“The 26 highest ranked projects in the second BioPhoT Research and Innovation Project (RIP) call will receive funding, as decided by the Platform’s Project Steering Group on 20 February.

A total of 99 project applications were submitted to the second call for proposals, from which the strongest proposals with the highest innovation potential and scientific quality were selected after two rounds of evaluation.

On average, funded projects scored 84% out of a maximum possible score in the innovative potential assessment (Round 1) and 87% out of a maximum possible score in the scientific assessment (Round 2).

Most of the supported projects – seven – will be carried out by research groups from the Institute of Solid State Physics at the University of Latvia. The University of Latvia has five supported projects, followed by the Institute of Organic Synthesis and Riga Technical University (RTU) with four each. Two projects each will be implemented by teams from the Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre and Riga Stradiņš University, and one each by teams from the Institute of Electronics and Computer Science and Ventspils University College.

First round The projects were evaluated by a panel of industry and commercialisation experts, analysing the innovative potential of the ideas, their market prospects and their relevance to users’ needs. In the second round, the applications were scientifically assessed by experts from the Latvian Science Council.

The second call will invest €4,710,859, with each project receiving up to €190,000 in funding for eight months of research and innovation activities. The Platform aims to foster the development of high value-added technologies in the fields of biomedicine, medical technologies, pharmaceuticals, photonics and smart materials, bridging the gap between science and the commercial sector.

Please see the full list of supported projects on the BioPhoT website.

On 24 February, the RTU Science and Innovation Centre at Ķīpsalas iela 8a will host the second face-to-face project evaluation analysis workshop, where interested parties will have the opportunity to learn more about the PIP application evaluation process and the conclusions of the experts involved. Registration for the seminar is available at: https://luma.com/9nio1zds.

BioPhoT is implemented within the long-term national research program “Innovation Fund – Long-term Research Program” funded by the Ministry of Economics. Platform number: IVPP-EM-Innovation-2024/1-0002.