Does your company have plans for a research and development project that can give you a clear advantage in the market?

Innovation Project in Industry (IPN) is one of the most important schemes from the Research Council of Norway for companies that want to develop new products, services or solutions with a clear and demanding R&D content.

Innovation Project in Industry (IPN) is suitable for companies that not only want to develop something new, but also need to use research to succeed. This is the scheme for projects where the way forward is not known in advance and where new knowledge is needed to achieve the goal. For companies with great ambitions, a good application can provide the financial weight needed to implement a boost that would otherwise be too demanding to take on alone.

Aider has extensive experience of this type of project and assists a large number of companies with applications every year. We are familiar with the requirements, assessment logic and pitfalls of the Research Council of Norway. This means that we can quickly see whether a project has potential for success, what needs to be sharpened, and how the application should be structured to be considered both academically strong and commercially credible. We know what it takes to have an impact.

What is an Innovation Project in Industry (IPN) and who can apply?

An Innovation Project in Industry (IPN) is designed for companies that want to develop something new using research-based methods. The scheme is relevant for companies that have a clear business opportunity, but at the same time face professional and technical issues that cannot be solved with known knowledge or ordinary development work.

In the past, there were schemes such as the User-controlled Innovation Arena (BIA), but today IPN is the central course for the breadth of Norwegian business. A project must have a clear need for research. It is not enough to describe a good idea; the project must show what is uncertain, why this is difficult to solve with current methods, and how new knowledge will be developed.

The Research Council of Norway is looking for projects that can strengthen the company's competitiveness and at the same time create value beyond the company itself. This means that the project must be important to the company, but also relevant in a wider context.

What Aider can help with in an IPN process

The first thing we do is assess whether the project is actually suitable for the scheme. Many projects are good, but don't necessarily qualify as an Innovation Project in Industry (IPN). We help you clarify whether the project has the right level of R&D, the right maturity and the right ambition before you spend a lot of time on the application.

We then assist with the actual application process:

• R&D objectives: We help formulate hypotheses and knowledge needs in clear language.
• Work packages: We build packages that are linked to the risks in the project.
• Partnerships: In IPN, you will often need to collaborate with other actors, whether they are research environments or partners from a User-driven Innovation Arena (BIA) context.
• Effect description: We clarify the benefits for both the company and society.

Aider also assists with organization. All partners must have defined tasks, and partners from the business sector must have costs in the project. The purpose of an Innovation Project in Business (IPN) is to improve the quality of R&D work through stronger links to research environments.

Budget, funding level and financial follow-up

The application must show that the project is properly staffed and financially credible. Aider helps to build a budget that can withstand assessment, separate R&D costs from operations, and establish routines for reporting. As an accounting firm, Aider can be both an application partner and an implementation partner, which provides assurance that the reporting corresponds to the award.