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.
