Funding competition Eureka Eurostars 3: call 2

UK registered SME’s can apply for a share of up to £2.5million to develop collaborative research in partnership with organisations from participating Eureka Eurostars member countries.

• Competition opens: Friday 21 January 2022
• Registration closes: Thursday 24 March 2022 1:00pm

This competition is now closed.

Competition sections

Description

This competition is for UK micro, small or medium sized enterprises (SMEs) that want to apply to the Eurostars Programme 3, call 2.

Please visit the Eureka call for proposals web page.

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, is investing up to £2.5 million to fund collaborative research and development (CR&D) projects focused on industrial research.

Your project must have high market potential and develop at least one of the following:

• innovative products
• technology based applications
• technology based services

In applying to this competition, you are entering into a competitive process.

Your application must be submitted by 1pm UK time on the deadline stated.

Funding type

Grant

Project size

UK applicants can apply for a total grant of up to 360,000 euros for each UK project partner or 60% of eligible project costs, whichever is the least.

Who can apply

State aid

Any UK registered SME requesting grant funding must be eligible to receive state aid at the time of application. If you are unsure please take legal advice. For further information see our general guidance.

Your project

To apply, you must fulfil seven eligibility criteria:

1. Your consortium is led by an innovative SME from a Eurostars country.
2. Your consortium includes at least two independent entities.
3. Your consortium includes entities from at least two Eurostars countries, the entities concerned must be independent from each other.
4. The budget of the SME(s) from a Eurostars country, excluding subcontracting, is 50% or more of the total project cost.
5. No single participant or country is responsible for more than 70% of the project budget.
6. The project duration is 36 months or less.
7. The project has an exclusively civilian purpose.

UK registered SME’s can apply for a total grant of up to 360,000 euros for each eligible UK project partner or 60% of total eligible project costs, whichever is the least.

Your project can last up to 36 months.

Your project start date depends on the national funding procedures of the Eureka Eurostars members involved in the selected projects.

Projects must be collaborative.

Eureka terminology and roles

The terminology differs between Eureka and Innovate UK. With the Innovate UK application the ‘project lead’ is responsible for the entire project, but Eureka uses the term ‘main participant’. For partners in the collaboration Eureka uses ‘other participants’.

UK organisations

In the UK, only UK registered innovative SMEs are eligible for funding. More than one UK SME can be involved in each project.

Each of the UK innovative SMEs must meet one or more of these conditions:

• invest 10% or more of their turnover into research
• have 10% of their full time equivalent staff working on research activities
• have 5 or more full time staff working on research activities if the SME has 100 or fewer employees
• have 10 or more full time staff working on research activities if the SME has more than 100 employees

Innovate UK will not fund any other types of organisations, including:

• academic institutions, including universities
• research and technology organisations (RTOs)
• charities
• large businesses

These organisations can take part but must self-fund or use funds from other sources.

You must follow the Eurostars eligibility criteria and the Innovate UK eligibility criteria detailed in this competition at the application deadline and throughout your project:

1. UK SMEs can only take part in one Eurostars project at a time.
2. If any UK partner has an existing project, it must declare that all project deliverables are met. You cannot apply for new Eurostars projects until your previous projects have been completed.
3. UK partners must be separate, non-linked legal entities.
4. UK partners must have been trading for 12 months at the competition application deadline.
5. All UK funded work must be carried out in the UK and your project costs must be incurred in the UK.
6. UK subcontracting is capped at 20% of the UK partners’ total eligible costs.1.UK-led projects must be managed by an innovative SME.
7. You cannot subcontract project management.
8. Your labour costs must be on a pay as you earn (PAYE) basis, following the PAYE rules below.
9. Overheads are capped at 25% of labour costs.

PAYE rules

If you do not currently operate a company PAYE scheme and are working directly on the project, you can include your labour as an eligible cost. This must be in line with the European Commission policy and meet the following conditions:

• your labour costs must be calculated using a maximum of 8 hours per day, 5 days per week, 40 hours per week, and £22 per hour
• your costs must be recorded through the business accounts
• your project time must be supported by timesheets and project records

Overall Eurostars project team

The organisations from participating Eurostars countries must meet the funding and eligibility conditions of their respective national funding bodies. These will be published on the Eureka call for proposals web page when this competition opens. These organisations must apply through their own funding bodies and not through the Innovation Funding Service.

Each partner must carry out all of their funded work within the Eurostars member from which they receive funding, for example the UK for Innovate UK funding.

Any work which you wish to do outside of the UK, must be authorised by Innovate UK prior to your project starting, if you are in receipt of funding.

You must provide justification by email to support@iuk.ukri.org as soon as possible before you start your application and no later than the application deadline. Your request will be passed on to the Programme Manager. They will decide whether to approve your request. If you have not requested approval or your request has not been approved by us, these costs will not be eligible for funding and must be self-funded.

Your project must be a genuine collaboration between partners and participating Eurostars country members. No one partner, or partners from a single participating Eurostars country member, can be responsible for more than 70% of the total eligible project costs.

UK project team

The UK applicant can also collaborate with:

• other UK registered businesses of any size

• UK registered research organisations

Subcontractors

Subcontractors are allowed in this competition, but they must not account for more than 20% of the UK partners’ total eligible costs. Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK. Where subcontractors are not based in the UK, please justify why you are unable to use a UK alternative.

Project Management roles cannot be included within subcontracting costs. This must be carried out in house.

We would expect subcontractor costs to be justified and appropriate to the total eligible project costs.

Previous applications

You can use a previously submitted application to apply for this competition.

We will not award you funding if you have:

• failed to exploit a previously funded project
• an overdue independent accountant’s report
• failed to comply with grant terms and conditions

Funding

We have allocated up to £2.5 million to fund innovation projects in this competition.

You could get funding for your eligible project costs of:

• up to 60% if you are a micro or small business
• up to 60% if you are a medium-sized business

This competition provides state aid funding under article 25 of the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER). It is your responsibility to make sure that your organisation is eligible to receive state aid.

Your proposal

Your collaborative research and development (R&D) proposal must demonstrate:

• a game-changing or disruptive, innovative idea leading to new products, processes or services
• a strong and deliverable business plan that addresses (and documents) market potential and needs
• sound, practical financial plans and timelines
• good value for money, which will always be a consideration in Innovate UK funding decisions
• a clear plan backed by evidence, to deliver significant economic impact, return on investment (ROI) and growth through commercialisation, as soon as possible after project completion
• clear, considerable potential to significantly benefit the UK economy and/or national productivity
• the benefit of participants from the countries working together and how this adds value
• a clear definition of where intellectual property (IP) can be used and shared between the participants and countries
• a clear route to market within 2 years of project completion or the commencement of clinical trials if applicable

Projects we will not fund

We will not fund projects that:

• work on non-civilian purposes
• are not in scope
• do not meet Innovate UK’s and Eurostars eligibility criteria
• do not submit all mandatory documentation

• 21 January 2022: Competition opens
• 2 February 2022: Online briefing event: register to attend
• 24 March 2022 1:00pm: Competition closes
• 24 March 2022 1:00pm: Registration closes

Before you start

You must read and comply with the instructions and guidelines for the Eurostars call.

Background and further information

About Eureka

Eureka is an intergovernmental network launched in 1985. Its aim is to support market-oriented R&D and innovation projects by industry, research centres and universities across all technological sectors. It has over 45 member states, including the European Union, represented by the European Commission.

With its flexible and decentralised network, Eureka offers project partners:

• rapid access to skills and expertise across Europe
• national public and private funding schemes

Finding a project partner

If you want help to find a project partner, contact Innovate UK KTN or Innovate UK EDGE.

Support for SMEs from Innovate UK EDGE

If you receive an award, you will be contacted about working with an innovation and growth specialist at Innovate UK EDGE. This service forms part of our funded offer to you.

These specialists focus on growing innovative businesses and ensuring that projects contribute to their growth. Working one-to-one, they can help you to identify your best strategy and harness world class resources to grow and achieve scale.

We encourage you to engage with Innovate UK EDGE, delivered by a knowledgeable and objective specialist near you.

Contact us

If you need more information about how to apply, email support@iuk.ukri.org or call 0300 321 4357.

Our phone lines are open from 9am to 11:30am and 2pm to 4:30pm, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

Innovate UK is committed to making support for applicants accessible to everyone.

We can provide help for applicants who face barriers when making an application. This might be as a result of a disability, neurodiversity or anything else that makes it difficult to use our services. We can also give help and make other reasonable adjustments for you if your application is successful.

If you think you need more support, it is important that you contact our Customer Support Service as early as possible during your application process. You should aim to contact us no later than 10 working days before the competition closing date.

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