Israel – India (I4F) Strategic Call for Proposals 2024

Open Date:

01/10/2024

Deadline for Submission:

24/02/2025

Time zone:

Israel

Summary:

The India-Israel Foundation for Research and Development (I4F) opts to support a leading and disruptive R&D project related to Biological, Physical & Human Integration with Autonomous Systems!

I4F promotes and supports technological cooperation projects between Israeli companies and Indian companies. The fund has four programs: a feasibility test, R&D, Pilot, and strategic program. Unlike the other programs of I4F, the strategic program is the only one whose topic is jointly chosen every year by the board of directors of the fund according to the national strategy of both countries.

Chosen topics: Biological, Physical & Human Integration with Autonomous Systems

As part of this strategic program, I4F would like to receive proposals for groundbreaking projects in the chosen field when the project partners are a company and a research institution from each side (minimum of 4 participants). The support for this route can reach a total of about 5M$.

The goal for the strategic program projects is to start the project from a relatively low TRL (3-4) up to the pilot phase (TRL 7-8) while creating an impact in the field, by combining forces – Industry and Academia – in joint R&D to achieve a significant technological breakthrough.

Program highlights:

Project Budget: Unlimited

Grant % of Total Budget: Up to 66% of the requested budget

Maximum Grant: USD 5,000,000 (Up to USD 2,000,000 per year per project)

Grant Type: Conditional grant (3-5%/year royalty)

Project Duration: Up to 3 years

TRL: Project starting point- TRL 3 – 4; Project ending point- TRL 7 – 8

Submission: 1 call for proposal per year

Participants’ Eligibility: Indian & Israeli companies + Indian & Israeli Academic partner as subcontractor up to 30% of total budget (mandatory)

Program Description

This year, under the multidisciplinary chosen topic “Biological, Physical & Human Integration with Autonomous Systems”, you can find the following examples of potential scopes relevant (but not limited) to this call like:

Relevant technologies under the call scope:

  • Sensing and monitoring
    • Robotic sensing
    • Biosensing
    • Social sensing
  • Interaction
    • Interaction of robots / autonomous systems with the physical or biological world
    • Interaction of robots or nanorobots with a biological body
    • Smart Man-Unmanned Teaming (MUMT)
    • Brain-Computer Interface (BCI)
    • Internet of Things / Internet of Everything
  • Computer architecture, modelling and simulation
    • Modelling and simulation of interactions with / components of the physical or biological world
    • Digital twins’ architectures
  • Cyber security
    • Cyber security for bidirectional interfaces with the physical or biological world

Funding

Fund up to US$ 5,000,000 per project or 66% of the total qualified project cost, whichever is lower.

Criteria

Evaluation Criteria:

  • High level of Innovation/Novelty
  • Potential for Commercialization Success
  • Technical and Financial Capabilities
  • Commercialization/Marketing Capability
  • Complementarity to each country/Company
  • Synergy Between Companies, relevant background
  • Reliability of the work and budget plan

A precondition for both programs:

  • The consortiums must involve at least one company and one research institution (university or institute) from each country (2 or 3) x (2 or 3), no more than 6 entities in total
  • Academia as a subcontractor in the consortium can get up to 30% of the budget (each side)
  • Commercial product/technology.
  • Companies must be able to fund the supplementary part of their project budget after a grant.
  • Duration of the project up to 3 years (maximum).

Application Process

The Israeli partner is required to submit I4F application forms in accordance with the Israel Innovation Authority regulations, through the official Israel Innovation Authority’s Hebrew website: https://my.innovationisrael.org.il/

The Indian partner is required to submit I4F application forms to DST/TDB websites through an online system at https://tdb.gov.in

Please note:

  1. The Israeli company needs to register to the Israel Innovation Authority system (companies that applied for the Israel Innovation Authority’s support before, using the same user) and upload the proposal.
  2. It is recommended to submit the proposal ASAP. Please do not wait until the last minute. I4F will accept only proposals that were submitted on time. I4F won’t be able to accept proposals submitted later than the deadline as above
  3. Please make sure that both partners successfully submitted the proposal on both platforms! I4F  won’t be able to accept proposals that were submitted only on one platform.

If you already have a project idea, and are looking for partners, or you are interested in participating in a project proposal, given your expertise in the field, but haven’t yet formed a project idea or proposal, then please visit the I4F website: https://i4f.org/

For additional information, please contact:

Name: Tal Ben-Avner
Position: SIIRD Fund Manager
Organization: Israel Innovation Authority
Email: tal.ba@innovationisrael.org.il
Name: Program Manager, Israel-India Fund (I4F)
Organization: Israel Innovation Authority
Email: EM@innovationisrael.org.il