IMPacting Research Innovation and Technology (IMPRINT) India

IMPacting Research Innovation and Technology (IMPRINT) India initiative was envisaged to boost challenge-driven innovation and knowledge in technology (processes and products). It is a unique technology development initiative of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) to translate research knowledge into a viable technology. 

While projects under IMPRINT addressed various engineering challenges enumerated under ten domains, the government felt that a fresh initiative was required towards specific societal mission areas which could greatly impact the lives of millions in this country. Thus, the MHRD and the Department of Science & Technology (DST) launched the next round of IMPRINT, i.e. IMPRINT II.

IMPRINT I

IMPRINT I is a first-of-its-kind Pan-IISc and IIT initiative to develop a new education policy and a roadmap for research to solve major technology and engineering challenges that India must address. The entire activities covered under IMPRINT I India were divided into ten identified domains. The principal motto of IMPRINT I is to create an education policy for inculcating innovation skills and scientific temperament and to develop the roadmap in research for technology preparedness. One of the IITs or IISc convened each domain with IIT Kanpur as the national coordinator. 

Domains of IMPRINT

The ten domains of IMPRINT I are as follows:

• Healthcare
• Energy
• Nano-technology hardware
• Sustainable habitat
• Water resources and river systems
• Manufacturing
• Advanced materials
• Security and defence
• Information and communication technology
• Environmental science and climate change

The ten domains represent the most critical areas relevant to our country to enable, empower and encourage the nation for self-reliance and inclusive growth. The first phase of IMPRINT was dedicated to creating a policy document defining the strategy, scope and mandate for pursuing engineering challenges. The actual engineering pursuit was taken up in the second phase.

IMPRINT II

IMPRINT II initiative has a wider scope, simpler guidelines for participation and better co-ordinations among partners, investigators and collaborators. IMPRINT II (IMPRINT IIA/B) seeks innovative idea-based translational project proposals promising field trial and prototype development in a given theme under the ten broad technology domains. 

The SERB (Science and Engineering Research Board) in the Department of Science and Technology (DST) is the nodal agency to implement the IMPRINT II initiative. Under IMPRINT II, the government subsumed the Uchhatar Avishkar Yojana (UAY) scheme. 

Domains of IMPRINT II

• Energy security 
• Healthcare technology 
• Environment and climate
• Sustainable habitat 
• Water resources 
• Advanced materials 
• Nano-technology
• Manufacturing technology 
• Security and defence 
• Information and communication technology 

Eligibility for IMPRINT II

The Principal Investigator (PI) or the applicant should be an Indian citizen. The PI should hold research/regular academic positions pursuing/offering Research and Development (R&D) in Engineering and Technology (E&T) in the following:

• Centrally Funded Technical Institution (CFTI) 
• MHRD-funded Central University (CU) 
• MHRD-funded Higher Education Institution (HEI) 

There will be only one PI will for a given project. 

IMPRINT II application process

• All applications for IMPRINT II should be submitted online through the SERB Online portal.
• Applicants should first register on the SERB online portal by clicking the ‘Login’ button and ‘New User’ buttons.
• After successful registration, users will be sent a confirmation mail on the registered email ID. Users must click on the link provided in the mail to confirm registration.
• After logging in, users must click the ‘Menu’, ‘Proposal Submission’ and ‘Form Submission’ buttons. 
• Select the scheme ‘Impacting Research Innovation and Technology (IMPRINT-2)’ and click the ‘Start Submission’ button.
• Enter the details of proposals like Co-PI and collaborator details, industrial partners, technical details, budget (consumables, manpower, travel, contingency, equipment, overheads) and reference materials.
• The biodata of the PI has to be uploaded and submitted. 

Implementation of IMPRINT II

The SERB is the nodal agency to implement the IMPRINT II initiative working with the National Coordinator, i.e. IIT Kharagpur. The proposals will be reviewed through an online peer review process by national subject-domain experts under PAC 2 and PAC 1. 

Technical experts and senior representatives from the partner agencies and ministries who are part of the ten domains of lMPRlNT II will be consulted. The review committees under PAC 2 and PAC 1 will periodically monitor the progress of the projects, and commercialisation of IP, oversee field trials and advise on creating a knowledge portal for crowdsourcing and public dissemination of the outcome of IMPRINT II. 

IMPRINT IIC

Though IMPRINT I and IMPRINT II address various engineering challenges enumerated under the ten domains, it was felt that a fresh initiative is required to devote energy toward specific societal mission areas like waste utilisation, pollution, potable water, alternative energy resources, cyber-physical systems, etc., which can impact the lives of millions in India. Thus, MHRD and DST launched the next IMPRINT II round, IMPRINT IIC (Societal Mission Projects), in December 2018 to seek proposals related to specific 20 specific technology themes of major societal benefit selected from the proposals sent by partner ministries.