Purpose

The purpose of this Call is to encourage, on one hand, the collaboration between companies and scientific research in the mechanism of knowledge transfer and production, and, on the other hand, to facilitate the constitution of interdisciplinary and non-interdisciplinary postDoc and PhD groups that could work in synergy and that could apply their problem solving skills and their methods and knowledge to punctual and actual innovation problems deriving from the real world.

In the view of placement and talent valorization, the opportunity to directly collaborate with the industry offers to PhD students and young researchers the possibility to enrich their educational background by putting them in contact with new approaches, languages and points of view useful to enrich their career opportunity and in addition increasing their visibility and actually letting them confront themselves with punctual and concrete challenges.

Application requirements

The application criteria of this Call are the following: to be a SISSA postDoc or a SISSA student.

Participation and submission of the projects

The PhD student /postDoc teams (in exceptional case we consider single applications) interested to participate in the present Call shall, first of all, indicate which specific need/project of innovation (among those listed in Annex 1, directly coming from the 15 Companies involved in the project) they intend to commit applying they work plan proposal (containing components, actions, timing, wished results and possible committed budget need) following the model of Annex 2. Approximately, we consider the project duration to be around 2/3 months with a 2/3 hours per week for each member, in any case this commitment shall be compatible with the research activities provided for each PhD course and postDoc activity and it shall not compromise in any way their regular execution.

Project selection

Once the working plan is submitted to SISSA TTO, following the model of Annex 2 (that is equivalent to the Call application form) it will be shared with the Company involved (meeting their internal project referee). The Work Plans selected and positively judged from the Companies will be eligible for funding.

Confidentiality and ownership of the Patentable Results

Each member of the groups admitted is asked to sign a statement of Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA) to ensure the confidentiality of sensitive information of the Company the member will come into contact with during the implementation of the Working Plan, as well as to protect the possible industrial secret in the meantime developed. Possible patentable results developed by SISSA PhD students and postDocs will be owned by SISSA, that will grant them the resulting economic rights as provided for by the Regulation on Intellectual Property of the School.

Educational Training Certification

Each Student/postDoc who, as member of a team that will complete the implementation of the Working Plan arranged with the Company, receives a formal certification by SISSA of the challenge grant obtainment and the direct experience of “Innovation & Creativity Training” acquired in direct collaboration with the R&D business departments.

Grant and Individual Incentive

The Directorate makes available for implementing the various “working Plans” a budget (that should be motivated and discussed) up to Euro 2.000,00 for each business project/challenge, to cover the expected costs (possible missions, SW licenses, etc.). Furthermore, to the PhD students that have positively completed their courses receiving a positive feedback from the Company, SISSA will give a budget increase providing them an added contribution to the fund of the PhD III and IV year, to be used according to the relative Regulation.

Information and mode of application

Submit the Application Form of Annex 2 within November, 12th 2018.

In any case, we invite everybody who would possibly be interested in the initiative to contact the SISSA Technology Transfer Office (Room 214 – tto@sissa.it – 040 3787551) for any kind of further information and/or explanation.

Closure of the projects and scientific report

The project closure will be after the meeting with the company referee and the delivery of a report containing the results deriving from the implementation of the Working Plan, as shared and updated with the same referee. The Company will attribute an evaluation on the quality of the work done in consideration of what initially supposed and arranged.