Kazakh scientists can receive grants for project commercialization

The Kazakhstan Science Fund announces a new competition for grant funding of the most promising projects focused on commercializing the results of scientific activity. The application period commences on December 19, with a budget earmarked for the next two years, amounting to approximately 22 billion tenge. It is noteworthy that a single scientific project can receive up to 350 million tenge. Currently, the Science Fund’s portfolio encompasses 218 projects. The majority of them have entered active sales, with 16 projects already exporting their products to foreign countries. The total sales have exceeded 34 billion tenge.

“Primarily, these are CIS countries, as well as China, and the United Arab Emirates. So, we have projects focusing on the processing of agricultural products, and the production of Saumal, a biologically active supplement based on camel milk. Additionally, we have projects referred to as unicorns, which have achieved sales exceeding one billion tenge. Notable among them is PC4U, which manufactures high-security computers procured by our law enforcement agencies. There is also a project in the agro-industrial sector, focusing on diagnostic PCR systems for food safety assessment and infection monitoring,” Yulia Vyatkina, spokesperson for the Science Fund, said.

According to the Science Fund, the project portfolio is predominantly comprised of initiatives in agriculture, agro-processing, chemical and medical industries. There are also proposals in the fields of geological exploration, tourism, digitization, and artificial intelligence.

“Kazakh scientists possess great potential. We see this year after year in projects entering commercialization. For example, we have projects focused on developing a Braille simulator, which is currently being successfully sold both in the U.S. and Singapore. These projects span various fields, and although they may encounter certain challenges, the Science Fund provides support. We not only monitor grant recipients to ensure the targeted use of funds but also assist them in promotion through KazakhExport, KazTrade, and various partnerships, including China and international organizations, facilitating their entry into the export market,” Vyatkina added.