The planned Centres of Competence are expected to strive to develop an industry-service cooperation organisation that is suitable for:

• creating, expanding or developing R&D infrastructure capacity in line with industrial development trends, based on the competences of the research institution,
• integrating a significant number of young researchers (graduates, doctoral students, post-docs) and launching new MSc courses and industrial PhD dual training,
• continuously working with economic partners to develop competitive products and services,
• developing long-term R&D cooperation with economic partners through the research and infrastructure capacity created,
• developing innovative business models, resulting in a significant improvement in the competitiveness and efficiency of the implementers.

Submission of applications

Requests for a professional opinion can be completed by logging in at kfivelemeny.nkfih.gov.hu, taking into consideration the assessment criteria indicated there and also listed in section 8 of the call.

Requests for a professional opinion can be submitted by 12:00 CET, 7 February 2022.

Project proposals should be submitted online, by logging in and completing the online application form on the Participant Portal (Pályázati e-ügyintézés) at www.palyazat.gov.hu. The finalised proposal must be submitted together with a duly signed statement verifying the electronic submission of the application, in line with the Application Guidelines.

Project proposals can be submitted (electronically) from the activation of the online application form until 16:00 CET, 23 May 2022.

Requests for a professional opinion can be submitted in the form of a consortium.

Eligible applicants

The call is open to legal entities with registered seat in Hungary or with registered seat in the European Economic Area and a branch office in Hungary, more specifically:

• Businesses with legal personality, if theyqualify as businesses classified under the financial management (GFO) codes specified in the call, maintain double-entry accounting and are not subject to the small business tax (KATA).
• Non-profit and other not-for-profit organisationswith a GFO code as defined in the call, which are state-recognised non-state higher education institutions or other foundations as defined in Annex 1 to Act CCIV of 2011 on National Higher Education and which are research and knowledge-dissemination organisations as defined in Article 2(83) of Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014.
• Budgetary organs and budgetary entities classified under a GFO code as defined in the call, provided that they qualify as “research and knowledge-dissemination organisations” within the meaning of Article 2 (83) of Commission Regulation 651/2014/EU.
•  Non-profit companies with a GFO code as defined in the call and which qualify as a research and knowledge-dissemination organisation as defined in Article 2(83) of Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014.

Eligible activities

• Eligible activities: experimental development, applied (industrial) research
• Activities not eligible independently: basic research, acquisition of equipment and intangible assets, publicity, project coordination, industrial property rights, overheads, market access activities, public procurement, travel-related activities and the construction, extension, conversion, modernisation, renovation and upgrading of buildings essential to the research infrastructure and the necessary basic infrastructure improvements

Maximum project duration is 36 to 48 months. Beneficiaries have to commit to a maintenance period of 3 years. A large company applying for funding under the regional investment funding category is subject to a 5-year maintenance period, in which case the maintenance period for the whole consortium is 5 years.

Total budget and maximum amount of funding

The total budget of the call for proposals is HUF 20.7 billion. The maximum amount of funding is HUF 1 to 5 billion per project.