Introduction
Biopharma Incubation Center (BIC) is a Technology Business Incubator promoted by the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) – Ahmedabad and supported by Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), DBT, Govt. of India aiming to promote technology-based Innovations in the field of Pharmaceuticals, Medical Devices and Biotechnology.
Objectives
BIC will attempt to support Technology-based projects - Technologies or a ‘Minimal Viable Prototype’ in the area of Pharmaceuticals, Medical Devices, and Biotechnology, but more importantly, try to inculcate a mindset of having clarity on ideas they are working out and undertaking commercial/societal impactful research.
Idea Competition-2021 is a competition which invites Innovative Ideas from the Students, Innovators, Entrepreneurs, Startups & Professional to convert their ideas into business. Best Ideas will be awarded by Certificate of Appreciation with Incubation cum handholding support.
Focus Areas
Pharmaceuticals
Medical Devices
Biotechnology
The Process
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Step-1
The Call for applications for Idea Competition -2021 will be open on NIPER-Ahmedabad’s Website https://niperahm.ac.in. Only Online applications shall be accepted. Applicants are advised to fill up and submit their applications early without waiting for the last date to avoid any last-minute contingencies. The system stops accepting applications automatically at midnight (actually, at 23:59 hrs.) of the last date of receipt of application.
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Step-2
Applicants are advised to provide only non-confidential, yet sufficient details in their applications to allow for an informed and fair evaluation/review. Applicants are advised to provide self-contained proposals with essential supporting materials provided as uploads. The proposal once submitted is final. No changes will be accepted thereafter. Providing incorrect information will lead to outright rejection of proposals.
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Step-3
The applications shall be screened & shortlisted for completeness and appropriateness based on merits.
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Step-4
Shortlisted applications shall require to present the strategy they propose, to crack the problem statement, inclusive of the preliminary work done (if at all), before a Committee authorized for the purpose. The applicants are not expected to share any confidential information in their application/ proposal unless it is protected. The applicants shall have to appear before the committee at their cost.
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Step-5
A Committee authorized for the purpose shall undertake an evaluation of the technology/MVPs developed by the shortlisted teams/individuals and winning ideas will be facilitated with a Certificate of Appreciation along with free incubation support for 4-6 months at BIC-NIPER-A. Incubation support includes laboratory support (excluding consumables), mentoring support, business development support, support for raising government grants, etc.
Eligibility
- The Individual Applicants/ Team Leader must be an Indian citizen.
- An Applicant could be an individual or a group of Individuals that have teamed up informally or formally.
- These individuals could be Students, Teachers/ Faculty, Researchers, Professionals, or Entrepreneurs that are studying, employed, self-employed or unemployed.
- An Individual may be a part of more than one team.
- An individual who is a promoter/ shareholder of any Start-Up company or one of the partners in an LLP will be allowed to apply as an individual, irrespective of the percentage of shareholding of the applicant in the company, provided all of the companies/ LLPs fall within the definition of Start-up, as defined by Govt. of India, and as revised from time-to-time.
- The Applicant may be a Start-Up already registered or to-be registered under the Indian Companies Act, 1956/2013 or The LLP Act, 2008. It shall need to identify a Project Leader, who shall be the point of contact/ correspondence and signatory for any and every Agreement to be signed, as authorized by the Executive Board of the Start-Up.
- The applicant Start-Up company shall be considered eligible only if it is ‘Owned’ by a resident Indian citizen i.e., a minimum of 51% of the capital in it, is beneficially owned by resident Indian citizens and/or Indian Companies, which are ultimately owned and controlled by resident Indian citizens.
General Guidelines
- By submitting to the competition, all applicants warrant and represent, to the best of their knowledge, their submission is original and does not violate or misappropriate any third-party trade secret, ‘know-how’, copyright, patent, or other intellectual property rights. Participants also warrant and represent that there are no obligations of any nature, legal or otherwise, which would prohibit, restrict, or interfere with their participation in the Contest or submission of their design report, and agree to obtain any necessary clearances, authorizations, and/or approvals before participation.
- The applicants agree that BIC/NIPER-A will share information submitted by the participants as to panel experts, reviewers, etc. (any information that you may not want to share publicly should not be submitted).
- The decision of the Competent Authority/ Committee will be final and binding concerning selection at all stages.
- BIC/NIPER-A does not claim ownership over Intellectual Property Right (IPR) for the Innovation that is sent to us by applying. The IPR shall remain with the applicant at all times.
- BIC/NIPER-A reserves the right to publish the winner’s information concerning 1. Title of the project, 2. A brief summary, 3. Deliverables 4. Principle Investigator 5. Team etc.
Correspondance
- Any correspondence with the applicants will be done through an email provided by the participants at the time of filling the application form. BIC/NIPER-A is not liable in case of any email delivery failures.
- For any queries, please send mail at: bic@niperahm.ac.in.
Disclaimer
BIC/NIPER-A reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, suspend this contest and modify the rules & prizes related to the contest without prior notice. In no event shall BIC/NIPER-A’s Website or any staff of BIC/NIPER-A be liable for any claims, losses, expenses or damages, arising out of or in connection with the foregoing.
Important Dates
- Proposal submission opens: 15th July 2021
- (Extended) Last date for submission: 16th August 2021 (24:00 Hrs.)
- Evaluation and shortlisting of applications: Tentatively August/September 2021
- Presentation of Shortlisted ideas: Tentatively by September/October 2021
- Declaration of Winners: October-2021 and Support to the winners by October-2021 onwards.