Egypt Launches New Programmes to Turn Research Into Startups

Egypt’s Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research has launched a new package of programmes aimed at turning university research into marketable products, industrial applications and startups.

The package includes U-IGNITE to support university innovation centres, a national ideas platform, university hackathons, expanded support for graduation projects, prototype development and laboratory access. It also includes programmes to help researchers form startup teams and build technical and business skills.

New funding includes grants of up to LE 250,000 for master’s research addressing industrial challenges, LE 350,000 for PhD projects and up to LE 3 million for early-career researchers undertaking their first independent projects.

Other initiatives include ‘A Professor for Every Factory’, which will place researchers inside industrial facilities for four to six months, and the ASPIRE programme for applied science, technology and manufacturing research.

The wider initiative is intended to strengthen links between universities, research centres and industry and move research more quickly from laboratories into commercial and industrial use.