Canada and Spain call for projects

Deadline: Jun 1, 2020  
CALL EXPIRED

Call description

The National Research Council Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) and the Centre for Industrial Technological Development, EPE (CDTI), national funding authorities for Canada and Spain respectively, are announcing this call for collaborative research and development (R&D) proposals, aiming to deliver close-to-market innovative products, processes and services in any technological and market area with a civilian purpose.

This call is managed in cooperation and in line with the procedures of the Eureka.

Time frame

Opening of the call - 1 March 2020

Expression of interest (Canada) - 15 April 2020

Deadline for Eureka applications - 1 June 2020

Evaluation results, projects start - November-December 2020 

Special focus

Although this call invites proposals in ALL thematic areas or application domains, special attention is given to the following domains:

• Electronics, Information and Communication Technologies
• Industrial Manufacturing, Machinery, Materials and Transport
• Agri-food Technologies
• Biotechnologies, Medical Devices
• Environment, Energy, Marine Technologies

Eligibility criteria

Applicants must form a project consortium and develop a collaborative R&D project that meets the following criteria:

• The partners should include at least one Canadian and one Spanish company. Participation of research institutes/universities and other organisations are welcome as self-funded participants or as subcontractors according to each country’s funding regulations.
• Organisations from other countries may also participate, but they will not be funded by CDTI nor by NRC IRAP.
• The Canadian and Spanish partners must express their will to cooperate to the development of a new product, industrial process or service. The product, process or service must be innovative and there must be technological risk.
• The project should have an obvious advantage and added value resulting from the technological cooperation between the participants from the countries involved (e.g. increased knowledge base, commercial leads, access to R&D infrastructure, etc.).
• The project should demonstrate the contribution of all participants and the project must be significant to them.
• One country and/or project partner cannot represent more than 75% of the total project budget.
• The participants are required, prior to obtaining the Eureka label, to have signed a consortium agreement.

Funding details

Eligible project participants in collaborative proposals selected for funding through this call may receive funding from their respective national funding authority. Funds will be provided in accordance with the applicable laws, regulations, rules and/or procedures established by the relevant national funding authority, country, jurisdiction and/or program, on a non-exchange of funds basis, and subject to budget availability in each country.

Additional country-specific funding parameters are outlined below:

Funding in Canada

In order to be considered for financial support by NRC IRAP, the applicant must:

• Be an incorporated, profit-oriented small or medium-sized business in Canada;
• Have 500 or fewer full-time equivalent employees; and
• Plan to pursue growth and profit by developing and commercializing innovative, technology-driven new or improved products, services or processes in Canada.

In Canada project activities shall not start before the project start date indicated in the Contribution Agreement (funding contract).

Funding in Spain

CDTI will finance industrial research and/or technological development activities of Spanish companies. The funding application must be submitted to CDTI within 20 working days after receiving the communication of eligibility. Universities and research centers could take part as subcontractors.

Funding conditions for Spanish partners may vary depending on the nature of the project and the beneficiaries (see more details).

Funding decision is expected within 3 months after submitting an eligible funding application.

It is mandatory that project activities do not start before submitting the funding applications to CDTI. For further information, please contact CDTI.

Application process

Application processes and evaluations will be performed independently by each national funding authority in accordance with their national and institutional laws and regulations. Once each national funding authority has evaluated the submitted applications, a final joint project selection will be performed.

Consortia will have to submit their applications into the Eureka platform and additionally each applicant must submit all required documents to their respective national funding authority and meet its due diligence process requirements.  They are invited to contact their national funding authority before submitting the documents; see Contacts below.

Information on respective application processes follows below:

Application process in Canada

The Canadian application process has 4 phases:

Step 1: Registration phase

Each Canadian applicant must register by providing the following information to its national authority contact (see below): 

• Organisation type (SME, Large firm, University/Research Center, Other)
• Organisation name
• Contact name, email and phone

Registrations for this call for proposals will be reviewed by NRC IRAP. Applicants who do not meet the basic eligibility requirements will be screened out. An NRC IRAP representative will contact applicants if further information is required, or to provide qualifying applicants an expression of interest (EOI) form.

Step 2: Expression of Interest phase

During this phase, while completing the Expression of Interest (EOI) form, each Canadian applicant is encouraged to contact their NRC IRAP representative to discuss their project idea and receive guidance on preparing their submission.

The applicant's NRC IRAP representative and the NRC IRAP International Office will review applications. Qualifying applicants will be invited to submit the more detailed Eureka network proposal in collaboration with their project partners.

The deadline to submit an Expression of Interest is April 15, 2020.  It is recommended for applicants to complete this phase as early as possible, in order to have more time for the following one.  

Step 3: International (Eureka network) proposal phase

During this phase, all project partners must work together to complete and submit an application through the Eureka webpage. The application package will be forwarded to both NRC and CDTI.

NRC IRAP will evaluate the Eureka network proposal and proceed to a selection. Only Canadian participants of selected proposals will be invited to submit a NRC IRAP funding proposal.

Step 4: National (NRC IRAP) Funding Proposal phase

Canadian applicants will work with their NRC IRAP representative to prepare an NRC IRAP funding proposal.

Application process in Spain

In Spain the participants will have to submit a formal R&D international project aid application through CDTI’s website including the Eureka application form (in English) and a draft consortium agreement before the deadline for the Eureka application.

Additional documents in Spanish language, containing detailed information on the Spanish participants, could be requested depending on the specific type of funding requested by the company.

Monitoring and impact 

Applicants will be requested to provide information during the lifetime of the project to their respective national funding authorities and at international level (Eureka) to make sure the project has been developed as expected. Additionally, they will have to provide information regarding the impact of the project once it has been finished.