SMART competition FAQs

Transcription

1 SMART competition FAQs 1. Which costs can I include in my application for funding? The costs included should be all those directly incurred as a result of delivering your project. A list and description of the main eligible costs that can be included in your total project costs is available in the Project Costs section of Guidance for Applicants on our website available here: 2. How will successful applications be chosen? The Technology Strategy Board s funding mechanisms are a competitive application process. Independent assessors with relevant sector expertise, knowledge and experience in the relevant technology areas are appointed by the Technology Strategy Board for each competition. Each application is assessed by up to five assessors from both business and academia. The assessors are briefed in the competition scope and will score proposals against the answers to the questions provided in your application form. The competition guidance for applicants ( gives details on what information assessors look for against each question, along with further details of the assessment process. 3. If my application is unsuccessful can I resubmit it in a future competition? You may be able to resubmit an application into a future competition, providing the project addresses the technology priorities and eligibility criteria for that competition. However, it should be noted that the application form and specific competition guidance differs across competitions. If you are resubmitting a previous application you must ensure that you are using the correct application form and competition guidance for the competition. In the case of competitions which are continuously open, such as Smart and the Biomedical Catalyst Fund, only one resubmission per project is allowed within the scheme. 4. Are there any ethical or health and safety concerns associated with applying for funding from the Technology Strategy Board? It is important that public concerns about technologies are addressed and any unfounded fears dispelled. Project participants will be responsible for ensuring that individual projects are delivered according to the current legislative, regulatory and protocol frameworks. In some cases, certain requirements will be indicated in the competition guidance.

2 5. Do I have to fund part of the project myself? As a business applicant, you will receive grant funding for part of the total projects costs, but you will need to provide match funding for the remainder of the total project costs from private sources. If you are awarded a grant, we will ask for evidence that you have the funding mechanisms in place to manage your cash flow across the life of your project before your project can start. This could include letters of credit or other such mechanisms. The level of the match funding required is dependent on the type of competition you have entered, your organisation type and on the type of research you are delivering in your project. Details can be found in the Competition Guidance. 6. Can spin-out companies from universities apply? In general, yes. Where a university or other public sector body has 50% or greater ownership of the spin out, the spin out will be treated as a large business, which will affect the eligibility of its costs and level of any grant that can be awarded. In cases where both the spin out and the university are involved in the same collaboration, the added value brought to the collaboration between the two organisations through the project will need to be justified in the application. 7. How do you define an SME? In certain competitions there are requirements for SME involvement, and also the SME status of a business can affect the amount of grant that can be claimed. We use the EU definition of a Small to Medium-sized Enterprise (SME). Further details, including the definition of an SME and an SME test, can be found here Note that a business which is part of a larger organisation group may need to include employee/turnover/balance sheet data from that group in the eligibility, and so may not actually qualify as an SME. 8. How soon can I start my project? If your application is successful, you will be sent a Conditional Grant Offer Letter following the notification. You will be asked to accept and return all required documentation within the stated timeframes. The Technology Strategy Board will also be reviewing your project costs to check that they are compliant with the funding rules, and be conducting a financial health check to ensure that your business can manage the cash flow of delivering the project. Upon completion of these checks and the receipt of the requested documentation described in your offer letter, the Technology Strategy Board will send you a Grant Confirmation Letter. You will be

3 asked to enter your project start and end dates, sign the letter and return it to the Technology Strategy Board. Please note that you cannot start your project before you sign and return the Grant Confirmation Letter and that the start date cannot pre-date the letter. Any costs incurred prior to the signing of the Grant Confirmation Offer letter will not be eligible for claiming grant. 9. Who owns the IP of the project? IP developed within the project remains the property of the applicant/consortium. Where collaborative, the allocation of rights to this IP should be covered by the project's collaboration agreement. 10. Where and by when am I required to exploit the results of the project? The grant offer requires that exploitation of the results of the project must be within the UK or wider European Economic Area (EEA) within a period starting on the Offer Letter date and ending five years after the date on which final payment of grant is made. If you are able to demonstrate that it would be of major positive economic benefit to the UK and strengthen UK GDP to also exploit the results outside of the European Economic Area, the Technology Strategy Board may grant an assent to vary the Offer Letter. However, this will be in exceptional circumstances only and will be considered by the Technology Strategy Board on a caseby-case basis. 11. How much information about my application will the Technology Strategy Board make public? All applications for funding are treated in confidence and no information will be made public during the application and assessment process. All assessors and co-funders are required to sign confidentiality agreements. In your application form, you will be asked to provide a public summary description of your project for use in publicity material should your project be successful. At the end of the application and assessment process, the Technology Strategy Board will usually issue a press release or publish a notice on its website. These may, for example, outline the overall results of funding competitions and describe some of the projects to be funded. The titles of projects and names of consortium members may also be listed. The Technology Strategy Board will respect the wishes of partners if they do not want information about their project to be made public at this stage.

4 Information about successful projects will be placed on the Technology Strategy Board's project database, which is publicly accessible. This will usually include: project title, description of your project for public dissemination, names of the project partners, project cost, amount of grant and contact details of the lead partner. Information about unsuccessful project applications will remain confidential and will not be made public. Any successful applicant that wishes to publicise their project, at any stage, must contact the Media Relations Manager at the Technology Strategy Board before doing so. Where projects are collaborative, it is for consortium partners to agree how to manage the public relations aspects of their project. The Technology Strategy Board encourages all consortia to adopt a positive approach towards seeking publicity but respects that some may have sound reasons for preferring project information to remain confidential. Academics are encouraged to publish the findings of their research. However, this must be done in the manner agreed in the project's Collaboration Agreement. The Technology Strategy Board also compiles project case studies, which are used to help publicise the Technology Strategy Board's activities and the benefits of its programmes. Such material will be agreed with projects before it is disclosed. 12. How will projects be monitored? Projects will be monitored in accordance with the terms of your Conditional Offer Letter. Monitoring is likely to be undertaken by specialist contractors and involve quarterly reporting and progress meetings attended by the appointed Monitoring Officer. 13. How will projects be audited? In most cases, each project partner is required to appoint an independent auditor to audit their project costs in accordance with the terms of the Offer Letter, and produce an accountant s report. The size of audit will depend upon the size of the grant being claimed by each partner in your project. 14. What happens if there are any changes during the project? Any proposed changes to your project must be discussed and agreed with the Technology Strategy Board before being implemented. 15. What is SMART? Smart is a competition for SMEs. The objective of the Smart scheme is to assist small and mediumsized businesses, including pre-start-ups and start-ups, to engage in Research & Development

5 projects in strategically-important areas of science, engineering and technology from which successful new products, processes and services can emerge. The Smart scheme is a competitive process. All applications will be assessed by independent assessors and, following a ranking process, the most highly-ranked applications will be offered a grant within the limits of funding available. 16. What kinds of project are supported under the Smart programme? There are three types of project that you can apply for under the Smart competition: - Proof of Market (up to 25,000 grant) - Proof of Concept (up to 100,000 grant) - Development of Prototype (up to 250,000 grant) 17. What do I need to consider if my Smart project is a software project? If you are considering submitting a software project into the Smart competition, in order for it to be eligible, you must ensure that it involves significant technical development (engineering) that produces at least a step change impact on how computers and other devices are programmed or used. The scheme is unable to support projects that, in our judgement, lead to incremental development, increased functionality or general improvements in efficiency, no matter how much merit there may be in such work. Further details are provided in the Guidance for Applicants 18. Do I have to fund part of the project myself? The grants are for matched funding. You will need to find private sources of funding for part of the project. The level of the match funding is dependent on your business size and on the project details. Details can be found in the Guidance for Applicants. ( 19. Can other public sector bodies provide funding for my project? Yes. You cannot, however, apply for funding from them through the Technology Strategy Board, and you must make separate arrangements for the funding with the public sector body concerned. Details of any funding you have arranged with other public sector bodies must be included as required on your Application Form. Note that total funding from all public sector bodies cannot

6 exceed the grant intervention rate limits provided in the Guidance for Applicants 20. How much funding is available? Levels of funding depend on the type of grant applied for and the size of the applicant business. Details can be found in the Guidance for Applicants ( 21. What Project Costs can I claim? Eligible costs are clearly defined within the Guidance for Applicants 22. Is my business eligible to submit an application to the Smart scheme? This programme is only open to UK SMEs. Your business must be an SME as defined in the EU guidance at It is your responsibility to confirm that you comply with this definition. 23. I am a pre-start-up company, may I apply? Yes, we encourage applications from businesses at all stages, provided they meet the SME requirement and can demonstrate that they are able to match fund their share of the project costs in order to deliver their project. 24. I am based at a university, may I apply? Academic institutions are not eligible. However, a spin out that is less than 50% owned by its academic parent may be eligible, provided it complies with the definition of an SME and can demonstrate how the results of their project are going to be deployed for the good of the UK. 25. My organisation is a registered charity, may I apply? Registered charities are eligible, provided they comply with the definition of an SME and can demonstrate that the results of their project will stimulate economic growth in the UK.

7 26. My business is registered outside the UK, may I apply? The scheme is only available for UK-based SMEs. A non-uk company can apply providing it has a UKregistered operation and that the work will be performed in the UK. 27. Can I obtain investment under the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and also receive a grant from the Technology Strategy Board? Yes, a business can receive a grant from the Technology Strategy Board and also gain investment under the SEIS at the same time. Virtually all grant support from the Technology Strategy Board, including Smart, operates as notified State Aid. SEIS operates under de minimis rules, allowing a company to receive up to 200,000 over a three-year period fiscal period. A company can receive at the same time funding under a notified scheme and also a de minimis scheme. More information about the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme can be found at How do I submit my application? Details on the application process can be found in the Guidance for Applicants Applications are submitted electronically and applicants are required to register. The application and registration portal can be found on individual Smart competitions. All current funding competitions are listed on this page: What is the deadline for applications? In responsive mode, there is no specific deadline; applications may be submitted at any time. There will be six points during the year where batches of applications will be assessed. The dates of these batch assessments will be published on the website. 30. How will the successful applications be chosen? Proposals will be marked by an expert group of independent assessors against the answers to the questions provided in your application form. Smart is a competitive process and all applications in a batch will be assessed against the other applications for that batch. Further details of the assessment process can be found in the Guidance for Applicants

8 31. When will I find out if my application has been successful? In responsive mode, applicants will normally be informed a month after the batch assessment deadline. In thematic mode, dates for notification will be published within the competition brief. 32. Who owns the Intellectual Property generated by the project? Intellectual property created in the project remains the property of the applicant. 33. Can I work in collaboration with other businesses? Grants will be awarded only to individual businesses. However, applicants may identify components of the work which they wish to subcontract and may also employ specialist consultants or advisers if they believe this will increase the chances of the project being successful. 34. Do Smart grants constitute State Aid? Yes, these grants constitute State Aid but are offered under a notified exempt permission. Therefore, Smart grants do not count towards the de minimis allowance of companies. You should ensure that you comply with the eligibility requirements of the State Aid notification for this scheme. Full details are in the Guidance for Applicants ( 35. How are R&D tax credits affected by the funding offered from the Smart scheme? For SMEs the whole of a company's eligible costs for the project - whether paid for by its own contribution or by the Technology Strategy Board - attract R&D tax credits at the large company rate. That means the company can claim all of its eligible R&D costs as R&D tax credits against its taxable profits, thus reducing its corporation tax bill. For further information talk to your tax office or see and More general information on R&D tax credits is available at and For R&D outside of the project the company can claim at the small company rate.