Scoring rubric

1. Criteria

Each application is scored against five criteria, each on a scale of 1 to 5.

• Scientific basis - soundness of the result, reproducibility, and its position relative to existing work.
• Application - what problem the result addresses, and for whom.
• Feasibility - whether the next step is achievable with the team’s people and means.
• Team - composition, division of roles, and whether a supervisor is involved.
• Readiness to commercialise - what exists beyond publication: a prototype, testing, a partner, a patent application.

Readiness to commercialise scores what the team has done with its own hands, not how much support it has already received. An accelerator place, an existing grant or prior investment earn no points in themselves; work carried to a prototype with no support at all scores above the same prototype built on somebody else’s money.

A project that has never applied for anything and received nothing is not at a disadvantage. Finding that work is why this competition exists - and projects that have already had support are not excluded, and are read on the same terms.

2. Weights

The final score is the weighted sum of the five criteria. Weights are identical for every application and every stage, and do not change during a cycle.

• Scientific basis - 30.
• Application - 25.
• Feasibility - 15.
• Team - 15.
• Readiness to commercialise - 15.

Scientific basis carries the most weight deliberately. Big Ideas is a science competition with money behind it, not a fund using a competition as deal flow.

3. Number of reviewers

Every eligible application is read by at least three reviewers. The final score is the mean across reviewers.

A reviewer cannot close a score without written comment of at least 400 characters on each criterion scored below the maximum.

Where reviewers differ by more than two points on any criterion, the application goes to a fourth reviewer.

4. How the score determines progression

The winner of each regional round is chosen by that round’s panel and advances to the semi-final regardless of the application score.

The remaining 17 semi-final places are allocated by final score across all applications received, in descending order.

Where scores are equal, priority goes to the higher score on Scientific basis, then on Readiness to commercialise.

5. Reviewer recusal

A reviewer must declare a conflict of interest and stand down. The declaration procedure is set out in the NDA and reviewer recusal document.

An applicant may bar up to five people or organisations from reviewing. The restriction is applied by access control in the system.

6. Language of this document

The Russian version of this document is the only one in force. The English version is provided as a reading aid, and where the two differ the Russian text applies.