The first round of the BioPhoT Research and Innovation Projects (RIPs) call is now closed and 79 projects will be able to compete for funding. The projects that will receive a grant of up to €200,000 for their innovative ideas, out of a total of €6 million in public funding available for the competition, will be announced in September.
"Health technology and diagnostic solutions, biomaterials and regenerative medicine, smart sensor systems, sustainable chemistry and circular economy approaches dominate the top-ranked applications. The technological diversity of the submitted projects demonstrates Latvia's research and innovation potential," commented Osvalds Pugovičs, BioPhoT Platform Manager said.
The first BioPhoT RIP competition evaluated more than 120 applications in the areas of biomedicine, medical technologies, pharmaceuticals, photonics, smart materials and engineering systems for the Smart Specialisation Strategy or RIS3. Projects with 10 or more points and at least one point in each evaluation criterion are promoted to the second round.
For three days, from 26 to 28 May, five independent industry and commercialisation experts from different countries -Irit Yaniv, M.D., MBA, healthcare business executive, investor and entrepreneur, Matīss Neimanis, Managing Partner and CEO of the venture capital fund and accelerator "Buildit Latvia",Barak Azmon, physician and founder and CEO of several medical start-ups,Peter Birk, life sciences executive, investor and adviser, andMartin Askne, a start-up coach, an innovation manager and a business angel - analysed the innovative potential and market relevance of the submitted ideas.
"The teams were well prepared - they were able to fit in a 5-minute presentation and answer the questions concisely and accurately. The organisation was also excellent - everything went smoothly, even better than planned. All we experts had to do was focus on the presentation, the materials and make a decision. I believe that the platform will contribute to an excellent outcome!" commented panellist M. Neimanis.
The experts highlighted that the technological diversity and thematic coverage of the applications reflect Latvia's scientific potential and are in line with the BioPhoT programme's aim to support early-stage technologies with high commercialisation potential in different scientific and economic sectors. A significant part of the Platform's funding is dedicated to developing the innovation skills of scientists. On 9 and 10 June, the Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry will host a two-day seminar "Intellectual Property - From Idea to Patent and Beyond", which aims to provide researchers and IP professionals with in-depth knowledge on IP protection, patenting and commercialisation. All interested parties are welcome to attend the training organised by BioPhoT free of charge.
"The BioPhoT programme aims to foster a shift from academic science to applied thinking - researchers need to be able to clearly identify the market potential for products or services at an early stage. This focus is essential to take innovations from the lab to the market. Despite the unusual presentation format, we saw that the RIP applicants demonstrated a high level of preparation and presented the market potential of their ideas in a convincing way. This was also particularly highlighted by the experts. After the first round of the RIP selection, it is already evident that Latvian research teams are able to demonstrate the innovative potential of their ideas and are aware of their applications or market niches," said O. Pugovičs.
The second round of RIP evaluation will be followed by a scientific evaluation of the project applications by the expert panel of the Latvian Council for Science and the RIPs that will receive public funding for their implementation in the first BioPhoT call will be announced in September.
The first call is part of a broader programme of BioPhoT platform activities, which will include two more calls for proposals by 2026. The total funding for innovation projects will exceed €12 million, while almost €5 million will be dedicated to improving scientists' innovation skills, including training on technology transfer, commercialisation and intellectual property protection.
At least 35 new technologies are expected to be developed by 2032, some of which will reach the market demonstration or commercialisation stage. The long-term goal of the Platform is to strengthen Latvia's science and innovation system and promote technology-intensive entrepreneurship.
BioPhoT is coordinated by the Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis, implemented by the Institute of Electronics and Computer Science, the Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre, the University of Latvia, the Institute of Solid State Physics, the Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry, the Scientific Institute of Food Safety, Animal Health and Environment "BIOR", Riga Stradins University and Riga Technical University.
The project "Biomedical and Photonics Research Platform for Innovative Products" or "BioPhoT" is implemented under the National Research Programme "Innovation Fund - Long-term Research Programme". Platform number: IVPP-EM-Innovation-2024/1-0002.
