Experimental Development Program

What is the Experimental Development Program?

The Science and Industry Endowment Fund Experimental Development Program is a grant opportunity designed to address a significant gap in current funding options available for progressing technology development to a stage suitable for attracting commercial investment and market uptake.

The Experimental Development Program will play an important role in the overall Science and Industry Endowment Fund Portfolio, complimenting current SIEF programs and activities.

Objectives

The Experimental Development Program aims to support research that:

is at the experimental development end of the research continuum
translates research for commercial impact
moves discoveries along the pathway to commercialisation
accelerates commercialisation and entrepreneurial activities
‘de-risks’ for future commercial investors

Funding

All amounts referred to are to be read as exclusive of GST (if any), unless expressly stated otherwise. On a case by case basis, SIEF funding under the Experimental Development Program is expected to be in the range:

$0.25m – $2m total. The total funds requested from SIEF must be met through co-investment by the Lead Applicant (and collaborators) with in-kind and cash contributions.
over a period of 6 months to 2 years

SIEF funding will be structured in a stage-gated manner based on milestones against expenditure.

Eligible Projects

Experimental Development Program will fund:

The construction and operation of a pilot plant as long as the principal purposes are to obtain experience and to compile engineering and other data to be used in:
- Evaluating hypotheses.
- Writing new product formulae.
- Establishing new finished product specifications.
- Designing special equipment and structures required by a new process.
- Preparing operating instructions or manuals on the process.
Industrial design and drawing required for R&D
Industrial engineering and tooling up associated with the development of new products
Trial production required for testing and subsequent further design
Data collection as an integral part of the research and development.

Eligible Applicants

Lead Applicant must be an Eligible Organisation in the Industry portfolio (Eligible organisations are: CSIRO, ANSTO, AIMS, Geoscience Australia).
Research activities must primarily be conducted by the Lead Applicant
Pre-screening for commercial viability must have been conducted by the Lead Applicant
Research activities must align with the SIEF Primary Purpose
Funding will only be available for activities that fall under the definition of ‘Research’; and specifically ‘Experimental Development’
Application must be endorsed by all Collaborating Organisations and by an authorised delegate
Lead Applicant/institution and researchers must comply with the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research (2018).
Successful Applicants must enter into a SIEF Funding Agreement by the specified date

Timing

Applications open on an ongoing basis.

More Information

Current Recipients

Year	Lead Researcher and Organisation	Collaborating Organisations	Project Title	SIEF Funds (lifetime months)
2016	Dr Melony SellarsCSIRO	Australian Prawn Farmers Association	RNAi treatment of broodstock to reduce disease impacts in farmed prawns (Prawn RNAi)	$250,000 (24 months) COMPLETED
2016	Dr Keith BristowCSIRO		Sprayable Biodegradable Polymer Membrane Technology for Agriculture (TranspiratiONal)	$445,842 (12 months) COMPLETED
2016	Dr Stefan Hrabar CSIRO		Hovermap – Intelligent Lidar Mapping and Navigating System for Drones (Hovermap)	$768,000 (12 months) COMPLETED
2017	Dr San Hla CSIRO		Hydrogen generator for FCV refuelling (H2 Generation)	$1,657,256 (24 months) COMPLETED
2017	Dr Aaron Thornton CSIRO	Monash University Energy Infrastructure Resources	Capturing carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere (CO2Gen)	$725,000 (15 months) COMPLETED
2017	Dr Paul Breuer CSIRO	Eco Minerals Research	Demonstration plant to validate new products for gold discovery (Going for Gold)	$860,000 (15 months) COMPLETED
2017	Dr Keith Bristow CSIRO		Sprayable Biodegradable Polymer Membrane Technology for Agriculture (TranspiratiONal 2)	$576,430 (10 months) COMPLETED
2018	Dr Graeme Moad CSIRO	Monash University Queensland University of Technology iGlass Pty Ltd	Development of enhanced PDLC smart glass with improved durability and performance for architectural and automotive applications (SmartWindows)	$1,451,268 (24 months) COMPLETED
2018	Dr Pablo Juliano CSIRO	Boundary Bend Ltd Sonosys Ultraschallsysteme GmbH	Commercial demonstration of megasonic technology for additional virgin olive oil recovery (Megasonics)	$890,277 (8 months) COMPLETED
2018	Dr Andrew Bean CSIRO		Industrial scale production of enhanced vaccine eggs for commercial influenza vaccine production trials (Vaximiser)	$1,835,609 (24 months)
2018	Dr Andrew Abbott CSIRO		Demonstration at scale of carbon fibre production that meets the specifications of Australian manufacturers (CarbonFibre)	$1,962,554 (24 months)
2019	Ms Katie Green CSIRO		Scaled production of graphene membranes and development of a demonstration laboratory purification device for commercial trials (GraphAir)	$1,999,771 (24 months)
2020	Dr Robert Wilson		Titanium particulates to wire (TiWi)	$1,719,000(24 months)
2020	Dr Helmut Thissen CSIRO		Overcoming fibrotic encapsulation of implantable medical devices (Antifibrotic Coatings)	$680,000(24 months)

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