Date of announcement: September 25, 2015
Final submission deadline: ...

Call for NEMZ_15 Programme is open from November 25

Open from November 25, 2015, the call provides national funding to support participation in jointly funded international cooperation programmes (AAL, ECSEL, EUROSTARS). The amount of the funding, allocated from the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund for the programme titled “Funding to Support Participation in Joint EU Initiatives" (NEMZ_15), and other terms and conditions of the call remain unchanged. Following November 25, 2015, proposals can be submitted on a quarterly basis, in 30 days following the approval of the international proposal (or in 30 days following the activation of this call for winning 2014 proposals).

The call for proposals was amended on November 25, 2015 as follows:

Submission of national proposals
Hungarian members of international consortiums, which won funding in the 2014 rounds of international programmes covered by this call for proposals, can submit their proposals by the first evaluation deadline (January 06, 2016).

4.4.3. Professional evaluation of the proposal
Proposals will be evaluated and assessed in a simplified procedure, in quarterly phases.
Evaluation deadlines:

• January 06, 2016
  
• April 06, 2016
  

The Office will designate additional evaluation deadlines, as needed.

5.5. Types of eligible expenses

The service provider and the Beneficiary should not be considered unrelated if upon selection or in 3 (three) years preceding selection

1. There is/was an ownership or membership relationship between the Beneficiary and the service provider;
   
2. A member, owner, officer, supervisory board member of the Beneficiary is/was a member, owner, officer or supervisory board member of the service provider; 
   
3. A member, owner, officer, supervisory board member of the service provider is/was a member, owner, officer or supervisory board member of the Beneficiary; or
   
4. A close relative of a member, owner, officer, supervisory board member of the Beneficiary is/was a member, owner, officer or supervisory board member of the service provider, or a close relative of a member, owner, officer, supervisory board member of the service provider is/was a member, owner, officer or supervisory board member of the Beneficiary.
   

Purpose of the call

By providing national funding to enable participation in international cooperation projects, the programme helps Hungarian players get involved in the following joint programmes and initiatives funded partly from the Horizon 2020 budget and partly from the member states’ contributions:

• Active and Assisted Living (Code: AAL);
  
• Electronic Components and Systems for European Leadership (Code: ECSEL);
  
• EUROSTARS Programme (Code: EUROSTARS).
  

Participation in these programmes helps achieve national R&D targets set under the EU 2020 strategy and also coordinate member states’ national research and development programmes, enabling thereby more efficient use of European funds spent on research and development. The concentration of funds will enable the implementation of large-scale research projects that address major social problems and also improve the competitiveness of the European industrial sector.

What are the objectives of the joint programmes funded?

• Active and Assisted Living (Code: AAL)
  Targeting active and independent living assisted by info-communication technologies, the AAL programme focuses on enhancing the quality of life and independence of the elderly through the development of innovative info-communication products, services and systems that serve the needs of end-users, including the elderly, caretakers, family members and financers.
  
• Electronic Components and Systems for European Leadership (Code: ECSEL)
  Operated under the EU Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, ECSEL is an international partnership between industry players (including SMEs) and nonprofit research institutes for the development of reliable, eco-friendly, smart and complex systems (capable of machine-to-human and machine-to-machine communication while connecting physical and virtual worlds), which meet the needs of the society, from microchips to finished products (such as cars and airplanes) along the entire value chain. Key areas defined by the industry are: micro-/nanoelectronics, embedded/cyber-physical systems and smart integrated systems.
  
• EUROSTARS Programme (Code: EUROSTARS).
  A joint programme between EUREKA and the European Commission, EUROSTARS supports innovative small- and middle-sized enterprises that perform R&D and have major growth potential. The programme is open to all fields of technology. Applicants are required to submit projects that will be implemented by the partnership of at least two different institutes (small- and middle-sized enterprise, corporate enterprise, academic institute, research institute) operating in states that have joined the EUROSTARS programme, and that will result in innovative products, processes or services which will be commercialized within two years following project closure.
  

Who can apply?

The following entities are eligible to apply either independently or in a national consortium, as Hungarian members of the same international consortium:

• businesses with registered seat in Hungary;
  
• Hungary-based branches of businesses seated in the European Economic Area;
  
• non-profit organizations with legal personality, budgetary organizations and their institutions with legal personality (in case of EUROSTARS programmes, applications shall be submitted in consortium with a business organization).
  

Participants of international projects recommended for funding under the international evaluation system of a given international programme for which they had submitted a project proposal are eligible to submit proposals.

What objectives are supported?

For projects to be implemented under the calls of a given international programme, the following objectives are supported:

• basic research, applied research and experimental development activities under the title of R&D project funding;
  
• and activities related to project communications, commercialization and industry property rights protection under the title of de minimis funding.
  

Available funding

In order to achieve the goals set in the Programme, the National Research, Development and Innovation Office will provide a total budget of HUF 1.38 billion from the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund, split as follows:

• Hungarian applicants successfully competing in the 2014-2015 rounds of AAL will be granted up to HUF 349 million in total;
  
• Hungarian applicants successfully competing in the 2014-2015 rounds of ECSEL will be granted up to HUF 546 million in total;
  
• Hungarian applicants successfully competing in the 2014-2015 rounds of EUROSTARS will be granted up to HUF 485 million in total.
  

Grants that can be applied for by a single applicant under the different programmes are as follows:

• up to HUF 80 million for AAL projects;
  
• up to HUF 200 million for ECSEL projects;
  
• up to HUF 90 million for EUROSTARS projects.
  

Funding intensity for R&D projects will be between 25% and 100% depending on applicants and research categories. Funding intensity for de minimis aids will be 100%. In addition to funding from the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund, applicants will also receive funding from the EU Horizon 2020 budget.