Criticism dismissed in project (5,3)
I believe the answer is:
stick out
'project' is the definition.
('stick out' can be a synonym of 'project')
'criticism dismissed' is the wordplay.
'criticism' becomes 'stick' (I've seen this before**).
'dismissed' becomes 'out' (I've seen this before).
'stick'+'out'='STICK OUT'
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for stick out that I've seen before include "Continue to resist" , "Don't give up - project" , "Protrude, be prominent" .)