ATRACT-Life

Translation of basic research from academic laboratories is an inherently risky venture owing to uncertainty in scientific feasibility, industrial scalability, and societal adaptability for any research work. This problem gets aggravated further by the lack of specific resources available to academics for testing, validating, and refining their ideas from lab-scale to field-level. Furthermore, for any novel innovation to reach society at scale would need to be commercialized, which necessitates a clear understanding of industrial requirements and preferences.

The ATRACT-Life program under the DIA program at C-CAMP has been conceived primarily for this cause of making basic lab-scale research ready for industrial adoption:

• The ATRACT-Life program will provide active translational support to risky yet exciting ideas from academia, enabling the transformation of basic science discoveries into de-risked industry-ready innovations for society.
• The ATRACT-Life program has been designed, with the strong involvement of academic and industrial partners, to identify, understand, and catalyse the adaptation of potentially impactful scientific discoveries for existing or future industrial/societal needs.

Through the ATRACT-Life program, the DIA team will leverage C-CAMP’s extensive R&D resources in transforming lab-scale ideas from Indian academia into actualized products for the market. This ‘Lab to Market’ approach of DIA would benefit the scientists and their respective research organizations, industry, and society, while stimulating ‘Innovate in India’.

• The program will invite proposals from Indian academic organizations through an annual ‘National Call for Translation of Research And Commercialization’ (NC-TRAC).
• The DIA team will identify the most exciting and relevant scientific discoveries for translation that align with the program’s mandate and capabilities through an extensive screening procedure.
• The proposals selected for ‘Research Translation & Commercialization’ will be jointly developed by the applicant/inventor (and their organization/s) and the DIA team (C-CAMP).
• The DIA team (C-CAMP) would sign an agreement with the applicant/inventor(s) and their organization/s, which would now serve as the academic partner for the proposed innovation.
• A road map for the joint development of the proposed innovation will be created for each selected proposal with inputs from the academic partner, subject/field experts, and the industry.
• The DIA team will secure the required funding and carry out all of the translational work at C-CAMP in close collaboration with the applicant/inventor(s).
• The DIA team would actively engage with the local and global industry, along with other relevant stakeholders (such as regulatory agencies, Govt. and non-govt. funding bodies, patenting authorities, etc.) for ensuring the successful translation of proposals.
• The developed industry-ready innovations and the respective intellectual properties/ trade secrets/ know-how created would be jointly shared between C-CAMP and the academic partner(s), and will be commercialized to the relevant industry.

The program welcomes exciting proposals from Indian academic researchers for developing life science innovations, such as novel technologies, devices, resources, etc.

• The applicants can be individuals or teams of researchers.
• The applicant team can include researchers from more than one academic research institute.
• The applicants can be faculty members, principal investigators, or independent scientists affiliated with an Indian academic research organization.
• If senior students/post-docs wish to submit proposals, their team must contain at least one faculty member/PI from a recognized Indian academic organization. 
• The applicants may be from any scientific stream/background, but the proposed innovation must have a clear utility in the field of life sciences.

The submitted proposals for innovations will be carefully screened by an expert committee and the selection process may include multiple rounds of screening.

The key criteria for the selection process are:

• Underlying Scientific Novelty
• Technical Feasibility
• Industrial Adaptability & Scalability
• Market & Societal Impact of Proposed Innovations

• The first call for proposals, the ‘National Call for Translation of Research & Commercialization 2020’ (NC-TRAC 2020), was launched on 14th November 2020 and concluded on 31st December 2020 
• The second call for proposals, the ‘National Call for Translation of Research & Commercialization 2021’ (NC-TRAC 2021), was launched on 15th November 2021 and concluded on 8th January 2022 
• The third call for proposals, the ‘National Call for Translation of Research & Commercialization 2023’ (NC-TRAC 2023), was launched on 16th February 2023 and concluded on 10th April 2023 
• For exploring the applications received through NC-TRAC 2020 and 2021, please click here.