The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition’s (the DTIC) Technology and Human Resource for Industry Programme (THRIP) has officially opened for applications for 2022.
This was announced at the Industrial Technology Exhibition in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.
According to the department, the objective of the THRIP is to increase the number of people with the appropriate skills in the development and management of applied research-based technology for the industry.
The R5 million per annum cost-sharing grant is allocated for a maximum period of three years for approved projects.
Director of Innovation and Technology Policy and Strategy at the DTIC, Nontombi Marule, said THRIP was key to improving the competitiveness of the South African industry through the support of Research and Development technology development activities.
“In order for a project to qualify under the programme, they must have clearly defined scientific and technology outputs, including human resource outputs that are expected for each year of support. A project must also be applied research whose outputs will directly benefit the applying entity in its competitiveness and business activities,” said Marule.
She said a THRIP project application should clearly demonstrate the degree of innovation and level of technology readiness.
Explaining the THRIP Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Funding Marule detailed that the ownership and exploitation of intellectual property arising from a THRIP project must be regulated by the Intellectual Property Rights from Public Financed Research and Development Act of 2008.
“A once-off maximum grant of R50 000 per project for the cost of legal advice on the development of an agreement on the treatment of intellectual property (IP) to approved Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) will be granted under THRIP IPR,” she said.
The director added that the responsibility resides with the industry applicant to negotiate the commercial terms related to the THRIP project outputs with the relevant higher education institutions to ensure equitable share of commercial benefits post the THRIP project.
Applications and forms are available on the DTIC website.