The Scottish government is awarding projects across ten Scottish universities with the £2.95m Proof of Concept Fund to support harnessing their ground-breaking academic ideas for commercial use.

The pilot Proof of Concept Fund is awarded to projects that address significant global challenges across a range of sectors including Life Sciences, Quantum, Photonics, Aerospace, AI and Fintech.

An anti-cancer drug that researchers believe may be up to 500 times more effective than current treatments is among 18 projects receiving pilot funding to develop innovative ideas into commercial success.

The project targeting blood and solid cancers at the University of Edinburgh, which will receive £125,000 to fund further studies, ensuring it meets industry standards.

Other projects include a laser system which quickly detects aircraft engine faults (The University of Edinburgh), a non-invasive, radiation-free ultrasound to detect breast cancer (University of Dundee), and a more sustainable and healthier alternative to palm oil (Queen Margaret University).

Funding will enable researchers to demonstrate the feasibility of projects through developing prototypes, market exploration and achieving regulatory approvals to derisk new technologies and attract investment. The projects have significant and largely untapped economic opportunities, with potential wide-ranging societal benefits.

“Our first National Innovation Week was a declaration of intent by the Scottish Government. Innovation must be our national endeavour and we are supporting it across all areas of society,” deputy first minister Kate Forbes said.

Recommended reading

• Scotland Ranks As Top Spin-out Region Outside ‘Golden Triangle’
• Report: UK Spinouts Are Powering a Deeptech Boom
• Scottish Universities Among UK’s Best for Spinouts

“Scotland’s world-class universities have the ideas and inventions to help tackle global problems and improve lives. This new Proof of Concept Fund and will help bridge the gap between theory and practice, translating research into real-world impact which in turn drives Scotland’s economic transformation.

“The successful projects that we are supporting are quite simply inspiring. They have the potential to be lifesaving and life changing.”

Other Wining Projects Include:

Commercialisation of Rotational Internal Flow Layer Engineering (RIFLE) into a market-ready vascular tissue model – University of Edinburgh

OneTIDE – A One-Step, Green Platform for Nucleotide Production – University of St. Andrews

Metasurface-enabled contact lenses for healthcare applications – University of St. Andrews

LayawayGo,  using AI for financial planning – University of Dundee

RHAPSEDA, developing vaccines for bacterial infections – University of Dundee

AI enabled CMC DatafactoryTM – University of Strathclyde

PCAD – Advancing Technology Readiness for Spin-Out and Investment – University of Strathclyde

Industrial Benchmarking of Low Back-reflection Optical Couplers for Silicon-Photonics – University of Glasgow

Demonstrating the commercial potential of precision Disruptor therapies to drive an investor-ready Biotech spinout opportunity in Scotland – University of Glasgow

CRYSTAL-Q: CRYogenic Semiconductor Technology for Accelerating Large-scale Quantum system – University of Glasgow

Targetting the Heart of Hypertension – Novel target. Novel drugs – University of Aberdeen

FlexiShear: Self-powered wearable shear force sensors for optimised compression therapy – Heriot-Watt University

Flow Fusion: Democratising Digital Twins – Abertay University

Heliaural: Personalised, Real-Time Audio Calibration for Everyday Listening – Edinburgh Napier University