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Prime Minister's National Innovation Award

​I. General Information:

The Prime Minister's National Innovat​​ion Award (PMNIA), is an initiative of the Prime Minister's Youth Programme being executed by the Higher Education Commission, Islamabad.​

The PMNIA is providing an open opportunity for Pakistani youth within the age limit of 15 to 30 years to propose innovative ideas and get funding as well as technical support to augment their ideas into a business.

Young innovators/entrepreneurs are invited to submit applications for the competition. The objective of the competition denotes new digital, technical, governance, and social ideas that could motivate the youth to use their innovative and novel skills and help society and the country's economy at the national level. This will also help in resolving the local challenges faced by Pakistan through creative ideas.

The objectives of the Innovation Award are;

  • Improving Pakistan's Ranking in the Global Innovation Index,
  • Foster Entrepreneurial Culture among the Youth
  • Transforming Ideas into a Successful Business

​A.    Innovation Thematic Areas /Disciplinary Domains:

The innovation challenge aims to support solutions to the indigenous problems pertaining to the following thematic areas:

    • Food Security (agriculture, nutrition, sustainable food eco-system, etc.)
    • Water Management and Sustainability (irrigation, water conservation, waste & water treatment, etc.)
    • Sustainable Energy (electric mobility, smart energy, transmission, and grid issues, etc.)
    • Urban planning (preservation of urban space and life, planning of second-tier cities & towns, transportation, Waste collection and disposal, water and sanitation, healthcare, law, and order, etc
    • Climate Change and Environment (climate mitigation, disaster management, metro-scale pollution reduction, climate modeling, mitigation of large climate change impacts, climate, and disaster surveillance, etc.)
    • Information Technology and Telecom (Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Cloud Computing, Big Data, disparities in excess of technology, 5G networks, healthcare delivery through the use of ICT)
    • Innovative Governance and Reforms (responsiveness to citizen services, accountability reforms through Right to Information (RTI), citizen scorecards),
    • Sociology and Philosophy (intellectual heritage, material culture, future of work and family, politics, gender, population, work ethics, etc.)
    • Health Care and Medical Sciences
    • Others

The solution must impact any of the following SDG goals:

  • No Poverty
  • Zero Hunger
  • Good Health and Well-being
  • Quality Education
  • Gender Equality
  • Clean Water and Sanitation
  • Affordable and Clean Energy
  • Decent Work and Economic Growth
  • Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
  • Reduced Inequality
  • Sustainable Cities and Communities
  • Responsible Consumption and Production
  • Climate Action
  • Life Below Water
  • Life on Land
  • Peace and Justice Strong Institutions
  • Partnerships to achieve the Goal 

B.    Award Categories:

Awards are given in two stages:

Stage 1:

  • Top 10 winners are awarded the cash amount of Rs. 1.00 Million each
  • 40 runner-ups are awarded a cash amount of Rs. 0.5 Million each

Stage 2:

  • The 50 winners selected in Stage 1 are inducted into follow-up programs to scale up their ideas and are also encouraged to opt for incubation so that their ideas may lead to startups. The 50 winners may also request supplementary funds up to Rs. 1 million in addition to the award money as per their requirement, to scale up their ideas through Business Incubation Centers as a follow-up program. For this purpose, a tripartite agreement is signed between respective BICs, Awardee, and HEC. The additional funding is given through respective Business Incubation Centers and is tied to startup deliverables and approved cash plan/budget.

II. General Eligibility:

Young participants within the age bracket of 15 to 30 years are eligible to apply.

  • Participant must be a Pakistani/AJK National. 

​Due Date:

Currently applications are not open.

 III.  Proposal Submission and Evaluation Process

The selection of awards is made through an open, rigorous, transparent, competitive, and merit-based process that proceeds through the following phases:

A.    Submission of Concept Notes

  • Parallel to the Opening of the call, road shows, drives, and interactive sessions are also in progress. The aspiring students learn the core concepts of innovation around the thematic areas of the PMNIA.
  • The students submit the concept notes in consultation with their mentors, based on the competition and submission criteria while following the eligibility benchmarks.

B.    Evaluation Process

All applications submitted in response to Call for applications are evaluated by respective review panels. The Evaluation process consists of the following sequential steps:

Phase 1 Evaluation:

The evaluation consists of Administrative Scrutiny and Review by the shortlisting committee through Review Panels.

After initial administrative scrutiny, the evaluation committee broadly rate the idea/concept based on 3 key sets of criteria – creativity & innovation; objectives, planning & execution; and effectiveness & results i.e., problem-solving techniques.

Prior to the Pitching Competition approx. 250 shortlisted applicants go through a rigourous Idea Pitching Training.

Phase 2 Pitching Competition:

The shortlisted applicants rationalize their projects during the training  before appearing in the region-wise pitching competitions in front of the juries. The partner universities arrange these trainings as well as host the “Pitching Competitions".  The project Experts Committee of PMNIA finalize region-wise juries. Approx. 250 applicants prepare pitches and participate in the pitching competition. Logistics support is also provided to the students appearing in the pitching competition.

The young contestants pitch their ideas in front of the PMNIA jury members, entrepreneurs, academic experts, and members from the industry. The Jury rate the idea/concept based on 3 key sets of criteria – creativity & innovation; objectives, planning & execution; and effectiveness & results i.e., problem-solving techniques. The jury members discuss each pitch and recommend the best ones for the award.

After Pitching Competition, 50 top contestants are shortlisted for award.

Awards Ceremony

The top 50 ideas are awarded in a National level Awards Ceremony.

Award Categories:

Awards are given in two stages:

Stage 1:

  • Top 10 winners are awarded the cash amount of Rs. one million each
  • 40 runners-up are awarded the cash amount of Rs. 0.5 million each

Stage 2:

The 50 winners selected in Stage 1 are inducted into follow-up programs to scale up their ideas and are also encouraged to opt for incubation so that their ideas may lead to startups. The 50 winners may also request supplementary funds up to Rs. 1 Million in addition to the award money as per their requirement, to scale up their ideas through Business Incubation Centers as a follow-up program. For this purpose, a tripartite agreement is signed between respective BICs, Awardee, and HEC. The additional funding is given through respective Business Incubation Centers and is tied to startup deliverables and approved cash plan/budget.

If any of the top awardees opts for incubation, an additional amount of up to Rs. one Million is awarded to scale up their ideas into reality. The release of the additional amount is based on their approved cash plan approved by HEC.

Incubation of awardees at Business Incubation Centers

The 50 selected winners are further given chance to avail the incubation opportunity in any Business Incubation Center of public sector universities. 

Project Website 

Updated information of the Prime Minister National Innovation Award will be available on the program's website provided below:

https://pmyp.gov.pk

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