Documenting uncertainty. Measuring tangible progress.

An activity can qualify as research and development only if it jointly meets five criteria: novelty, creativity, uncertainty, systematicity, and transferability and/or reproducibility. A prototype, technical tests or production improvements are not enough on their own. The project must be assessed in its technical context and documented as it proceeds.

Scientific and technical uncertainty is part of the work and needs to be recorded.

Industrial companies often tackle complex technical problems within customer contracts. Assessing whether that work qualifies as R&D requires checking all five criteria and keeping evidence of hypotheses, tests, outcomes, iterations and results.

What it produces

A technical dossier that records the initial problem, hypotheses, experiments, iterations and their outcomes, including unsuccessful ones, and the results achieved.

Unsuccessful tests can help document the uncertainty faced. Qualification still needs to be assessed case by case against the five criteria and the applicable rules.

The dossier is supported by activity and time records, traceable costs and technical evidence collected during the work.

Who does what

The business carries out research with its own technical staff or a partner. MA.VI sets up the documentation method before work starts and keeps it updated throughout the project.

Reconstructing experiments afterward increases the risk of gaps. Documentation needs to start before the project and continue while it is underway.