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THE WAITRO INNOVATION AWARD
WAITRO Innovation Award 2021
Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture
The WAITRO Innovation Award aims to inspire new ideas and foster new teams amongst full and associate WAITRO members. It is an integral part of the WAITRO Innovation Ecosystem that sources, supports and scales innovative solutions developed jointly by WAITRO member organizations to advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This year’s WAITRO Innovation Award focuses on food security and sustainable agriculture (SDG 2-Zero Hunger). WAITRO will support innovative project ideas related to new sources of marine and terrestrial non-conventional food, such as micro- and macro-algae, insects or new forms of agriculture (e.g. hydroponics) that are less susceptible to climate change impacts.
Application opens: 7th of June, 2021
Application deadline: 30th of September, 2021 (via EMAIL to the WAITRO Secretary General)
Pitch Event & Awarding: December 2021
Value & Benefits
WHAT WE OFFER
WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR
How it works
Program Details
The WAITRO Innovation Award winner is expected to manage the project team and report accomplishments made using the Award to the WAITRO Secretariat at the end of the year. It is hoped that the winner will be invited to present at the next WAITRO Global Innovation Summit, with travel supported by WAITRO.
Applications will be reviewed by the WAITRO Secretariat and an international evaluation committee. International experts selected by the WAITRO Secretariat will give advice on the technical aspects of the focus area.
One member of your team will pitch the project live to an audience of investors, business advisors, Venture Capitalists, media, peers, students, and any others that you care to invite. The presentation will be given in English.
After the Pitch Event, the Secretariat will determine the winners in consultation with the evaluation committee. WAITRO will assist selected project teams in finding financial support, additional support or guidance if needed. Winners shall present their progress at the WAITRO Global Innovation Summit scheduled for 2022.
Team members may be full and/or associate WAITRO members, but only full members can receive funding.
| CRITERIA | DESCRIPTION |
| Impact |
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Feasibility |
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Level of innovation and technical quality |
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| Team Strength |
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| International Collaboration |
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Project teams selected as finalists for the training and workshops need to score at least 40% in each category.
Applicants declare that the ideas presented are their own, are original, and do not contain material from protected works or violate the copyright or intellectual property of third parties. No transfer of intellectual property is implied by the WAITRO Innovation Award. It is the responsibility of each team to agree terms for sharing any intellectual property that may arise from work funded under the WAITRO Innovation Award. Applicants agree to indemnify and hold harmless the WAITRO Secretariat, Fraunhofer and JITRI from and against all damages, costs, losses, expenses and claims of any kind in respect of and arising out of any claim of intellectual property infringement that may arise.
No, only employees of WAITRO member organizations can apply for the WAITRO Innovation Award. Learn more about WAITRO membership and how to join the Global Innovation Family here. Immediately after joining WAITRO, your organization can apply.
Make sure that your project team consists of at least two WAITRO member organizations and that you have matched on SAIRA (www.saira.eco).
The application deadline is:Â 30th of September, 2021
Submissions will be assessed according to criteria, including:
- Alignment with the goals of the WAITRO Innovation Award and the impact of the project on the SDG 2
- Likelihood that the project can be feasibly advanced within the time and budget of the Award and further financed in the long-term
- The level of innovation and the technical quality that the proposed solution brings
- Team strength and commitment
- Appropriate division of responsibilities among team members
- A real international collaboration
For further information, see EVALUATION (3).
Awesome! Just enter the information into SAIRA anyways, match with your partner and proceed as above. You will still be eligible.
It’s free to apply and participate!
The winning Project Team Leader (PTL) will sign a research contract with either Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft or the Jiangsu Industrial Technology Research Institute (JITRI), which are funding the Award. This contract will include 1-year milestones (Please contact the Secretariat for a template of the WAITRO Innovation Award contract if needed). Once the contract is signed, the PTL will submit an invoice to the funding organization and the funds will be transferred as soon as possible, subject to procedures required for international currency transfers. The PTL is responsible for distributing Award funds to the team as agreed in Section 8 of the proposal template. The Award period will be January 1st 2022 – December 31st 2022, after which period a report (deliverable) will be due to the WAITRO Secretariat. Note that the Award is a one-time, non-renewable, one year award, whereas the project can (and should) continue to develop in the future.
WAITRO will collect the data supplied in order to contact and notify participants, as mentioned in this document, as well as to carry out promotional activities related to the WAITRO Innovation Award. Applicants authorize WAITRO for the use of their name, voice, photograph, brand, recorded interviews to be published jointly or separately, in any way or means that WAITRO deems appropriate, without violating the confidentiality of the details contained in the proposals.
You should use SAIRA (WAITRO’s Open Innovation Platform) to either create and publish a so-called »opportunity« or submit a so-called »proposal« to an already published »opportunity«. »Opportunities« can be project ideas or local challenges that you would like to solve in collaboration with a partner. Once you have published an »opportunity«, you’ll receive »proposals« submitted by other SAIRA users in response. See the SAIRA website www.saira.eco for details about how this works.
Project teams fill out the application form and send the proposal to the WAITRO Secretary General until 30th of September, 2021.
The WAITRO Innovation Award 2020: Solving Water-related Challenges
In 2020, two innovative projects focusing on solving water-related challenges were awarded. The Award process commenced with SAIRA matchmaking in early 2020. Five finalists were selected by the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). Plans for face-to-face workshops for proposal development during the summer fell afoul of international travel restrictions, and the process for the finalists was reduced to an online “pitch training” and an online question and answer session with the SAB. Then each team recorded a video presentation for an online pitch session at the Virtual Innovation Summit 2020 (October 2020), where delegates had the opportunity to ask additional questions of the teams and cast their votes.
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Development of Low-Cost Solar-Powered Water Treatment
CTET and UNSW are developing membrane capacitive deionization (mCDI) as a robust, energy efficient and cost-effective technology for desalination of water.
Australia & China
2021
Project Partner: UNSW (Australia), CTET (China)
- SAIRA Projects
- WAITRO Funded Project
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Phytotechnologies To Provide Clean Water In Small Communities
This project addresses the global problem of providing clean water focusing on plant-based technologies that offer the potential for clean water at 50–90% cost savings as compared to conventional technology.
Mexico & Thailand
2021
Project Partner: INECOL (Mexico), TISTR (Thailand)
- SAIRA Projects
- WAITRO Funded Project
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