Eligible applicants

Proposals for this call may be submitted as direct beneficiaries by a company that is 100% owned by a state-recognised higher education institution or a research and knowledge-dissemination organisation responsible for managing public research centres in Hungary and whose main activity involves technology transfer and exploitation. By the start of the project, the company is expected to prepare its proof of concept along the guidelines developed by the National Innovation Agency (hereinafter: NIÜ) in the framework of the “Technology Transfer Company” project. The agreement of the proof of concept with the NIÜ and its approval by the NIÜ is a condition for the issuance of the Funding Declaration.

The call is not open to consortia.

For the purposes of this call, the applicant is understood to be the organisation (TTC) that is independently implementing the project specified in the proposal. The applicant is hereinafter referred to as the applicant or, in the case of a positive funding decision, the beneficiary.

The additional conditions for applicants, including the list of ineligible applicants, are set out in point 6 of the Guidelines annexed to this call.

The TTC (direct beneficiary) enters into an agreement with a 100%-owned institution or organisation – a state-recognised higher education institution or a research and knowledge-dissemination organisation responsible for managing public research centres in Hungary – (final beneficiary), whereby the final beneficiary will further develop its own research results for their practical, technological and social exploitation, contributing to the long-term growth of the Hungarian economy, with the help of public funding from the NRDI Fund under this call (sub-funding) and the public funding provided by the direct beneficiary under point 6.2 of this call.

The detailed requirements for the direct beneficiary (TTC), the final beneficiary (a state-recognised higher education institution or a research and knowledge-dissemination organisation responsible for managing research centres, which has 100% ownership of the TTC) and the sub-granted funding are set out in the Operations Manual annexed to this call.

Total budget and the maximum amount of funding

The source of the funding is earmarked under Chapter 1 (Research Fund Section) of Chapter LXII (National Research, Development and Innovation Fund) of Annex 1 to the Act on the Central Budget of Hungary for 2025 and in the NRDI Fund’s 2025 Programme Strategy.

In order to achieve the objectives of the call, the Funder provides a total budget of HUF 3 billion from the NRDI Fund.

Total expected number of funded projects: 8 to 12. The number is indicative and may change depending on the requested and awarded amount of funding.

The maximum amount of funding per proposal is HUF 350 million.

The funding intensity for funded projects is 90%. The direct beneficiary undertakes to supplement the amount of funding at the TTC project level by 10% from its own resources or from market sources during the implementation of the project.

Duration of the project

Maximum project duration is 36 months, with no possibility for extension.

Two milestones should be planned for the whole project, at the end of month 12 and month 24. At the end of month 36, the project ends with a final milestone (only the final milestone can be less than 12 months).

Submission of proposals

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

The declaration must be signed (authenticated) as follows:

1. provided with the authorised signatory’s qualified electronic signature or advanced electronic signature based on a qualified certificate, or
2. provided with the authorised signatory’s signature through the AVDH online document authentication service. The AVDH service is available free of charge, but requires Client Gateway registration. (The AVDH service is available here: https://magyarorszag.hu/szuf_avdh_feltoltes.)

Proposals can only be submitted via the Participant Portal, without the need to send it on paper to the NRDI Office.

Deadline for submission

Proposals are accepted electronically on a rolling basis from the official opening of the online form until 12:00 (CET) on 10 March 2025. The expected date for the launch of the online form is 17 February 2024, the opening of which will be announced on www.nkfih.gov.hu.

Evaluation process

Applicants who meet the admission requirements and satisfy the eligibility and formal assessment criteria will be invited to present their project plan in person. The evaluation will consider both the written proposal and the in-person presentation.

The expected date of the funding decision is May 2025.

Project implementation

Projects can start between 1 June 2025 and 31 May 2028.