THE SELECTION OF RUSSIAN-ISRAELI PROJECTS HAS BEEN STARTED

TASS announced the start of the ninth selection of Russian-Israeli projects for the industrial research and development in the field of high technologies as a part of the online press-conference.

On the part of Russia, the project is being implemented by the Fund for Infrastructure and Educational Programs (FIEP) of the Rosnano Group, and by the Agency for Innovations on the part of Israel.

Alexey Kachai, the FIEP’s Deputy Director General, announced the active support of the pair projects (a company from Russia + a company from Israel). To be selected, the companies have to present something new, previously inaccessible to a wide range of users - a research achievement that will certainly come to the world.

The selection is being held from July 15 to November 25, and the applications are submitted on the side of Israel and on the side of the Russian Federation. Each country conducts internal commissions first, and then submits the candidate for general consideration - the project should be approved by both countries.

It takes 3-4 months to make a decision on one project.

The selection committee focuses on three main factors: a strong team, the quality of products and ambition for a global presence.

Alexey Kachai said that such selections are held at least once a year. As a rule, there are one to three winners. This is because of the careful selection that is provided for all applications. Another reason is that Israel (unlike Russia) has more than 50 bilateral agreements with other countries in the world - it has a great choice of them. However, all the projects that are interesting to the organizers of the program will eventually receive funding - there is no exact number of the potential winners.    

The head of the Trade and Economic Representation of the Israeli Embassy in the Russian Federation Yakir Davidson notes that the companies from Russia and Israel that are already familiar with each other often participate in the project. However, this is an optional condition.

“You can contact us, we have a database of all Israeli companies and will provide assistance,” said Yakir Davidson.

Alexey Kachai supported Davidson's position, noting that in Israel “any person is easy to get to,” and if the theory of six handshakes is common for Russia, for Israel two are enough.

Mikhail Marash, the director of P-Cure Company and a participant of the current project, spoke about the work of the program from the inside. His organization is developing an innovative method of treating cancer using point exposure. For the moment, it is almost impossible to hit the focus of the disease without affecting the organs around the tumor.

The P-Cure proton equipment can correct the situation - it creates a plastic proton beam and directs it to the right point in the body without touching anything around.

Marash says that the possibility of installing their devices in Israeli hospitals is currently being discussed, and there is also a possibility of installing this equipment in Russia.

Mikhail noted three main advantages of working in the project. The first one is the elimination of an important issue of clinical necessity - in order to solve it, it is impossible to act separately, since Russian and Israeli developments complement each other. Secondly, he noted the supervision of high quality, which does not interfere with the engineers' work. And the third advantage is a common language - many speak Russian in Israel, which erases the barrier between the companies.