ve been working on a project for years and believe you can improve a certain area of it.
Whatever your motivation, you’ll need funding, and you aim to get it from a government institution that supports such initiatives. You might not realize it yet, but you’ll also need the guidance of experienced professionals – both technological and scientific – to help you pitch your project in a way that convinces the NCBR committee to invest.
Well then, let’s not waste the time and let’s explore the 3 key aspects of the NCBR application process and discuss how to navigate them to secure a grant.
NCBR R&D Application – Key Insights
First, it’s important to note that this guide focuses on research and development (R&D) grants, as that is our area of expertise.
R&D grants allocate significant funding to research and development activities, such as conducting experiments and developing new technologies. This is because the nature of these projects is inherently innovative and creative.
Your project must therefore introduce new solutions, fill market gaps, or develop products that didn’t exist before.
And when applying to NCBR, you’ll face three primary challenges:
- Crafting a technical description of the project with clear milestones and metrics.
- Involving a person with the proper credentials, ideally with a PhD.
- Presenting and defending your idea before an expert panel.
The First Challenging Area: Technical Description of the Project
The backbone of your NCBR application is the technical description of your solution.
- Project Goal: A clear objective you aim to achieve.
- Problem Description: A detailed explanation of the issue your project addresses.
- Innovation: Demonstrating the novel aspects of your project.
- Milestones: Defining project stages with specific goals and success metrics.
- Methodology: Detailed description of the research and technological methods to be used.
Applicants often find the milestone stage the most challenging; especially coming up with key success metrics. Let’s shed some light on this area.
Data Collection
Initially, you need to gather a thousand samples of the solution you are planning to release. These could be videos, texts, or tables with data classified. Collecting correct and incorrect samples is crucial, as they will be used to train the algorithm.
For example, one of our clients wanted to create an innovative tool for golf teachers and players to assess swings. We collected a thousand videos of golf swings: 700 to train the algorithm and 300 to test its accuracy.
Let’s stick to this example.
Specialist Evaluation
The next stage involves consulting with specialists who can identify and explain nuances in the research area. Specialists provide valuable insights that technical experts outside the field might overlook.
For instance, a golf teacher might watch the videos and specify why a particular swing is correct or incorrect. These insights are then incorporated into the algorithm to improve its precision.
Defining Project Metrics
Finally, you must describe the project and specify metrics for its success.
This is the most daunting part because it involves committing to specific outcomes in front of the committee. For example, you might state that the algorithm will be 90% effective, meaning it will correctly assess the swing technique 9 out of 10 times.
This stage requires experience writing applications, planning, and defining realistic KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). You need to strike a balance—promise enough to convince the committee of the project’s potential, but not so much you can’t deliver.
For instance, you can construct criteria (metrics) always achievable in tests. If you have a sample of a thousand elements and train the algorithm to work perfectly for those thousand cases, you can achieve a 100% success rate. This may not be an ideal criterion because the algorithm might not perform as well for new cases, but it will be sufficient to defend the project before the committee.
This stage is challenging and often causes anxiety even for the most prepared entrepreneurs. However, with the support of external specialists like us, you don’t need to worry.
Firstly, we will help you create appropriate success metrics. Metrics that are achievable and simultaneously satisfy the committee’s usefulness, functionality, and innovation requirements.
Secondly, we will help you design an algorithm that meets the promised results and justify it reasonably before the committee in case of any shortfall.
But there’s more to it than just that.
The Second Challenging Area: Access to a PhD – Project Legitimization
Your application will ultimately reach a committee to evaluate its potential internally and then discuss it in a panel.
The NCBR application evaluation committee typically includes experts from various fields, such as:
- Specialists with scientific titles relevant to the project’s theme.
- Professionals with experience in the relevant industry.
- Business experts in project profitability assessment and cost-benefit analysis.
- Individuals from government institutions or public organizations.
- Specialists who assess the innovativeness and technological potential of proposed solutions.
The first, scientific group, is of the highest priority – since R&D projects emphasize “Research,” having a PhD holder on your team as well is necessary.
They can ensure the project’s scientific rigor and defend it during the expert panel. A committee with PhDs onboard won’t take a project seriously if the team behind it doesn’t have the necessary academic expertise. From our experience, having a PhD holder in a startup significantly increases the chances of the committee approving the application.
However, the challenge is that very few startups and software houses can access PhD holders familiar with the NCBR process. But we’re one of the few.
We have specialized in artificial intelligence since 2012 and have gathered AI, NLP, and computer vision specialists with appropriate academic titles and commercial experience. They also support us in NCBR applications.
Example projects:
From Vision to Validation: Wakeb’s AI & Image Recognition Journey – Stermedia
How to use simple math models for major business challenges? – Stermedia
Revolutionizing Public Health with AI and ML. Sanitary Inspection Case Study
Importantly, we also handle formal aspects of the scientist’s involvement in the project, ensuring they are available in the core, post-application team.
The Third Challenging Area: Expert Panel
Finally, if your application is approved and goes through a series of revisions, you must defend it before the committee. The meeting, held online or in person, involves a brief pitch presentation followed by questions from the committee.
An important fact is that the NCBR committee will thoroughly examine your application only at this stage, not earlier. The discussion panel is when all members gather to review the application and formulate questions.
This is a crucial moment because, after the panel, they vote and rate whether you have convinced them. While you may handle business questions well, questions about research methodology and the scientific aspect of the project can be challenging.
Imagine receiving a question like
Mr. Mark, in point 2.22, you stated that the algorithm will be 80% effective. How will this effectiveness be calculated?
Answering with imprecise terms and stories will look weak because the committee expects specific, scientific answers. Likely, coming from their scientific colleagues.
But don’t worry! The PhD holder who helped write and review your application will join the panel and be prepared to answer such questions.
They will respond, allowing you to breathe a sigh of relief.
Questions from the committee can vary and might concern where you will get the data or other technical aspects. Some questions will be business-related, some technical, and some scientific. Answering each confidently and precisely is absolutely crucial to securing a grant.
And while the entire NCBR application process aims to convince the committee of your idea, this final stage is where it happens face-to-face. The committee needs to believe that the project will be on track when they meet again in six months, and they won’t need to oversee it closely.
And that’s exactly our and our PhD experts’ role – to make the committee believe in your product’s vision, defend it both on paper and in real-time, and then support you in every step to ensure that vision becomes a reality.
Let’s do this, shall we? 🙂
