Research commercialisation - Proof of Concept Fund 2026-2027: guidance
The Scottish Proof of Concept Fund is open to researchers based at Scottish universities with innovative ideas and will provide support for early to mid stage commercialisation activities. The fund will be open for applications from 1 April until 8 May 2026
Collection of personal data
The Scottish Government seeks to ensure that the data collected through the Proof of Concept Fund application form is fairly and lawfully processed in accordance with Data Protection Laws as detailed under the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA). Any personal information gathered through this application form will be treated as confidential in line with the principles of the Data Protection Laws. We have published a data protection impact assessment and accompanying privacy notice relating to the proof of concept fund.
The personal data collected in the application process is collected from the lead applicant only on submission of an application to Scottish Government. We aim to collect and report on data relating to five characteristics:
- age
- conditions, illnesses or disabilities
- ethnicity
- gender
- socioeconomic background
As stated in the data protection impact assessment and privacy notice information provided in this section of the application will not be used to inform any decisions on what projects are awarded funding.
Providing the data requested in this section is optional.
‘Prefer not to say’ refers to when respondents have chosen to not disclose their personal information and selected the ‘prefer not to say’ option.
‘Prefer to self-describe’ refers to when respondents have chosen to input their own response as free text.
Contact
Email: spinouts@gov.scot