Israel and United Kingdom call for projects

Timeframe

Call opening: 16 May 2022
Deadline for Eureka application: 19 September 2022
Consensus meeting of funding agencies: TBC
Eureka label: TBC
Notification to applicants: TBC

National funding bodies

Innovate UK

Innovate UK is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the national funding agency investing in science and research in the UK. UKRI is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS). Operating across the whole of the UK with a combined budget of more than £6 billion, UKRI brings together the 7 Research Councils, Innovate UK and Research England.

Israel Innovation Authority

The Authority is responsible for the country’s innovation policy. It is an independent and impartial public entity that operates for the benefit of the Israeli innovation ecosystem and Israeli economy as a whole. Its role is to nurture and develop Israeli innovation resources, while creating and strengthening the infrastructure and framework needed to support the entire knowledge industry. The Israel Europe R&D Directorate (ISERD) is the National Eureka Office, serving as Israel's national representative to Eureka, while the National Funding Body is the Israel Innovation Authority (IIA).

These organisations will also provide access to public funding for the joint projects. The support will be given to each partner by its own authorities in accordance with the national laws, rules, regulations and procedures in effect, on a non-exchange of funds basis, and subject to budgetary availability in each country.

Funding information

Israel: ILS 1 million euro total budget (can be exceeded)
UK GBP: £1.5 million total budget (~€)

The projects awarded support will be funded through a virtual common pot, which means that the national funding agencies will fund their respective national participants in the funded projects. The participants are therefore strongly advised to consult their respective funding agencies for further guidance (see ‘contact information’ section).

Projects have a maximum duration of 24 months. The amount of funding available per project partner is subject to national rules and regulations.

Earliest project start date: 1 March 2023

Clear definitions of where intellectual property can be used and shared between the participants and countries should be addressed in proposals.

The funding support will be given to each eligible partner by its own national authority. Funding conditions and eligibility criteria may vary from country to country. As a summary, the main funding criteria are explained below:

UK

Funding from Innovate UK will not exceed 70% if you are a micro or small business, up to 60% if you are a medium-sized business and up to 50% if you are a large business of the eligible and approved costs of the R&D. For industrial research projects, you could get funding for your eligible project costs in the form of a conditional grant and in accordance with normal Innovate UK T&C’s. The project’s are expected to last no more than 2 years. We expect grants to be in the region of £200- £250K.

Israel

An Israeli R&D performing company which initiates a single or multi-year program to provide know-how, processes or methods for the manufacture of a new product, application, technology base service or process. The product must have a sizeable potential for export sales. Research institutes or other participants may apply as a subcontractor to a company. The support is in the form of a conditional grant amounting generally up to 50% (+regional incentives for companies located in designated "development zones") of the eligible R&D budget. Further details regarding grants and payment of royalties are available at the Innovation Authority web site.

Eligibility criteria

The call for projects was launched on 16 May 2022 by Innovate UK and the Israel Innovation Authority.

Eligible partners are invited to present joint proposals for industrial R&D projects according to the following criteria:

• The lead partners should include at least one UK and one Israeli business of any size. Participation of research institutes/universities is welcome as subcontractors according to each country’s funding regulations.
• The UK and Israeli 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 participants are required, prior to submission, to have a draft consortium agreement, which must be signed before contracts are awarded.
• At least one industrial partner in each country (UK and Israel) will be required for each project with no individual partner, or parties from one country, taking more than 75% of the total eligible project costs.
• Funding needs to adhere to the national funding criteria of the relevant country (please refer to funding criteria below). The funding level of commercial partners will be limited to the EU General Block Exemption Rules (GBER).
• Commercial partners in a consortium should include separate legal and non-linked entities to ensure that projects stimulate genuine international collaboration, not internal company research. Where the companies are linked, they shall be considered a single entity under the parent company, for the purposes of participation eligibility; at least one industrial partner in each country (UK and Israel). Linked companies can specify under which nation they wish to be considered for the purposes of participation. For the purpose of funding, where companies are linked, the individual companies will receive funding from their respective national funding body.
• Organisations from other Eureka countries may also participate provided they arrange their own funding and the project meets the eligibility participation criteria of UK and Israeli organisations.
  Any partner whose cooperative R&D project is consistent with these criteria can apply to this call for projects in accordance with the national laws, rules, regulations and procedures in effect.

How to apply

Applicants are invited to contact the officers from the national authorities (see contact details at the end of the text) before submitting the documents.

The simple online Eureka application form (https://eureka.smartsimple.ie/) must be submitted by 19 September 2022, 17:00 (CEST).

The forms have to be legally signed by all participating companies.

The signatures must be scanned and sent together with the form as an integral part of the application. The forms must be filled in English, signed by both project partners and sent to the programme managers.

A collaboration agreement signed by the legal representatives of all participants is also required after grant award. The collaboration agreement should include details on data and IP sharing within the consortium.

After submitting your application, it will be checked for eligibility by the Eureka National Project Coordinators. In addition to the application form submission to Eureka, UK applicants should register with Innovate UK. A copy of the Eureka application should be uploaded with additional supporting documentation. IIA may also require additional supporting documentation. Please refer to the relevant national guidance below for full details.

In addition, applicants will have to submit their applications according to the procedures of each national authority:

• In the UK, participants must submit an application through Innovate UK’s website:
  Deadline: 28 September 2022 at 11:00.
• In Israel, the Israeli partner is required to submit the National Application Form in accordance with the Israel Innovation Authority regulations, through an online system: https://bakasha.innovationisrael.org.il/
  Deadline 19 September 2022 at 12:00.

Evaluation and monitoring

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

1. 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)?

2. 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?

3. 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)?

4. 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.

National reports have to be sent to the respective national funding agencies according to national rules. In addition, the projects funded will also be required to complete the following Eureka documentation:

• Project progress report
• Final report
• Market impact report

The likely methods used for project monitoring will consist of:

• Review of project monitoring data
• Structured interviews with participants
• Case studies with targeted projects
• Surveys with project participants

Downloadables