A scientific challenge, eh? With enough ambition, such impossible feats become probable... And perhaps such a theory is not unfounded.
But, one must ponder the purposes of such, to help determine the specifications of such a drive. To see if it's... appropriate for your desires. You wish to have such a device for escaping, or was there something else upon your mind...? Might I inquire who you work for, Mister Ashwood?
For all intents and purposes, I am exploring such an avenue of my own volition, for it holds some relevance to my own personal studies.
Ah, exploration... The drawback to such devices that you have in mind, primarily the fuel and energy consumption upon usage. In a Gunboat - perhaps you could theoretically squeeze in a singular jump or so... However, there was a greater purpose to querying about one's self, and it is that these kind of studies take quite an enormous amount of investment. These things do not come fast, nor cheap. Be it monetary, or material wise.
What incentives do you offer to these potential collaborators?
It is commendable seeing people working on the miniaturization of jumpdrive technology. A lot of people could benefit from gunboat-compatible jump drives. Explorers like yourself, tend to use gunboat-class vessels and win in particular from such a device.
The House of Kusari has succeeded in the miniaturization of many things and is the leading exporter of optronics for a reason. It is no secret that Kusari has been researching jumpdrives and jump gates since the introduction of the technology by Ageira, and aside from finding its own technological solution has also strived to make it portable and as small as possible. Being a proud member of the astrophysics department at Tenmei University of Honshu, I alongside my colleagues have also participated in the said research.
Based on my experience, you can look at the issue from two sides:
You can investigate the possibility of opening a temporal space-time rift in places with negative energy (or creating such conditions yourself). Casimir effect in such places under the right conditions creates a controllable wormhole for your ship to traverse through. However, it would require immense power output to open such a rift in the first place, so think of a very advanced (and small enough for a gunboat, in your case) fusion reactor. Advanced software and hardware for directing the rift would also be required unless you want to end up above the galaxy plane or in a sun.
The second option is exactly the opposite - kugelblitz. You would need to trap radiation, heat, or light and concentrate them with enough intensity to become self-trapped. The resulting kugelblitz will engender the event horizon and effectively become a mini black hole (i.e. a wormhole). This approach also has challenges: immense energy generation required (again, you will need an advanced fusion reactor small enough to be put on a gunboat with enough fuel for it), advanced hardware and software to oversee the process and direct it, and shielding good enough to avoid spaghettification.
Needless to say, the challenges have not been overcome yet. Tenmei Universit is closely working with Kishiro corporation and the government of Kusari in this matter and I should stress that carrying out wormhole-related research requires a lot of generous funding. This is, arguably, the biggest and the most tangible challenge for you. Please forgive me for my assumption, but my image of zoners in general, even more so of a particular zoner with no organization behind him/her, is not of a faction rich in financial resources or research infrastructure. Thus you would probably need to find yourself a patron for this research.
Despite all the challenges presented above, I genuinely wish you success in the matter and will eagerly observe your progress. The academic community and commercial sector of Kusari will be very interested in your progress and possible product. As a fellow researcher, I also would be personally interested in discussing the progress should you stumble upon interesting findings.
For any serious considerations, I would share doubts amongst other potential readers that the Zoners are ... Well. Let us put this simply; Rich. Economically sustained. Or beholden to rare scientific knowledge.
Using logistics to cover the materials for your own interests is simply not enough. This branch of technology is still experimental, prone to trial and error costs. You must also factor in the risks of simply providing this type of theory to an unknown party, these things are not something to be trifled with, especially when it may entail large collateral damage should the device develop a fault without appropriate funding to rectify it. There are no guarantees in these type of experimental studies, further insight is required before making a determination of possibility, such is why one must be prepared to fail or succeed. There is always a cost for curiosity.
While I highly admire your ambition, I would recommend a generous benefactor to back these possibilities of gathering the attention of other tech-companies, particularly prestigious ones. Charity work in this sector is simply not plausible. Exploration methods to determine the possibility of the theory vary in cost and application. There are other science contracts to embark who are competitive with drawing attention of bright minds, so perhaps it may be wise to take that into consideration when trying to garnish specific attention to the public.
Although I cannot say the same for myself, for I am not necessarily monetary based myself. I would be willing to collaborate upon some components, if you perhaps may have any high value research to share. Or if you possess any exceptionally rare resources or materials. Consider my interests aroused, but there must be some guarantees of worth to my commitment. What do you have to offer?