Course: International financial instruments for enterprises

Companies and research centres have an increasingly need for resources to enhance their competitiveness and continue to innovate. IGC has studied a path to access the international financial instruments on ongoing basis, to support the company growth at any time.

Calendar 2015

- First session Brussels: April, 21st/22nd/23^rd

or

- Second session Brussels: May 12th/13th/14th

The course will deal with the following issues: 

- Direct European funding for private and public companies as well as research centres;

- Private funding: finding and being financed by Angel business and capital venture;

- European bank loans (EIB, EBRD), international tenders, international awards: how to get grant funding or win a tender or award; 

- International Cooperation, Transactional funds: how to build a network of international partners and/or fit into a European cluster, by protecting your own know-how.

Three days in Brussels! at headquarters of IGC in Brussels Bridge Building, 584 Charles-Quint Avenue, Berchem-Sainte-Agathe - 1082 Brussels

Classes are held from 9.30 to 17.30 and will consist of theoretical and practical parts, workshops and successful case studies.

Course cost: € 655  per participant (VAT excluded).

By participating, you will have:

- 6 months of free consultancy, to assess the feasibility and sustainability of your innovative solutions and your plans.

- A voucher worth € 50 to participate in another course of IGC;  

- Course material, participation certificate, coffee breaks and brunch.

The course will be in English (including the teaching material).

To get the full programme and registration form, please contact:  marketing@igcsas.it

Would you like the course to be held directly at your office? Contact us!

Fast Track for Innovation

The Fast Track to Innovation (FTI) pilot is testing a new approach to give the development of innovations the last push needed before their introduction to the market. It is the only fully bottom-up measure in Horizon 2020 promoting close-to-market innovation activities and open to all types of participants.

Proposals must relate to any field under the specific objective "Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies" and/or to any of the specific objectives under the priority "Societal challenges".

Consortia must involve participants from industry. A maximum of 5 legal entities can participate in a project. Universities, research and technology organisations and further innovation actors may also participate. Actors that can play a key role in the commercialisation process are encouraged to take part, such as cluster organisations, end-users, industrial associations, incubators, investors, or the public Sector.

HORIZON 2020 DEDICATED SME INSTRUMENT

Boosting the potential of small businesses for eco-innovation and a sustainable supply of raw materials

Cut-off dates:

18/03/2015

27/06/2015

17/09/2015

This topic is targeted at all types of eco-innovative SMEs in all areas addressing the climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials challenge, focusing on SMEs showing a strong ambition to develop, grow and internationalise. All kinds of promising ideas, products, processes, services and business models, notably across sectors and disciplines, for commercialisation both in a business-to-business (B2B) and a business-to-customer (B2C) context, are eligible.

The SME instrument consists of three separate phases and a coaching and mentoring service for beneficiaries. Participants can apply to phase 1 with a view to applying to phase 2 at a later date, or directly to phase 2.

Horizon 2020 FUNDS FOR RESEARCH AND INNOVATION

Hybrid light and heavy duty vehicles

Deadline: 28th august 2014

Specific challenge: The competitiveness of European road vehicle manufacturers is based on technological leadership particularly on system optimisation and affordability, particularly with respect to powertrains. The challenge is to recover a leading position in hybrid technology. The technology will also have positive effect on the reduction of CO2 emissions from road transport and air quality.

Scope: Proposals should develop new knowledge on hybrid components (storage system power electronics, etc.) and system engineering, simulation and technology integration with the aim of achieving hybrid powertrain weight and cost reduction, increased functionality, simplification of complex systems, efficiency and affordability while decreasing emissions and improving performance, comfort and functional safety. For light vehicles, preference would be given to concepts providing significant zero emission ranges. The research should be validated through at least one demonstrator for each platform subject of research.

Project Budget: between EUR 10 to 20 million each

Funding rate: 70% (except for non-profit legal entities, where a rate of 100% applies)

Source: European Commission official website

FUNDS FOR INNOVATION

Future natural gas powertrains and components for cars and vans

Deadline: 28 August 2014

The challenge is to reach the fleet level of 95g CO2/km and 147g CO2/km emissions targets for passenger cars and light duty commercial vehicles respectively (according to the new Worldwide harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure), through the development of advanced engine and after-treatment concepts adapted and optimised to use natural gas. Significant reductions in terms of real driving emissions of NOx and PM are also expected.

The technology needs to be competitive with respect to current vehicles using conventional fuels. Therefore the challenge can only be reached if vehicles demonstrate a driving range of at least 600 km with no space penalty in comparison to gasoline vehicles.

Scope: Proposals should focus on any combination of combustion process optimisation, variable compression, control systems, dual fuel operation, optimised fuel injection, adaptive systems and sensors to cope with different qualities and blends, after-treatment systems, advanced fuel tanks, ancillaries and overall powertrain optimisation.


Project Budget: between EUR 10 to 20 million each

Funding rate: 70% (except for non-profit legal entities, where a rate of 100% applies)
Source: European Commission official website

FUNDS FOR RESEARCH AND INNOVATION

Reducing impacts and costs of freight and service trips in urban areas
Deadline: 18th march 2014

Proposals should address one or several of the following aspects:

• Improving basic knowledge and understanding on freight distribution and service trips in urban areas. This could address research on indicators, measurement and data (e.g. delivery/service characteristics, operators, movements, and impacts); economic and behavioural modelling; impacts of urban planning; effects of logistics sprawl (e.g. impact of decentralisation of logistics facilities on transport movements); freight mitigation strategies; effectiveness of partnerships and stakeholder engagement; and comparative analyses and evaluation of policies and experiments.

• Assessing innovative policies and solutions to ensure a better use of infrastructure (e.g. delivery spaces, off peak deliveries, non-road modes, urban waterways) and vehicles (types, load factors); improve network management; address demand side measures, innovative use of transport modes, new ways of stakeholder collaboration; and provide policy frameworks that allow sustainable business models for urban logistics solutions.

• Assessing innovative policies and solutions on consolidation and distribution centres in urban areas, including design (e.g. cross-docking); business models for consolidation schemes (including fleet and freight sharing and pooling and adequate collaboration frameworks); integration of direct and reverse logistics; tools to identify and measure consolidation opportunities; and governance models.

Project Budget: between EUR 2 to 4 million each

Funding rate: 100%

Source: European Commission official website

FUNDS FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Transforming the use of conventionally fuelled vehicles in urban areas

Deadline: 18th March 2014

Proposals should address one of the following domains:

• Comparing innovative policies, measures and tools that will, inter alia, halve the use of conventionally fuelled vehicles in cities, while increasing accessibility of urban areas and improve air quality and road safety. This could include:

– Assessing the role of regulatory measures, demand side measures, innovative mobility services and the promotion of alternative modes as part of wider package of technologies, policy-based and soft measures with a strong potential for replication. The related consensus building, information and communication activities should be fully integrated in the work.

– Exploring how changes in mobility behaviour, individual choices, and social norms can be catalysed, accelerated and guided towards modal shift, changing vehicle use or ownership, reducing the need for travel, new mobility patterns, or their combination. Relevant drivers and barriers could be identified. The research should gather, evaluate and disseminate techniques that can be employed, including approaches that use social media.

• Exploring policy frameworks and measures to ensure the uptake of alternative fuelled vehicle fleets in urban areas. This could include:

– Assessing the opportunities for large scale deployment of alternative fuel distribution infrastructure, including for electric vehicle recharging. This could include a comparative assessment of deployment approaches combined with the adequate vehicles. Research on partnerships, business models and planning/rollout approaches could be undertaken and standardisation aspects could form part of the work. Pre-commercial procurement initiatives could be facilitated.

– Analysing the potentials for upgrading and/or regenerating electric public transport systems (i.e. trolleybus, tram, light rail and metro) while ensuring the safe integration of electric vehicles into infrastructure, in line with the trend towards electromobility. This could include the evaluation of costs and benefits of development schemes, also addressing noise aspects, as well as knowledge transfer, exchange of experience and preparing policy recommendations. Activities to improve the operational potential and energy performance of electric public transport may be included.

Project Budget: between EUR 4 to 6 million each

Funding rate: 100%

Source: European Commission official website

For further information please contact us

European funding for innovation

Towards the energy efficient and emission free vessel

Deadline: 18th March 2014 (for pre-proposals)

The challenge is to support developments that make new and existing vessels used in maritime operations (including leisure) and in inland navigation significantly more efficient and less polluting through solutions addressing four ship sub-systems: engine, pollution abatement systems, propulsion, energy sources and management including the efficient operation of on-board systems

: In order to meet this challenge, proposals should address one or several of the following aspects:

• Optimisation of conventional ship engines, including fuel flexibility, new materials, lifetime performance and near zero emissions engines.

• Development of low-maintenance, affordable off-the-shelf retrofit solutions for emission reductions of existing engines.

• Development of Liquified Natural Gas/dual fuel powered engines for small and mid-size ships, including the specific aspects of retrofitting, fuel supply and storage, safety (on-board and on-shore) and classification, and solutions to address the risks of methane slip.

• Design and demonstration of new and improved propulsion means and vessel configurations that include the entire drive train and the propeller and hull optimisation for vessels, including applied research in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD).

• Use of new energy sources including renewables, alternative fuels, hybrid and electric solutions with the aim to demonstrate the feasibility of the zero or near-zero emissions vessel.

Project Budget: between EUR 8 to 17 million each

Funding rate: 70% (except for non-profit legal entities, where a rate of 100% applies)

Source: European Commission official website

FUNDS FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Smart Rail Services

Deadline: 18th March 2014 (pre-proposals)

Proposals should address one of the two main challenges:

1) Seamless multimodal travel

2) Logistic Services

Regarding Seamless multimodal travel, research and innovation activities should aim at conceiving and prototyping an on-line, mobile, suite of integrated facilities providing a whole new traveller experience throughout the journey (namely planning and reservation of user-friendly multimodal trips and services, including information related to the specific needs of persons with reduced mobility and to the environmental impact of user choices), easily accessible entitlements, validation and control for all transport modes, en-route assistance including re-accommodation. The whole process should be further supported by the necessary business analytics providing relevant feedback of traveller data with the aim of ensuring more robust and responsive transport operations. Developments should evolve on the basis of robust business models capable of guaranteeing the economics of these e-services in the long-term.

Regarding Logistic Services, proposals should aim at addressing the key challenges of freight through a systematic "top-down" approach that backtracks from the performance indicators to be achieved – either in a geographical reach perspective (i.e. applicability of the solutions on a European scale) or in market segmentation (e.g. trainload/intermodal/wagonload or commodity-based segments) - and define the optimal combination of business, operational and technological solutions that are required for their delivery. In view of the significant financial fragility of the sector, priority should be given to those aspects that maximise potential returns in the short-term and require only moderate investment.

Project Budget: around EUR 12 million for the first challenge (Seamless multimodal travel) and around EUR 6 million euro for the second challenge (Logistic services)

Funding rate: 100%

Source: European Commission official website

FUNDS FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT - AVIATION

Competitiveness of European Aviation through cost efficiency and innovation

Deadline: 18th March 2014 (for pre-proposals)

Regarding aircraft, research and innovation actions could target the development of technologies and methodologies which have the potential to save costs and time across the whole life cycle of the aircraft (design, production, maintenance, overhaul, repair and retrofit), including for certification aspects. Research and innovation actions could also target the integration of additional functions (e.g. sensing, actuating) or materials in structural components of the aircraft, the increased use of automation and artificial intelligence in control systems allowing versatility and new capabilities or to provide passenger with additional services on-board of the aircraft or at the airport.

Regarding air transport operations, research and innovation actions could target cost efficiency of ground operations, as well as innovative approaches which can reduce the needs or accelerate the pace of the training of personnel.

Funds for innovation actions

Technologies for “super” low “real world” CO2 and polluting emissions

Deadline: 18th march 2014 (for stage 1)

Proposals for research and demonstration activities should address one or more of the following domains:

• Future spark-ignited non-hybrid engines and their pollution abatement systems for gasoline and bio-based liquid fuels for passenger cars and light freight vehicles focussing on the optimal combination of innovative engine and after-treatment technology and of modelling, sensing on-board emission monitoring and testing to improve the design and control capability.

• Future diesel non-hybrid engines for cars and vans also focussing on the combination of the most appropriate engine and after-treatment technologies and on modelling, sensing on-board emission monitoring and testing to improve the overall design and control capability.

• Preparation of the life-cycle assessment of proposed technology combinations to quantify their environmental impacts along the entire well-to-wheel chain if not already covered by existing studies in the field.

• Low environmental impact brake systems to reduce micro and nano particles emissions while improving the measurement and understanding of their effects on health and the environment.

Project budget: 4-10 million EUR each
Funding rate : 70% (except for non-profit legal entities, where a rate of 100% applies)

Source: European Commission official website

European programme "Fundamental Rights and Citizenship"

Call for proposals for action grants: support to transnational projects

Call deadline: 12 March 2014

The call is targeted at European Union citizens or third countries nationals legally residing within the European Union territory and civil society associations, among other groups active in promoting the objectives of the programme. The beneficiaries of the call could be institutions and public or private organisations, universities, research institutes, non- governmental organisations, national, regional and local authorities, international organisations and other non-profit organisations established in the European Union.

The proposals under this call shall focus on the following priorities:
• Rights of the child

• Information on where the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights applies and where to turn to if fundamental rights are violated

• Combating different forms and manifestations of racism and xenophobia

• Fighting homophobia: Enhanced/improved understanding and tolerance

• Training and networking between legal professions and legal practitioners

• Awareness-raising about Union citizenship and the rights attached to it and identification of obstacles to their effective exercise

• Awareness-raising and information about the EU rules on free movement, in particular Directive 2004/38/EC

• Facilitation of the sharing of knowledge and exchange of best practices on acquisition and loss of Union citizenship

• Address the gender imbalance in participation in the European Parliament elections

• Data protection and privacy rights

All proposals must demonstrate that they will generate an added value at EU level as opposed to national or regional level.

Projects should have an initial duration not exceeding 24 months.

Budget: EUR 10 900 000.
The grant cannot constitute more than 80% of overall eligible project costs

For more information please contact us

Creative Europe Programme - Call for proposal

Organisation and implementation of an annual European Union Prize for rock, pop and dance music: The European Border Breakers' Awards

Deadline 31 January 2014

The purpose of this call for proposals is to select an organisation/consortium capable of organising the European Border Breakers' Awards (EBBA) for the European Commission for the period 2014-2018 (as of the 2015 edition with preparatory work in 2014). The work entails the organisation of procedures for the selection of the award winners, the organisation of the award ceremony and the promotion of the awards and their winners. The successful applicant will be invited to sign a framework partnership agreement for a maximum period of four years

The EBBA awards aim to recognize and reward the success of emerging talents in the pop, rock and dance music, who manage to achieve success with their first international release in Europe beyond their home country. 

The objectives of the EBBA awards are:

• further increase the visibility and cross-border success of the winners,

• inspire other emerging artists so that they can achieve international success, as well as

• raise broader awareness in the music industry and among the broader public of the large amount of high quality musical talent in Europe that deserves to be better known and promoted both across the continent and beyond

Budget for the co-financing of this action is estimated at € 400.000. This will cover the work plan for the 2015 edition of the prize.

The call is open to public or private organisations whose chief activity lies in the field of rock, pop and dance music and which have at least five years proven experience in organising activities and events at a European level in this field.

Organisations have to be established in the 28 EU Member States or in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, Montenegro, Serbia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Palestine, Syria and Israel.

For more information please contact us

European funding: CHIST-ERA

CHIST-ERA - European Coordinated Research on Long-term Challenges in Information and Communication Sciences & Technologies ERA-Net

Call deadline: 21st January 2014

CHIST-ERA is a coordination and co-operation activity supported by the European Union scheme of the FP7. The aim is to reinforce the transnational collaboration between Member States in challenging multidisciplinary research in the area of ICST with the potential to lead to significant breakthroughs. The partner organisations identify emergent scientific fields allowing European researchers to engage in high risk, high impact projects that will bring some advance in science by launching each year a transnational call for research proposals.

The Call 2013 addresses two topics:

1) Adaptive Machines in Complex Environments: Research in this topic addresses this challenge by developing autonomous systems that are perceptive to human requirements and that have the ability to continuously learn, adapt and improve in “real world” complex environments. These systems should be capable of continuous learning, such that they are able to work alongside humans in a reliable, safe and trust-worthy manner.

2) Heterogeneous Distributed Computing: The increase in the number of devices per capita and the challenge of processing ever-increasing amounts of data require new approaches involving researchers working across system levels. For example, hardware and software researchers working together to develop new approaches leading to improved performance, optimisation, reliability, fault tolerance and energy efficiency of distributed systems.

Proposals must be submitted by international consortiums with research partners in at least three

of the following countries: Austria, Belgium (Flanders), France, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom

Funding is based on national rules.

For more information please contact us

Boosting Urban Mobility Plans

BUMP will organize a series of visits to townsn and cities where BUMP projects have been put into practice. Inviting national and international delegations, BUMP will manage and lead these visist to 'BUMP Pioneers'.

These visist aim to enable the knowledge, learning and experience gained through the BUMP project to be shared beyond the participating group and to inspire other authorities to develop their own SUMPs.

Visits will provide a great opportunity for host towns and cities to raise their profile nationally and internationally. By attending these visists, guest delegations will be able to see exemplar mobility projects in action, learn how they developed and understand the conditions needed to replicate such projects where they live. These visits also present attractive opportunities for networking and international cooperation, both for the delegates and the host towns and cities involved

Participation is reserved to local authorities with a population ranging from 40.000 and 350.000. All services will be provided free of charge to the local authorities selected as beneficiaries through a public call. Local authorities will then appoint their representatives as participants in project activities among their planners, environmental and technical officers. 

The project will part-fund the participants' travel, subsistence and accommodation cost.

WP2014-15 Web Entrepreneurs Challenge

Deadline: 23/04/2014

This objective calls for projects to create an environment in Europe that encourages more web entrepreneurs to start a business in Europe and scale it up. The focus of this topic is on entrepreneurs who use web and mobile technologies as main components in their innovation with a positive impact across the continuum of actors for entrepreneurship.

The forthcoming €10M funding will be allocated to projects to accelerate web entrepreneurship in Europe by using new cross-border services co-developed by several local web entrepreneurship ecosystems and hubs working together. Coordination activities to strength the environment for web entrepreneurship in Europe and that exploit synergies across stakeholder communities will also be funded.

The expected impact is to support the emergence of dynamic European ecosystems for web entrepreneurs that also contribute to shaping future web entrepreneurship specific policies, in particular for the implementation of Startup Europe EU initiative

Scope:
a. Accelerate web entrepreneurship in Europe: Online platforms with new services
b. Coordination activities in the area of web entrepreneurs

Grants: 70% of total eligible costs

For more information, please contact us

Call for proposals for 'Career Development'

Deadline: 15 April 2014

The European Commission has published a call for proposals for 'Career development'.

The European Union needs highly trained and qualified researchers to improve the well-being of its citizens and ensure economic growth. In this context, this new call aims to support the EURAXESS Services Network and to complement the efforts made so far in support of researchers' career development in an academic environment.

The call builds on the principle that - based on the knowledge, behaviour and characteristics of an individual researcher - career development advice, coaching, and training could further enable a researcher to aspire to excellence, whether inside and outside academia. Researchers will be provided with tools, best practices, advice and training, and they will be able to set personal targets and demonstrate evidence of achievements.

Indicative budget: EUR 0.96 million

Beneficiaries: At least 3 independent legal entities, each of which is established in a EU member state or Associated country, and no 2 of which are established in the same EU member state or Associated country.

For more information, please contact us

Partnerships with third-country higher education institutions (including scholarships)

Deadline: 3rd March 2014

The programme's specific objectives are:

— to promote structured cooperation between higher education institutions and an offer of enhanced quality in higher education with a distinct European added value, attractive both within the European Union and beyond its borders, with a view to creating centres of excellence,

— to contribute to the mutual enrichment of societies by developing the qualifications of women/men so that they possess appropriate skills, particularly as regards the labour market, and are open-minded and internationally experienced through promoting mobility for the most talented students and academics from third countries to obtain qualifications and/or experience in the European Union and for the most talented European students and academics towards third countries,

— to contribute towards the development of human resources and the international cooperation capacity of higher education institutions in third countries through increased mobility streams between the European Union and third countries,

— to improve accessibility and enhance the profile and visibility of European higher education around the world as well as its attractiveness for third-country nationals and citizens of the Union.

The Erasmus Mundus Programme 2009-2013 is open to higher education institutions and to any organisation active in the field of higher education and research as well as to students, doctoral candidates, teachers, researchers and university staff (academic and/or administrative) from any part of the world.

Budget: EUR 78.657.500

For more information, contact us

RAISING PUBLIC AWARENESS OF DEVELOPMENT ISSUES AND PROMOTING DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

Deadline for presentation of concept notes: 30 January 2014

The global objective of this Call for Proposals is: to support actions, presented and implemented by

Non-State Actors and Local Authorities, aiming at raising public awareness of development issues and promoting development education in the European Union (EU) and acceding countries, to anchor development policy in European societies, to mobilise greater public support for action against poverty and for fairer relations between developed and developing countries, and to change attitudes to the issues and difficulties facing developing countries and their peoples.

Proposals must address one or several of the following issues:

• Basic living standards
• Drivers for inclusive and sustainable growth
• Sustainable management of natural resources
• Equality, equity and justice
• Peace and security

Detailed newsletter

Call for proposals - Structural support for European public policy research organisations (think tanks) and for civil society organisations at European level - ‘Europe for citizens’ programme (2014-2020)

Deadline Friday, December 20, 2013 

The aim of the present call is to select organisations with European outreach which, through their permanent, usual and regular activities, make a tangible contribution to the objectives of the ‘Europe for citizens’ programme.

The general objectives of the programme are:

• To contribute to citizens’ understanding of the Union, its history and diversity,

• To foster European citizenship and to improve conditions for civic and democratic participation at Union level.

 For 2014, the following thematic priorities have been adopted:

• Strand 1: European remembrance.

• Strand 2: Democratic engagement and civic participation. Categories of organisations

To be eligible for a framework partnership, the organisations must belong to one of the following categories: A. Civil society organisations for European remembrance (strand 1)

B. Civil society organisations working at European level (strand 2)

C. European public policy research organisations (think tanks) (strand 1 and 2)

D. Platforms of pan-European organisations (strand 2)

Budget: 6.76 M€

Applications from non-profit legal entities established in one of the following countries are eligible:

(a) EU Member States

(b) applications from other countries (namely the EFTA countries, the acceding countries, candidate countries and potential candidate countries) are eligible, provided that these countries have signed a memorandum of understanding with the European Commission during 2014

More information - detailed newsletter