Canada Spain call for innovative projects

Scope

This project call is for R&D projects in all thematic areas or application domains

Timeframe

• 16 MAY 2022 Call opens
• 17 AUG 2022: Canadian registration deadline
• 31 AUG 2022: Canadian expression of interest deadline
• 31 OCT 2022 Submission deadline (international)
• 31 OCT 2022: Spanish registration deadline
• MAY 2023 Eureka label

Eligibility

Eureka has limited eligibility criteria for organisations participating in a Network projects consortium:

• Your project idea must represent international cooperation in the form of a specific project.
• The project must be directed at researching or developing an innovative product, process or service with the goal of commercialisation. 
• The project must have a civilian purpose.
• Your consortium must include at least two mutually independent companies, one from Spain and the other from Canada. 
• No single organisation or country can be responsible for more than 70% of the project budget.

This call for projects has additional criteria for organisations to be eligible to receive funding:

• 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 a technological risk involved. 
• The project should have an obvious advantage and added value resulting from the technological cooperation between the participants from the countries (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.
• The participants are required, prior to obtaining the Eureka label endorsement, to have signed a project consortium agreement.

NRC IRAP has additional criteria for Canadian organisations to be eligible to receive funding which include:

• Your organisation must be a small and medium-sized enterprise in Canada, incorporated and profit-oriented.
• Your organisation must have 500 or less full-time equivalent employees.
• You must have the objective to grow and generate profits through development and commercialisation of innovative, technology-driven new or improved products, services, or processes in Canada.

For all criteria, please refer to NRC IRAP’s International opportunities - National Research Council Canada for this call for proposals.

Funding

Canada

In Canada, this call for projects is offered through the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP). NRC IRAP is responsible for delivering this call for proposals and for managing any resulting funding agreements.

Eligible Canadian SMEs may receive up to 50% reimbursement of eligible project costs up to a maximum total funding amount of $500,000 CAD over 12 to 36 months.

Canadian SMEs may also participate in a collaborative project on a self-funding basis.

NOTE: Canadian SME applicants must be eligible for funding as NRC IRAP clients before they can be considered for funding through this call for proposals. For more information on NRC IRAP eligibility and becoming an NRC IRAP client, please contact NRC IRAP at 1-877-994-4727.

NOTE: Canadian SME applicants may apply to more than one NRC IRAP call for proposals simultaneously. However, NRC IRAP may limit the number of funded projects per applicant. Canadian SME applicants who are applying to more than one opportunity or who have ongoing NRC IRAP projects should speak to their NRC IRAP representative for more information. Before entering into a financial commitment with a client, both the firm and the project are evaluated on an individual basis during a consultation with one of our Industrial Technology Advisors (ITAs) located across Canada.

Spain

CDTI will finance industrial research and/or technological development activities of Spanish companies. Universities and research centers could take part as subcontractors.

CDTI will check the eligibility of the Spanish applicants after receiving the international application. If it is eligible, funding applications will be generated by CDTI to each Spanish company and it must be completed and submitted by them. A full memory (in Spanish) must be attached to these applications. Deadline to reply November 30th. If the funding applications are not submitted in time, the international project could be rejected.

Funding conditions for Spanish partners may vary depending on the nature of the project and the beneficiaries. For more information please access: http://www.cdti.es/index.asp?MP=100&MS=802&MN=2

Funding decision is expected within 4-5 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.

According to Eureka’s practices, applicants may choose to request a label without public financing (e.g. self-funding is also applicable).
If there is no allocated budget for your organisation type in your country and you want to participate in a project consortium, contact your national funding body using the form below to see whether there are other funding opportunities available or talk to them about self-funding.

Evaluation

Your project application will be reviewed according to our Network projects evaluation methodology.

Impact

•  Is the market properly addressed (i.e. size, access and risks)? 
• Is the value creation properly addressed (i.e. employment opportunities and environmental and societal benefits)? 
• What are the competitive advantages of your project (i.e. strategic importance, enhanced capabilities and visibility)? 
• Are your commercialisation plans clear and realistic (i.e. return on investment, geographical and sectoral impact)?

Excellence

•  What is the degree of innovation? (i.e. is the proposed product, process or service state-of-the-art? Is there sufficient technological maturity and risk)?
• How is the new knowledge going to be used? 
• Is your project scientifically and technically challenging for consortium partners? 
• Is the technical achievability and risk properly addressed?

Quality and efficiency of implementation

• What is the quality of your consortium (i.e. balance of the partnership and technological, managerial and financial capabilities of each partner)?
• Is there added value through international cooperation?
• Is your project management and planning realistic and clearly defined (i.e. methodology, planning approach, milestones and deliverables)?
• Is your cost structure reasonable (i.e. costs and financial commitment for each consortium partner)?

Overall perception

• Experts will list three positive and negative points to your application and finally state whether they recommend your project for public investment.
• Your national funding body may carry out a further evaluation (performed by the national project coordinator and technical experts) according to national rules before allocating funds to successful applicants.

How to apply?

1. Contact your national funding body using the contact form on Eureka’s website to discuss your project idea, financial viability, eligibility and national procedures. 
2. Create an account on our application portal (one per consortium) and select the funding opportunity you want to apply to. 
3. Using the portal, complete one application form per consortium (in English) and invite other consortium partners to fill in a partner form. 
4. Upload a GANTT chart (one per consortium), a signed and completed co-signature form (which you can download from the platform) and any additional required annexes.
5. Your application will be checked for completeness and eligibility before being reviewed using a standard evaluation procedure. If successful, your project will receive a Eureka label. 
6. Your national funding body may carry out a further evaluation (performed by the NPC and technical experts) according to national rules before allocating funds to successful applicants. 
7. [The final step is to complete and sign a project consortium agreement (CA). We recommend that you seek legal advice when drafting your CA.]

Additionally, each applicant must submit all required documents to their respective national funding authority and meet its due diligence process requirements

• Canada has additional steps for submitting your application. For complete information related to application stages, requirements, instructions, International Consortium Project Proposal (ICPP) application packages, and national funding body proposals and funding agreements, please consult the NRC IRAP’s International Opportunities page for this call for proposals and filter using “Spain”.

NOTE: After registering with NRC IRAP, Canadian applicants will be provided an Expression of Interest (EOI) form to be submitted by August 31st, 2022. It is strongly recommended for Canadian applicants to complete the EOI phase as early as possible, in order for NRC IRAP to confirm their potential eligibility for funding before assembling and submitting a proposal. Only qualifying applicants will be invited to submit the more detailed Eureka Network proposal and draft project consortium agreement in collaboration with their project partner(s). Qualified Canadian applicants will be provided a NRC IRAP Canadian Annex form that will need to be completed along with the EUREKA Network proposal.

•  In Spain the participants will have to submit a formal R&D international project aid application through CDTI’s website (https://sede.cdti.gob.es/) including the Eureka Application form (in English) and the draft project consortium agreement. 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.

Downloadables