We can help you analyse and evaluate your needs and define and implement the optimal solution based on the parameters of the programme.
The Deadline for Proposals Submission is June 26th 2026, 13:00.
Click, here, to book a Telephone Appointment for free assessment of your Eligibility and Needs, so as to prepare in a timely manner and/ or contact us for support for proposal preparation and submission.
INTRODUCTION
The Research and Innovation Foundation (RIF) announces the Call for Proposals «Proof of Concept for Technology / Knowhow Applications» for the «Proof of Concept for Technology / Knowhow Applications» Programme within the framework of the «RESTART 2016-2020» Programmes for Research, Technological Development and Innovation – Programmes for the Period May 2022 – December 2026 and invites potential beneficiaries to submit relevant Project Proposals (Proposals).
The present Call will be co-financed by the Republic of Cyprus and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), in the frame of the Operational Programme «ΘΑλΕΙΑ» 2021-2027 under Priority 1: «Competitive, Smart and Digital Economy» and the Specific Objective (1i): «Developing and enhancing research and innovation capacities and the uptake of advanced technologies».
GENERAL CALL INFORMATION
| Pillar | I. Smart Growth | |
| Programme | Proof of Concept for Technology / Knowhow | |
| Call Identifier | CONCEPT/0326 | |
| Funding Source | Operational Programme «ΘΑλΕΙΑ» 2021-2027 European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) | |
| Call Budget |
1.000.000 Euro
|
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| Maximun Funding Per Project | 40.000 Euro | |
| Publication Date | 24 March 2026 | |
| Deadline |
26 June 2026, 13:00 |
|
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.
OBJECTIVES
The “Proof of Concept for Technology / Knowhow Applications” Programme aims at the preliminary investigation of possible industrial applications of a technology/knowhow.
DESCRIPTION
Through this Programme it is expected that Host Organisations will have the opportunity to verify the industrial application potential of a technology/knowhow before being involved in a broader scale research project of Technological Development and Innovation.
As the Programme is part of Pillar I, “Smart Growth”, the projects must be applicable in one of the designated Priority Sectors of the Smart Specialization Strategy 2023-2030:
BENEFICIARIES
Research Organisations, Enterprises, Other Organisations
SPECIFIC RESTRICTIONS AND CONDITIONS FOR PARTICIPATION
The Host Organisation can be a Research Organisation or Enterprise.
Research Organisations, Enterprises and Other Organisations can participate as Partner Organisation.
Budget Category I:
The Consortium must consist of at least one Enterprise (Category B) and one Research Organisation (Category A).
At least 40% of the project budget must be allocated to the enterprises (Category B) participating in the Consortium.
Budget Category II:
There are no restrictions on the Consortium and/or on the allocation of the project budget among the members of the Consortium.
Proposals that do not meet the criteria of Budget Category I will be automatically classified under Budget Category II.
Participation of Large Enterprises (including Private Universities) is only permitted when an SME is also participating in the Cypriot Consortium, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2021/1058 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund.
PROJECT ACTIVITIES
The projects must only include Industrial Research activities.
The projects must fall within Technology Readiness Levels 3-4 (TRL 3-4) in compliance with the relevant definitions adopted by the EU1
DURATION OF PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION
Up to nine (9) months
BUDGET
€1.000.000
- Budget Category I: €800,000
- Budget Category II: €200,000
MAXIMUM FUNDING PER PROJECT
€40.000
ELIGIBLE COSTS
Personnel costs, Instruments and Equipment Costs, Costs for External Services, 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”.
It is clarified that, in Projects where the simplified method "Personnel Cost + 40% on Personnel Cost for Other Expenses”, only the expenses of the Personnel Cost category are declared in the Payment Request. However, the use of this simplified method does not waive the Beneficiaries’ obligation to comply with the provisions of the RESTART 2016–2020 Programmes Call, regarding the eligibility of expenses, the basic principles of project management, including the maintenance of relevant supporting documents, as well as compliance with National Legislation and the EU Regulatory Framework, as described in the Call.
Expenses for dissemination activities are eligible only for entities of Category A and C2.
It is noted that all beneficiary entities that have not previously participated in the RESTART 2016–2020 Programmes are required to use the simplified method of “Standard Scales of Unit Costs” for the calculation of personnel costs.
SERVICES OF THE CENTRAL KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER OFFICE (KTO)
Beneficiaries of this Programme will automatically become Beneficiaries of the services and tools for knowledge transfer offered by RIF, in the framework of the Central Knowledge Transfer Office (KTO).Aiming at enhancing the projects’ potential for exploitation of research results, all Project Consortia funded under the present Call are obliged to contact the Central Knowledge Transfer Office (CKTO) for the preparation of a specialised Service Delivery Plan.
It is noted that, the acceptance of the Service Delivery Plan by the Project Consortia and the utilization of the central CKTO services will be optional.
RESTART 2016-2020 WORK PROGRAMME
All general rules and procedures for the participation of organisations and individuals, the eligible activities and costs, as well as the specific information regarding the «Innovation Vouchers» Programme, as well as the other RESTART 2016-2020 Programmes, are included in the RIF’s Work Programme for the «RESTART 2016-2020» Programmes for Research, Technological Development and Innovation – Programmes for the Period May 2022 – December 2026, which is the main reference document and an important information source for interested parties and can be found on the Research and Innovation Foundation’s IRIS (Innovation Research Information System) Portal (https://iris.research.org.cy/#/documentlibrary).
SPECIFIC CONDITIONS
In the frame of the present Call, the following specific conditions apply:
- Each Enterprise may participate in up to two (2) proposals in total, either as a Host Organisation or as a Partner Organisation and may receive funding for only one (1) Project as a Host Organisation under the present Call. In case of participation in more than two (2) proposals, only the first two proposals in order of submission will be taken into consideration.
- All private law entities (Host Organisation and Partner Organisations) should submit to Competent National Registries updated data regarding their ultimate beneficial owners as per «The prevention and suppression of money laundering and terrorist financing Law of 2007 (188(I)/2007)». RIF reserves the right to carry out checks in the competent Registers and to request an official proof for the registration. Furthermore, during contract preparation, all private law entities are obliged to submit the Declaration of Beneficial Owners accompanied by the official proof of registration.
- 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 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 (In Part-A, Question: «Has this Proposal (or a similar one with minor deviations regarding the content and / or participants) been submitted under any other Programme of the RESTART 2016 - 2020 Programmes?»), 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 SELECTION
Evaluation Procedure
For the evaluation of Proposals to be submitted under the «Proof of Concept for Technology / Knowhow Applications» Programme, a Proposal Preliminary Check and a remote scientific evaluation procedure by two (2) independent evaluators will be followed, as described in the RESTART 2016-2020 Work Programme – Programmes for the period May 2022 – December 2026.
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
- Excellence – Weight 30%
- Added Value and Benefit – Weight 40%
- Implementation – Weight 30%
Selection
Projects are ranked based on their score and the selection of the proposals for funding will be made according to their ranking as follows:
Budget Category I:
- Proposals involving enterprises which:
- employ at least four (4) employees, as documented by the Statement of Earnings and Contributions issued by the Social Insurance Services for the last three (3) months prior to the month of proposal submission, for which the employer is required to have paid social insurance contributions; and
- have not been funded as Host Organisations in previous projects under the RESTART 2016–2020 Programmes. An exception applies in cases where the enterprise has participated as a Host Organisation in funded Programme Projects with a maximum requested project funding of €35,000.
- Proposals involving enterprises that employ fewer than four (4) employees and have not been funded as Host Organisations in previous projects under the RESTART 2016–2020 Programmes. An exception applies in cases where the enterprise has participated as a Host Organisation in funded Programme Projects with a maximum requested project funding of €35,000.
- Proposals involving enterprises that employ at least four (4) employees, as documented by the relevant Social Insurance Services Statements, and have been funded as Host Organisations in previous projects under the RESTART 2016–2020 Programmes.
- Proposals involving enterprises that employ fewer than four (4) employees and have been funded as Host Organisations in previous projects under the RESTART 2016–2020 Programmes.
Budget Category II:
- Proposals ranked according to their evaluation score, until the exhaustion of the Total Call Budget.
Any unallocated budget within the individual Budget Categories shall be carried forward to the next Call for Proposals of the CONCEPT Programme.
We can help you analyse and evaluate your needs and define and implement the optimal solution based on the parameters of the programme.
The Deadline for Proposals Submission is June 26th 2026, 13:00.
Click, here, to book a Telephone Appointment for free assessment of your Eligibility and Needs, so as to prepare in a timely manner and/ or contact us for support for proposal preparation and submission.
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 17 – MAY 2022 – JUNE 2025