Proof-of-Concept Awards

• Researchers must be from one of the five named Ceres universities.
• Proposals must be related to plant agri-tech (excluding small molecule agrochemicals and plant variety breeding).
• The technologies or experimental techniques used can come from any scientific discipline (e.g. robotics, chemistry, computer science).
• Proposals must have strong commercial potential, i.e. the proof-of-concept work must be part of an overarching plan leading to commercialisation, not a piece of basic/fundamental research.
• Funding is in the form of a one-off award, typically from £5,000 to £20,000.
• Applications will be by a 6 minute pitch to the Ceres Investment Committee.

The Ceres Team will help you work through key questions such as

• What problem are you trying to solve?
• What is the commercial opportunity?
• Rationale behind your idea, how will your proposed solution fix the problem if successfully proven?
• What is your proposal, with timings and costs?
• What will be the outputs?
• What are your longer-term plans for commercialisation?

The Ceres Team will help you develop your proposal from idea to pitch to give you the best chance of winning Ceres funding:

• The Ceres Team, together with Ceres representatives from your university, can talk you through the process and help you develop a draft pitchdeck;
• Pitches are 6 minute presentations by appropriate members of your team, followed by up to 9 minutes of questions;
• You should aim to present 5-6 slides for the pitch itself, covering the problem, the opportunity, your solution and rationale behind your idea, objectives of the proof-of-concept proposal, outputs, timescale, costings and longer term plans for commercialisation;
• The Committee will want to know about the commercial relevance of your proposal, so your pitch should outline your plans for commercialisation;
• Your final pitchdeck must be submitted via your university’s Ceres representative no later than the final submission date for the relevant Ceres Investment Committee meeting (see Submission Deadlines table below)

If your proposal is successful and awarded funding, the Ceres Team will continue to support you on your journey towards commercialisation through:

• Mentoring and guidance;
• Connection to potential follow-on funding, e.g. Ceres Project Award