Ignite National Technology Fund, in collaboration with the Higher Education Commission, has held an awareness session on the Prime Minister’s Spark and Elevate programs, aimed at bringing university leadership into Pakistan’s innovation pipeline. Vice chancellors, faculty members and representatives from several higher education institutions attended the session to learn about both programs, the opportunities they offer and the ways in which their institutions can take part. The organisers framed the session around a simple point, that academia plays a vital role in turning bright ideas into real world impact, and that engaging university leadership is a key step in building that link. Applications for both programs close on 26 October 2026, and details and the application process are available through the application link.
The two programs are designed to cover different stages of a technology’s journey. Spark offers funding of up to Rs100 million per project to turn promising ideas into working prototypes, while Elevate offers up to Rs200 million to prepare proven technologies for the market. Ignite plans to award up to 60 grants a year, with up to 30 under each program, subject to evaluation, approvals and available funding, and projects can run for up to 18 months. The programs were launched by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the Indus Robotics and Autonomous Systems Expo in Islamabad on 23 July 2026, alongside the announcement of a $20 million Pakistan Venture Fund, and they are being implemented through Ignite National Technology Fund under the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication.
The rules of the programs explain why universities were the focus of the session. Applications are submitted online through the grant management portal of Ignite National Technology Fund by a principal investigator nominated by the lead organisation, which means that institutions have to decide who will lead and support a proposal. Elevate applications must be led by an industry organisation such as a startup, small or medium enterprise or large company, so universities that wish to take part in that track need to build working links with industry. Spark, on the other hand, gives researchers and faculty a route to fund early stage work that might otherwise remain a research paper or a thesis, and it is open to the wider group of researchers, innovators, startups, universities and industries that the programs target.
For Pakistani universities, the awareness session offered a chance to understand the process before the deadline arrives. Research offices, technology transfer teams and incubation centres on campus can now plan which projects to put forward, find industry collaborators for Elevate and help faculty prepare proposals that meet the guidelines. Ignite and the Higher Education Commission thanked the vice chancellors and faculty members for joining the session, and said the aim is to make sure that more ideas from campuses reach the stage where they can create economic value and address national challenges. With the deadline set for 26 October, institutions that wish to take part have a little over two weeks to complete their applications.
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