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REPUBLIC OF RWANDA NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Request for Applications (RFA)

Rwanda Innovation Challenges for Academia – Industry Research and Development Collaboration Grant (RIC-R&D)

Summary

Grant Title: Rwanda Innovation Challenges for Academia-Industry Research and

Development Collaboration Grant (RIC- R&D) Grant Number: NRIF08-2021/22 Project Phases: Phase I: Development, testing and implementation of R&D ideas that have

commercialization & technology absorption potential. Funding of up to 90 million Frw for a period of 12 to 18 months.

Phase II: Scaling up projects that have already achieved proof of concept during phase 1. Funding between 300-500 million Frw for up to 5 years (60 months)

Current Phase: Phase I

Number of grants: A total of ten (10) to twelve (12) Grants will be funded Funding Purpose: This Grant is envisaged to provide funding opportunities with an aim of

promoting knowledge transfer partnerships among industry/private sector and academia through development and implementation of Rwanda Innovation Challenges Research and Development projects leading to innovative solutions in key priority areas.

Phase I Key Dates:

Date of Issue: 11th November, 2021

Closing Date: 31st January, 2022 Feedback to applicants: 25th May, 2022

Earliest Start Date: 01st July, 2022 Funds disbursement: Funds will be disbursed to Host Institutions of the Principal Investigators

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1.0 Introduction In order to achieve the country’s development targets, it is imperative to address the current and emerging social, economic, and environmental challenges. In turn, this requires novel ideas, innovative approaches and greater levels of multilateral co-operation among key players in different sectors, especially academia and industry. Innovation and digitalisation are playing an increasingly important role in virtually all sectors and in the daily lives of citizens not only in Rwanda, but around the world as well. As such, the “Research, Development and Innovation imperative” should be at the centre of the policy agendas. The Government of Rwanda through the National Strategy for Transformation (NST-1) and Vision 2050 envisions the need for Rwanda to promote Research, Development and Innovation, as a key enabler for national economic and social transformation especially in the area of technology for industrial development. One of the responsibilities of the National Council for Science and Technology (NCST) is “To identify and promote new sectors of activities that require special means and measures for innovation through technology and research essential for the country”, in order to promote, support and invest in innovative program, in particular technology and research development. The Rwanda National Research and Experimental Development (R&D) survey conducted in 2021 for the reference year 2018/2019 by the National Council for Science and Technology (NCST), affirmed a persistent common challenge of limited collaboration between academic and research institutions and the industry/private sector. Moreover, in terms of type of research conducted, there was a notable increase in both basic and applied research and a decline in experimental development in 2018/2019. In fact, the proportional share of expenditure allocated to the experimental development decreased from 55.64% in 2015/2016 to 24.65% in 2018/2019. This is in line with the 2020 Global Innovation Index Report which has shown that Rwanda performed better in innovation inputs (79th out of 131 countries) than innovation outputs (112th out of 131 countries). Indeed, the decreased performance of experimental development makes it difficult for Rwanda to tap into opportunities to use technology development to create prototypes and innovations, create new services and products, support industrial growth, create jobs and impact labour market. As a recommendation, the government should work hand in hand with the private sector to promote academia-industry collaboration for the up-take of collaborative experimental R&D projects leading to innovative technology development relevant to community needs. Therefore, in an effort to boost experimental development through collaboration between academia and industry; NCST is establishing a “Rwanda Innovation Challenges for Academia-Industry Research and Development Collaboration Grant (RIC-R&D)” scheme that will be jointly co-funded through the National Research and Innovation fund (NRIF) and Industry and Private Sector collaboration with at least 20% additional resources to existing total NRIF budget funding. The Grant is envisaged to provide funding opportunities with an aim of promoting knowledge transfer partnerships among industry/private sector and academia through development and implementation of special Research and Development (R&D) projects leading to innovative solutions in key priority areas. This will be a two-phase funding activity. In the first phase, funding will be provided for innovative projects development and piloting/testing with industry. By end of Phase I, projects that have demonstrated proof of concept of the innovative idea, have developed preliminary results and feasible plans for scaling up and sustainability of the project as well as have attracted commitments and interests from stakeholders will be invited to apply for the funding in the second phase.

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1.1. Rwanda Innovation Challenges (RIC) Motivation and Scope Rwanda has an ambition to leverage the transformative potential of Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) to position herself as a globally-competitive knowledge based economy. This strategic orientation is founded on the premise that knowledge is essential to addressing social-economic challenges, and is a key driver of growth, competitiveness, and is indispensable in achieving high quality of living. To guide implementation of national development prospects, the Government of Rwanda established a National Strategy for Transformation (NST-1), which serves as a medium-term national development plan for the period 2017-2024, which encompasses the crossover from Vision 2020 to Vision 2050. The NST-1 is underpinned by three pillars: Social Transformation, Economic Transformation and Transformational Governance. Science Technology and Innovation (STI) cuts across various areas of intervention set under the three NST-1 pillars including job creation, urbanization, industrialization, export promotion, environment protection, improved agricultural productivity, ensuring a healthy population, natural resource exploitation, promoting research and development (R&D), stimulating innovation, as well as developing competitive and capable Rwandans. In pursuit of these medium- and long-term development prospects, the government intends to integrate and mainstream STI in national policies and strategies through effective and efficient application of knowledge, tools, scientific research and technological innovation towards addressing societal challenges, exploring opportunities, and ultimately establishing a globally competitive knowledge-based economy. To deliver on this ambition, there is a need to leverage improved collaboration between the academia and private sector. It is in this regard that National Council for Science and Technology (NCST), in collaboration with other national stakeholders specifically the private sector federation (PSF) is establishing a special grant scheme called ‘Rwanda Innovation Challenges for Academia-Industry Research and Development Collaboration Grant (RIC-R&D)’. 1.2. Priority Areas for Rwanda Innovation Challenges Implementation of the national development agenda such as Vision 2050 is mainly channeled through the various sectors of the economic development. STI cuts across majority of all the sectors of the economy, and this underscores the need to integrate STI across all sectors to stimulate economic growth. The STI policy and National Research and Innovation Agenda (NRIA) describe six (6) priority sectors, namely a) Sustainable Energy, b) Food Security and Modern Agriculture, c) Life and Health Sciences, d) Local Production and Value Addition, e) Digital Services, Products and Lifestyles; and f) Resilient Environment and Climate Change. The project proposal should cover topics related to one of these national key priority areas.

1.2.1. Life and Health Sciences Rwanda Innovation Challenges will focus on groundbreaking innovative research on Life and Health Sciences as one of the national priorities under the STI Policy. This research priority sector groups intervention areas geared towards providing solutions leading to a healthy and resilient population. It tackles challenges in prevention and treatment of diseases, in improvement of maternal and child health, in development of new medicines and in applying emerging technologies in health, in development of innovations in inclusive products and services such as Female Technology focusing on women’s health in areas like fertility and reproductive system healthcare.

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One of the global challenges underscored by COVID-19 pandemic has been lack of competitiveness in innovative research on vaccines, medicines and treatments capabilities. Although most countries in Africa including Rwanda can now test for COVID-19, there are still lack of robust countrywide grassroots testing at village level in almost all African countries to provide evidence for COVID-19 findings to support control, prevention and surveillance that lacks in many countries. In addition, there is enormous human suffering and unfavorable impact on morbidity and mortality, as well as emotional and economic shock associated with COVID-19, as well as potentially other viruses such as Ebola virus disease (EVD) and other fatal viral infections. Topics of research project related to Life and Health Sciences area, and may include:

1. Disease Prevention and Control: research in preventing and managing both communicable and non-communicable diseases

2. Pharmaceutical Drugs: knowledge-based solutions to producing drugs and other medicinal products preferably from local raw materials

3. Maternal and Child Health: solutions aiming at protecting and improving the health and overall quality of life for mothers and children

4. Health Promotion: activities and research questions related to health communication and promotion

5. Health System Support: health support systems, services, products and procedures pertaining to health financing, governance, skills, technologies and management

6. Clinical Research: studies related to the delivery of solutions to health issues such as testing on new drugs, vaccines, feasibility studies and others

7. E-Health: application of modern technologies to address health sector issues 8. Operational research: Mechanisms for addressing challenges in health and life sciences

1.2.2. Local Production and Value Addition (or Manufacturing)

The Government of Rwanda launched ‘Made in Rwanda’ in 2015 to galvanize industrial output and trade balance through improvement of local production and value addition. Rwanda prioritizes the sector of manufacturing as part of “Made in Rwanda” campaign to increase innovations based on technology development and evidence-based research findings, and to add value to other export items such as minerals and cash crops. Through targeted and sustained economic actions, the “Made in Rwanda” program will continue to present opportunities for producers to put products on the Rwandan and international markets. It also offers local employment consumption and reduces unnecessary importation and controls the balance of payment in Rwanda’s favor. The need for significant improvements along product value chain will define success and competitiveness of Rwandans exports. Rwanda’s industrial base continue to be modernized and expanded both in width (of products) and depth (of production volume per firm). Rwanda Innovation Challenges will augment innovative research on construction and mining industries to benefit from research innovation by bridging traditional sectors with modern technologies and good practices (safety, quality, velocity) towards affordable and green building, increasing mineral inputs traceability, better quality outputs, increased safety and export diversification. Another area that necessitates attention is sustainable harvesting of wood furniture to increase wood products output. Given that agriculture occupies a large portion of the country’s productivity, Food Technology (Food-tech) that as applied to food production, supply chain and distribution models will remain a priority. In addition, in order to improve production processes on a firm level, Production Processes and Management Capabilities are considered a key priority. Besides, Rwanda Innovation Challenges will support highly interdisciplinary research projects in fields of mechanical design, engineering mechanics, fluid dynamics, heat and mass transfer,

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thermodynamics, and materials science and involving both experimental and computational research. The goal is to improve cost efficiency, productivity, quality and flexibility in current manufacturing paradigms, as well as conceive, investigate and develop novel hybrid manufacturing techniques to enable the commercial realization of emerging products. Local production and value addition (or Manufacturing) innovative research projects will focus on the following areas: a) Advanced Manufacturing: A specific focus is concurrently on research and the

commercially feasible development of manufacturing processes and systems that enable the high-value products for the current and future competitive economy. Specific research areas include scalable nanomaterial synthesis and thin-film deposition, powder sintering and injection molding, and packaging material. Other areas may include Design for manufacturing; Energy studies in manufacturing; Sustainable manufacturing assessment; Manufacturing cost modeling; Design automation and Digital manufacturing

b) Design Engineering: This research will focus on understanding and improving the process of design in order to facilitate the creation of groundbreaking technologies. Design engineering is one of the highly required research area that links with other disciplines for national impact.

c) Next-generation materials research: This focuses primarily on structural materials, biomaterials, electronic ceramics, energy materials, sensors, and bulk and thin film materials processing.

d) Industrial and Systems Engineering: This research focus on the design, integration, and optimization of systems to efficiently integrate people, equipment and information.

e) Thermal-fluid science: This area aims at exploring more understanding in the area of engineering and transport of matter and energy from the molecular to megawatt scale. It focuses on the creation of technologies that impact nearly every facet of modern life including providing clean electricity and water, enabling sustainable transportation, and improving the safety and efficiency of advanced electronics, energy storage and manufacturing systems.

f) Robotics: This research focuses on design, modeling and control of systems that observe, move within, interact with, and act upon their environment. Such systems include mobile robots, micro-aerial vehicles and large active-sensor networks

g) Other topics such as Construction Materials, Packaging Products, Textiles and Leather Products, Chemicals and Fertilizers, and Food Processing may be considered

1.2.3. Sustainable energy

The majority of Rwanda’s energy needs (85%) are met by biomass (mainly firewood and charcoal) while the rest is met by other sources of energy including electricity, biogas, kerosene, gas and renewable energy sources. This mix puts pressure on the country’s forests and has consequences on the environment due to deforestation and smoke related diseases, as well as other social factors associated with firewood collection and usage. Abundant, clean and affordable energy is needed to sustainably cater for Rwanda’s ambitions and lifestyles and fuel the growth of Rwanda’s industrial base. As such, innovative projects are required for the overarching priority area in renewable and sustainable energy. The following are potential areas of research in Sustainable Energy:

1. Alternative Energy: Concerted efforts in R&D and innovation are required to help Rwanda achieve green growth and contribute to increase competitiveness in the global alternative energy market. The areas of innovations and research interests with a goal to provide cleaner energy include solar energy solutions, biomass, hydro power, methane gas, geothermal and wind energy, storage of renewable energy, stabilization of power-grids (smart grids/micro grids), and electrical vehicles.

2. Rural Energy: Achieving universal energy access goal requires improve rural electrification through off-grid solutions with a battery component in order to ensure reliability. That is, a focus on increasing robust and cost-effective rural electrification

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solutions is needed to meet the increasing demand of energy usage. Prioritizing the development of more efficient combustion methods can significantly reduce the health and environmental risks as well as costs associated with biomass burning. As such, innovative research and development projects are required to improve battery technology and produce affordable solutions for domestic usage. Topics of interest include innovation and research projects with a goal to provide efficient lighting, cooking, heating and other energy solutions to rural communities.

3. Advanced Energy Research: Innovation and research on high density forms of energy, improved storage, transport, metering and efficient use of energy.

1.2.4. Food security and modern agriculture The agriculture sector is one of the major sectors of the Rwandan economy and its modernization is seen as: improving living conditions of farmers, increasing exports and growing agro-processing industries, and most importantly increasing the country’s food security. In the past decades Rwanda has invested quite substantially in agricultural research in order to increase GDP and reduce trade deficit, which has led to the country being food secure since 2010. However, to work towards a sustainable future adequate and safe production of food remain a challenge. Thus, research and development and innovation will be essential to solve this challenge, e.g., helping reduce waste and increase the shelf life of food so that everyone has access to safe and nutritious food, and it is fit for consumption and trade. Key research and innovation areas include:

1. Crop research and protection: aiming at improving crop productivity, crop varieties and reduce crop losses

2. Biotechnology: cutting-edge research and solutions in plant genotyping using molecular biology techniques and modern diseases diagnostics

3. Post-harvest handling and management: solutions to broaden the utilization base of primary agricultural products through food processing and other value addition techniques and reduce post-harvest losses through improving food handling and storage

4. Livestock production: solutions to develop high yielding livestock genotypes for meat and milk production

5. Irrigation and mechanization: using technology solutions to modernize agriculture to reduce dependence on rain and sole manual labor

6. Land Husbandry: increasing the productivity and commercialization of hillside agriculture 7. Precision agriculture: monitoring and control of real time information in agriculture to

improve productivity and profitability 1.2.5. Resilient environment and natural resources

Rwanda has made climate change mitigation one of the main priorities. In fact, the country’s Green Growth and Climate Resilience Strategy outlines Rwanda’s ambitions to advance low carbon development and climate resilience and adaptation. The country already has FONERWA, a Green Fund with funding windows for conservation, research and technology transfer and policy mainstreaming. However, there is a need to constantly supplement Rwanda’s growing leadership in climate and green economy with solutions and programs aiming to protect the environment manage and add value to the country’s natural resources. Key areas of research and innovation for Resilient environment and natural resources include:

1. Land and Water Resources: solutions for managing land resources, providing abundant and safe water for drinking and other uses

2. Green Production: processes and products aiming at increasing productivity while promoting and maintaining environment friendly practices

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3. Mining Products: as one of the Rwanda’s main exports, there is a need for adequate solutions to add value to mineral products to avoid value loss due to exporting raw materials

1.2.6. Digital services, products and lifestyles

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and other technologies have the potential to greatly improve the lives of the population by creating more connected societies, breaking technological barriers, making service delivery quicker and effective and providing solutions to national and global challenges. Further, as the world is becoming more connected, information and data are becoming both indispensable and vulnerable assets at the same time. Rwanda’s ambition to become a digitally smart nation requires robust solutions to keep the nation’s cyberspace active, productive, safe and secure. The topics of interest include but are not limited to the following:

1. Digital Media: solutions for producing and packaging content and making it available to digital consumers. Solutions in this category can include video games, video content, e-books and other content delivery mechanisms

2. Financial technologies: technology tools to enable financial inclusion in a secure and accessible way

3. ICT applications: Solutions for identified ICT area (education, business, etc.) that is to greatly benefit from added-value brought by advanced ICT, for example, e-agriculture, e-health, e-commerce, e-education, e-governance, and others.

4. Digital Services: technology solutions to ease and mainstream service delivery in all sectors.

5. Cybersecurity and data security: solutions to secure for example financial, personal and other data from individuals and connected systems

6. Other topics: Emerging topics pertaining to ICT and its supported e-Agriculture and rural development technologies, e-education and computing technologies, e-commerce, e-mining and inclusive technologies for implementation for engineering and managerial applications through ICT are required for digital services, products and lifestyles areas.

2. Purpose and Scope 2.1 The purpose of RIC-R&D Program The RIC-R&D scheme seeks to support bold ideas that will improve research and experimental development in Rwanda through collaborative academia-industry approach. The bold ideas are expected to improve application of knowledge transfer, tools, scientific research and technological innovation towards addressing societal challenges. We encourage proposals for innovation in all forms – technologies, products, services, processes, business models, policy approaches, and/or delivery mechanisms. In addition, the Grant is envisaged to provide funding opportunities with an aim of promoting knowledge transfer partnerships among industry/private sector and academia through development and implementation of special Research and Development (R&D) projects leading to innovative solutions in key priority areas. 2.2 Geographic scope The proposed innovative projects under this RFA must be developed, tested and implemented in Rwanda with possibility of scaling up nationally.

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2.3 Funding approach and implementation The RIC-R&D scheme will be jointly co-funded through the NCST funding scheme from National Research and Innovation fund (NRIF) and Industry-Private Sector collaboration. The industry will contribute at least 20% additional resources in terms of expertise, space, infrastructure and facilities to successful researchers. The RIC-R&D scheme will be implemented into two phases: Phase I and Phase II. Phase I: This is short-term initial phase for project development to produce preliminary data as part of proof of concept. The purpose of funding phase one is to support the exciting ground breaking innovative research ideas evolving from collaboration between industry and academia. The grant phase I supports research projects which are scientifically viable. The applicants shall show the potential for the study to lead to a proven concept, formulation of new applications which will eventually be validated to new prototypes. This may lead to publications of new models and technologies. The applicants shall show how validated concept has the potential and may be upgraded to give new services or products. During this phase project proposal/concept development phase, expert from academia and research institutions will be facilitated and paid for their 40-50% dedicated time effort to spent while collaborating and working with all academia and industry partners. The goal shall be to fine-tune and finalize the innovation idea. This period will be an opportunity for both research experts and industry collaborators to engage and network in improving the project together so that it is relevant for industry and society. The expected outcomes will be tested as innovations. In Phase I, successful proposals will be awarded seed grants of up to Frw 90 million for between 12-18 months to develop, test and implement the proposed innovative projects. Seed funding shall enable researchers to work on their innovations and to begin positioning themselves along a path to scale by the end of Phase I of the project. Successful Awardees in Phase I will carry out the following studies and activities: Academia collaborates with industry to:

Implement experimental R&D studies proposed across the six national priority areas (Sustainable energy, Food security and modern agriculture, Life and health sciences, Local production and value addition, Digital services, products and lifestyles, Resilient environment and natural resources). Although more areas shall be proposed, some examples are:

o Studies designed to create sustainable high density alternative energy or improved production of energy from existing energy sources

o Studies to improve quality of agricultural crops for better value addition or innovative studies on packaging of specific agricultural crops to support improved export and revenue generation.

o Advanced solutions for added value for minerals to increase value for export or studies to create specific ‘Made in Rwanda’ products from specific minerals

o Improved digital application for better technology utilization and absorption such as creation of computer application/Mobile app to easy public transport as part of promotion of ‘Visit Rwanda’ making Rwanda an attractive Tourism destination

o Creation of specific essential oils from certain plants as an avenue for perfume creation.

o Designing studies to enhance domestic sources of pharmaceutical products through explorations and deeper investigations of their molecular biology and

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genomics, measuring and extraction of plant extracts and assessing their pharmaceutical content.

o Studies designed to create products or improved services along the vaccine continuum e.g. to address and leverage quality of vaccine manufacturing, safety and quality control.

o Studies to assess and improve climate resilience and improve of biodiversity or controlling and mitigating industrial greenhouse gas emissions.

Implement studies to address identified societal needs and gaps through technology and innovative approaches to enhance innovation creation, development and transfer;

Identify R&D ideas that have commercialization & technology absorption potential to address the identified gaps;

Implement R&D projects whereby researchers (both from academia-industry partners) will be hosted for at least 40-50% of time effort at industry to access and utilize the existing industry infrastructures, expertise, facilities, resources and trainings envisioned;

Promote R&D knowledge transfer and best practice with additional 40-50%-time effort dedicated to R&D (joint mentorship, collaborative and guided data measurement experiences, simulation, work pairing, dissemination of data findings through periodic seminars) and sharing between researchers from both universities and industry;

Produce preliminary data that supports demonstration of proof of concept/principle of the research innovative idea, to determine viability of the idea to be tested and supported during phase II of scaling up the projects;

Utilize preliminary data to assure scientific team, leaders at universities and research institutions, industry managers and stakeholders that the research idea is worth pursuing further to inform and enhance its practical impact;

Ensure that researchers (both from academia-industry partners) hold joint regular and meetings to share the update and progress of the studies as part of 40-50%-time effort justification. These studies require that mandatory weekly and monthly meetings take place, and will be evaluated by NCST and the grantor as part of monitoring and evaluation (M&E).

Phase II: During phase II, a selected number of projects funded in Phase I will be invited to apply for scale funding to support the refinement, testing, implementation and growth and sustainability of innovative solutions that have already achieved proof of concept. That is, by the end of Phase I, projects that have demonstrated proof of concept of the innovative idea, have developed preliminary results and feasible plans for scaling up and sustainability of the project as well as have attracted commitments and interests from stakeholders will be invited to apply for the funding in the second phase. The best proposals will be selected for funding during the project scaling up phase for a period of 60 months. Selected projects must demonstrate demand-led, collaboration aspect that addresses issues of relevance to the society and private sector/industry focusing and addressing a well-defined problem of industrial/private sector relevance to the Rwandan needs. The research team shall utilize the expertise available in academic and research institutions and national laboratories to solve specific problems for the broader benefit of the Rwandan society. Selected projects must show potential to improve business’ competitiveness and productivity, to help businesses in Rwanda to innovate and grow. Phase II shall support experimental and innovatively designed research projects with proven ideas during phase I. This phase shall enable the research team to scale their research ideas as experimental and innovative projects. The goal is to enable scale up of proven new technologies in any of the call thematic areas. This includes potential for future research findings to be

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developed and tested as small- or large-scale models or prototypes, which will may eventually demonstrate product or services that may show promising prospects for business and the market. Therefore, it is a requirement that applicants for phase II make a strong rationale for their studies to be potentially piloted and tested. Phase II shall demonstrate strong promise for production or potential for start-ups initiatives to improve the wellbeing of the Rwandan society. The novel technology shall address a specific sector issue. Applications shall justify feasibility for future related findings to develop into business models, value chain and potential market feasibility studies, analyses and testing, of the final products, or start-ups of a viable enterprise that can attract local and foreign investment based on the product’s potential. In Phase II, successful proposals will be awarded a grant between Frw 300-500 million for up to 60 months depending on the scope of the study. Phase II will be carried out with the goal of achieving meaningful impact through implementing the following activities among others:

Promoting and scaling research knowledge and skills transfer through implementation of phase II project activities to successfully convert scientific outputs into successful technological innovations;

Enhancing industrial impact and accelerating the exploitation of research results for private companies;

Implement research activities that are essential for the competitiveness of industry and shall generate fundamental innovations, which have a significant impact on market by offering users higher benefits relative to existing products, services, or processes, and as a result;

Promote and scaling up of research to significantly impacting the scientific and economic activity of the country;

Enhancing quality and reproducibility of research outcomes: the outcomes should be achievable and measurable within the time and resource constraints of the project, and directly linked to the project’s outputs.

2.4 The grantor (NCST): National Council for Science and Technology (NCST) as the grantor will do the following:

Secure initial seed funding: up to Frw 90 million disbursed into installments as per terms of disbursement established in grant agreement.

Monitor and evaluate the projects implementation progress through field visit and assessment on project progress, and quarterly technical and financial reports from the Principal investigator (PI) and other researcher(s).

Conduct regular site visits as part of its monitoring and evaluation (M&E) activities using an M&E tool developed and agreed upon by researchers.

Interim reviews shall be used to provide guidelines to support progress of the projects, and shall be applied as a useful instrument to ensure that progress is on track and to take corrective actions when necessary, including a possible termination of the agreement

Regularly communicate the host institution leaders, PI and the research team through joint meetings, e-mails, letters and other forms of communication to guide and agreed on best ways to implement the projects.

Set up merit-based mechanisms such as independent peer review for assessment of the research output (objective metrics of evaluation) during phase I to determine research projects to be funded in phase II.

Monitor researchers time effort dedicated to promotion of R&D knowledge transfer and implementation of best practices, with mandatory 40-50%-time effort dedicated to R&D time effort (through joint mentorship, collaborative and guided data measurement experiences, simulation, work pairing, dissemination of data findings through periodic seminars and community outreach activities) and sharing between researchers from both universities and industry.

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3. Principles for calls for proposals 3.1. Principles for Calls and Request for Applications (RFA) Each Call or Request for Applications (RFA) is expected to reflect the following key principles: ● Topics of the RFA shall be selected from priority areas identified from Rwanda national

priorities areas. This shall be in keeping with the philosophy of thinking locally but scaling globally.

● Projects must be proposed and led by a Principal Investigator is a “Rwandan investigator”. A “Rwandan Investigator” here is defined as an investigator physically working in Rwanda on a full-time basis or contractual basis beyond the project period in collaboration with other national and regional and global partners. Collaborative projects are highly encouraged: This includes both collaboration between research teams in Rwanda and from different regions in Africa or around the globe. Rwanda Innovation Challenges (RIC) will develop topics and calls in collaboration with funding partners, ensuring that topics and calls reflect shared priorities.

● The application and review processes will be conducted through Rwanda Innovation Grant Management System (RIGMS) –an online grants management system.

● The National Council for Science and Technology shall make initial administrative checks for eligibility,

● The scientific merit of successful awardees will be made after independent peer review process and a final decision will be made by NCST sub-committee on research.

● Phase I grants will be up to Frw 90 million for 12-18 months, while successful completion of the Phase I grant, investigators shall be evaluated for Phase II grant funding. Phase II funding shall be between Frw 300-500 millions

● The applicant (s) shall indicate proposed time of work with industry for between 40-50% research effort for a justifiable number of researchers, who will be budgeted for their time while working on this project

● The focus of the RIC-R&D shall be to scale grant phase I research output ● There shall be both locally exclusive challenges and global challenges where local innovators

will collaborate with globally renown researchers to participate. ● Under this program research grants shall have at least 30% women researchers’

representation on each project. ● Funding for RIC-R&D shall be awarded to successful Rwandan innovators as principal

investigators, ● It is a requirement for the PI to collaborate with renown international collaborators to enhance

research excellence and global partnerships. 3.2. Eligibility Criteria The applicants shall abide with the following eligibility criteria:

i. The Principal Investigator (PI)/Program Director (PD) must be a Rwandan scientist with a PhD degree or Master’s degree in relevant field;

ii. The applicant PI should demonstrate partnership with at least one (1) globally renown expert in the field;

iii. The composition of the project team shall be at least 30% of women researchers, scientists or innovators;

iv. The applicant PI/PD of this grant shall not be a student pursuing Masters or PhD studies at the time of application;

v. Applicant(s) must provide support letter from their primary university, research institute or R&D company where the research project will be carried out. The letter shall state a) support by head of institution, b) justification of employment to applicant

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PI/PD; c) justification that the PI/PD is not a student at the time of application; e) that the institution is committed to support and offer them 40 – 50 % of their time to work on the project at industry/company collaborator for the duration of the project;

vi. The proposed research project should be experimental design, with the potential to lead to product or service development, and the potential for commercialization of products or services across technology development areas highlighted under purpose and scope in this call.

vii. Applicants from Academia should indicate the collaborator and the company or private company to collaborate with and vice versa applicants from industry should indicate the collaborator from academic institution, and this shall be justified through letter of support;

viii. The research project should describe a clear outreach community activities or strategy for disseminating project proposal idea, and later findings so that wider Rwandan community understands the project and its findings e.g. through Radio, TV and newsletters.

Applicants are encouraged to consider the following other eligibility areas:

Applications are encouraged to seek and form consortia of at least 2 institutions from research university or research institution and private institution

Partnering with young Innovators funded by NCST is highly encouraged. Applicants are encouraged to visit existing innovation funded by NCST (https://www.ncst.gov.rw/fileadmin/user_upload/NCST/Publications/Research_Grant_Schemes/Rwanda_Innovation_Challenge.pdf) to collaborate and work with innovators funded and who have passed through incubations under Rwanda Innovation Challenge (RIC) Program.

Applicants are encouraged to seek and present evidence of partnership and contribution from private sector in terms of resources (not necessarily financial or monetary value) such as office space, didactic support, office phone, private sector staff support, vehicle and other logistics needed for the research.

Although not a requirement for RFA, applicants are encouraged to broaden opportunities through partnerships, which may co-fund have proposed research activities. This would serve as a gateway for Rwanda to participate in many innovation research activities and partnerships.

5. Description and goal of RIC-R&D Grant 5.1. Project content description N.B: Please use the template for ‘Research Proposal Development’ on page 21. 5.2. The goals of this funding opportunity shall include: The RIC-R&D grant is 2-phase grant. The purpose of phase I is to support ground breaking innovative research ideas by researchers from industry and academia, with the potential to lead to a proven concept, formulation of new applications which will eventually be validated to new products of services. The purpose of phase II of RIC-R&D Grant shall support successful awardees in phase I who will be invited to apply for phase II scale up funding to support the refinement, testing, implementation and sustainability of innovative solutions achieved. The best proposals will be selected for funding during the project scaling up phase II to demonstrate demand-led, collaboration that have demonstrated innovative solutions relevance to the society. The overall goal of RIC-R&D Grant funding is to harness science, technology and innovation to solve national change using scientifically proven research aimed product and or services

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development. The proposed research studies shall be innovative, merit-based and competitive to promote value, quality, integrity, and credibility of research. The following are important goals of RIC-R&D program:

i. To utilize experimental design to enhance understanding of research processes and mechanisms leading to increased knowledge generation to shape innovation outcomes in any of the priority areas.

ii. To design technologically innovative studies aimed at producing innovations and solutions that address society needs, which are specific to Rwandan society to address challenges that will improve the well-being of citizens.

iii. To enhance peer collaboration opportunities for applicants with promising ideas, based

on a combination of technical skills acquired through training and peer collaboration to engage with their peers, and carry out research in priority areas. Applicants with in-depth knowledge of society specifics and needs, shall have funding to translate their ideas into research proposals eligible for support through this funding mechanism.

iv. To enhance partnership aimed at excellent of innovative solutions. Applicants shall propose tangible partnerships with globally renown scientists in the field of applicants’ experts, to gain R&D experience and excellence. The funding will enable applicants to increase the attractiveness and eligibility of the applicants’ subsequent opportunities to become equal partners in international research and development grant efforts.

v. To build and enhance scientific capacity and knowledge transfer, while promoting

structural development and capacity building by international scientists from developed countries (North-South partnerships), as well as develop collaboration with other scientists in the African region (South-South partnerships).

vi. To strengthen managerial and leadership skills through capacity building and improvement of leadership skills as precondition for successfully implementing joint research efforts. Applicants will gain various aspects of organizational skills. The grant implementation includes mutual trust, leadership, networking and communication that have to be addressed throughout grant funding period. Also, considerations of cultural aspects and differences between the partners are essential in negotiating strategies for research collaborations.

6. Peer Evaluation Process and criteria 6.1. Evaluation process and team composition The process of evaluation shall start with administrative checks for eligibility criteria. Ineligible applications shall automatically be disqualified. Applications that are deemed relevant and innovative will be forwarded to the external peer review stage. An independent review committee with expertise in technology development areas highlighted in this call shall be appointed by NCST to evaluate all eligible applications. A committee will be composed by 3 reviewers per application, and the scores will be calculated to obtain an average score for each application. The composition of the three (3) reviewers shall be least one (1) reviewer from industry and one (1) from outside Rwanda.

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Through RIGMS (Research Innovation Grant Management System) the appointed and independent reviewers and researchers shall be anonymous to provided opportunities better objectivity in the review process. The reviewers will provide quantitative scores and qualitative information describing rationale for the scores provided to each grant, which will be shared through RIGMS to each of the applicant. 6.2. Review Process

The review committee shall consider the following criteria for applications submitted, and applications shall be evaluated based on scientific and technical merit through a rigorous review process. In this case, the following important review criteria:

Applications shall endeavor to promote research collaboration between academia and industry/private sector

Through novel findings, knowledge creation and deepening, findings shall demonstrate value addition of new products or services to improve the wellbeing and quality of life for Rwanda community.

Applications should demonstrate a high potential for impact on one of the priority areas outcomes Applications shall have the potential to demonstrate innovation that will result into novel products, services that will eventually result into start-ups.

Applications should demonstrate a potential for scale and sustainability after the proof-of-concept is established

Proposal should show how monitoring and evaluation plan is designed to demonstrate proof-of-concept of the idea by the end of the project

Applications should technically sound and feasible within the seed grant funding and timeline

Proposals should demonstrate a clear plan for the project and results dissemination with appropriately connected to the target populations and communities;

The PI and the scientific team shall be experienced to carry out the proposed project In general, the research projects under RIC-R&D funding should demonstrate findings that will result into community transformation by bringing positive qualitative change in all aspects of people's lives. Through novel findings, knowledge creation and deepening, these projects findings should demonstrate value addition of some products or services and the ability to improve the wellbeing and quality of life for Rwanda community. Research projects that demonstrate novel findings to boost national scientific and technology growth to become competitive knowledge-based economy e.g. to provide added value of goods and services, to promote export base for high-value of goods, increased modernization of productivity and/or improved quality of life for Rwandan community. Such research projects should demonstrate innovation that will result into novel prototype products, services that will eventually result into start-ups. Ideally, the proposal must contain the characteristics of any of the following: proposals that adopt an innovative approach to solve a problem faced by the community and or/industry. The proposals shall demonstrate outcomes that will bring new scientific and technological innovations, as well as solution driven research that aids technology transfer and commercialization. The successful research proposals that fulfill the administrative requirements will be submitted to reviewers for technical evaluation. Each research project will, independently, be reviewed by 3 reviewers.

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The aspects to be considered in the selection step include:

Alignment to national priorities shall be required to maximize potential for impact

Feasibility (work plan, project organization, project scheduling and timelines)

Scientific merit of the proposal (including the literature review, objectives, methodology, novelty, scientific contribution, multidisciplinary aspects, industry collaboration)

Experience and competence of the PI and project team shall demonstrate experience in carrying experimental studies.

Review standards: The projects will be screened for administrative compliance with predetermined eligibility criteria by a technical team from NCST. Applications will meet administrative criteria indicated in this concept note. An independent review committee of composed of 3 members with a broad expertise will be assigned to evaluate the submitted proposals. The final selection will be based on the recommendations of the review committee criteria underneath. Reviewers will consider each of the review criteria below and award scores equally to determine scientific merit of the following areas: a) Significance b) Approach c) Innovation, d) investigators competence e) and f) Research environment.

a. Significance Provide a description of how the study addresses important problem or critical barrier in the field, and how this is aligned with Rwanda National Strategy for Transformation-1 (NST-1) agenda; namely addressing issues affecting Rwandan community to improve their wellbeing and contribute to economic viability. Is there any prior research findings that serves as the key basis and support for the proposed study to make it rigorous? If the aims of the proposed project are achieved, how will scientific knowledge, technical capability, and or findings inform policy and practice to improve Rwandan society? How will successful completion of the aims change the concepts, methods, technologies, services, or interventions that drive proposed STI field?

b. Approach Describe how the proposed study strategy, methodology and analyses are appropriate for the specific aims of the projects. Describe a strategy to support your study methodology and how to address any weaknesses in the rigor of prior research that serves as the key support for the proposed research project. Please present potential problems, alternative strategies, and benchmarks for success of the proposed study. For any project development, justify how the strategy to establish feasibility will particularly risky aspects be managed. Describe details of research variables justified in terms of the scientific goals and research strategy proposed. Please provide insights into data management and analysis. Describe a strategy to manage any research risks anticipated.

c. Innovation Describe how the proposed research study findings may present novel or state-of-the-art findings as a contribution to the scientific field, and whether your findings may lead to development of new products or services to advance national transformation agenda. Describe how the current study is broad enough and seek to shift current practice paradigms by utilizing novel/ground breaking theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions to contribute to value addition, improved quality of products or services, improve national industrial development and wellbeing of Rwandan society.

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d. Investigators’ competence Describe how the main project directors/ principal investigators (PDs/PIs) is well suited scientifically to successfully implement the project. Do the PDs/PIs and co-investigators have scientific track-record of doing similar studies, and do they have appropriate managerial and scientific experience and training required? Have the PDs/PIs and co-investigators demonstrated ongoing scientific record of accomplishments that have advanced their field(s)? Describe how the composition of investigators is multi-disciplinary enough from variety of teams: a) academic-industry/private sector; b) multi-disciplinary complementary scientific and leadership teams and c) national, regional and internationally recognized/renowned experts. Describe how the project collaborative team and co-investigators have complementary roles and responsibilities with integrated expertise for added value. Please describe how the team will be coordinated to ensure smooth implementation of the project. Are the leadership approach, governance and organizational structure appropriate for the project? Please describe how the leadership governance will ensure good management for optimal internal controls and accountability of resources for the study project, as well as track record of high quality of institutional audit. Describe institutional procedure processes for project inputs, verifications, approvals and M&E of scientific and/or resources that will lead to suitable outputs and long-term outcome and impact of the project.

e. Research Environment Describe how the scientific research environment in which the study will be done contribute to high probability of success. Describe how adequate are the available or current institutional equipment and physical resources for the investigators to carry out this study, and indicate whether additional equipment will be required. Describe how the project benefit from unique features of the current scientific environment, or collaborative arrangements. Is there evidence of institutional support for this project to build sustainable research capacity through utilization of the proposed study findings. 6.3. Evaluation criteria Each application will be evaluated and rated on the basis of the evaluation criteria outlined below. The criteria listed are closely related and are considered as a whole in judging the overall quality of an application.

Criteria Description Marking

Relevance and significance

The proposal should demonstrate how the study will contribute to sustainable innovation and product and or service development. Statement of the problem and justification of the study should be well elaborated to justify potential for innovation. Goals and objectives stated shall be clear and measurable, and the pathway to outcome and impact for innovation is shall be well defined.

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The Research should lead to product and/or service development through scientific and technological excellence and Innovation

The proposal should clearly define the uniqueness of the research idea, product or service to be developed addressing specific community scientific challenge or need in a specified priority area. The proposal should clearly define the quality and originality/novelty of the innovative idea that will lead to product or service to be developed, and its future potential for commercialization.

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7. Application guidelines

Required documents

Demonstrate the potential for product/service development, job creation and support researchers to become entrepreneurs

The proposed research shall be experimental and demonstrate the ability for PI and Co-PIs to have product/service developed. The applicant shall demonstrate how the research will contribute to job creation and enable PI and Co-PIs to develop their career

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Investigator’s capacity, qualification and record on previous grants, Partnerships and collaborations

Investigators must have and demonstrate expertise in the stated field through prior research experience and collaboration, and they must show the ability to undertake the research. The proposal must demonstrate the contribution of the participating institutions and clearly define the roles of each partner towards ensuring research excellence and innovation capacity development.

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Quality and Feasibility of the project Idea

The project idea and feasibility is well developed, with details about how the project activities will be carried out and outcomes achieved. Indicate how ethical considerations and issues expected and arising from research (if any) will be addressed

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Budget and timeline The budget justification is detailed. Costs are reasonable in relation to the proposed activities and anticipated results. The budget is realistic, accounting for all necessary expenses to achieve proposed activities within the set timeline. Using the provided template and guidelines should be respected.

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Monitoring and evaluation plan

Applicant must demonstrate ability to measure the project success against key indicators and provides milestones to indicate progress toward goals outlined in the proposal. The project includes output and outcome indicators and shows how and when those will be measured.

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Sustainability Project activities are likely to have a positive impact after the end of the project and funding for continuation of the project if needed must be sought from other funding bodies.

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Completed online application form obtained from RIGMS

Completed proposal template required

Budget & Research activity plan provided

CVs of the PIs and Co-PIs, as well as all research team members provided

All support letters from head of institutions provided

List of Partners and their contact phone and e-mails indicated

Letter from industry/private sector showing commitment of funding support in terms of resources or funds

How to apply

● Proposals shall only be in English language. ● Applications for NCST Research Grants for Rwanda Innovation Challenges for Academia-

Industry Research and Development Collaboration Grant (RIC- R&D) can ONLY be submitted online through the Research and Innovation Grants Management System (RIGMS). The applicant must create an account on RIGMS (https://rigms.ncst.gov.rw) where application templates are available. However, if you have questions or require further information, you can submit your queries via email to: research@ncst.gov.rw

● Applications not meeting the minimum requirements and eligibility criteria will be automatically disqualified.

8. Plagiarism Check NCST only accepts submission of original proposals and plagiarism in any form will not be accepted. All submitted proposals will be subjected to plagiarism checks and hence liable to rejection once identified. Any text taken verbatim from other sources needs to be identified using quotation marks and proper references. Applicants are requested to pre-check their proposals for plagiarism before uploading to avoid any repercussions at a later stage. 9. Grant Agreement contract If selected, a tripartite written agreement is drawn up between NCST, the academia/research institution, and the industry collaborator. The agreement consists of the provisions that are to be fulfilled by the parties in regards with implementation of the project. 10. Important Dates for Phase I Applications

S/N Steps Timeline

1 Call Open 11th November 2021

2 Deadline for Submission (call closes) 31st January 2022

3 Pre-selection (administrative check) 15th February 2022

4 Review Process 15th April 2022

5 Compilation of selection report 15th May 2022

6 Approval of the selection report 21st May 2022

7 Notification of outcome 25th May 2022

8 Signing agreements and Award Ceremony 20th June 2022

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9 Disbursement of funds 26th June 2022

10 Start of project implementation 1st July 2022

11. Important Administrative Information We strongly recommend that you do not wait until the deadline but submit the application as early as you can to enable us to process your application as quickly as possible.

12. Guidelines for acceptable Budget Expenditures This document provides a summary of allowable expenditures under the “RIC-R&D” that is funded through the National Research and Innovation Fund (NRIF). Only costs (eligible expenses) related to the project activities are to be included in the project budget. Institutions/organizations, industries receiving funds for execution of the research project shall assume financial and legal administrative responsibility for the execution of the project, and shall demonstrate good governance and accountability practices. Eligible funding: 1. The following are important funding and budgetary information:

a) The following items will be supported under this grant: eligible research running costs, justifiable conferences/Seminar/Workshop, research field visits, scientific publications, approved lab equipment, and approved consumables.

b) The following items are explicitly excluded from funding of this project: funding of student tuition fees as scholarships, postdoctoral tuition fees/fellowships, vehicles, infrastructure/building renovation, heavy equipment or land purchase/acquisition.

2. Equipment, Supplies and Materials - Includes all equipment, items, consumables to be purchased, fabricated, or hired that will be used during the course of the project. 3. Research expenses - Includes costs related to carrying out the research and specific costs towards disseminating research findings. 4. Travel - Includes mode and cost of transportation, costs for accommodation, meals, airfare, per diem, and related expenses for regional and international travels. 5. Training – The PI/PD may include training related costs not exceeding 2% of annual grant budget. Post graduate (Masters and PhD level) students may work on this project, but no expenses shall be expected for student related tuition training costs as part of undertaking this project. 6. Personnel allowances: The PI/PD may include stipend allowances as facilitation funds to facilitate the PI and Co-investigators for research project coordination and management of the grant while working at universities and research institutions. This budget should not exceed 5% annually of the total grant budget. 7. Additional Personnel Funding while working at Industry: In addition to personnel stipend allowances while working at universities and research institutions, the PI/PD may include additional stipend allowances for 40-50%-time effort dedicated by the PI/PD and the research

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team while working at industry or at a private sector premises. The grantor i.e. NCST will periodically monitor this indicator on percentage time effort at industry and monitor and measure R&D knowledge transfer and implementation of best practices. If 40-50%-time effort was budgeted and dedicated to R&D time effort, NCST will monitor and measure frequency and proportion of % effort at industry (on joint mentorship, collaborative and guided data measurement experiences, simulation, work pairing, dissemination of data findings through periodic seminars and community outreach activities) as % of overall time effort for the project. 8. Consultant - Includes expenses related to acquiring consultancy services for a specific activity (ies) within the Project whereby the project team members are lacking the expertise to carry out that activity. 9. Overhead - Includes the overhead budget cost not exceeding 3% of the overall total grant budget, which is provided to the main applicant’s host institution. The overhead budget cost shall be justified with details of budget rationale and justification. 10. Indirect Costs - Includes administrative costs not directly related to the research (e.g., communication Disclaimer: The items listed above are not exhaustive. Therefore, any budget items submitted are subject to NCST’s final decision, and may be approved or rejected at NCST’s discretion.

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REPUBLIC OF RWANDA NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Template for Research Proposal Development

Rwanda Innovation Challenges for Academia - Industry R&D Collaboration (RIC-R&D)

The proposal should not exceed 25 pages excluding references, and written in English. Use Times New Roman or Arial font, size 12, single spacing for one (1) inch normal margins, and portrait orientation. The application proposal shall include the following important details: 1. Cover Page: The cover page should include the following:

Please use your primary institutional Logo and NCST Logo to indicate collaboration (NCST logo is at the head on this document). You may add other logos provided that your work is tidy and well-ordered. Avoid too many logos may make your work disorderly.

Project title (Max 35 words): The project title should be meaningful and reflecting the contents of the research proposal

Submitted by: Indicate the PI and the name of Host Institution of the PI

Indicate Co-PIs and host institutions names.

2. Table of content: This shall highlight the main sections and subsections

3. Project specific Aims (Max. 1 page): This is a summary of the project that shall describe rationale and motivation of the project. It shall present the research problem or research question to address (Problem statement), research overall and specific measurable objectives; brief research approach proposed, expected outcomes and potential impact. The project specific aims summary shall indicate partnership. State the total budget.

4. Background and rationale (Max. 6 pages): Justify details of the relevancy of the project,

research question(s) and objectives of the study addressed in details. The proposal shall clearly define the uniqueness of the research idea, product or service to be developed addressing specific community scientific challenge or need. The proposal shall clearly define the quality and originality/novelty of the innovative idea, prototype and product/service to be developed.

5. Approach/Methods (Max. 6 pages): The project proposal shall clarify the methodology

and approaches to be used in the study. This can include the types of Experiments and Measurements, research tools, study materials, sample and population and several other areas describing systematic ways to gather data and obtain the results. Applicants are encouraged to include preliminary data (if available) and use tables and graphs (if relevant and required).

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6. Expected research outcomes and Impact (Max. 5 pages): The research proposal should describe tangible expected outcomes and impact in details.

Impact: The proposal should describe of how the experimental research will address specific Rwandan society needs and challenges to improve the well-being of citizens. Please describe in details how this study will have impact on Rwandan community to improve their wellbeing.

Please describe how this study will improve industrial and/or result in improved services and advance citizens quality of life, social and economic wellbeing of Rwandans

Please describe how this project supports scientific and technological advancement as Rwanda endeavors to become a high-income country.

7. Collaborations, capacity building and Management (Max. 4 pages)

Collaborations: Description of peer and expert collaborations. Describe how technical skills will be acquired through training and peer collaboration to carry out research in priority areas.

Capacity building: Describe how this funding opportunity will build capacity of scientists, enhance knowledge transfer, promote structural development and capacity building with international scientists from developed countries.

Project leadership and Management: Describe how PIs and Co-PIs managerial and leadership skills. Indicate leadership organizational skills and prior experience to successfully implement similar research efforts.

8. Work plan and timeline (Max. 3 pages): The proposal should describe the research activities and the timeline for implementation. Please a Gantt chart to describe your project work activities.

9. References (No page limit required)

10. Annexes: You shall use separate budget table and budget justification as additional

annex as per budget template provided in RIGMS system.