“Research – Innovate”: 2nd Amendment to the Call for Action of Strategic Importance
The 2nd Amendment has been published – Extension of the Call for funding applications of the Strategic Action “Research – Innovate” Program “Competitiveness” NSRF 2021 – 2027, according to which a company – potential beneficiary must at the time of payment of the aid, have a facility or branch, which operates legally in the Greek region where the aid is allocated according to the Funding Application.
The main objective of the Action is to connect research and innovation with entrepreneurship and to enhance the competitiveness, productivity and extroversion of enterprises to international markets, with the aim of transitioning to quality innovative entrepreneurship and increasing domestic added value.
See the 2nd amendment to the Invitation here.
Research-Innovate Action Budget
The budget of the Action amounts to 300,000,000 euros.
- 66,000,000 euros for the Regions in Transition: Attica and South Aegean.
- 234,000,000 euros for the Less Developed Regions: Northern Aegean, Eastern Macedonia – Thrace, Central Macedonia, Epirus, Thessaly, Western Greece, Crete, Western Macedonia, Ionian Islands, Central Greece, Peloponnese.
The Action is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) of the European Union.
The maximum subsidized budget of investment projects per Intervention is structured as follows:
- Intervention I – Research and Development by Businesses: 800,000 euros
- Intervention II – Business Partnerships with Research Organizations: 2,000,000 euros
- Intervention III – Utilization of Research Results: 2,000,000 euros
- Intervention IV – Seal of Excellence for businesses: at the limit of approved P/Y by Horizon Europe
The investment plans submitted should relate to the 8 sectors of the National Smart Specialization Strategy 2021-2027 (ESEE)
The requested budget of a company – a potential beneficiary in a funding application, may not exceed three fifths (60%) of the highest turnover achieved in one of the three (or less if the company does not have three) management periods, of the year preceding the submission of the funding application.
Financial applications for Intervention IV: Seal of Excellence for businesses are excluded from the above limit.
Grant Rate
- Interventions I, II and III
- The intensity of strengthening the research and development project of a beneficiary is determined by the characterization of the research and development category (industrial research, experimental development) of each work unit of its project and the size of the enterprise (Very Small/Small, Medium or Large).
- For research organisations, funding is not subject to state aid rules and may, under conditions, rise to 100%.
The aid intensity is determined separately for each aid beneficiary in the case of cooperative projects.
Intervention IV – the aid intensity for the aided enterprise (in total for the research and development project) is set at 70%.
Beneficiaries of the “Research-Innovate” action
Beneficiaries of the Action are:
a) Enterprises and “Other entities treated as enterprises” and
b) Research organizations and “Other entities treated as research organizations”
- For their participation in the Action, companies must have at least one (1) closed full (annual) management year (excluding the condition of Intervention IV companies), be legally incorporated and operate with their headquarters in Greece or another Member State of the European Union, either as legal entities (e.g. SA, EPE, OE, EE, IKE, CoinSEp) or as individuals businesses.
- Excludes troubled businesses as well as businesses for which a decision to recover aid from the EU is pending
- Each independent business (at VAT level) can participate as a potential beneficiary in up to five (5) Funding Applications cumulatively in Interventions I, II and III, throughout the duration of the Action.
- Businesses must contribute at least 30% of the project budget.
- For their participation in the Action, each research organization participates as a single entity, i.e. at the VAT level and is represented by the Special Research Funds Account (ELKE), for those organizations that have an ELKE. In the event that different Faculty Departments of the same HEI (University) or different Institutes of the same Research Center or different Departments of the same HEI or different Laboratories of the same HEI or Institute participate in a project, the corresponding University or Research Center with a single budget calculated at the level of the research organization and with a place of implementation is declared to OPSKE as a research organization-partner.
- There is no limit to the number of proposals in which a research organization participates.
It is noted that the Beneficiaries of the Action, should have been registered in the Register of Beneficial Beneficiaries of article 20 of Law 4557/2018 (A΄ 139), as applicable, prior to the date of submission of the funding application, if they are included in those required to be registered in the Register.
Interventions
The Funding Applications that will be strengthened under the Action can be submitted either by individual small and medium businesses, or by business groups, or by business partnerships with research organizations and should concern research projects and innovation, be part of one of the four (4) Interventions and relate to the 8 sectors of the National Smart Specialization Strategy 2021-2027 (ESEE).
I. Research and Development by Enterprises
Intervention I is addressed to existing businesses that have at least one (1) closed full (annual) management year. Potential beneficiaries are either a small and medium enterprise (individual SME), or Business Groups, of which at least one must be an SME. In addition, one (or more) entity/entities belonging to the Other entities treated as enterprises may participate in the enterprise group.
II. Business Partnerships with Research OrganizationsIntervention II concerns partnerships of existing companies, which have at least one (1) closed full (annual) management year, with research organizations, with companies as the main recipients. In the context of the intervention the partnership includes at least one micro-medium enterprise and at least one research organization. In addition, the partnership may involve one (or more) entities belonging to the Other Bodies treated as Research Organizations or to the Other Bodies treated as businesses.
In particular, in the context of the intervention:
- In partnerships of two or three or four partners – bodies, one must necessarily be an SME.
- In partnerships of more than four partners – entities, two must necessarily be businesses and at least one must be an SME.
III. Utilization of Research Results
Potential beneficiaries of Intervention III are existing individual small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which have at least one (1) closed full (annual) management year.
IV. Seal of Excellence for businessesPotential beneficiaries are small and medium-sized Greek enterprises that received the Seal of Excellence for research and development projects within the framework of the European Union’s Horizon Europe Program, but did not receive funding due to exhaustion of the available budget.
Eligible expenses
Eligible costs in the Action, are the costs of article 25 paragraph 3 of Regulation (EU) no. 651/2014, as applicable, for research and development projects, concern a specific category of research and development and are as follows:
a) Direct expenditure on staff remuneration
b) To cover the remaining costs of the project, a uniform rate of 40% is used on eligible direct personnel costs
Expenditures for the projects of Intervention IV – Seal of Excellence (Seal of Excellence) for businesses are determined in accordance with the “Horizon Europe” Program appropriately adjusted to the above eligible categories of expenses
The start date of expenditure eligibility is defined as the date of submission of the funding application.
The maximum duration of completion of the physical and financial object of the research projects may not exceed thirty-six (36) months, from the date of notification of the Decision approving the evaluation results, with the possibility of extension for a period equal to one third of the initial duration. Intervention IV proposals will have a duration equal to that approved by the “Horizon Europe” Programme.
Contact – Information
For further information those interested can send e-mails to EYDE EK, at erevno-kainotomo@gsrt.gr
or contact the Public Information Office of the EYD Competitiveness Program: Dragatsaniou 8, Klathmonos square, Athens.
Public service hours: Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Telephone information: at 801 11 36 300 from a landline with a local charge from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm.
Email: infoepan@mou.gr
Websites: www.antagonistikotita.gr
http://erevno-kainotomo.gr/espa2127
General Secretariat for Research and Innovation (GSRI): Official website