2. ASRF Profile - Rev.1.0 2 / 8
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Profile.............................................................................................................................................................3
Funding Schemes ...........................................................................................................................................4
Key Activities and Achievements in 2011.....................................................................................................5
Funding schemes activities ................................................................................................................................5
Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with academic institutions ..................................................................7
Future activities and plans of 2012 ................................................................................................................8
3. ASRF Profile - Rev.1.0 3 / 8
Profile
The Applied Scientific Research Fund (ASRF) is a non-government; non-profit organization created and
has the initial funding by Samih Darwazah, founder of Hikma Pharmaceuticals to promote the development
of applied science and engineering ideas. Our main target investigators are colleges and universities in
many fields such as medicine, natural sciences, engineering, information technology and many others.
ASRF is the first research funding organization initiated from the private sector in Jordan as non-profit
company acting on commercial basis while 100% of the profit is invested back in the fund to support the
creation of the innovation ecosystem in Jordan and the Middle East. We at ASRF are applying and
experimenting new innovation funding approaches in the Middle East while focusing on the
sustainability. ASRF will fund applied researches and innovations that have market potential and the
return on investment will be through intellectual property commercialization.
Vision
To be a leading active player in innovation ecosystem in the Arab Region to enable a healthy ecosystem
for investment in innovations of people and organizations.
Mission statement
Applied Scientific Research Fund (ASRF) is an Arabic non-government, non-profit organization
established to foster and enable innovation through raising the awareness and knowledge as well as
funding of applied researches and technology commercialization activities to create the culture of research
and innovation in the Arab region.
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Funding Schemes
Objective Target & fund amount Supported Activities Conditions & IP ownership
SamihDarwazeh
InnovationGrant
Support innovative ideas by
starting from R&D and
focusing on the value of the
impact of the results and
finally commercialization
Inventors, colleges, universities
and research institute
Fund amount: more than 10k
JOD & maximum 100K JOD.
Material, implementation,
technical testing, prototype
testing
Quality of science and Technical
feasibility Impact of the prospected
results,
IP ownership:
ASRF owns the resulting IP
ASRF and the inventor share
royalty from
sales/commercialization according
the agreement signed between the
two parties.
ProofofConcept
Support the development
and/or testing of Prof of
Concept (POC) or
prototypes, for Jordanian
organizations
Accelerate the
commercialization process
by demonstrating prototypes
to potential customers,
partners or funders.
Researchers and inventors in
Jordan
Research centers and
universities
Jordanian organizations
(including firms) interested to
develop their R&D prototypes
Jordanian university students in
both the bachelors and masters
levels
Fund amount: up to 10k JOD
Technical Development of
the Proof of Concept
(POC)
Prototype design and
development
Full lab-scale
demonstration
Material and
implementation costs
Technical and prototype
testing
Specialist testing,
verifying applications and
conducting field studies
Demonstration to potential
customers
POC marketing testing
(with customers)
Transportation to the
customers
Development of business
case / show case with
potential customers
Market feasibility Technical
feasibility
IP ownership:
The inventor FULLY owns their IP
- ASRF has no ownership.
ASRF receives a royalty (% of
sales) in the first five years
StudentsCompetition
Support the students to
develop research skills.
Support Students to develop
research or implement
graduation projects with
industrial application in
partnership with the
industrial firms in Jordan
Support students in
demonstrating prototypes to
potential customers,
Jordanian university students in
both the bachelors and masters
levels
Fund amount: up to 1k JOD
Publishing papers,
conducting studies
Material, implementation,
technical testing, prototype
testing with customers
Transportation to the
industrial firms
Technical feasibility
Scientific value and quality of the
research
Industrial firms commitment to the
project (testing, validation, use,
etc.)
IP ownership:
The student owns the IP, no
ownership to ASRF
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Key Activities and Achievements in 2011
Planned activities for the year 2011 were to; first of all, establish the fund with all related processes and
logistics. Moreover, open line of communication with local universities and research institutes.
Furthermore, to fund 2-3 projects before the end of year.
As 2011 is the first year of the fund establishment, the focus was on defining the funding schemes and
start funding projects.
Funding schemes activities
Samih Darwazeh Innovation Grant (SDIG)
Samih Darwazeh Innovation Grant was launched in April 2011and had three Calls, in April, June and
November 2011 that led to funding 3 projects.
Students Competition
To support bridging the gap between the industry and universities, ASRF launched a student competition
through which they had to find an industrial partner to implement their projects. The competition was
launched in October 2011 that led to funding 5 projects
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
Number of pre-
proposals
Number of full-
proposals
submitted
Number of full-
proposals in-
process
Number of
Projects funded
18
7
6
3
Samih Darwazeh Innovation Grant
(SDIG)
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Proof-of-Concept Grant
It is planned to be launched in January 2012 with the aim to accelerate the commercialization process by
demonstrating prototypes to potential customers.
0
5
10
Number of
applications
Number of funded
projects
10
5
Students competition
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Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with academic institutions
ASRF has signed MoUs with the most key public universities in Jordan. The main objectives of the
cooperation are:
Facilitating the promotion of ASRF funding opportunities
Management of funded projects at the university
ASRF funded research teams support by both parties
Sharing the experience for the evaluation of the scientific proposal and achievements
Facilitating the use of the university resources for ASRF funded projects
IP rights and research management
Equipment donation
These universities are:
Jordan University of Science & Technology (JUST),
Jordan University,
German Jordan University,
Princess Sumaya University,
Yarmouk University,
Hashemite University.
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Future activities and plans of 2012
For ASRF to move forward to achieve its mission and playing proactive role in the innovation ecosystem
in the Arab Region in general and in Jordan in specific we plan to focus on the following activities in
2012:
Define plans to analyze and understand the innovation ecosystem in the region through scientific
research and analysis of the results of ASRF activities.
Define a plan for fund raising from the private sector and/or participating in international projects
in the innovation related field.
Conduct varies awareness activities about the fund schemes and support innovators to apply
Fund 5-10 projects under the varies ASRF funding schemes
Cooperate with more Jordanian universities and start targeting universities in the Arab countries
Launch a specific SDIG call for the following fields based on the industry needs
o Renewable energy
o Desalination of water utilizing Renewable energy
o Pharmaceutical Research
