Second Call for Staff Innovation Proposals – 2019/2020

OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY VICE-CHANCELLOR
(RESEARCH, INNOVATION AND LINKAGES)

Second Call for Staff Innovation Proposals – 2019/2020
THEME: RESEARCH, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY FOR INDUSTRIAL

GROWTH AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

  1. INTRODUCTION
    Innovation is the process by which ideas are transformed into new/improved
    products/services/processes. It leads to improvement in productivity, in efficiency
    and in quality of products leading to increased economic growth.
    The current national, regional and global focus is to expand economic
    opportunities through increased investment and innovation. As the world
    economies grow, it is imperative that this growth is achieved in a sustainable
    manner. The second call for innovation proposals is focusing on the theme of
    Research, Innovation and Technology for Industrial Growth and Sustainable
    Development and is therefore meant to provoke the applicants to come up with
    innovation projects that can mitigate the emerging dynamics of the needs of the
    world’s growing population.
    This call seeks proposals of Innovations that support innovation and
    entrepreneurial skillstechnologies to ensure utilization of natural resources in an

environment sensitive manner while fostering contributions towards socio-
economic growth and sustainable development.

The innovation should be in line with the national priorities as envisaged in the
Kenya Big Four Agenda and Kenya vision 2030, as well as the sustainable
development goals.

  1. OBJECTIVES OF THE CALL
    The objectives of this call are to:
    i. Promote Machakos University staff creativity and contribute
    towards the realization of the national, regional and global agenda
    ii. Generate tangible prototypes and proven services to increase the university
    competitiveness in innovation
    iii. Provide an opportunity for Machakos University staff to actualize and
    patent their innovations.
  2. SUB THEMES

a. Agriculture, food and nutrition security;
b. Health, Sports and Tourism; (Hot topic: Cancer)
c. Education and Ethical issues in research and product development.
d. Housing, Transport, Energy and Industrialization;
e. Environment, Natural resources and Climate change;
f. Mathematics, Statistics & Data Science; Basic and Applied Sciences;
g. Language, Culture, Social Equity and Governance;
h. Business, Entrepreneurship and SMEs;

  1. GENERAL GUIDELINES
    a) Each proposal will be funded for a period of up to 1-year subject to
    submission of satisfactory progress reports and financial accounting.
    b) Each proposal will be supported with a maximum budget of KES.
    100,000/=.
    c) The proposals should be endorsed by the chair of the school research
    committee.
    d) Proposals by departmental/faculty teams will be given priority.
    e) Where the innovation proposal is from a team, the principal innovator
    should be clearly stated and all members of the team must endorse the
    proposal.
    f) Any supporting documents should be provided as appendices.
    g) The budget should be clearly itemised and justified in the following budget
    lines

i. Consumables/expendable supplies
ii. Equipment
iii. Local travel
iv. Extra personnel
v. Documentation
vi. Commercialization
vii. Any other costs

h) Any proposal that is being developed elsewhere should not be submitted
for this Call. Only original work should be submitted, plagiarism is highly
discouraged.

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i) Successful applicants are expected to adhere to their approved budget, work
plan and expected project completion date.

  1. PROPOSAL FORMAT
    Application forms (staff innovation disclosure form) are available at Machakos
    University website: www.mksu.ac.ke The application form should be filled in Times
    New Roman, font size 12. It must contain the following sections dully filled as
    outlined in the application form: – (i) Title of the project (ii) Principal Innovator
    (iii) Co-Innovator(s) (iii) Background information (iv) Summary Description of
    Innovation (v) Advantages and Unique Features of the Innovation (vi) Sale of the
    Innovation (vii) Innovation History (viii) Declaration
  2. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION
    A soft copy and three (3) copies of the proposals should be submitted to the Director,
    Research, Innovation and Technology, not later than 30th

September 2019.
Incomplete applications as well as applications submitted after the deadline will not

be considered. Soft copies should be submitted through the email address: director-
research@mksu.ac.ke and copy to dvc-ril@mksu.ac.ke

  1. ELIGIBILITY
    This is a competitive innovation grant managed by Machakos University’s Division
    of Research, Innovation and Linkages (RIL) through the Directorate of Research,
    Innovation and Technology (DRIT). To be eligible:
    a) The applicant must be a staff of Machakos University
    b) The proposal must demonstrate:
    i. Contribution towards new/improved quality product
    ii. Contribution towards improved production processes
    iii. Potential for patenting
    iv. Positive impact to the society.
    This 2nd
    Call for Staff Innovation Proposals, 2019/2020 is OPEN to all Staff of
    Machakos University including those with on-going Machakos University funded
    projects.

APPLICATIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BEFORE/ON THE STATED

DEADLINE AT 5PM