Technological innovation and its exploitation are important elements of the CNRS's visibility and policy, and our laboratories are already contributing to this, but probably not as much as they could. We would like to remind you that the CNRS offers two schemes to support innovation and the exploitation of technological developments in laboratories: the "Pre-maturation" programme and the "Déclic" scheme, which complements it.
The "Pre-maturation" programme
Since 2015, the "Pre-maturation" programme has provided support for the early stages of development of innovative projects, with a view to bringing their research results to a sufficiently advanced stage so that, either directly or following a maturation phase conducted within the framework of a SATT, they can be transferred to industry or set up new businesses.
The regular increase in the overall budget for this programme is proof of the CNRS's commitment to innovation and technology transfer.
In concrete terms, the aim of this programme is to enable researchers to validate level 3 of the TRL (Technology Readiness Level) scale for their technological development, which consists of establishing proof of concept.
In addition to well-defined deliverables and a justified work plan, you should :
Highlight the innovative nature of the development compared with the state of the art;
Get an initial idea of the applications available on the market;
To have initiated the Intellectual Protection process (invention declaration or patent application);
And if relevant, to have ideas on the strategy for adding value (company creation/transfer).
The pre-maturation application is relatively simple to compile (5-6 pages) and the budgets allocated are in the region of €80-150k per project.
Applications are examined in two stages. First, they are reviewed by a Scientific Committee chaired by the Innovation Department and attended by all the development officers from the institutes and CNRS Innovation. The applications selected by the Scientific Committee are then presented by the project leaders to a Steering Committee for a funding decision.
Please find attached the framework letter and the application form for submitting a project to the programme.
The "Déclic" initiative
To alleviate the difficulties sometimes encountered in identifying and then proposing candidate projects for the Pre-Maturation programme, the Innovation Division has set up the "Déclic" initiative, which aims to help project leaders who are candidates for the "Pre-Maturation" scheme to put together their dossier. On request to their institute, they can be allocated a budget of €2-10k, for example for :
Structuring their project ;
Conducting an expert appraisal on a specific point ;
Specify certain scientific or technical issues ;
Clarifying regulatory aspects ;
By financing a short consultancy assignment or recruiting a trainee or IR for a maximum of 3 months
At INSU, the DAS in charge of Industrial Relations, Laurent Jammes (Laurent.jammes@cnrs.fr - Mob: 06 27 61 25 57), is your point of contact for these two schemes.
The "Déclic" envelope is managed by the INSU Directorate and Laurent can help you to draw up the Pre-Maturation application file.