Call for proposals "Validation of Social Innovations by Startups (VALID)"

Applicants eligible under the VALID Call are defined in Section 4 of the Guidelines for Applicants: Eligible applicants are unlisted micro or small enterprises, up to 5 years following their registration, as defined in Annex I of Commission Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014 – SME definition, that meet all of the following criteria:

a) it has not acquired another undertaking or has not been formed through a merger, unless the turnover of the acquired undertaking accounts for less than 10% of the turnover of the eligible undertaking in the financial year preceding the acquisition or the turnover of the undertaking formed through a merger is less than 10% higher than the combined turnover that the merging undertakings had in the financial year preceding the merger.

b) it has not taken over the activity of another undertaking, unless the turnover of the overtaken activity accounts for less than 10% of the turnover of the eligible undertaking in the financial year preceding the take-over;

c) it has not yet distributed profits;

Please note that the Ministry of Science, Education and Youth is not in a position to interpret individual eligibility conditions or assess the eligibility of a specific applicant without reviewing the complete project proposal and all relevant supporting documentation. Applicants eligible under the VALID Call are defined in Section 4 of the Guidelines for Applicants. Compliance with all eligibility requirements, including those related to the applicant’s status and business activities, will be assessed during the evaluation process based on the information and evidence provided in the project proposal.

Note: Please see also answer to Q#32 and Q#21.

An applicant/partner that is association, charity organization, or trade business is not eligible applicant.

Personnel costs for newly hired staff are eligible. Personnel costs shall be calculated in accordance with the methodology for calculating personnel costs, as defined in section 11 of GfA, which applies to both existing employees and newly hired staff working on the project. Whole month salary must be used for calculation.

Personnel costs for newly hired staff are eligible. Personnel costs shall be calculated in accordance with the methodology for calculating personnel costs, as defined in section 11 of GfA, which applies to both existing employees and newly hired staff working on the project. Whole month salary must be used for calculation.

Applicants eligible under the VALID Call are defined in Section 4 of the Guidelines for Applicants:

Eligible applicants are unlisted micro or small enterprises, up to 5 years following their registration, as defined in Annex I of Commission Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014 – SME definition, that meet all of the following criteria:

a) it has not acquired another undertaking or has not been formed through a merger, unless the turnover of the acquired undertaking accounts for less than 10% of the turnover of the eligible undertaking in the financial year preceding the acquisition or the turnover of the undertaking formed through a merger is less than 10% higher than the combined turnover that the merging undertakings had in the financial year preceding the merger.

b) it has not taken over the activity of another undertaking, unless the turnover of the overtaken activity accounts for less than 10% of the turnover of the eligible undertaking in the financial year preceding the take-over;

c) it has not yet distributed profits;

Eligible applicants are unlisted micro or small enterprises, up to 5 years following their registration, as defined in Annex I of Commission Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014 – SME definition, that meet Call criteria. Personnel costs shall be calculated in accordance with the methodology for calculating personnel costs, as defined in section 11 of GfA, which applies to both existing employees and newly hired staff working on the project. Whole month salary must be used for calculation.

The call supports experimental development activities (TRL 5–8). Applicants must include mandatory indicators defined in Section 3 of GfA in their project proposals.

The project may not start before the submission of the project proposal, and no costs may be incurred before the submission date of the project proposal. All project activities and related costs must be completed and incurred no later than 31 October 2028.

As stated in GfA, the project must not start before the submission of the project proposal, which means that project activities can start after the project submission and before GA signing.

Eligible costs are those incurred after the date of project proposal submission, and costs incurred before October 31, 2028. Activities and related costs incurred after submission of the project proposal may be considered eligible provided that they form part of the approved project scope and budget, comply with all applicable eligibility requirements, procurement rules, documentation and audit requirements.

All grant beneficiaries must adhere to applicable procurement rules outlined in Annex I. Any procurement-related actions, including subsequent contractual arrangements and implementation activities arising from the project, irrespective of whether they are incurred before or after the signing of the Grant Agreement, must be in line with procurement rules set out in Call documentation.

All outputs, results and indicators must be achieved as a result of the project activities carried out. Any outputs, indicators, participants or results reported under the project must comply with the approved project scope, eligibility requirements, reporting obligations and applicable verification procedures.

The project start date should be defined by the applicant in accordance with the planned implementation schedule and presented in the Application Form and Annex XII. Applicants are responsible for ensuring consistency between the proposed project timeline, planned activities and budget. Any activities undertaken at the applicant’s own risk prior to Grant Agreement signature should be reflected and documented in a manner consistent with the approved project implementation plan. Project activities cannot start before project submission.

All the costs must comply with the rules on eligibility and must adhere to national legislation and audit requirements. All the supporting documents that justify the incurred costs, for example, procurement contracts (goods and services) (and amendments, if any) with invoices from contractors and suppliers, service providers, acceptance certificates, lists and other documents proving the acceptability of costs (proof of publicity activities such as articles, photos, etc.), list of participants, studies, certificates, etc.), must be provided for verification within reports.On-site visits include verification of project activities and costs for which, in addition to administrative verification, it is also possible to verify the progress of physical indicators. The goal of on-site visits is to verify the actual implementation of the project, i.e. the costs and deliveries, and to obtain information that supports the conclusions of the administrative check, i.e. to provide a guarantee of the regularity and legality of the costs.

In this Call, Applicant is private entity that intends to submit or has submitted a project proposal to this Call. Please note that the reference to a “public entity” in the Definitions section of the Guidelines for Applicants was included inadvertently. For the purposes of this Call, the term should be understood as referring to a private entity.

For the purposes of this Call, the term “trade business” refers to business activity carried out by a natural person in the form of a craft/trade business.

Personnel costs for newly hired staff are eligible. Personnel costs shall be calculated in accordance with the methodology for calculating personnel costs, as defined in section 11 of GfA, which applies to both existing employees and newly hired staff working on the project. Whole month salary must be used for calculation.

The eligibility conditions regarding registration must be met at the time of submission of the project proposal. The date of incorporation shall be determined based on the company’s articles of association.

In order to budget personnel costs, the applicant must have at least one employee during the calendar month preceding the submission of the project proposal. If the project is selected for funding, the applicant will be required to submit the supporting documentation used to calculate the personnel cost daily rate before the Award decision is issued. Accordingly, an applicant that has no employees during the calendar month preceding the submission of the project proposal is not eligible to budget personnel costs under the project.

The aid intensities specified in the Guidelines for Applicants represent the maximum grant intensities that may be awarded to each type of project partner. However, regardless of the maximum intensity applicable to individual partners, the overall grant intensity at the project level must not exceed 80% of the total eligible project costs. For the purpose of this calculation, the grant awarded to the research organization must also taken into account. It is the responsibility of the applicant, together with all project partners, to design a project budget that is realistic, complies with the rules of the Call, and ensures that the overall project grant intensity does not exceed the maximum level set in Call. Within these limits, applicants are free to determine the allocation of the budget and the grant intensities among the project partners, provided that all applicable eligibility and state aid rules are respected.

The condition set out in Section 4(a) of the Guidelines for Applicants refers to taking over the activity of another undertaking. For the purposes of State aid rules, an “undertaking” is an entity engaged in an economic activity, irrespective of its legal form. Development activities carried out by a natural person outside the scope of any registered business activity and without the performance of an economic activity (i.e. without offering goods or services on a market) do not, as such, constitute an undertaking within the meaning of this provision. Accordingly, Section 4(a) applies to the transfer of business activity, assets or intellectual property from an existing undertaking (a legal entity or a registered business activity, including a craft/trade business). Please note, however, that the Ministry cannot provide an assessment of the eligibility of a specific applicant 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, including the accuracy of the statements provided in the Declaration by the Applicant.

Pursuant to Section 4(b) of the Guidelines for Applicants, an eligible applicant is an enterprise that has not yet distributed profits. This is an eligibility criterion that must be met at the time of submission of the project proposal. The Call documentation does not provide for any exceptions to this condition. Accordingly, an applicant that has distributed profits at any point prior to the submission of the project proposal does not meet this eligibility criterion.

The payroll of the employee hired in August (full month), with project application in September, serves as the calculation base for the fixed daily rate which applies to all persons working on the project, including existing and newly hired staff after project start, as stated in GfA, Section 11.

The Call does not prescribe that the applicant must have employees at the time of application submission or during the period preceding project implementation. However, the applicant must demonstrate sufficient implementation capacity in the project proposal, including the capacity to ensure the availability of appropriate human resources for successful project implementation. Personnel costs planned in the application must be justified in accordance with the Call rules supported by relevant employment documentation, payroll records and other required supporting documents (before Award decision and Grant Agreement signing).

If should be possible to enter more than three collaborators in eDIGIT. All Declarations by the Collaborator may be uploaded jointly within the designated section.

The Call documentation is available in English only and the application must be completed in English.

If the applicant had employees in the last closed full financial year, the daily rate is calculated using the formula defined in Section 11 of the Guidelines for Applicants, based on the total staff costs and annual work units from that financial year. The rule referring to the payroll for the month preceding the submission of the project proposal applies exclusively in cases where the applicant did not have any employees in the previous financial year.

For the purposes of this Call, newly established SMEs are undertakings that were established no more than 60 months before the submission of the project proposal. This definition does not include existing undertakings that have been closed and reopened or undertakings resulting from mergers or demergers. Where the applicant is a linked enterprise within the meaning of Article 3 of Annex I to Commission Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014, the eligibility criterion relating to the age of the undertaking at the time of submission of the project proposal must also be fulfilled by all undertakings within that linked relationship in order for the applicant to be considered a newly established SME eligible under this Call.

The Call documentation does not prescribe a specific referencing format. Applicants may use inline references, a list of references at the end of the relevant section, or another consistent format of their choice. Please note that all character limits in the Application form include spaces and apply to the full content of each section, including references.

If the applicant had employees in the last closed full financial year, the daily rate is calculated using the formula defined in Section 11 of the Guidelines for Applicants, based on the total staff costs and annual work units from that financial year. The rule referring to the payroll for the month preceding the submission of the project proposal applies exclusively in cases where the applicant did not have any employees in the previous financial year.

The durability requirements referred to in Article 7 of the Grant Agreement template apply throughout the five-year period following the completion of project implementation. Any change related to the project during this period, including a change of ownership of the beneficiary or a transfer of project results to a third party, requires prior approval by the Contracting Authority. Beneficiaries are therefore required to notify and obtain approval for any changes that may affect the project, its results, or compliance with the obligations set out in the Grant Agreement.

For the purposes of this Call, newly established SMEs are undertakings that were established no more than 60 months before the submission of the project proposal. This definition does not include existing undertakings that have been closed and reopened or undertakings resulting from mergers or demergers.

Where the applicant is a linked enterprise within the meaning of Article 3 of Annex I to Commission Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014, the eligibility criterion relating to the age of the undertaking at the time of submission of the project proposal must also be fulfilled by all undertakings within that linked relationship in order for the applicant to be considered a newly established SME eligible under this Call.

The project may be eligible only if the green product simultaneously constitutes a social innovation addressing a defined societal need; the Call supports experimental development up to TRL 8, and activities aimed at TRL 9 / market launch are not supported.

Depreciation costs of instruments and equipment necessary for the implementation of the project are eligible, provided the equipment is used during the project period. If the instruments and equipment are not used for the project during their entire useful life, only the depreciation costs incurred during the project period, and corresponding to the extent of use on the project, will be considered eligible, in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.

The applicant should include in the calculation of personnel costs the actual salary-related costs incurred by the employer, while ensuring that no double financing occurs. Any costs already covered by other public sources, including HZZ subsidies, cannot be financed from the project budget for the same period and purpose. In accordance with the personnel cost calculation methodology defined under the Call, the applicant should calculate the daily personnel cost rate based on the eligible salary costs and determine the number of days that the employee will be engaged in project activities. The eligible amount will then be calculated and reimbursed based on the actual number of days worked on the project, in line with the approved methodology and applicable reporting requirements.

In accordance with Table 3 of the Guidelines for Applicants, costs of contractual research (external research services) are eligible only if the research team cannot independently carry out the activities concerned, and up to 10% of total eligible direct project costs.

It is not eligible to be contracted as external expert in project while also working for Collaborator.

The exclusion criteria applicable to applicants and partners are set out in Section 1.1 of Annex I to the Call documentation. Without reviewing the complete project application and all relevant supporting documentation, the Ministry cannot provide a prior assessment or interpretation of whether a specific applicant or partner meets the eligibility requirements. Compliance with all eligibility requirements, including the exclusion criteria, will be assessed based on the complete application and the supporting documentation submitted, in accordance with the provisions of the Call documentation.

Please see answer to Q#21.

As defined in GfA, Section 6. project collaborators may include entities from the Republic of Croatia or abroad: Other non-profit organizations, State authorities and public administration bodies, Local and regional self-government units, Public institutions providing social, educational, healthcare, cultural, environmental, or community services, where relevant to the social challenge addressed, Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that contribute domain expertise, community engagement, or representation of user needs.

A company (d.o.o.) that is 100% owned by a local or regional self-government unit may be designated as a Project Collaborator, provided that it fulfils the role of a collaborator as defined in the Guidelines for Applicants. The applicant should clearly describe the collaborator’s role, expected contribution and added value for the project in the Application form. As a Project Collaborator, the entity does not receive project funding and does not act as a beneficiary or project partner.

A supplementary employment arrangement (additional work) cannot be used as the basis for calculating the daily rate under the Call. The daily rate must be calculated based on the salary costs of an employee engaged under a full-time employment relationship (1 FTE) for a full month, in accordance with the methodology set out in the Call documentation. Accordingly, a supplementary employment arrangement cannot be used for the calculation of the annual work units (AWU), hourly rate, daily rate or monthly personnel cost rate for the purposes of the project budget. The daily rate calculated in accordance with the prescribed methodology applies to all personnel whose costs are declared under the project, including employees hired after the submission of the project proposal, provided that the personnel costs are eligible under the Call and that all other applicable eligibility conditions are met.

The Call documentation does not prescribe a specific type of employment contract for persons working on the project. Personnel costs are eligible, provided that the engagement complies with applicable national labour legislation and that the costs are supported by employment contracts, payroll records, and monthly timesheets signed by the employee and the project manager.
Please note that, in the project proposal, the applicant should plan the capacities and workload of the project team in accordance with the planned project activities. The engagement of each person in the project activities must be specified and described in the Application form, and the adequacy of the project team’s capacity to implement the planned activities is subject to quality assessment. Any planned engagement arrangement, including supplementary employment, must therefore be realistic and consistent with the workload foreseen for the respective project activities.
The Ministry cannot provide a prior assessment of the eligibility of a specific engagement arrangement; compliance will be verified during project implementation based on the submitted supporting documentation.

The applicant it is not required to employ staff at the time of submitting the application if no personnel costs are planned under the project budget.
However, regardless of whether personnel costs are claimed, the applicant must demonstrate that they have, or will have, sufficient operational and professional capacity to successfully implement the project. The project proposal should therefore clearly describe the planned project team, the roles and responsibilities of the persons involved, and how the necessary capacities for project implementation will be ensured. Where relevant, the qualifications and experience of key persons should be evidenced through the documentation required under the Call (e.g. CVs).
The adequacy of the proposed implementation capacity will be assessed as part of the quality assessment. During project implementation, the beneficiary must ensure that the planned capacities are available and that the project is implemented in accordance with the approved proposal and the applicable eligibility rules.

If the applicant plans to include personnel costs in the project budget, the applicant must have employees both at the time of submission of the project proposal and at the time of Grant Agreement signature. In addition, the applicant must demonstrate that it has adequate operational and professional capacity to implement the project, as described in the Application form.
For the purpose of calculating the reference personnel cost, the methodology set out in the Call documentation applies:
• if the applicant had employees during the previous financial year, the daily rate is calculated on the basis of the data reported in the annual financial statements (GFI);
• if the applicant did not have any employees during the previous financial year, the daily rate is calculated on the basis of the salary data for the month preceding the submission of the project proposal, in accordance with the methodology prescribed by the Call.

a)Yes. Questions 34–39 are applicable to projects involving the development or upgrade of AI, as referred to in Question 33. If the answer to Question 33 is “No”, Questions 34–39 may be marked as “Not applicable”. Please note that Questions 40–44 relate to stakeholder engagement and should be completed regardless of whether the project involves AI.

b)Answering “Yes” does not imply that the project has a negative social impact. The question asks whether potential social impacts of the project results have been considered and assessed.
The assessment should consider both potential positive and negative social impacts. Where potential impacts have been identified, they should be briefly described in the “Additional Clarifications” section. A “Yes” answer therefore indicates that social impacts have been considered, not that a negative social impact has been established.

c)Questions 26 and 32 are duplicated due to an inadvertent error in the questionnaire. Applicants may provide the requested information under either Question 26 or Question 32 and, under the other question, refer to the response already provided.
Please note that Question 32 provides additional examples of potential social impacts that may be considered when preparing the response.

d)No. The applicant is not required to sign the Environmental and Social Screening Questionnaire (ESSQ).

Croatian law does not require a company to hold or use a stamp. Where the applicant, partner or collaborator does not use a stamp, a document is validly executed when it is signed by the person authorised to represent the entity.

In fields that provide for a stamp, such an entity may enter a note (for example, “Operates without a stamp”) or leave the field blank. The absence of a stamp will not lead to rejection at the administrative check, provided the document is duly signed by the authorised representative and submitted in accordance with the prescribed template.

Each enterprise involved as applicant or partner completes and signs its own separate Group statement. The form is designed for a single entity: Table 1 provides for one applicant/project partner, and the signature block provides for one authorised representative.
Applicants should not enter several entities as additional rows in the first section of Table 1, and should not insert their own separators for multiple ownership structures. The form states that it may not be changed in any way, except in the tables where rows may be added; rows are added to record a single entity’s own related enterprises, related persons and partner enterprises (Tables 2, 3 and 4), not to record a second applicant or partner.
For each enterprise, both a completed and signed version in .pdf and a completed version in .xls or .xlsx are required. Where the project involves partners, the individual PDF files should not be merged into one document; all files are submitted together in the designated section of eDIGIT.
As stated in Table 7. Chapter 12 of the Guidelines sll documents must be submitted together in a .zip file (English).

a)Where an undertaking holds between 25% and 50% of the applicant’s capital or voting rights and none of the relationships listed in Article 3(3) is present, it is a partner enterprise within the meaning of Article 3(2). As this is a relationship under Article 3, the age of the partner enterprise is taken into account: if the partner enterprise was established more than 60 months before the submission of the project proposal, the applicant does not qualify as a newly established SME. Data on partner enterprises are also used to determine the applicant’s enterprise category (micro, small, medium, large) on a proportional basis under Article 6 of Annex I, and are reported in Table 4 of the Group statement.

b)Common ownership by the same natural person or by a group of natural persons acting jointly does not, in itself, automatically create a relationship under Article 3. Whether such a connection results in a linked relationship within the meaning of Article 3(3) is determined during the eligibility evaluation, on the basis of the complete data relating to all related enterprises and all related natural persons.
The applicant is therefore required to disclose in the Group statement all related enterprises and all related persons, together with the ownership and control relationships between them.

c)The existence of an Article 3 relationship is assessed on the basis of the actual ownership and control relationships, not solely on the basis of registered activities or NACE codes. This assessment is carried out by the Ministry during the eligibility check, using the data disclosed in the Group statement and other available sources of information.

d) The applicant reports all related enterprises and related persons in the Group statement (connections through natural persons in Table 3, partner enterprises in Table 4), together with the associated ownership and control data. The applicant should provide the complete data on all such relationships rather than a selection. Ministry may request additional clarification or documentation during the eligibility check. The burden of proof regarding all facts relevant to establishing the status of an autonomous enterprise lies with the applicant.

The Ministry cannot assess the eligibility of a specific applicant or ownership structure in advance. Eligibility is determined during the evaluation on the basis of the complete project proposal and all supporting documentation, including the accuracy of the statements in the Declaration by the Applicant.

A person who participates in the management or governance of the project should be listed in the Project team members table, whether or not personnel costs are claimed for that person. The table covers all individuals responsible for the administrative and managerial aspects of the project.
For a person already engaged with the applicant and for whom no new employment is foreseen, select “Existing staff”. The nature of the engagement — for example, participation as owner or member of the management board without an employment relationship — and the fact that no personnel costs are claimed should be described in the Project management section of the Application form. The planned FTE engagement should reflect the time the person will actually devote to the project.

Under Section 5 of the Guidelines for Applicants, eligible partners include Croatian private higher education institutions and private research institutes, established in accordance with the Law on Higher Education and Scientific Activity, that carry out research activities as set out in their statute or other act proving their legal status. “Private higher education institution” and “private research institute” are among the partner legal-entity types provided for in the Application form.

Whether such a partner may receive a grant intensity of up to 100% depends on it meeting the definition of a research and knowledge-dissemination organisation in the Guidelines for Applicants (Annex E of the Annex I) and in the Framework for State Aid for Research and Development and Innovation (2022/C 414/01). In particular, where the entity also carries out economic activities, the financing, costs and revenues of the economic and non-economic activities must be accounted for separately, and undertakings able to exert decisive influence over the organisation may not enjoy preferential access to its results. Where the statute or equivalent act is not publicly available, it must be submitted with the application.

The Grant Agreement obliges the Beneficiary to achieve the indicators set out in Annex I to the Agreement. The Call documentation does not prescribe a fixed scale of financial corrections linked to defined thresholds of indicator achievement.
Where indicators are not achieved or are only partially achieved, the matter is assessed individually. Under the Grant Agreement, financial corrections for non-achievement will not be applied where the non-achievement results from force majeure or from socio-economic or environmental factors, including significant changes in economic or environmental conditions in the country that affected the achievement of the indicators; the competent authority assesses each case and determines whether such factors occurred and whether the indicators could have been achieved. More generally, the MSEY may suspend or terminate the Beneficiary’s right to use the grant, or seek a refund of all or part of the withdrawn amount, where the Beneficiary fails to perform its obligations under the Grant Agreement.
Applicants are advised to set realistic, well-justified target values, supported by the rationale required in the Outcome and output indicators section of the Application form.

Annual work units (AWU) are defined in Section 11.1 of the Guidelines for Applicants. The AWU figure is taken from the “Number of employees based on hours worked” as reflected in the annual financial statement of the enterprise for the last closed full financial year (or another equivalent document), and the daily rate is calculated in accordance with the methodology set out in Section 11.1 of the Guidelines for Applicants.

The methodology is applied as defined in the Call. The calculation of the daily rate, including the AWU value used, is subject to cost eligibility verification and budget cleaning, during which applicants will be requested to provide the supporting documentation used as the basis for the calculation.

Grant intensity must be same for all the costs of certain consortium members.

Grant-intensity must also be applied to indirect costs. Minimum and maximum budget allocations of each partner must also include indirect costs.

Daily rate is calculated based on the number of employees based on working hours as stated in GFI or equivalent document. Must be calculated using total staff costs and AWU of the entire university as the legal entity. Same daily rate is used for all employees of same entity. Acceptable supporting documents related to salary calculation are listed in table 8. in GfA.

As stated in GfA, the total employer cost for all staff members employed by the applicant or partner in the last closed financial year, increased by 20% to account for projected staff expenditure growth in the coming years. This 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, as reflected in the annual financial statements od the organization. Regarding the verification of indirect costs and related supporting documentation, it will be carried out on a sampling basis both during the evaluation process and during project implementation. Please follow the main activities structure as defined in GfA.  

Grant funds awarded to enterprises that are applicants under this Call constitute State aid and will be granted as aid for start-ups in accordance with Article 22 of Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 (GBER). Where an enterprise applies as a single applicant, without project partners, the grant awarded to the applicant is granted exclusively as start-up aid under Article 22 GBER and is not awarded as de minimis aid. The grant awarded under this Call to an applicant does not count towards the EUR 300,000 de minimis ceiling applicable to a single undertaking.

Total score will be calculated as average of scores of all external expert evaluators and project proposals will be ranked according to their final score. To proceed to the eligibility of costs and budget cleaning stage, the project proposal must achieve a minimum total score 36 out of 60 points which is in line with Grants Operation Manual published on project’s website. Only shortlisted projects, selected based on their score and available budget allocation, will advance to this stage. In the event that two or more project proposals receive the same final score, the proposal with the higher score under the „Excellence“ criterion will be ranked higher. If the scores are still equal, the ranking will be determined based on the score under the „Potential“ criterion, followed by the „Feasibility“ criterion. If the proposals remain equally ranked, the proposal submitted earlier through the eDIGIT portal will be given priority.

This is applicable also to the partner.

The eligibility requirements for applicants and project partners are set out separately in the Call documentation. Eligible applicants are defined in Section 4 of the Guidelines for Applicants, while the eligibility requirements for project partners are defined in Section 5. The clarification provided in FAQ Question 28 regarding the assessment of linked enterprises for the purpose of determining whether an undertaking qualifies as a newly established SME applies only where such a condition is relevant to the entity concerned under the applicable eligibility requirements set out in the Guidelines for Applicants.

These conditions must be met at the time of submission of the project proposal. It does not prevent the company from distributing profits during the implementation period of the project, provided that all other applicable requirements and obligations under the Grant Agreement and relevant national legislation continue to be fulfilled.

Methodology applies to all members of consortium whether they are enterprise or RO. At least one employee in the month preceding the project submission applies when there are no employees in last financial year stated in financial statement.  In those cases, all members must have at least one employee during the full calendar month preceding the submission of the project proposal and continue to have employees until Grant Agreement signing in order to budget personnel costs.

Please see answear to Q#19.

The daily personnel cost rate should be calculated in accordance with the methodology set out in Section 11 of the Guidelines for Applicants. The GfA provide that one AWU corresponds to one full-time employee working for the entire year, while employees working part-time or only for part of the year are counted as fractions of an AWU. Where the SME had an employee during 2025, the daily rate should be calculated according to the 2025, with the AWU reflecting the actual proportion of the year worked. The calculation remains subject to verification during the eligibility and budget-cleaning process, when supporting documentation used as the basis for the calculation will be requested (GfA).

Applicant should complete Annex VIII – Group Statement based on the actual ownership and control structure and disclose the relevant undertakings. Where the Applicant considers that a particular undertaking does not qualify as a linked undertaking under Article 3(3) of Annex I to Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014, it can provide a list ana explanation in a separate document and submit document together with ZIP file if necessary. The disclosure of an undertaking does not, by itself, constitute a determination that it qualifies as a linked undertaking. The final assessment will be made by the Ministry based on the complete application and supporting documentation. Please note that the Ministry cannot assess the specific ownership structure or the status of individual undertakings in advance. The Ministry reserves the right to request additional checks, clarifications and/or supporting documentation during the assessment.

The assessment is based on the applicant’s financial position in the previous financial year (2025). The enterprise’s period of existence is assessed at the time of application. If the enterprise has existed for less than three years at that time, the relevant rules for such undertakings apply, even if it reaches three years after the application deadline. The Ministry may request additional checks, clarifications and/or supporting documentation during the assessment.

Please see previous answers.

The assessment is based on the applicant’s financial position in the previous financial year (2025). The enterprise’s period of existence is assessed at the time of application. The Ministry may request additional checks, clarifications and/or supporting documentation during the assessment.

The Annual Work Units (AWU) should be calculated in accordance with the methodology set out in the Call. In this case, please use only part of the financial year person had worked (do not include maternity leave). An employee who worked only part of the financial year should be counted as a fraction of an AWU, reflecting the actual period worked. Please use one decimal for AWU (x.x) when calculating the daily rate.

In this case, the applicant should provide either provisional financial statements for the period from establishment until the relevant date, or a good-faith estimate in the form of a business plan, prepared during the financial year. The business plan should cover the period until the company starts generating revenue. If the company has already started generating revenue, or is expected to generate revenue during 2026, the relevant provisional financial statements and available supporting financial documentation should be provided.

1. The 20% flat rate for indirect costs is calculated on the eligible direct costs of Activity 1 incurred by the respective consortium member. The applicable aid intensity is then applied to the resulting eligible amount. The 20% is therefore the maximum eligible amount of indirect costs, it is not an additional amount on top of the applicable aid intensity.

2. The minimum 60% share for the applicant and the maximum 20% share per partner are calculated on the total eligible costs of the project, including eligible indirect costs.

3. Applicants must follow the activity structure defined in the Guidelines for Applicants (Activities 1–5).

4. The same employee may perform tasks under Activity 1 and project-management tasks covered by the indirect-cost flat rate, provided that the activities, working time and related costs are clearly separated and there is no double funding or double counting. 5.  Project-management personnel costs must be properly documented through employment records and timesheets, in accordance with the applicable project implementation and audit requirements.

The project duration of 16 months refers to the period for implementation of the project activities. Payments related to eligible costs incurred during the implementation period may be made after the end of the 16-month implementation period, provided that all payments are completed no later than 31 October 2028.

The salary relating to work performed during the 16th month of project implementation may be paid in the following month and remain eligible, provided that the payment is made by 31 October 2028 and all other eligibility requirements are fulfilled.

Deadline for completion is THREE years after project completion.

This depends on the specific circumstances and cannot be assessed without reviewing the proposed project roles and the respective activities and responsibilities of the persons/entities involved. The Applicant should ensure that the roles and responsibilities are clearly defined and that there is no overlap of activities or costs.

If the Applicant plans to budget personnel costs under the project, it must have employees in the month preceding the submission of the application and maintain the required staffing capacity until the signing of the Grant Agreement.

Applicants should also pay attention to Criteria 3.1. and 3.2, under which they are required to demonstrate the capacities necessary for the successful implementation of the project, regardless of whether personnel costs are planned under the project budget.

Personnel costs must be calculated in accordance with the methodology set out in Section 11 of the Guidelines for Applicants. The statutory contribution base should not be used as a substitute for the applicable salary/payroll cost basis. We would like to draw attention to the eligibility conditions of applicants and the exclusion criteria set out in the Guidelines for Applicants and Annex I. as well as answer to the Q#2.

Please enter the legal name of the collaborator signing the declaration.

A person employed by the Research Organisation on a part-time basis may be included in the Research Team, provided that the proposed engagement is in line with the person’s contractual working capacity and the project requirements.

The eligibility and adequacy of the proposed engagement, including the person’s role, FTE and planned person-days, cannot be assessed in advance solely on the basis of the information provided in the question. The relevant information and justification should be clearly presented in the application, including the person’s employment status, planned FTE engagement, role and responsibilities, and the relationship between the planned FTE and person-days.

The FTE reported in the Application Form should reflect the share of a full-time position dedicated to the project, while the planned person-days should be consistent with the proposed FTE engagement and the applicable working-time arrangements. The assessment will be made on the basis of the complete information provided in the application.

Indirect costs should be presented as one aggregated budget item, calculated using the applicable 20% flat rate on eligible direct costs. However, the individual types of costs covered by the flat rate (e.g. project management, promotion and visibility, dissemination, travel and other related costs) should be separately described in the relevant section of the application form, under the description of indirect costs.

The aid intensity for individual partners may be set below the applicable maximum intensity, as agreed within the consortium. Where necessary, partners should request a lower aid intensity to ensure that the overall grant intensity at project level does not exceed 80% of total eligible costs.

Indirect costs are calculated at a flat rate of 20% of the total eligible project costs allocated to Activity 1 and budgeted for each partner, based on their respective share of the budget. The 20% flat rate covers the partner’s indirect costs, including institutional overheads and related costs that are not eligible as direct costs. Only costs falling within the eligible direct cost categories specified in the Call may be budgeted and claimed as direct costs. Each partner is entitled to indirect costs calculated at a flat rate of 20% of its respective share of the total eligible project costs allocated to Activity 1. The 20% indirect costs are therefore calculated separately for each partner and cannot be allocated entirely to or claimed by only one partner at project level.

You can budget this cost under Costs of knowledge and patents purchased or licensed from external sources at market prices, if they are necessary for the implementation of the project.