PACE — Promoting Academic Research Conversion to Enterprise

PACE is BIRAC's academic route. It exists because most biotech research in India happens in universities and research organisations, and PACE pays for the step from a promising result to something an industrial partner can validate. It has two components. Academic Innovation Research funds the academic team to build a proof of concept, with or without industry involvement. The Contract Research Scheme funds an industrial partner to validate a proof of concept the academic team has already established. No call was open when we last checked; the last one ran from 1 April to 30 May 2025.

What you get

• Academic Innovation Research: grant funding for a project of up to 24 months, with IP resting with the academic institution alone or shared with industry where the proof of concept was built together.
• Contract Research Scheme: grant funding to both the academic and the industrial partner, with no stated time limit. IP rests with the academic institution, and the industry partner holds first right of refusal to commercialise it.

Who can apply

• Academia as primary applicant: a public or private institute, university, NGO or research foundation with an established research support system, submitting proper registration or accreditation from a government body — UGC affiliation, AICTE, a CSIR, DSIR or SIRO certificate, society bye-laws or a trust deed, as applicable.
• Industry or LLP involvement is optional for Academic Innovation Research and mandatory for the Contract Research Scheme.
• A collaborating company or LLP needs at least 51 per cent Indian-citizen shareholding, or at least half its original partners as Indian citizens, plus adequate in-house facilities or a place at a recognised incubation facility.
• For Academic Innovation Research, the applicant must have completed at least one extramurally funded project in India of at least three years in the same research area, and must have a Scopus or Web of Science indexed publication as first or lead author, or a filed patent, in that area.

How selection works: evidence matters more than intent here. Under Academic Innovation Research, preliminary data and proof of principle must be submitted, and a proposal without them can be disqualified. Under the Contract Research Scheme, proof of concept at technology readiness level 3 and validation-ready data are compulsory, along with a commitment letter from the industry partner. Basic or exploratory work, and projects without an established proof of principle or with little commercial potential, are not supported.

How to apply: online only. Institutions first register with BIRAC through institution user registration, then submit under Academic Innovation Research or the Contract Research Scheme during an open call.