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Summary 

Funding of up to EUR30k is now available for research projects for a duration of up to 9 months (typical duration is 3-6 months). The GÉANT Innovation Programme is a unique opportunity to enable initial development, establish a proof of concept or testing of new ideas, with lightweight, administrative constraints. Match funding or resourcing is not required, but proposals that are able to provide additional resources will be considered positively in the evaluation process.

The GÉANT Association has reserved EUR300k to support a fund for innovative research projects to be carried out by any legal entity belonging to the GÉANT Community: European National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) and any not for profit organisation served by the NRENs, such as universities and research institutes, etc.

The scope of the GÉANT Innovation Programme is to support innovative ideas coming  from the GÉANT Community. This enables innovators to develop their ideas and to test them in a real environment. Examples of previous innovation developed within the GEANT Community include widely adopted services, such as eduroam, eduVPN and eduMEET.

The programme offers researchers flexibility to focus on any subject area or topic providing that it falls within GÉANT’s Community remit. For example, proposals can draw upon areas such as networking, cloud, security, trust & Identity and education. Any proposals that demonstrate strong impact and create benefit for the GÉANT European Research and Education community will be welcome and evaluated.

We particularly encourage ambitious and novel research proposals addressing new concepts and techniques and those with the potential for significant scientific or societal and economic impact. Our funding decisions are based on a number of criteria, including: quality, innovation, potential impact and value for money.

Proposals may be submitted by a single organisation or by a small consortium. Given the small amount of funding available and the corresponding project size, large consortiums are not expected to submit proposals. However, only the lead partner organisation will receive funding and will be responsible for assigning a budget to any other partners within their project. GÉANT will not ask for a detailed declaration of expenditure, however, participants should be able to provide this information in the event of an audit, so will need to maintain the project’s supporting documentation.

Proposals may be submitted at any time – there are no fixed closing dates. Evaluations will be quickly carried out following a simple, two-stage process:  a first report prepared by a group of subject experts, and final evaluation by the evaluation committee. The GÉANT Association will sign an agreement with a successful applicant, which will outline the work to be done, the likely outcomes and results, as well as the conditions under which their projects will be carried out. Work should not start until this agreement is signed.

The legal entity representing a successful project will be paid upon the completion of the work. Due to the innovative nature of the work performed, we understand that not all projects will achieve their expected result. However, a project report produced by all projects will be used as the basis of the final evaluation to ensure value for money, efficiency and that the proof of concept activities were completed.

Eligibility 

Member NRENs from the GÉANT Association or legal entities from one of its ‘connected institutions’. i.e. any organisation recognised as a member of the GÉANT community (excluding GÉANT Association industry associates) are eligible to submit proposals. This means that applications from universities, research institutes or institutions, where they are connected to an NREN, are welcomed and eligible for funding under this programme. 

Timetable 

The Innovation Programme call will be open for the duration of the programme. Monthly reminders of the call will be issued, and evaluations will be called not later than four weeks after a proposal is received.

FAQs 

What is the maximum award one organisation can be granted?

A single, eligible legal entity will be awarded up to EUR30,000 per project. One organisation can submit multiple applications, since each project will be judged separately on its merits.  

What costs are eligible?

Costs that are directly associated with undertaking the project are eligible, for example, manpower, travel, etc.

Should project participants be located in an EU country? Does geographical location also apply to team members (EU nationals) and subcontractors?

Project participants should be registered in a country where a GÉANT Association NREN is located. There are no restrictions on the nationality of team members, but they should be employed by a participant organisation. Similarly, there is no restriction on the nationality or location of subcontractors.  Subcontracting needs to be explained in the application (purpose of subcontractor, input to the project, etc.).  

Is match funding needed?

Projects that provide matching funding will be scored more highly than those without. Match funding may come either from internal funds of the organisation or external funding. In the latter case it is important to indicate the source, e.g. national or regional public funding, external investor, bank loan, etc.

Are large/small companies eligible beneficiaries?

The single legal entity applying should be part of the research and education community and have services provided to them by their local NREN. Therefore, it is unlikely that large or small businesses will be eligible to apply (except in circumstances where there is a clear link to the local NREN).

For a multi-partner project, is all payment/justification handled via the lead partner?

Payments will be made to the lead partner only. 

How will the funding be paid? Do milestones/deliverables justify the payment or is a detailed declaration of expenditures needed?

GÉANT Association will provide a final payment at the end of the project, based on the acceptance of the final report. Interim payments will only be considered in exceptional circumstances.

A detailed declaration of expenditure is not required, however, in the event of an audit, the lead partner should be able to prove project spend, so it is necessary to maintain a full set of supporting documents.

Does GÉANT pay any overhead (e.g. 25% as in H2020 calls/programmes) for costs that cannot be identified and calculated by the beneficiary as directly attributed to the project?

The funding is provided as a lump sum contribution, there are no set rules for how organisations design their budget. The aim of the budget in the proposal is to demonstrate to the evaluators that the requested funding is consistent with the effort invested in producing the outcome the project aims to achieve. It should give GÉANT a ‘value for money’ perspective on the project.  

Is it possible to attach support letters e.g. from the local NREN? 

Letters of support may be included as part of the proposal in so far as they are relevant.