Funding & tools

Project Funding

We fund projects of all sizes, although most projects tend to be under $100,000.

We’re happy to provide funding for an initial project to determine the feasibility of an idea, and subsequently to support follow-on projects as the idea develops and moves towards a commercial outcome.

There is no limit to the number of projects related to an idea that will be considered, but each project is assessed on its merits according to the BPA’s criteria.

To be eligible for funding, projects must:

• Add value to, or create value from, a biological by-product or secondary stream
• Be led by a BPA R&D partner (AgResearch, Scion, Plant & Food Research and Callaghan Innovation) or a New Zealand university
• Involve an industry partner who can make a cash and/or in-kind contribution to the project
• Have clearly identified economic, environmental and/or social benefits

Before you submit, please ensure that:

• All parties have signed the application
• All the required fields have been completed
• There is a clear project plan, with defined time frames for deliverables and clear criteria for any go/no-go decisions
• All parties are clear about the IP arrangements, and understand the BPA’s guiding principles with regard to IP

Industry partners are expected to contribute cash and in-kind co-funding to BPA projects and while there is no set amount, we would expect 25% to 50% per project. The closer a project is to developing a finished product or process, the more co-funding we would expect from industry partners.

Intellectual Property

In each BPA project, the BPA R&D partner leading the project has responsibility to manage intellectual property (IP) arising from the R&D in a way that meets the programme’s objective to maximise benefits to New Zealand.

In some cases, this means making research results available to others, so that relevant groups can understand opportunities and build on the learning. In other cases, this may mean providing a company (or companies) interested in commercialisation with the first opportunity to commercialise IP that arises from a project.

In each case, the approach is tailored to the stage of commercialisation, the company contribution and aspirations, and the BPA’s goal to incentivise commercialisation and ensure that research outcomes will be leveraged to create value for all of New Zealand.

The commercialisation strategy and IP management approach for each BPA project will be tailored to:

• Recognise the BPA’s objective to maximise benefits (economic, environmental, and social) to New Zealand from IP arising from projects.
• Efficiently de-risk new opportunities and build confidence in market, technical and economic feasibility to enable promising technology to go forward.
• Recognise the interests of organisations contributing to a BPA project. This may be an interest to better understand options to add value to a by-product of processing; or may relate to the company’s interest to build its competitive position through the development of IP.
• Make IP available to companies committed to the scale-up and commercialisation of new technology, alongside providing mechanisms for IP from BPA projects to be used if a company’s commercialisation activity ceases.
• Consider te Tiriti o Waitangi and reflect Māori values.
• Where appropriate, promote knowledge from BPA projects to be shared across the BPA network and through publications, in alignment with commercialisation objectives.

Please contact the General Manager on email: nicky.solomon@bioresourceprocessing.co.nz for further information about IP.

Funding Details

We offer competitive funding opportunities for students at various levels of study. Below are the available funding options:

Summer Student Internship: $14,000 which covers a 12 week period over the NZ university summer break.

Master’s Student: $42,000 stipend to cover the one-year research component of a Master’s degree. Further funding of $11,000 for fees, and up to $10,000 for consumables/project costs, is also available.

PhD: $171,000 three-year stipend payable in quarters. The first is payable on confirmation of start date, then payable after completion of first year and second year, and then final payment on acceptance of final report.