Technology Innovation Development Feasibility Study (TIDA) 2011 FAQs

Q. How many TIDA feasibility study awards can I apply for?
A. One application per person is allowed. Therefore if you currently hold, for example, both an RFP award and a PI award you can only make one application.  This is in the interest of fairness as budgets are extremely limited. 

Q. Who can apply for a TIDA Feasibility - award?
A.  The applicant must hold or have held within the past 5 years an SFI award as lead PI or co-PI under the following programmes: PI, PICA, RFP, SRC, CSET, Stokes, Research Professor, PIYRA, SIRG, Charles Parsons, Mathematics Initiative, US-Ireland (excluding US-Ireland planning grant holders)
or
The applicant must be/have been lead PI on a competitively awarded, internationally peer reviewed research grant worth more than €200K in the last 5 years (2006-2011). This is exclusive of personal awards such as travel awards and career fellowships.

Q. Who actually submits the application?
A. Applications should be submitted electronically from the proposed host institute research office to TIDA@sfi.ie, and the subject line should include the research body, applicant’s name and award name (Feasibility Study).  The application cover sheet must be signed by the SFI award holder, the Technology Transfer Office Director and signed and stamped by the Irish Research body.

Q. For big awards such as CSETs and SRCs , can they apply for a TIDA award?
A. Yes, SRC and CSET PIs, co-PIs and funded PIs are eligible to apply for TIDA Feasibility or TIDA Audits.  5 applications per CSET and SRC are allowed but only one application per person.

Q. Can I apply to the TIDA programme and the Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation fund?
A. The same project cannot be submitted to both TIDA and EI’s Commercialisation Fund.   Applicants to TIDA Feasibility may have other projects which are at a more commercially advanced level and could therefore, in principle, apply to the EI CF

Q. I am a Stokes lecturer/professor, can I apply for an TIDA Feasibility Study
A. Yes

Q. "Salary for a Research Assistant is also allowable up a maximum of €25,000." Does that mean that one can only employ a staff member who is on the Research Assistant salary scale, or can this money be put towards the salary of someone on a higher scale, as long as one didn't use more than the €25,000?
A. The €25K is for the hiring of a research assistant for a 12 month period.  The Research Assistant Level 1 Point 1 allowable budget is €24,199 and the point 2 allowable budget is €24,925.  These values include employer PRSI at 10.75%.
The €25K may also be used to buy-out an existing team-member’s time to work on the feasibility study.  Clear justification for this must be included in the Budget Justification section of the proposal, including the name of the existing team member and their current salary and contract details.  The €25K cannot be used to top-up an existing team-member’s salary.

Q. Does the €25k include: employee contribution, PRSI, pension?
A. The Research Assistant Level 1 Point 1 allowable budget is 24,199 and the point 2 allowable budget is 24,925.  These values include employer PRSI at 10.75%. SFI does not fund pension contributions.  Please refer to the SFI grant applications budget policy. 

Q. What salary is allowed for the postdoctoral researcher
A. Salaries must be in line with the SFI Grants Applications Budget Policy (GABP), associated FAQs and Team Member Budget Scales are documented at the following link, http://www.sfi.ie/funding/grant-policies/grant-applications-budget-policy

Q. Could you please confirm if it is sufficient that an applicant is an award holder at the time of application. For example, if an award holder wishes to apply for a 12 month feasibility study supplement, does the existing award need to be active for the proposed 12 month feasibility study.
A. The TIDA feasibility studies can extend beyond the end date of the SFI award.  Therefore the SFI award does not have to be active for the 12 months of the feasibility study.  However please note that 

Q.  What deliverable is expected at the end of an award?
A.  A five-page report detailing the outcomes of the award is expected within thirty days from the end of the award.   It is anticipated that following the TIDA feasibility study, applicants will be better equipped to apply to the Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Fund.
 Metrics for programme success include:

Q. Can a Feasibility option award be used to host personnel in the University to aid commercialisation activities?
A. The Feasibility award cannot be used to hire commercialisation personnel. If specific skills are required to demonstrate the feasibility of the innovation, a case for funding of such skills can be made in the budget justification section of the proposal. 

Q. Can the applicant’s or any collaborator’s salary be claimed through the Feasibility option award?
A19. No. Neither PI nor collaborator salaries can be claimed .

Q. If your project is in a "no cost extension" period that covers the period in which TIDA is requested, am I eligible?
A. Yes this application would still be eligible.

Q. What is the time frame expected for the review process? When could an approved project be expected to begin?
A. The review process should be completed by November.

Q. Who will review the TIDA proposals?
A.  Applications will be reviewed by the Foundation, Enterprise Ireland and international experts as appropriate. 

Q. I have an RFP and intend to apply for the Feasibility Option. I have some co-applicants who are PIs in SRCs (though the proposed TIDA project is not related to those SRCs). Can they be included as co-applicants?
A. Co-applicants are not allowed in the TIDA Feasibility study. Convergent applications are supported through the inclusion of collaborators.

Q. Does the Feasibility Option project have to relate to a currently funded SFI award, or could it relate to a previous SFI award?
A. The Objective of TIDA is to leverage potential commercial activity from SFI funded research.  The TIDA project can be based on existing or previous research funding.

Q. Does an industry partner have to involved in TDA feasibility.
A25. No, there are no industry partners required for TIDA feasibility.  For industry led research
projects, please contact Enterprise Ireland.

Q. Is it beneficial to have industry partners as collaborators on the proposal to demonstrate the feasibility of an innovative idea for commercial benefit. 
A. No, there are no industry partners required for TIDA feasibility.  For industry led research
projects, please contact  Enterprise Ireland.  However as part of the proposal the applicant must answer the question “What evidence do you have that there is a commercial  need for your idea”.  If you know of industries that are interested in your innovation, you should include this information in this section of the proposal.

Q. Are EI "Innovation partnerships" and Commercialisation Fund awards accepted as "competitively awarded, internationally peer reviewed research grants"
A. No

Q. For non SFI award holders requiring SFI Pre-approval, how quickly will a response be sent from TIDA ?
A. SFI will endeavor to send a response as soon as possible, as we recognise the time involved in preparing an application.

Q. why is preference not given to successful EI applicants who have established track record?
A. A key objective of the TIDA programme is to develop awareness of the commercialisation process and to enable researchers to focus on the first steps of an applied research project.  It is anticipated that following the TIDA feasibility study, applicants will be better equipped to apply to the Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Fund.  It is our feeling that successful EI awardees have already had the opportunity to undertake commercialisation activities. 

Q. Can the Co-PI of an SFI PI award directly submit an application (rather than through the PI)?
A. Yes, co-PIs are eligible to apply directly.  For SRCs and CSETs, funded PIs are also eligible to apply directly.

Q. Are participants of the SFI TIDA training program 2010 eligible (i.e. the applicant, not the SFI award holder)?
A. No, they are not eligible to apply as they are postdoctoral researchers who may not satisfy the main eligibility criteria outlined in Section 4  of the call document.

Q. For non-SFI award holder and in the case of receipt of funding from an EC collaborative project, what is the eligibility  criterion, e.g, to be a named Principal Scientist?
A. The non-SFI award holder must be/have been in the last 5 years the lead PI on the award.

Q. How commercially developed does the core Research idea have to be? Is substantial data required?
A. As part of the proposal the applicant must answer the question “What evidence do you have that there is a commercial need for your idea”.  If you have data to help answer this question, then the proposal may be more competitive. 

Q. Can postdoctoral researchers apply to TIDA?
A. No, this competition is intended for independent researchers only, as defined by the eligibility criteria defined in Section 4 of the call document.

Q. In the case of large (>1M) PI awards with multiple funded co-principal investigators is it still the case that only one TIDA application will be accepted ?
A. Yes, that is the case, one application will be accepted

Q3. How are postdocs expected to show that they intend moving towards industry/commercial rather than traditional academic career path?
A.  They are not required to show evidence but SFI would expect that postdoc interested in working on the TIDA project would have an interest in commercialisation activities. 

Q. How much funding is available for consumables and travel ? can more than one research assistant be funded through the one award?
A. SFI have not applied a cap to the individual budget categories, therefore more than one research assistant may be requested but justification has to be provided.

Q. Are overheads included in eligible costs or are they paid in addition to the 100K cap?
A. 100K is for direct costs only and not inclusive of overhead.

Q. Does the TIDA supplement constitute an extension to my existing SFI award?
A. No, the TIDA award is not equivalent to a No Cost Extension on an existing SFI award.  However, the TIDA supplement may extend beyond the term of the current SFI award.