Hermix grants
Project title:
Hermix-Grants - Public grants innovation: intelligence, analytics and automation with data-science, big-data and AI/ML
Funding agency:
UEFISCDI - Executive Unit for Financing Higher Education, Research, Development, and Innovation
Contract number:
PN4-P8-164/15.03.2024
Beneficiary:
ALSTORIA GLOBAL TECH S.R.L., Romania
Partner:
University of Luxembourg
Project duration:
March 15, 2024 – March 14, 2027
Project team:
- Project Director: Ștefan Morcov
- Researcher, Technical Coordinator: Mihai Olteanu
- Researcher, Programmer: Alexandru Constantin Stanciu
- Researcher, Programmer: Ionuț Sebastian Lascău
- Researcher, Product Manager: Ana-Maria Puiu
- Technician, Assistant Programmer: Cristian Nicolae Bilu
- Researcher, Position Vacant
Abstract
Hermix-Grants is the market intelligence, analysis, and support platform for accessing European public grants. The project will develop an IT platform for assisting researchers and companies to access grants, providing them with deep-analysis and support to understand, predict, and control the European funding ecosystem. We use big open data to create knowledge and present it as readable, usable infographics. Hermix-Grants is based on a solid scientific and technical framework, demonstrated in similar sectors and products. It is a first-in-its-kind product; a radical product and process innovation, using breakthrough deep-tech: big-data, AI/ML.
Project objectives
O1.
Analyse, design, and develop an innovative new IT product, Hermix-Grants, by carrying out
industrial research and experimental development activities.
O2.
Demonstrate and validate the IT product, by performing laboratory tests, as well as tests,validation, and demonstration in a relevant industrial environment, with actual commercial users.
O3.
Dissemination of the results of the R&D activities, through participation in conferences and
publication of articles.
Project stages
Stage 1:
Development of version v1 Beta (M1), deadline: 31.12.2024
Stage 2:
Fully functional system v2 demonstrated and validated in a laboratory environment (M2), deadline: 31.12.2025
Stage 3:
Fully functional system v3 in an operational environment, deadline: 31.12.2026
Stage 4:
Launch of the complete system v3 in production (M3), deadline: 14.03.2027
Estimated results
- 3 Progress reports
- 2 press releases
- 3 Dissemination report with articles published and activities carried out
- 2 articles published in leading scientific journals and/or recognized conferences in the relevant fields
- Project website launched
- Study referring to use case requirements
- Infrastructure setup report
- Setup of the development, testing and production infrastructure
- Detailed data import and cleaning specification
- Data import and transformation routines for the primary data sources
- Data automation scripts
- Data import and transformation routines for secondary sources
- Application framework setup and development
- Software v1 tested and released
- Monitoring and notifications module
- Integration components
- Software v2 tested and released
- Software v3 tested and released
Cognitive impact
O1.
Demystification of Public Grants: Hermix-Grants aims to simplify the complex and often opaque process of accessing public grants.
By leveraging AI, big-data analytics, and natural language processing (NLP), the platform will transform how public grants are understood and accessed.
This will make the public grant ecosystem more transparent and easier to navigate for a broader audience, including researchers, SMEs, and startups.
O2.
Innovation in Data Interpretation: The project introduces advanced data science techniques to clean, analyze, and interpret large datasets from multiple sources.
This will significantly enhance the understanding of funding sources, project trends, and competitive landscapes, providing users with deep insights that were previously inaccessible.
O3.
Automation of Grant Processes: By automating the data collection, cleaning, and analysis processes, Hermix-Grants will reduce the cognitive load on users who traditionally had to manually process vast amounts of information.
This allows users to focus on strategic
decision-making rather than getting bogged down by data entry and analysis tasks.
Socio-Economic impact:
O1.
Increased Accessibility and Equity: The project is set to democratize access to public funds by lowering entry barriers. Traditionally, the public grant sector has been dominated by large organizations with significant resources.
Hermix-Grants will level the playing field, allowing smaller organizations, startups, and researchers to compete more effectively for funding.
O2.
Economic Growth: By enabling a wider range of organizations to access public grants, Hermix-Grants will stimulate innovation and economic growth.
The platform supports the EU`s objectives of fostering innovation and competitiveness, particularly in the SME sector.
O3.
Efficiency in Public Spending: The project will contribute to more efficient public spending by helping authorities and grant beneficiaries better understand their ecosystems, reducing redundancies, and improving the alignment of funding with societal and economic needs.
This will lead to better-targeted investments and more impactful use of public funds.
O4.
Support for Vulnerable Categories: The platform`s ability to lower the entry barriers to public grants will particularly benefit vulnerable groups, such as young researchers, startups, and small businesses.
This broader access to funding opportunities is expected to lead to a more equitable distribution of resources across the EU.
O5.
Market Disruption: Hermix-Grants represents a disruptive innovation in the public grant market.
By providing a first-of-its-kind solution that combines market intelligence, analytics, and automation, the project will challenge traditional approaches and open up new
opportunities for innovation in public governance and funding.
This work was supported by a grant of the Ministry of Research, Innovation, and Digitization, CNCS/CCCDI-UEFISCDI, project number EUROSTARS-3-E!4222-Hermix-Grants, within PNCDI IV.
