Funded by the Recovery and Resilience Facility of the NextGenerationEU instrument in the frame of Cyprus’ Recovery and Resilience Plan 2021-2026 - “Cyprus_tomorrow”
The “Research in Enterprises” Programme aims at (a) enhancing the competitiveness of Cypriot enterprises thus contributing in the country’s economic growth, through the development of new products / services / production methods of high added value, or significantly enhanced products / services / production methods which will be commercially used, and (b) intensifying the participation of Cypriot enterprises in research activities resulting in raising the contribution of the private sector in the country’s RTDI (Research, Technological Development and Innovation) investments.
INTRODUCTION
The Research and Innovation Foundation announces the Call for Proposals for the «Research in Enterprises» Programme within the framework of the «RESTART 2016-2020» Programmes for Research, Technological Development and Innovation – Programmes for the Period 05/2022 – 03/2023 and invites potential beneficiaries to submit relevant Project Proposals (Proposals).
The present Call will be financed by the Recovery and Resilience Facility of the Next Generation EU instrument, in the frame of the action C3.212 «Innovation Funding Programmes and Funding Schemes for the Enhancement of Growth and Competitiveness of Startups, Innovative Companies and SMEs» of the Cyprus Recovery and Resilience Plan. The Action is implemented under Policy Axis 3: «Strengthening the Resilience and Competitiveness of the Economy», and specifically the Component 3.2 «Enhanced Research and Innovation».
GENERAL CALL INFORMATION
| Pillar | Ι. Smart Growth | |
| Programme | Research in Enterprises | |
| Call Identifier | ENTERPRISES/0223/Sub-Call1 | |
| Call Budget |
5.000.000 Euro ▪ In the case of unallocated budget, the RIF may transfer unused budget to the Call «ENTERPRISES/0223/Sub-Call2» ▪ Call budget may be increased with unused budget from Call «ENTERPRISES/0223/Sub-Call2» |
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| Maximun Funding Per Project | 200.000 Euro | |
| Publication Date | 17 February 2023 | |
| Deadline |
24 April 2023, time 13.00 |
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The English version of the Call, even though an official translation endorsed by the Research and Innovation Foundation, is provided for information purposes only. Only the Greek version of the Call is legally binding and shall prevail in case of any divergence in interpretation.
General Objectives
The “Research in Enterprises” Programme aims at (a) enhancing the competitiveness of Cypriot enterprises thus resulting in making a contribution in the country’s economic growth, through the development of new products / services / production methods of high added value, or significantly enhanced products / services / production methods which will be commercially used, and (b) intensifying the participation of Cypriot enterprises in research activities resulting in raising the contribution of the private sector in the country’s RTDI (Research, Technological Development and Innovation) investments.
Description
«Research in Enterprises» Programme supports the involvement of Cypriot enterprises in research, technological development and innovation (RTDI) activities, for the development of new or the significant advancement of existing products / services/ production methods of high added value with market entry potential.
The Programme is expected to contribute to the enhancement of the capacity and the competitiveness of Cypriot enterprises, the increase of private investments in RTDI activities, and the country’s economy growth. Furthermore, it is expected to create new employment at participating enterprises, thus contributing positively in dealing with unemployment at national level.
The Programme covers a wide range of industrial research and experimental development activities. The experimental development activities should include the production of a prototype, demonstration, pilot operation, testing and validation of new or significantly optimised products / services / production methods in an environment representative of real-life operating conditions. Research and development activities should be relevant to the core area of activities of the beneficiaries, while project results should be of commercial value for the beneficiaries.
The Programme does not cover projects that are concerned with customary modifications or modifications that incur over time on products, production lines, services, production methods, even if these modifications are considered as improvements.
As the Programme is part of Pillar I, “Smart Growth”, the projects must be applicable in one of the designated Priority Sectors:
- Energy
- Tourism
- Transport-Shipping
- Agriculture-Food Industry
- Built Environment-Construction Industry
- Health
and/or one of the Horizontal Priority Sectors:
- ICT
- Sustainable Growth-Environment
Beneficiaries
Research Organisations, Enterprises, Other Organisations
SPECIFIC RESTRICTIONS AND CONDITIONS FOR PARTICIPATION
The Host Organisation (HO) of a project must be a Small, Medium or Large Sized Enterprise (B1, B2, B3).
The project should be initiated by the Enterprise/Host Organisation, which should have a direct and significant commercial interest in achieving the project’s results. Furthermore, the core activities of the Host Organisation should be relevant to the project activities.
Please note that participation of a Large Enterprise in a RESTART 2016-2020 Programme project is possible after the justification, through the proposal, of the incentive effect that the funding will have for the Large Enterprise, as specified in the Chapter 1.2, Section III, of the RESTART 2016-2020 Work Programme.
Research Organisations, Enterprises or Other Organisations may participate as Partner Organisations.
Partner Organisations shall support the Host Organisation in accomplishing the project's objectives and may have their own commercial and/or scientific interests in achieving the Project results.
Participation of Foreign Research Organisations is allowed.
Participation of Startups is not allowed except for those that have sold at least one product or service, in the last two (2) years and can document sales and turnover through audited financial statements.
In the frame of the present Call, each organisation can receive funding as Host Organisation in up to one (1) Project.
The submission of the same or similar Proposal in both Calls «ENTERPRISES/Sub-Call1/0223» and «ENTERPRISES/Sub-Call2/0223», is not allowed. Same or similar proposals are proposals with the same or similar scientific content and relevant activities. If it is found that the same or similar proposals are submitted in both Calls, the Proposal submitted first, will only forwarded for evaluation.
Funding of same activities that have already been supported by the RIF in the frame of previous funded projects, is not allowed.
At least 40% of the Project Budget should be allocated to the Host Organization.
Within the framework of the present Call the following specific conditions also apply:
- All private organisations (Host Organisation and Partner Organisations) are required to register the updated data regarding their ultimate beneficial owners in the Competent National Registry / Archive, as per «The prevention and suppression of money laundering and terrorist financing Law of 2007 (188(I)/2007)». The RIF maintains the right to proceed with the appropriate checks in the competent Registries to verify the registration. For this purpose, all private organisations should submit an official proof for the data registration during the Contract Preparation stage. Furthermore, all private organisations (Host Organisation and Partner Organisations) who request funding exceeding 150.000 Euro, during the Contract Preparation stage will be required to also submit the data (Name and Surname, ID / Passport Number and Date of Birth) of their ultimate beneficial owners through the relevant Declaration.
- Funded Projects should comply with the «Do No Significant Harm» principle, according to which they must not include or support activities that could cause significant harm to any of the six environmental objectives, as per Article 17 of Regulation (EU) No 2020/852, on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment.
- In order to support the exploitation of research results, the interaction between the Host Organisation and the Central Knowledge Transfer Office (KTO) for the preparation of a customised Action Plan for the Provision of Services by the KTO, is obligatory in the frame of the present Call. It is noted that, the adoption of the Action Plan and the acquisition of the Services are not mandatory.
- In the event that it is found that the Proposal (or a similar one with minor deviations regarding the content and / or participants) has been submitted under any other Programme / Call of the RESTART 2016 - 2020 Programmes, and this has not been duly declared by the Project Coordinator at the Proposal Submission Stage (Part-A), the RIF has the right to declare the proposal ineligible and/or to consider to impose sanctions to the Host Organisation and/or the Project Coordinator.
Project Activities
The projects must necessarily include Experimental Development activities. They may also include Industrial Research activities.
Project activities should fall within Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 4-7 in compliance with the relevant definitions adopted by the EU1.
It is noted that by completion of the Project Implementation, the Host Organisation must prepare a “Commercialization Plan” which will be submitted to the RIF as a Deliverable along with the Final Report. The “Commercialization Plan” must include an assessment and analysis of the project results’ market potential, in order to support future decisions by the Host Organisation and/or the Consortium, and the planning of exploitation of results. It is noted that, activities related to the implementation of actions included in the “Commercialization Plan”, are not eligible in the frame of the funded projects.
Duration of Project Implementation
12-24 months
Budget
€5.000.000
Maximum Funding per Project
€200.000
The maximum aid intensity for Enterprises and Other Private Sector Organisations cannot exceed 70%.
Eligible Costs
Personnel costs, Instruments and Equipment Costs, Costs for External Services, Costs for Foreign Research Organisations, Costs for Travelling Abroad, Consumables, Other Specific Costs, Overheads.
The calculation of the Proposal Budget will be based on the simplified cost method “Personnel costs plus 40% on Personnel Costs for covering the rest of the Project costs”.
All beneficiaries that have not previously participated in the RESTART 2026-2020 Programmes, should make use of the simplified cost Method «Standard Scales of Unit Costs» for the calculation of personnel costs.
Evaluation Procedure
For the evaluation of Proposals to be submitted under the «Research in Enterprises» Programme, a Proposal Preliminary Check and a remote scientific evaluation procedure by three (3) independent evaluators (with a Consensus Report) will be followed, as described in the RESTART 2016-2020 Work Programme.
Prior to the scientific evaluation of each Proposal according to the evaluation criteria, evaluators are requested to assess the Proposal’s compatibility with the objectives of the Programme and the relevant Call for Proposals. The evaluator will not proceed with the assessment of the evaluation criteria should the Proposal fail the compatibility assessment.
Evaluation Criteria/Weighting
(1) Excellence 20%, (2) Added Value and Benefit 40%, (3) Implementation 40%.
Selection
Proposals will be selected for funding according to their ranking as determined by their score until the exhaustion of the Call Budget.
1 The Technology Readiness Levels adopted by the EU are:
TRL 1- basic principles observed
TRL 2- technology concept formulated
TRL 3- experimental proof of concept
TRL 4- technology validated in lab
TRL 5- technology validated in relevant environment
TRL 6- technology demonstrated in relevant environment
TRL 7- system prototype demonstration in operational environment
TRL 8- system complete and qualified
TRL 9- actual system proven in operational environment (competitive manufacturing in the case of key enabling technologies)
RESTART-2016-2020-WORK-PROGRAMME – VERSION 14 May22-March-23May22-March-23