Call for proposals "Support Program for Applied Research and Knowledge (SPARK)"

The eligibility of each applicant and partner is assessed separately, in accordance with the eligibility requirements set out in the Call documentation. The eligibility conditions are not applied cumulatively across the consortium unless explicitly stated otherwise in the Call.
Accordingly, the eligibility of the applicant and each partner should be assessed individually against the relevant requirements applicable to their respective role in the project.
However, please note that the Ministry cannot provide an interpretation or assessment of the eligibility of a specific applicant, partner, or project proposal without reviewing the complete project documentation. Eligibility can only be determined during the formal evaluation process based on all information and evidence submitted with the project proposal.
 
Condition regarded employment of at least one person (1 FTE) based on recorded working hours, as reflected in the annual financial statement of the enterprise (or another equivalent document) is applicable to both applicant and partner.

The eligible activities under the Call, as defined in the Guidelines for Applicants, refer to experimental development activities to further refine and adapt the proposed innovation, including prototypes, service delivery models, methodologies, applications, or platforms, contributing to development of innovative digital and green technologies, products, and processes.

Applicants must in their project proposal also include mandatory indicators, one of which is Number of innovative solutions developed which measures the number of innovative solutions in the pre-commercial phase, developed by the supported entities involved in the project implementation. The solution is considered developed when it is sufficiently advanced to be considered for implementation or deployment in a target market or operational environment. This must be demonstrated during project implementation through the development and testing of a functional prototype, the piloting of a service or process, or equivalent validation of the solution in a real-life or simulated setting.

Total staff costs includes gross salary level 2, which encompasses the total employee costs for the organization, including all contributions and taxes that the employer must cover to ensure the net amount is paid to the employee, including transport allowances and non-taxable costs, increased by 20% to account for projected staff expenditure growth in the coming years.

The calculation of the daily rate is subject to cost eligibility verification and budget cleaning, during which applicants will be requested to provide supporting documentation used as the basis for the calculation as defined in Table 6.of Gfa: Documentation related to salary calculation – Acceptable documents that can be submitted are: Annual financial statement, or equivalent report of the applicant for the last approved accounting period, with clear indication of the salary expenditure amounts used for the calculation of the daily rate.

Yes, it means that for each sub-criteria evaluators use scores from 0 to 5 with possibility of using half scores like 0.5, 1.5, etc. For selected criteria these scores are multiplied by two to reach the final score for that sub-criteria.

Multiplication factor applies to that sub-criterion which has its own description. The score for each sub-criterion reflects how the project proposal fits to the description of the criteria and the generic description of each score range (0, 0.5 – 1.0 – Poor, 1.5 – 2.0 – Fair, 2.5 – 3.0 – Good, 3.5 – 4.0 – Very Good., 4.5 – 5.0 – Excellent).

The limitation set out in Chapter 6 of the Call applies at the level of each individual legal entity (identified by its own registration and tax identification number). Accordingly, two linked enterprises may each submit one project proposal as separate applicants, provided that each entity independently meets all eligibility requirements set out in the Call documentation.

In addition, enterprises belonging to the same group as the applicant may participate in the project as partners (i.e. group partners). However, such cooperation is not considered effective collaboration, therefore, the applicant cannot benefit from an increased aid intensity.

There are 3 criteria where information related to current stage and prior results are used in different context for evaluation purpose. These are:

• subcriteria 1.1. Clarity and ambition of objectives where among others the evaluation considers whether the objectives are appropriately aligned with the current stage of development of the solution (e.g. prototype, pilot, validation phase)
• subcriteria 3.1. Feasibility of implementation plan including project and risk management where the evaluation considers the extent to which the proposed activities are logically sequenced and aligned with the project’s development stage and build logically on prior work           
• subcriteria 3.2. Resources and budget were the evaluation the expertise, experience, and capacity of the applicant team, as well as access to necessary infrastructure, equipment, and technical know-how.

Additionally relevance of proposed activities to expected TRLs covered under experimental development is evaluated in:

• subcriteria 1.2. Soundness of methodology and development approach were sub-criterion evaluates the appropriateness, coherence, and robustness of the proposed approach for experimental development. It considers whether the proposal clearly defines the development pathway, including design, prototyping, testing, validation, and iteration processes

Explanations to these topics should be covered in parts of application form that follow relevant criteria. Attachment of other documents not prescribed within the call is not envisaged. Any proofs that applicant considers relevant can be cited were considered appropriate.