Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports Managing Authority OP RDI CALL FOR SUBMISSION OF PROJECTS IN OP RDI Strengthening Research Capacities of R&D Centres Call Identification Priority Axis Call Number Date of Call Announcement 4 November 2013 Call Deadline 17 January 2014 Receipt of Registration Applications from System of Collecting Applications Strengthening Research Capacities of R&D Centres 1 European Centres of Excellence 2.1 Strengthening Research Capacities of R&D Centres 1 December 2013 At the address of the announcer and support provider Round Calls Planned Allocation for this Call CZK 1 billion
Contents 1 Basic Provisions... 3 2 Main Objectives of the Call... 3 2.1 Specific Objectives of the Call... 3 2.2 R&D Centre... 3 3 Supported Activities... 4 4 Grant Beneficiary... 4 5 Form and Amount of Support... 5 6 Implementation Period and Expense Eligibility... 5 7 Location of Project Implementation... 6 8 Application for Support and its Submission... 6 9 Other Provisions... 7 10 Address of the Announcer and Support Provider... 7 11 Annexes... 7 2
1 Basic Provisions The call is announced and the support will be provided by the MA of the Operational Programme Research and Development for Innovations (hereinafter the OP RDI) Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (hereinafter the MEYS), (www.msmt.cz). 2 Main Objectives of the Call The main objective of this call is to co-operate with the leading research capacities on establishing and ensuring material and technical equipment for the new research teams which shall support efficient use of research infrastructures, their development for the benefit of regions, efficient transfer of international knowledge to the region and the ability to create an internationally competitive quality in the region. 2.1 Specific Objectives of the Call a) Increasing research performance of R&D centres through interconnecting international teams with the established research infrastructure by bringing in and permanently involving new key personnel in the infrastructure of R&D centres. b) Ensuring material and technical equipment for new research teams and supporting the creation of findings that are prospective from the perspective of producing applicable results. c) Developing strategic partnerships through strengthening the international dimension and the intense research co-operation with the leading research organizations abroad. 2.2 R&D Centre An R&D centre shall mean a clearly profiled theme-oriented research and development office (e.g. a research institute, a university institute or its part clearly defined and independent in terms of organization, recorded in separated books, or a similarly specified joint office of several research institutions). An R&D centre is active in research activity, often of interdisciplinary nature, combining research, development and education in its programme (educating in particular PhD students and young researchers). The following centres shall be deemed R&D centres eligible to submit a project application in this call: 1) existing R&D centre supported under Priority Axis 1 (PA 1) or 2 (PA 2) of the OP RDI; 3
2) an R&D centre consisting of an entity/entities that are not beneficiaries or partners in projects supported under PA 1 or PA 2 of the OP RDI. 3) an R&D centre consisting of an entity/entities involved in the projects under PA 1 or PA 2 of the OP RDI. This R&D centre can only consist of units defined in terms of organization 1, which do not (or did not) participate in the implementation of projects under PA 1 and PA 2 of the OP RDI. 3 Supported Activities a) Acquisition of instrumentation, laboratory, and information equipment and infrastructure for research and technological development. b) Provision of expert personnel capacities required for the implementation of top-quality R&D projects. c) International co-operation through establishing clear relations with the identified international R&D institution(s) in terms of developing co-operation on joint projects, including submission of joint Project Applications under international grant competitions. Activities listed above under a) to c) are not supported separately, they can receive support only as a whole, they always form a compulsory part of projects and must be implemented in relation to one R&D centre. 4 Grant Beneficiary The beneficiary in PA 1 must fulfil all conditions below based on the definition of a research institution pursuant to Article 2.2(d) of Community Framework for State Aid for Research and Development and Innovation 2006/C 323/01 (hereinafter Framework ). 1) The main purpose is to: a. perform basic research, applied research or experimental development; or 2 b. spread results of activities listed under a) through education, publishing or technology transfer. 2) All profit from activities listed in Section 1 shall be reinvested in these activities; 1 This is typically the first level of the organizational structure - a public research institute, a university institute or a university faculty. 2 To exclude doubts, the main objective of the beneficiary shall be any of the activities listed as a) or b), or any combination thereof. 4
3) Companies (as entities performing commercial activities 3 ) that can influence such an entity, e.g. in the capacity of shareholders or members, do not have any preferential access to the research capacities of the entity or the results of the research for the purpose of their commercial activities; 4) Commercial and non-commercial 4 activities are recorded in separated books, and commercial activities are not financed from non-commercial ones (including the obligation to use profit from non-commercial activities exclusively for them). A binding way of proving that these conditions have been fulfilled will be stipulated in the OP RDI Guide for Applicants. 5 Form and Amount of Support Priority Axis 1 will be fully financed from public funds as follows: 85% from the European Regional Development Fund and 15% from the state budget. The support is provided as a grant 5. In line with the Framework, the support provided to research institutions (direct support) does not constitute state aid within the meaning of Article 107 of Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The funds will be earmarked for eligible project expenditure. Depending on the nature of the project and the legal form of the beneficiary, projects may be funded through regular ex-ante funding or through ex-post funding. The funding method (ex-ante/ex-post) will be specified in the Grant Award Decision (hereinafter the Decision) and a description is given in the Guide for Beneficiaries of the OP RDI. The minimum amount of project eligible expenditure per implementation of one project is CZK 20 million. The maximum amount of project eligible expenditure per implementation of one project is CZK 100 million. The total costs of a project must not exceed EUR 50 million. 6 Implementation Period and Expense Eligibility 3 Commercial activities mean offering goods and services on the market (i.e. in R&D particularly contractual research see Section 3.2.1. of the Framework). 4 Non-commercial activities are in particular activities listed in Section 3.1.1. of the Framework. 5 For the purposes of this document, a grant shall mean not only the state budget funds, the state financial assets or finances provided by the National Fund to legal or natural persons for a specific purpose, but also the state budget funds designated for pre-financing of expenditures. 5
The date of start of project implementation may precede the date of issue of Decision. Project costs are eligible after the start of project implementation if incurred after 1 January 2014. The receipt of Decision is required for expense eligibility. These expenses must be directly related to the actual implementation of the project; the project preparation costs shall not be deemed eligible. Only payroll expenses shall be deemed eligible until the date of issue of Decision 6. The implementation of projects under this call must be completed no later than by 31 December 2015 7. 7 Location of Project Implementation The project must be executed in the territory of the Czech Republic and outside the territory of the Capital City of Prague. The beneficiary as well as the partner must fulfil one of the following conditions related to the regional impact of the project: a) its seat is in the eligible region; b) the seat of its organizational unit 8, to which the project relates, is in the eligible region (e.g. the dean s office, institute management or a branch of the institution), and it has established a technically competent 9 infrastructure base in the region. c) it is an entity that has a share in eligible project expenses or in projects evaluated as successful in the OP RDI calls 1.1, 1.2 or 2.2 and that declared that it fulfilled the conditions for moving out of Prague (see Article 2.5 of the OP RDI Guide for Applicants Priority Axes 1 and 2). The condition is that the eligible expenditure of this entity in the project(s) of priority axes 1 and 2 is meant for building infrastructure for the entity in the eligible region(s). Also, by 1 July 2015, the entity shall have established a technically competent infrastructure base - in which the project will be implemented - located in the eligible region. 8 Application for Support and its Submission 6 See Annex B) Rules for Expense Eligibility for Call 2.1 Strengthening the Research Capacities of R&D Centres 7 A five-year sustainability period shall commence as of the end of project implementation. 8 When evaluating the project, only the relevant unit is considered. 9 A technically competent infrastructure base is such infrastructure base, which is fully functional for the purposes of implementing the research agenda. 6
The applicant submits a written application for support to the MA of the OP RDI. A detailed specification of the application shall be included in the Guide for Applicants of OP RDI. 9 Other Provisions a) No one has a legal title to receiving the support. b) Detailed information for the elaboration of the project application and conditions not mentioned herein are available in the OP RDI Guide for Applicants, available on the OP RDI website. c) The Managing Authority of the OP RDI is entitled to prolong, discontinue or abort the call. d) An applicant, who is a beneficiary in PA 1 and/or PA 2 of the OP RDI (Call No. 1.1, 1.2 or 2.2) shall not be entitled to submit more than one Project Application in relation to every single project implemented within the PA 1 or PA 2 of the OP RDI. Only in the case of major projects 10, applicants shall be entitled to submit a maximum of two Project Applications for every single project implemented within the PA 1 or PA 2 of the OP RDI. Other applicants shall not be entitled to submit more than one project. 10 Address of the Announcer and Support Provider Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports CORSO IIa Křižíkova 34/148 Prague 8 Karlín 186 00 11 Annexes A) Selection Criteria for Call 2.1 Strengthening Research Capacities of R&D Centres B) Rules for Expense Eligibility for Call 2.1 Strengthening the Research Capacities of R&D Centres 10 A project co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund, with the total cost exceeding EUR 50 million. The uniqueness of major projects lies in that their approval is subject to confirmation by the EC (major projects are required to furnish additional information for the same reason). The submission of major projects was enabled only in PA 1 and PA 2 of the OP RDI. 7
Monitoring Indicators for Call 2.1 Strengthening Research Capacities of R&D Centres 8