Are you ready to take your business to the next level?
To all private companies and Small-to-Medium-Enterprises (SME), are you interested in improving the quality of your products to make it more nutritious and delicious? Are you looking for ways to enhance the durability of your tools in production? Do you want to create an application to make your monitoring process more quick and efficient?
The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has the answer through its financial assistance offerings to solve research and development issues of companies under the Science for Change Program.
The first financial assistance program is the Collaborative Research and Development to Leverage Philippine Economy (CRADLE) which is specifically designed to catalyze partnerships in R&D between academic institutions, RDIs and SMEs. CRADLE provides financial grant from DOST to enable an SME to partner with a Higher Educational Institution (HEI) or RDI to find viable solutions to an existing research and development problem in industry. The research problem is stated by the SME, and the academic institution or RDI will solve the problem in partnership with the SME. A CRADLE project can have a maximum funding of Php 5M, and implemented for a period of one year to three years.
To date, successful CRADLE project proposals range from food industry-related concerns such as discovering new and novel compounds in pineapple that can lower cholesterol, agricultural issues such as producing high-quality bamboo planting materials through tissue culture, and manufacturing concerns such as improving the durability of industrial tools through plasma deposition.
Another financial assistance program is the Business Innovation through S&T (BIST) for Industry. BIST is designed to assist Filipino-owned companies, particularly SMEs to innovate and develop competitiveness and adapt to changing global dynamics. BIST will facilitate the acquisition of strategic and relevant technologies by Filipino companies for immediate incorporation in their research and development activities.
Through BIST and CRADLE, the DOST aims to invigorate the Philippine innovation ecosystem as it presents the opportunity for collaboration between researchers, scientists and engineers in the academe and local private companies. The DOST also aims to help the industry gain competitive edge in the market, through the development of innovative products, processes and/or services that are responsive to changing and global dynamics.
As of the moment, the DOST is accepting proposals for the BIST and CRADLE Program until June 14, 2019.
Interested parties may send their inquiries to the Project Management Office, Science for Change Program with office address at Department of Science and Technology 2/F ADMATEL Bldg., DOST Compound, Gen. Santos Ave., Bicutan, Taguig City. They may also send an email at s4c.ousecrd@gmail.com or call the S4C PMO at (+632) 837-2943 / 837-2071 local 2510 or visit the S4C Facebook page at @dost.s4cp.
