Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The Ministry of Innovation Development is implementing a number of projects to promote the startup movement in Uzbekistan, as well as sending young scientists to foreign scientific internships.

With a view to broadly covering the essence of start-up projects and the conditions of scientific internships, on 17 May, a press conference was held on the topic: “Start-up projects and scientific internships for young scientists as an engine for the development of the innovation ecosystem of Uzbekistan.”

The press conference was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Innovation Development, grant holders from the Ministry of Innovative Development, young scientists who have completed research internship abroad, participants of the first scientific accelerator in Uzbekistan C.A.T. Science Accelerator, as well as residents of the innovative technology park “Yashnabod”.

As Azimjon Nazarov, Deputy Minister of Innovation Development, stressed, today it is particularly important to create an effective start-up ecosystem in our country, for which such infrastructure components as accelerators and incubators, sources of first investment (seed money) and venture funds are important. Considering that startups are the main source of innovation and are becoming one of the main driving forces of economic development, they contribute not only to scientific and technical progress, but also really introduce new products, services and technologies into everyday life.

“At present, the start-up movement in Uzbekistan is in its formative stage, various programs and contests are becoming increasingly popular. Thus, the Ministry of Innovation Development announced a competition for the selection and financing based on the sustainability of Startup projects. It is worth noting that this is the II round of the competition for grants for financing on the basis of self-financing of start-up projects. According to the results of the first round of the contest, 17 projects received certificates and at this time their financing begins. I would also like to emphasize that the total amount of projects submitted to the competition should not exceed 1.5 billion soums. Funding allocated for the start-up project cannot be used for repair and construction work, reconstruction of buildings, purchase of vehicles,” Nazarov noted.

It should be reminded  that weekly workshops are held at the Center for Advanced Technologies to help applicants explain the main issues when submitting online applications for start-up projects, as well as developing a business plan for the project, financial and economic plan and budget.

The Ministry of Innovation Development pays great attention to the development of scientific activities of young scientists. Thus, one of the main activities of the Innovative Development Support Fund and innovative ideas is the financing of short-term research internships for young scientists in leading foreign scientific organizations (centers, universities and others), including for mastering the methods of working on high-tech equipment acquired for equipping scientific laboratories. .

This year, US$1.5 million is planned to finance short-term research internships for young scientists, which will be used to finance short-term research internships for more than 100 young scientists. In the first quarter of this year, the ministry announced the first competition for short-term scientific internships for young scientists.

 The ministries and departments submitted documents to 116 candidates, 12 of them were selected by a special expert group. The list of scientific internships is approved by the Supervisory Board of the Foundation and is funded on the basis of concluded contracts.

On 15 April 2019, on the official website of the Ministry published the announcement of the second competition for scientific internships for young scientists. Documents were accepted until 20 May 2019.

In addition, in accordance with the agreements at the first Belarusian-Uzbek joint meeting on scientific and technical cooperation in the city of Minsk (Belarus) and the provision “On the competitive selection of young scientists to send them to short-term scientific internships in leading foreign scientific organizations (centers, universities and others), including for the development of methods of work on high-tech equipment purchased to equip scientific laboratories”, a competition for research internship was announced for 11 areas. Nowadays, information about candidates is being summarized.

As the mentor of startups of the country, the director of the company “Dekos” Hasan Mamasaidov, said that it is easy to get and use the funds of the state. It is inappropriate to ask for funds for an expensive tractor or car if it is not a means of prime necessity. A start-up should “get sick” with its idea, and not think about easy money through grants. In start-up projects, as in any business, it is necessary to look for opportunities to invest lower costs and obtain large profits.