Call for proposals under the Challenge program - Stage 2: Full application (shortlisted applicants only)

The term “all staff members employed” refers to the total number of staff employed by the applicant or partner as a whole during the last closed financial year, not just those involved in the project proposal.
For the purpose of calculating total staff costs and Annual Work Units (AWU), only employees with an employment contract (full-time or part-time) whose costs are recorded as personnel expenses in the organisation’s last approved annual financial statement should be included.
External experts, consultants, or persons engaged under service, freelance, or similar contracts are not considered staff and must therefore be excluded from both the total staff costs and the AWU calculation.
The figures for total staff costs and AWU should be taken directly from the organisation’s last approved annual financial statement (or the notes to the accounts), which clearly distinguishes employees from external service providers. Only staff recorded under personnel expenses and counted in the average annual number of employees (FTE) should be included.

Planned FTE engagement (%) is calculated by dividing the number of planned project working days by the annual standard of 215 working days. For example, 5 days per month equals 60 days per year (5 × 12 = 60). Dividing 60 by 215 gives 28%, which should be entered as the team member’s planned FTE engagement.

The daily rate for personnel costs is calculated uniformly for all project and research team members within the same organization. It is based on the average personnel costs of the organization in the last closed financial year, adjusted by a factor of 1.2 (20%). This methodology represents a standardized unit cost approach: it does not directly reimburse the actual individual salary costs of staff but provides a uniform rate that applies equally to all staff engaged in the project.
Personnel costs are justified through signed monthly timesheets and the employment contract for each staff member. These documents serve as the required supporting evidence to demonstrate both the number of days worked on the project and the formal employment status of each individual.

These documents are not required at the time of Full Application submission. They must be submitted later, as specified in Table 12 of the Guidelines for Applicants, which also indicates which partner (RO or enterprise) is responsible for preparing each document. The applicant will be requested to provide the relevant documents upon request of the Evaluation Committee.

CVs must be submitted for all named members of the research team in the Full application form. All listed members are considered key researchers for the purpose of the Call.

Update (October 10, 2025): CVs must be provided for all named members of the research team in the Full Application Form. CVs are not required for administrative, research support, or technical personnel, or for other project team members not directly involved in research activities. This requirement equally applies to project partners.

The refund for personnel costs during the implementation of the project is calculated using a standardized daily rate, which is identical for all staff members within the same organization. Payslips are not required. Instead, personnel costs must be justified through signed monthly timesheets and the employment contract of each staff member, which together provide proof of both the time worked on the project and the formal employment relationship.

In accordance with the eligibility conditions of the Call, each enterprise partner must demonstrate that its business revenue in the year prior to the submission of the project proposal (i.e., 2024) is not less than 50% of the total eligible costs allocated to the partner. Revenues from the current year or from the last 12 months cannot be taken into account for this purpose.

In accordance with the eligibility conditions of the Call, the revenue condition must be met individually by each enterprise partner. The condition cannot be fulfilled jointly by combining the revenues of a consortium of enterprises.

The issue has been corrected. The online eDIGIT Full application form is now fully aligned with the offline template provided in Annex VI. Full application form. The column structure corresponds to “Duration of activity implementation” and “Description of the activity”.

Equivalent reports or other available sources of information may be submitted only in cases where the annual financial statement is not required or applicable, such as for entities established abroad, operating under different reporting frameworks or using non-standard fiscal year. In such cases, the partner may provide externally and independently verifiable documents that clearly demonstrate the partner’s business revenue for the relevant year.

The issue has been corrected in the 2nd revision of the document, where the table now allows entering a “Percentage share of capital or voting rights” below 50%. Applicants and partners are required to use the updated (2nd revision) version of Annex IX., as the previous version is no longer valid.

These costs are considered part of “Indirect and other costs” for partners classified as enterprises, as defined in Table 10 of the Guidelines for Applicants. Indirect and other costs are calculated as a flat rate of up to 15% of all eligible costs for each enterprise partner.

The “Feasibility of implementation plan” section in the Full application form remains limited to 5,000 characters. However, unlike the Concept note, the Full application includes additional sections — such as Project activities and deliverables, Outcome and output indicators, and the Budget — where applicants can provide detailed information relevant to the implementation plan. Applicants are therefore encouraged to refer to and build on these sections within the Feasibility of implementation plan field, ensuring concise and coherent descriptions.

When preparing the project budget, applicants are advised to ensure that all cost items are described clearly and in sufficient detail to facilitate proper evaluation and monitoring during project implementation.

For equipment costs, each individual item of equipment (including its associated components) should preferably be listed separately in the budget. For materials and small inventory (e.g. chemicals, reagents, plastic accessories, samples), it is acceptable to group them under a single budget line per activity, provided that a clear and detailed description of the contents of that line is included in the budget narrative.

If both the applicant and partners plan to procure similar or identical items, these costs must be presented separately for each consortium member.

The engagement of each person in the project activities must be described in the “Project feasibility” section of the Full application form, specifically within the tables “Project team members” and “Research team members,” under the part “Role in project/research team.”

Additionally, relevant details should be reflected in the “Resources and budget” section of the form.

Applicants and partners are responsible for appointing team members and planning additional project-related employment as needed. All members of the research team must be listed in the “Research team members” table of the Full application form, including those affiliated with institutions abroad and those for whom no funds are requested under the project.

If no salary costs are requested for a specific team member, their Planned FTE engagement (%) should still be indicated to reflect their expected contribution to project activities. CVs must be provided for all named members of the research team in the Full application form. CVs are not required for administrative, research support, or technical personnel, or for other project team members not directly involved in research activities.

Please note that only employees of the applicant or partner institutions (including planned new employment) may be appointed as members of the project or research team. Individuals who are not employees of the applicant or partners cannot be listed in these tables, regardless of their role in the project. Such experts may contribute to the project exclusively through external service contracts.

It is not necessary to plan personnel costs for every named member of the project or research team. Team members may be included in the Full application proposal even if no project funds are requested for their engagement. In such cases, no personnel costs should be included for these individuals in the project budget. However, their Planned FTE engagement (%) must still be indicated in the Full application form to reflect their expected contribution to the project.

Please note that only employees of the applicant or partner institutions (including planned new employment) may be appointed as members of the project or research team. Individuals who are not employees of the applicant or partners cannot be listed in these tables, regardless of their role in the project. Such experts may contribute to the project exclusively through external service contracts.

Applicants are expected to be aware of the budget figures submitted in Stage 1 (Concept note). At that stage, only an indicative (estimated) budget was required. Regardless of the approach used in Stage 1, in Stage 2 (Full application) the budget must clearly show the total eligible costs for each consortium member, indicating both the grant-funded share and the partner’s own contribution. This breakdown should be visible in the Budget summary section under “Sources of funding”.

Applicants must ensure that the budget remains within the overall funding limits and complies with all eligibility rules defined in the Call documentation, including the required distribution of costs among the applicant and partners. Applicants should also refer to the Notes for applicants below Table 11 (page 27) of the Guidelines for Applicants for more detailed instructions on budget structure and cost allocation.

In the event of successful selection, and before signing the Grant Agreement, enterprise partners will be required to provide proof of secured co-financing (e.g. bank statement or equivalent document), as specified in the Guidelines for Applicants.

In the Full application form, the contingency reserve should be presented as a separate budget line. It must be clearly named as “Contingency reserve” and shown independently from other costs.

The contingency reserve may amount to up to 10% of the total eligible costs (excluding the contingency reserve itself and indirect costs). It is intended for unforeseen and justified expenses and its use requires prior approval by the MSEY/CSF.

This cost item is applicable only to the applicant and should not be included by project partners.

In the Full application form, “Indirect costs” (for research organisations) and “Indirect and other costs” (for enterprises) should be entered as a single consolidated cost item under the activity Project management.

Each consortium member, the applicant and every partner, must include, under the activity Project management, a separate budget line for “Indirect costs” (up to 7% for research organisations) or for “Indirect and other costs” (up to 15% for enterprises).

These flat rates are calculated on the total eligible costs of each consortium member individually, in line with Tables 9 and 10 of the Guidelines for Applicants.

“Other direct costs” include all eligible cost items except:

• Direct personnel costs, and
• Indirect costs (or Indirect and other costs, where applicable).

These are all direct, identifiable, project-specific costs that can be clearly attributed to the implementation of the project, in line with the eligibility rules set out in Section 10.3 of the Guidelines for Applicants.

A detailed budget plan refers to the comprehensive and structured financial breakdown of the project proposal that presents, in a transparent and verifiable manner, all planned project costs in line with the objectives, activities, and expected outputs of the project proposal. It must be completed as part of the Full application form and prepared in accordance with the instructions and cost categories outlined in Section 10.3 Eligible and ineligible costs of the Guidelines for Applicants.

Enterprises must present the full (100%) value of each eligible cost when completing the Budget part of the eDIGIT Full application form. The purpose of this section is to show the total financial value of eligible costs to be implemented by the applicant and each partner before applying the corresponding grant intensity.

In the Budget summary – Sources of funding part of the eDIGIT Full application form, applicants must provide a clear financial overview of the total eligible costs, the applicable grant intensity, the calculated grant amount per category of aid, and each consortium member’s own contribution. Each column should be completed as follows:

• Category of aid: According to the project budget, select the applicable category for each consortium member (e.g. Grant for research organization; Micro or small enterprise – Aid for R&D; Medium-sized enterprise – Aid for R&D; Large enterprise – Aid for R&D). There must be as many rows as there are consortium members requesting grant funds, with one row corresponding to each consortium member and its relevant category of aid.
• Total eligible costs: Enter the full amount (100%) of eligible costs for that consortium member, as declared in the Budget section.
• Grant intensity: Indicate the applicable rate of grant intensity for that consortium member (e.g. 60% for a micro or small-sized enterprise).
• Grant amount: Enter the calculated share of total eligible costs corresponding to the indicated grant intensity.
• Each consortium member funds: Enter the name of the consortium member to whom the category of aid applies and, where applicable, indicate the remaining share of eligible costs that will be covered by the applicant’s or partner’s own contribution (private co-financing related to eligible costs).

Applicants must ensure that the total sum of “Grant amount” across all consortium members corresponds to the total requested grant amount for the project, while the sum of “Each consortium member funds” represents the total private co-financing of eligible costs. The enterprise’s private co-financing (e.g. 40% for a micro or small-sized enterprise) is part of the eligible costs and should not be entered under “Ineligible costs – private funds.” The fields “Ineligible costs – public funds” and “Ineligible costs – private funds” are reserved exclusively for expenditures that do not meet the eligibility criteria defined in the Call.

The financial relationship between the applicant (beneficiary) and project partners is regulated by the Partnership Agreement, which must be prepared in line with Annex VIII. Minimum content requirements for the Partnership Agreement and submitted before the Award decision on funding. This agreement defines, among other elements, the planned schedule for transferring funds from the beneficiary to the partners and the method of distribution of grant funds.

Grant funds are transferred by the MSEY to the beneficiary, who is responsible for transferring the corresponding amounts to project partners in line with the Partnership Agreement and the approved project budget.

According to Annex I., Section 3. Procedures of project implementation management:

• The beneficiary may request an advance payment of up to 30% of the total grant amount after signing the Grant Agreement.
• Interim payments are made semi-annually, following the submission and approval of Progress reports and requests for interim payment.
• The final payment is made after the submission and approval of the Final progress report.

As stated in the Guidelines for Applicants, each personnel cost item in the budget for a specific project activity must specify the total number of daily rates required, without the need to indicate the number of working days for each individual staff member when several individuals from the same consortium member are engaged in the same activity. Therefore, personnel from the same consortium member working on the same activity may be grouped under a single budget line, provided that:

• The number of units represents the total number of daily rates for all grouped project or research members;
• The unit cost corresponds to the daily rate (not the hourly rate);
• The description field clearly lists all team members involved (or indicates that new staff will be hired).

Only the registered applicant has access to the specific application in the eDIGIT portal. The application must be submitted by an authorised representative of the applicant or a project manager employed by the applicant. The platform does not allow multiple users to work on or edit the same application simultaneously.

Only the costs explicitly listed in tables 9, 10, and 11 of the Guidelines for Applicants are eligible for funding under this Call. Therefore, the cost of doctoral studies for PhD students is not an eligible cost.

As defined in Annex E. Guidelines related to the application of State aid rules within Annex I., the capacity of the relevant entity refers to the laboratory, center, institute, or organizational unit where the equipment is purchased and used.

Applicants (and partners that are research organizations) must describe how this capacity will be measured to demonstrate that the equipment will be used primarily for non-economic research activities, and that any potential economic use will remain within the limits permitted under State aid rules.

Capacity can, for example, be expressed in working hours of the entity equipped under the project that are used for non-economic and auxiliary economic activities, based on the actual use of the research equipment.

After project completion, beneficiaries (including partners) that are research organizations must report annually on the use of this capacity through Capacity Use Reports, as required by Annex E.

As defined in Annex E. Guidelines related to the application of State aid rules within Annex I, the relevant entity refers, for example, to a laboratory, center, institute, or organizational unit where the instruments and equipment are purchased and used.

This section should primarily include equipment financed under “Adaptation works and infrastructure equipping”, as its capacity must be monitored under State aid rules. However, if equipment used under “Research activities” (eligible only through depreciation) forms part of the same functional research unit, it may also be mentioned to provide a complete overview.

Applicants should describe how the capacity of the entity will be measured, for example, expressed in working hours, to confirm that the equipment is used primarily for non-economic research activities, in accordance with Annex E.

The Full application stage (Stage 2) is open only to shortlisted applicants whose concept notes were selected under Stage 1 of the Call. It is recommended that interested organizations regularly follow the official DIGIT project and MSEY websites for up-to-date information on future calls and opportunities for participation.

Under this Call, all personnel costs are calculated using the daily rate method. When a researcher participates in the project with a partial time commitment (for example, 20% of full-time employment), the eligible cost is determined proportionally to the number of days actually worked on the project, based on the approved daily rate.

The corresponding amount is paid to the beneficiary, who subsequently transfers the respective shares to the project partners in accordance with the approved project budget and the provisions of the Partnership Agreement. Each institution manages the internal allocation of funds according to its established procedures and project budget.

The project does not finance overtime work or double funding of salaries already covered from other sources. Any modification of employment contracts is not required by the Call, but must comply with national labour and institutional regulations, where applicable. While the Call does not require formal amendments to employment contracts, institutions must ensure that project participation is in line with their internal HR and national labour regulations (e.g., through workload allocation or internal decision). Time dedicated to the project must be recorded and verifiable through institutional records (e.g., timesheets or equivalent documentation).