UK-Israel 1st Call for Proposals for R&D Projects

Summary

Following the launch of the first bilateral supporting business led innovation collaboration between the UK & Israel, we are launching the first call for which participants from both countries are invited to submit joint project proposals in all technological areas. This call is managed in cooperation and in line with the procedures of EUREKA innovation platform (www.eurekanetwork.org)
Innovate UK & The Israel Innovation Authority (IIA), formerly known as the Office of the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Economy from Israel are announcing this call for Proposals for joint business led R&D projects, focusing on developing innovative products and applications in any technological and market areas. Applicants are expected to develop ready to market solutions or projects which have strong market potential.

National Authorities

InnovateUK
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 Israel Innovation 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 in the Eureka Program, while the National Funding Body is the Israel Innovation Authority.
These organizations 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.

Relevant Technologies

All Technological areas

Criteria

The Call is launched on November 19th, 2018 by Innovate UK and 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 Member states 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 the aforesaid criteria can apply to the present announcement in accordance with the national laws, rules, regulations and procedures in effect.

Budget

Israel (ILS) – 1 million € (can be exceeded)

UK (GBP) – £1 million (~€1.14 million)

Funding

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).

The project’s total costs are anticipated to be between £200,000 and £250,000.

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

Earliest Project Start Date: 1st August 2019.

Funding criteria
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 & 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 of 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 typically in the region of £200- £250 K.

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.
https://innovation.daatsolutions.info/#home

Application Process

Additional considerations
• Clear definitions of where Intellectual Property can be used and shared between the participants and countries should be addressed in proposals.

Submission and approval procedures

Applicants are invited to contact the officers from the National Authorities (see contact details at the end of the text) before submitting the documents.
Applicants will be asked to present a short project outline via the following Eureka Project Application Form. The form should be submitted by the lead applicant submitted to [email protected], The Subject line should be UK- Israel Open Call 2018.

Applicants should include costs and duration for the Implementation Phase only when filling in the application form. As this is not a 2 stage application for funding you can leave Definition Phase empty.
The completed electronic form (the Eureka Project Application Form) must be submitted simultaneously to Innovate UK and IIA by March 11th, 2019.

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 program 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.
Following submission to the EUREKA Secretariat, applications 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 the participants will submit an application through Innovate UK’s website :
• 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 for submission to Innovate UK and IIA : March 6, 2019.

Project monitoring and evaluation

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 (PPR) [Annual requirement]
• Final Report (FiR)
• Market Impact Report (MIR)

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

Attachments