Call 2021

Hamlyn Accelerator for Surgical Innovation

UPDATES

[23-02-21]  The STAGE 2 will be held on the 11^th March afternoon. Successful applicants will be informed by email at the beginning of March.

Intellectual Property

HASI projects should refer to Wellcome Trust Golden Rules. In particular the Paragraph 8 of the Grant Conditions shall apply, with the exception that Paragraph 8.2 shall be replace by the following: 

Where Wellcome-funded Intellectual Property arises from your award, you must obtain prior written consent (not to be unreasonably withheld in circumstances where it is an appropriate means of achieving charitable public benefit) before you make any com use of, or grant to any third party any exploitation rights over, the Wellcome-funded Intellectual Property. As a condition of granting consent, we will require you to accept Wellcome's standard revenue and equity sharing agreement as set out in the Gran Conditions.

Publications

Any outcomes of the award that are suitable for publication must be published in accordance with the publication provisions in the Grant Conditions and our Policies and Provisions which include our Open Access policy

[28-01-21] The deadline for Stage 1 submissions has now been extended to the 14^th February 23.59 GMT. Please read CAREFULLY the submission instructions to avoid rejections.

Main points:

• email submission with the subject heading: [HamlynAccelerator]
• digitally sign the submission: Instructions can be found here.
• Attach (if possible in the same PDF file with your submssion), your InfoED costings page (no need for Research office approval): Instructions can be found here.
• Submission tip: we recommend you include a clear timeline of your project execution/milestones/deliverables.

For specific questions, please send an email to the Technology Transfer Manager, Dr Riccardo Secoli: email subject: [Q&AHamlynAccelerator]

You can view a recording of our Q&A session, regarding the HASI selection process, here.

The Hamlyn Centre at Imperial College holds an Institutional Translational Partnership Award (iTPA) from the Wellcome Trust allowing it to implement a framework inspired by Medtech Industry R&D processes for rapid acceleration of medical device development, with fast deployment into clinical settings. This Accelerator leverages the academic research excellence, strong clinical links and the translational environment at Imperial College.

The Accelerator provides a framework with a Quality Management System (QMS) required for medical devices development (part of CE/FDA certification), guidelines and network for clinical studies, project management and financial support. This Call aims to identify and support research with high translational potential that would benefit from the Hamlyn Accelerator framework.

Eligibility & Scope

Permanent academics, postdoctoral researchers and PhD students supported by an academic principal investigator associated with the Hamlyn Centre at Imperial College are encouraged to submit proposals. Postdoctoral researchers without an existing connection to the Hamlyn Centre are also able to apply provided they can secure the approval from their academic principal investigator for a secondment to the Centre.

We are seeking disruptive and innovative technologies geared towards the development of a medical device relating to three main areas: Advanced Robotic Surgical Interventions, Next Generation Diagnostic Imaging and New Sensing Solutions. The proposal may be based on your current research (PhDs and postdocs) or may be a new area for you, but your work must advance the technology towards clinical adoption.

The awards will fund translation-focused work that can enable a step up in innovation level. Commercially attractive work that contributes substantial evidence in answering a clinical need, developing a proof of concept prototype, and/or customer/industrial engagement are particularly encouraged.

Funding

The Hamlyn Accelerator Management Board expects to award up to four projects, with direct project costs ranging from £30k to £80k. Value-for-Money principle: projects requesting the highest level of funding are required to demonstrate a larger increase of TRL (from the beginning to the end of the Accelerator) or a higher starting TRL.

Deadline for receipt of stage 1 applications:

14th February 2021 at 23.59 GMT

The completed application form and attachments should be emailed in pdf version to the Technology Transfer Manager, Dr Riccardo Secoli and copied to the academic principal investigator.

Application form Stage 1: Download here

Key Points

• The scheme is managed by the ITPA Steering Committee at Hamlyn Centre.
• Proposals must be led and approved by an academic principal investigator who is named as a co-applicant.
• Projects should be costed with full economic costs, but the final awards will only provide 100% of directly incurred costs.
• Funding is available to cover costs in the following categories: staff costs, consumables, small equipment/access to equipment, travel and professional fees (subcontracted prototype production, expert advice, testing). All costs need to be justified in the application.
• The maximum project duration is 12 months. All projects must be completed by 30 April 2022.
• Standard Wellcome Trust eligibility, costing rules, and IP terms apply.
• The lead researcher will be expected to engage with the Hamlyn Centre Accelerator Process, including the completion of progress reports as required.
• It is the responsibility of the researcher and their PI to ensure that projects comply with UKRI’s policies on the use of animals and human samples. If the project requires ethics approval, the lead researcher must send a copy of the appropriate permission to the Technology Transfer Manager.
  
  

Application Process - This competition is a 2-stage process

First Stage: The first stage requires the submission of the completed application form. Please email the signed pdf version (signed by the PI) to Dr Riccardo Secoli before the deadline. Please copy your PI in the email and include other necessary attachments (CVs of the lead researcher, InfoEd Price Recover Page). Proposals do not need to be reviewed by Research Services before submission but should be approved by your division/department. For specific questions about finance/budget, please get in touch with the Tech Transfer Manager.

Second stage: for those applications selected at Stage 1, applicants will be required to pitch their project to a panel of MedTech Innovation experts (e.g. clinical, non clinical, funding bodies).

Deadlines

Stage 1 Application Deadline:

14th February 2021 – 23.59 (GMT) 

Stage 2 Pitch Date:

After 15th February 2021 (TBC)

Review Process

Stage 1:

All eligible applications will be assessed by the Hamlyn WT Accelerator Steering Committee against the level of innovation, based on the following factors:

• Technology Level: develop and test the technology, product, service, or concept
• Customer Engagement: confirm clinical expert need and interest
• Intellectual property level: clarify the legal and IP situation, strategy plan for secuting new IP
• Team: level of competencies in place, industrial or academic collaborations
• Funding strategy: ability to secure the necessary funding to take the idea to the market
• Closeness of fit to the Hamlyn Accelerator remit and balance among all factors
• Clarity and feasibility of the proposed plan to use of the available funding
• Leveraging of the project management available within the Hamlyn Accelerator

Stage 2:

Selected applicants will be required to give a presentation to the Hamlyn WT Accelerator Selection Panel, this will be followed by Q&A.

Applicants will be informed of the outcome at each stage by email. Information on how to access funds will be provided to successful applicants with their award letter.

Technology Readiness Level (TRL Levels)