KEY INFORMATION
DURATION
Research Fund shall be awarded to projects having duration up to 18 months
BUDGET
Up to PKR 15 Million will be allocated to successful projects
RESEARCHER
Candidate should be a PhD, working in a Pakistani University or Research Organization
What is an NCRA Research Fund?
The fund will cater for conducting research activities in the field of Robotics and Automation. This funding opportunity aims at fostering the transition from research and technology to integration and business. The successful outcome of this fund shall put in place a combination of market oriented technological research and development of integration solutions. This shall help new robotics applications to reach the market.
ELIGIBILITY
Applicant
Faculty Members & Researchers holding full time positions at a university or R&D organization are eligible to apply.
Partner Organization
Preference shall be given to the submissions with relevance to Pakistan’s Socio-Economic needs and proposals with industrial collaboration within the domains of robotics and automation.
AWARD
Introduction
NCRA had a research fund of PKR 200Mn to cater for conducting research activities in the field of Robotics and automation. This funding opportunity aimed at fostering the transition from research and technology to integration and business. The successful outcome of this fund shall put in place a combination of market oriented technological research and development of integration solutions. This shall help new robotics applications to reach the market.
Background
To streamline the selection, award and execution processes of NCRA research fund, a detailed SOP was developed. Call for Proposals was published in renowned Urdu and English Newspapers on 31st May 2020. Deadline for Submission of proposals was 15th July 2020. However, due to multiple requests of applicants, the 2 x one-week extensions were given i.e. 22nd July and 30th July 2020. On the final deadline, 40 x Proposals were received from researchers across the country.
Stage-1 of Review
Based on the relevance and completion of received proposals, out of the total 40 x proposals, 23 x proposals were shortlisted by the Review board for Stage 2, while 17 x proposals were rejected.
Stage-2 of Review
Shortlisted proposals were to be evaluated with relevant domain experts from industry and academia in stage 2. Each proposal was sent to 1 x Domain expert from academia and 1 x Domain expert from industry. Based on the results of the evaluation, 14 x proposals met the minimum criteria and have been shortlisted for stage 3. 9 x proposals were rejected by domain experts. Revisions from reviewers were incorporated by applicants before being moved to stage 3.
Stage-3 of Review
In Stage-3 applicants were invited to deliver the presentations on their business plan. A session was conducted at CEME, NUST in which the shortlisted applicants delivered a 5 minutes presentation followed by Q&A session by panel. The panel constituted of review board and domain experts who reviewed the proposals at stage 2. Based on the comments of panel 9 x proposals were shortlisted and 5 x proposals were rejected.
List of Accepted Proposals
| Sr. No. | Proposal Info | PI Info and Affiliation |
| 1 | RF-NCRA-017 SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION SYSTEM IN URBAN AREAS BY USING CNC KITCHEN GARDENING ROBOT | Dr. Saqib Ali University of Agriculture Faisalabad |
| 2 | RF-NCRA-020 Catalysing Industry 4.0: Development of Framework and IIoT Test-bed for Providing Automation Roadmap to the Industries | Dr. Zubair Khalid Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Lahore |
| 3 | RF-NCRA-021 Development of a comprehensive universal gun barrel Cleaning Mechanism | Dr. Imran Shafi College of E&ME – NUST, Rawalpindi |
| 4 | RF-NCRA-027 BCI based Exoskeleton to Assist Elderly and Disabled People Stand and Walk | Dr. Noman Naseer Air University, Islamabad |
| 5 | RF-NCRA-028 RoboDoc: A Social Robot to Protect Healthcare Professionals dealing in contagious diseases | Dr. Hashim Raza Khan NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi |
| 6 | RF-NCRA-031 INDIGENOUS DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING OF FULL FLIGHT MOTION PLATFORM | Dr. Shahid Baqar PAF-KIET. Karachi |
| 7 | RF-NCRA-035 INDIGENOUS APPROACH FOR DEVELOPMENT OF PIEZOELECTRIC DEVICES | Dr. Hamid Jabbar College of E&ME – NUST, Rawalpindi |
| 8 | RF-NCRA-037 Biocompatible Shape Memory Polymer based Soft Actuator for Biomedical Applications with Dual Operation in Aquatic-Terrestrial Environments | Dr. Jahan Zeb Gul AIR University, Islamabad |
| 9 | RF-NCRA-038 Warehouse Automation of a Textile Factory using Industry 4.0 Technologies | Dr. Muhammad Gufran Khan Dr. Uzair Khaleeq NUST |
HOW TO APPLY?
Step 1
Download documents and go through policy points and proposal guidelines rigorously.
Step 2
Fill out Proposal Form in line with the proposal guidelines.
Step 3
Fill out Project budget and Project outcomes documents
Step 4
Duly filled proposal forms in all respects along with supporting documents, should be submitted here by 15th July 2020.
CONTACT US
Address
National Centre of Robotics and Automation, College of Electrical and Mechnical Engineering, Peshawar Road Rawalpindi
Phone Number
051-54444458
Email Address
research@ncra.org.pk