Research & Innovation

Research & Innovation

Commercialisation for UC Staff

Resources

Research & Innovation have a number of resources to aid you on the commercialisation pathway.

Funding

There are a variety of funding sources available to advance projects with commercial potential:

The Stimulator
The Stimulator funding initiative offers $3000 for projects that may result in or develop UC-owned protectable IP. The purpose of The Stimulator is the technical development of early-stage innovations, and funds are for technical development activities such as experiments or proof-of-concept prototypes. The Innovation Champions administer this initiative for staff in the Colleges of Science and Engineering. To apply for funding from The Stimulator, complete the application form and forward to your departmental Innovation Champion(Colleges of Science and Engineering) or Adrian Busch (other colleges).

Jumpstart Funding
Jumpstart is a funding initiative run by Research & Innovation and KiwiNet.  It aims to support technical development on projects that are seen to have commercial potential, but where technical risks are too high to attract PreSeed investment.  Jumpstart is run every few years to inject resource into projects that can be progressed quickly with backing from Research & Innovation – the funding can help in employing a student developer and purchasing some materials and consumables. The expected outcomes of Jumpstart are to de-risk early-stage projects and reach proof-of-principle.

PreSeed Accelerator Fund (PSAF)
The PreSeed Accelerator Fund (PSAF) is Government funding that aims to progress publically funded research into commercial opportunities. PSAF supports proof-of-concept and commercial development to aid research projects in reaching an investor-ready stage. Research & Innovation submits applications to the KiwiNet Investment Committee to seek PSAF funding.  If successful, the funding granted is matched by Research & Innovation.  To be eligible for PSAF funding, your project should meet the following criteria:

  • The project must result from publically funded research.
  • The project must demonstrate commercial potential and contribute economic benefits to New Zealand.

Development must be limited to creating a first working prototype or reaching proof-of-concept, as opposed to supporting on-going product development.

Please feel free to discuss either of these funding sources with Trisha Wells or Adrian Busch.

IP Lab Books

R&I have a stock of IP lab books which help you keep your IP protected.

A laboratory notebook is:

  • an honest representation of the research work done by the researcher
  • regularly written (daily recording is normally recommended)
  • routinely witnessed (at least weekly) by another scientist
  • duplicated when completed, if the researcher would like a working copy
  • archived in a secure place and/or by a secure method.

Again these are available from Trisha Wells or Adrian Busch.

KiwiNet

The Kiwi Innovation Network (KiwiNet) is a recently formed consortium of commercialisation units from six Universities and four Crown Research Institutes who are dedicated to taking a collaborative approach to research commercialisation. The consortium consists of Plant and Food Research, Industrial Research, AgResearch, Otago Innovation, Lincoln University, University of Canterbury, Viclink, WaikatoLink and AUT Enterprises Ltd. Through KiwiNet, we seek to increase the scale and impact of scientific and technology based innovation with the aim of providing greater economic benefits to New Zealand.

R&I Processes

R&I use a stage-gate process for assisting with the commercialisation of UC IP. Details of the process can be found in the IP Pipeline Stages 1-3 Operations Manual.