One Thousand and one nanotechnology
Rusnano Corporation considered more than a thousand applications in 2008
On February 18, Rusnano State Corporation presented statistics of scientific and technical expertise of applications received by the corporation for 2008 at the Moscow State University Science Park. According to the data provided by Vladimir Sklyarov, senior specialist of the Department of Scientific and Technical Expertise of RNC projects, 125 investment projects were accepted for consideration at the initial stage of the assessment, 40 of them successfully passed the examination and 50 were rejected. The most applications were submitted in the field of materials science – 44 applications, physics – 26 applications in second place, biology and medicine closed the top three – 22 submitted projects.
However, as Dmitry Gordienko, senior manager of the RNC Investment planning and controlling department, explained, at the stage of preliminary consultations, Rusnano considered more than a thousand applications, but most applicants "were simply not recommended to apply officially, although they always stressed that such rights were not taken away from them." One of the main reasons for the preliminary dropout is that the project does not fall into the field of nanotechnology. The project can be considered "nano" if the size of the structural elements of the materials is 1-100 nanometers and the product has new or improved size-dependent properties that appear as a result of targeted technological action, Mr. Gordienko explained.
The scientific and technical examination of the application is only the first stage of the analysis of the project applying for funding (there are six in total in the RNC). This is followed by a production and technological expertise, the purpose of which is to determine whether the serial production of the future product or the introduction of the presented technology into industrial production is possible. Also, the project must undergo a patent purity analysis, financial and tax expertise, and a full due diligence check and a number of additional examinations. According to Dmitry Gordienko, in addition to the nine projects already approved for financing, ten more are close to this approval.
Separately at the presentation, representatives of the corporation touched upon the issues of protection and turnover of intellectual property. For all documents officially submitted by applicants containing protectable technical solutions, the "know-how" regime is issued in Rusnano. Experts can get acquainted with them only within the corporation, having previously signed non-disclosure obligations and statements about the absence of a so-called "conflict of interest" with the authors of the project, Vladimir Sklyarov said.
The representatives of the corporation reiterated that Rusnano is primarily interested in projects in which all property rights to intellectual property belong to the applicants. However, as Igor Samborsky, an investment analyst at the corporation, explained to the STRF correspondent, this rule is not rigid. Rusnano is ready to negotiate the transfer of intellectual property rights with both institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences and state universities. "For example, if a particular scientist of the Russian Academy of Sciences submits an application that our analysts consider promising, we are ready to contact the employer institute ourselves and initiate negotiations on the transfer of rights to developments if they are fully or partially assigned to the institute," Mr. Samborsky said.
As Dmitry Gordienko emphasized, applicants can contribute property rights to intellectual property as a share in a future joint project. Only a prerequisite is a qualified assessment of the value of these rights by an independent expert.
Michael is found, STRF.ruPortal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru