PRIMING GRANT FUNDING GUIDELINES

Transcription

1 PRIMING GRANT FUNDING GUIDELINES Definitions European Union (EU) Member State Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Small-to-medium enterprise or small-to-medium-sized enterprise (SME) In Europe, SMEs comprise companies that employ fewer than 250 persons or that have an annual turnover of less than 50 million. (For further information please see: In Australia, a SME is defined as a firm with up to than 200 full-time employees and/or less than AU$10 million turnover. Researcher/research organisation for the purposes of assessing priming grant eligibility, researchers are defined as those employed by a tertiary education institution, publicly funded research organisation, not-for-profit research organisation, or cooperative research centre. Travel costs travel costs will be interpreted so as to cover expenses such as flights, accommodation, on-ground transport, meals and other incidental costs incurred as a result of travel to meet with a SME or research partner. Minor project expenses expenses typically incurred by SME-researcher partnerships which include but are not limited to: assistance with research grant submissions, legal advice and associated administrative costs. Priming grant payments of $5,000 AUD or 4,000 payable to eligible SME-researcher partnerships for the purpose of developing ongoing research and innovation collaboration in the CAESIE priority areas. Eligible partnerships will receive a maximum of two (2) priming grants during the life of the CAESIE initiative. GST - The Goods and Services Tax (GST) in Australia is a value added tax of 10% on most goods and services transactions. All funding amounts as expressed in these guidelines are GST-inclusive unless otherwise specified.

2 Part 1: Background and Objectives 1.1 Connecting Australian-European Science and Innovation Excellence (CAESIE) is a BILAT project of the European Commission aimed at driving science and technology collaboration between Australian and European SMEs and researchers. CAESIE is funded by the European Commission and the Australian Government (DIICCSRTE) and is jointly managed by Australian and European partners. 1.2 CAESIE priming grants are designed primarily to support potential SME-researcher partnerships in exploring the viability of an intended research and development (R&D) collaboration or technology solution. The distance between Europe and Australia represents a major difficulty for developing collaborations. CAESIE priming grants are intended to stimulate the intensification of joint Australian-European research and innovation by reducing the financial risk on both sides to enter a collaboration proposal. They offer total funding of $10,000 payable in two stages to eligible SME-researcher partnerships for activities preparing cooperative, bi-continental R&D projects or facilitating technology solutions. Stage one and stage two priming grants will facilitate the initial stages of SME-research partnerships by offering modest funding associated with consortium meetings (travel-related costs) and assistance with minor project expenses. Priming grants are not designed to fund ongoing research costs or to support existing collaborative activities. Part 2: Overview of priming grants 2.1 Eligibility: SMEs must be: registered in Australia or in a European Union Member State; and not engaged in any litigation, arbitration, administrative proceedings, investigations, of or before any court, tribunal, commission, arbitral body or other agency in any jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Australia (for enterprises based in Australia) or the European Union (for enterprises based in Europe). Australian SMEs must be incorporated and registered for GST. Successful Australian applicants must supply their Australian Business Number (ABN). Research partners must: be affiliated with a tertiary education institution, public sector research agency, or not-forprofit research organisation in Australia or a European Union Member State. Researcher qualifications will be assessed in terms of eligibility at the discretion of the CAESIE partners on a case-by-case basis. CAESIE priming grants are not intended to support: direct research costs; routine replacement or upgrade of equipment; activities that would be undertaken in the normal course of business, such as website development, or the purchase, development and/or integration of standard software for core purposes (e.g. accounting, financial management), business planning, sales and promotional activities; retrospective activities (i.e. where expenditure is incurred prior to awarding of a priming grant), or

3 anything else as determined by the CAESIE partners discretion not to meet CAESIE objectives. 2.2 Stage one priming grants: will be available to eligible SME-researcher partnerships following the submission of a successful application. The stage one priming grant of $5,000 AUD ( 4,000, depending on exchange rates) is to be used to facilitate an initial face-to-face meeting between the partners. It may be used to pay for travel, accommodation and other expenses associated with the meeting. It may be used by either partner (SME or researcher) to travel to a mutually convenient location though payments will be made to and managed by the SME partner. All project expenditure is to be incurred after the priming grant is issued. Examples of activities supported by a stage one priming grant: travel-related costs: aeroplane, train, or bus tickets; taxi fares at destination; accommodation, meals and incidentals such as laundry expenses. Application process: Stage one priming grants will be open for applications for a three-month period, beginning July Applications will be submitted by the SME partner through the CAESIE website, using a SmartForm application form. The application will outline the following: the activity proposal and its relationship to a relevant priority area; a breakdown of proposed priming grant spending; an indicative timeline of the collaboration process; background information on the SME and researcher partners; and the anticipated outcomes or follow-up activities resulting from the meeting. All sections of the application form must be completed in full and further information may be sought from applicants if documentation is incomplete or unclear. The application form must be authored by a person with delegated authority to apply (i.e. with the appropriate financial delegation to approve external service agreements and payments). The information included in the completed form will be regarded by CAESIE partners as commercial-in-confidence. Potential applicants are encouraged to discuss their proposed project with a CAESIE National Contact Point, prior to submitting an application. Assessment: Applications will be screened against several suitability requirements by a panel comprised of representatives nominated by each of the following CAESIE partner organisations: The Australasian Industrial Research Group (AIRG); The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE); - (Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA); and The VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. The suitability requirements include: Does the application relate to one of the CAESIE priority areas? Is the applicant a SME under the definition? Does the research partner meet the definition of researcher as set out in the guidelines? Is the grant funding intended to fund research rather than linkage activities?

4 Is the applicant currently in dispute with the Australian Government or relevant European government? Applications must answer Yes to the first three suitability questions above, and No to the fourth and fifth questions in order to be deemed suitable for further assessment. Suitable applications then will be assessed by the panel. Assessment scoring will be out of 25 based on five separate criteria that are equally weighted: Criteria Weighting Need for support, including potential impact 5 of the activity in a CAESIE priority area Compatibility of partners 5 Likelihood of the CAESIE activity to result in an 5 ongoing R&D collaboration project Potential impact of the CAESIE activity on 5 business productivity or competitiveness Strategy for securing future funding 5 Total x/25 Successful applicants will be notified once the assessment process has been finalised. 2.3 Stage two priming grants: A further $5,000 AUD (approximately 4,000 depending on exchange rates) will be available for SME-researcher partnerships that are able to demonstrate an ongoing collaboration extending beyond the initial face-to-face meeting. An ongoing collaboration may take the form of, for example: Australian researchers connect with European SMEs to undertake specific R&D activities European researchers connect with Australian SMEs to undertake specific R&D activities Australian researchers provide technology solutions to EU SMEs (with Australian researchers owning the pre-existing Intellectual Property) EU researchers provide technology solutions to Australian SMEs (with EU researchers owning the pre-existing Intellectual Property) Examples of activities supported by a stage two priming grant: travel-related costs, including accommodation and incidentals; legal or contracting costs; a contribution to salaries for non-ongoing (temporary) Australian or European personnel employed specifically in relation to the project or to assist with applying for major research /development funds; and software or other ICT required to enable further interactions (only where this can be demonstrated not to be part of core business activities, as per 2.1 Eligibility). Application process and assessment: A template will be provided to facilitate stage one grant reporting which will include a section where partnerships may apply for a stage two priming grant. The stage two application should demonstrate the extent of the project s dependence on the priming grant, including the likelihood of the project proceeding if the application is unsuccessful.

5 Stage two grant applications will be assessed on a case-by-case basis and granted at the discretion of the CAESIE partners. 2.4 Payments: Payments will be made to eligible SMEs involved in an approved CAESIE partnership activity by the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE). Each grant awarded under CAESIE will be paid to its total value (AU$5,000/approximately 4,000 depending on exchange rates) in one instalment. 2.5 Duration of funding: Stage one and stage two priming grants are to be used within 6 months of awarding and reporting completed within 9 months of the date of awarding. CAESIE partners reserve the right to withdraw the funding/offer of funding if collaborations are not commenced within these timeframes. 2.6 Reporting: Recipients of stage one and stage two priming grants are required to submit a brief report within 3 months of completion of the grant (as per 2.5). The report should outline the outcomes of the grant and include a statutory declaration that priming grant funding was spent in line with the purposes for it was granted. Partnerships seeking a stage two priming grant will be required to indicate this in reporting on a stage one priming grant.