Source of Funding: Xjenza Malta

A business plan is a strategic document that outlines the financial and operational roadmap of a start-up. It acts as a blueprint for business growth, guiding entrepreneurs through critical decisions while attracting potential investors and financial institutions. A well-crafted business plan highlights revenue projections, market strategies, and operational objectives, ensuring long-term sustainability and success.

The primary goal of this plan is to demonstrate how the business will operate, generate revenue, and achieve its objectives. It provides insights into market trends, competition, and risk factors, while outlining strategies to navigate challenges and seize opportunities. Key sections include:

• Executive Summary — A concise overview of the business plan.
• Company Description & Management — Business structure and leadership team.
• Market Analysis & Strategy — Industry landscape, target audience, and competitive positioning.
• Business Model & Financial Plan — Revenue streams, cost estimates, and financial projections.
• Operational & Growth Strategy — Key milestones, risk assessment, and long-term vision.

By clearly defining goals and strategies, this business plan becomes a vital tool for securing investment and driving the entity’s success in a dynamic market.

Eligibility Requirement

To apply for the Business Plan Voucher, you must already hold an approved Xjenza Malta applied research grant.

This programme is designed specifically for researchers and innovators who have successfully reached the prototype stage (TRL 5+) with Xjenza Malta’s support.

 Required Forms

Forms and declarations required for submission, as outlined in the Rules for Participation, can be found on the resource page.

Applicants must submit the following:

• • De Minimis Declaration Form

N.B.: All applicants must fill in the additional declarations form found within the application.

Submission Process

Completed application forms should be submitted electronically to voucher.xjenzamalta@gov.mt, keeping Kyle Bonnici (kyle.bonnici.4@gov.mt) in copy. Please use the subject line: “Business Plan – Voucher Submission.”

Important: It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that a confirmation of receipt is obtained.

Programme Closure Periods

The Voucher Programme will close once all funds have been allocated. Additionally, the programme will temporarily close during the following periods:

• 30 June 2025 to 31 August 2025
• 1 December 2025 to 9 January 2026

Applications submitted during these times will not be processed. If you submit an application during these periods, you may be required to resubmit after the programme reopens, incorporating any updates to the call documentation.

Contact Information

For further assistance, please contact:

Mr. Kyle Bonnici
Email: kyle.bonnici.4@gov.mt Phone: (+356) 2360 2209

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Source of Funding: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)

The FCT Mobility Programme, launched by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) in Portugal, supports the international mobility of PhD researchers through medium- and long-term research stays. The programme funds research and/or fieldwork activities to strengthen international scientific cooperation.

Programme Structure

The programme offers two funding modalities:

• FCT Mobility Outgoing
  For researchers affiliated with Portuguese institutions to undertake research in foreign institutions, for 2 to 11 consecutive months.
• FCT Mobility Incoming
  For foreign researchers (including Malta-based researchers) to conduct joint scientific activities in Portugal, for 1 to 3 consecutive months.
  Applications for this stream must be submitted by the Portuguese hosting researcher.

Eligibility

Applications must be submitted by researchers who:

• Are integrated members of Portuguese Research Units, or
• Have a contractual relationship with an Associated Laboratory in Portugal.

Foreign researchers (e.g. Malta-based researchers) can participate as visiting researchers under the incoming modality, but cannot submit the application themselves. The Portuguese partner must act as the applicant.

How to Apply

• Applications are open from 7 November 2024 until 31 December 2025, 17:00 (Portugal time), or until the allocated funds are exhausted.
• Submissions must be made in English via the online application form by the Portuguese Researcher:
  FCT Mobility Application Form

Evaluation Criteria

Proposals are evaluated by international experts based on the following criteria:

Outgoing Applications:
A) Merit of the applicant researcher
B) Merit of the work plan
C) Career development impact
D) Merit of host conditions

Incoming Applications:
A) Merit of the Portuguese applicant researcher
B) Merit of the work plan
C) Career development impact
E) Merit of the visiting researcher

Final Score Formula:
FC = 0.35 A + 0.25 B + 0.15 C + 0.25 (D or E)

Evaluations occur at least every three months. Provisional results are communicated within one month of each evaluation round.

Funding Details

• Maximum funding per mobility: €27,027
• Total programme budget: €5,000,000 (funded under Portugal’s Recovery and Resilience Plan - RRP)
• Funding rate: 100% of eligible costs
• Disbursed as a single payment at the start of the mobility
• At least 185 mobilities are expected to be supported

Further Information

Questions about the programme can be directed to fct.mobility@fct.pt and more information can be found on the website: FCT Mobility Call - FCT

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Source of Funding: Xjenza Malta

The Clean Energy Transition Partnership (CETPartnership) is a multilateral and strategic Horizon Europe partnership with the aim of empowering the energy transition and contributing to the EU’s goal of becoming the first climate-neutral continent by 2050.

The 2025 CETPartnership Joint Call is a 2-stage call structured around the following Call Modules.

• Multi-vector interactions between the integrated energy system and industrial frameworks
• Energy system flexibility: renewables production, storage and system integration
• Advanced renewable energy technologies for power production (ROA)
• Advanced renewable energy technologies for power production (IOA)
• Carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS)
• Hydrogen and renewable fuels
• Heating and cooling technologies
• Integrated regional energy systems
• Integrated industrial energy systems
• Clean energy integration in the built environment

The call modules describe specific topics and/or challenges that applicants shall address in their project proposal. Applicants must choose and apply under a specific call module when submitting their project proposal. Evaluation and ranking of the project proposals will be performed separately per call module.

Entities in Malta are eligible for funding in all call modules, with the option of requesting up to €500,000 to participate in CETPartnership proposal consortia. It is to be noted that if more than one national partner is present in one consortium, the total amount of funding for the participating national partners cannot exceed the €500,000 cap.

Rules of participation and application form can be found on the below link.

To apply, the below need to be submitted by the pre-proposal deadline:

• The project coordinator needs to submit the project pre-proposal on the Electronic Submission Tool which can be accessed via the CETPartnership website by 9 October 2025, 14:00 CET.

Each National applicant shall be required to submit a National Application Form to eusubmissions.xjenzamalta@gov.mt by the 9 October 2025, 23:59 CET

Information session on the Call

A national information session will be held online on the 27 June 2025 -10:00-11:00 CET, please click HERE to register.

For further information please contact the programme officers Mr Stefan Montebello at stefan.montebello.1@gov.mt, (+356) 2360 2212 and/or Ms. Christy Baldacchino at christy.baldacchino.2@gov.mt, (+356) 2360 2158.

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Source of Funding: Cascade Funding Hub

Visit the below link to view the 17 funding opportunities under Cascade Funding, an instrument by the European Commission. 

Please note that these calls have different deadlines within the month of June 2025.

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Source of Funding: Xjenza Malta

Xjenza Malta in collaboration with the Ministry for Health and Active Aging has launched a new call to help fund research in the field of Obesity in Malta.

The Obesity Research Programme intends to support research efforts that investigate the impact of the local food environment on obesity. The programme aims to generate evidence that can inform policies and interventions designed to promote healthier food choices and improve public health outcomes.

These efforts contribute to a deeper understanding of the relationship between food environments and obesity, supporting the development of targeted strategies to combat diet-related health issues.

This call will focus on the following sub-areas:

• Food Provision
• Food Promotion
• Food Labelling

Programme Parameters

If state aid is applicable, applicants are to apply under the de minimis

Visit the below link to download the guidelines and application forms.

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Source of Funding: BGI

BGI presents the Blue Economy Acceleration, a cutting-edge, 3-stage online innovation program tailored for early-stage entrepreneurs and researchers that aims to transform blue bio-based technologies into market-ready ventures.

The Blue Economy Acceleration equips you with the knowledge, mentoring, and industry access needed to launch and grow a successful venture in the blue bioeconomy. From capacity building to go-to-market planning, this journey includes expert guidance, market validation, and incubation opportunities at AmpliAqua® , a Research & Development aquaculture facility.

Focus Areas

• Nutrient Upcycling & Circularity:
Valorize and upcycle aquaculture nutrients to reduce environmental impact and enhance circular systems.

• Fish Welfare Monitoring:
Monitor physical and microbiological parameters to improve fish health and welfare.

• Efficient Hydro(bio)ponic Systems:
Optimize production with minimal space and input use, leverage microbiomes, and enhance nutrient density in crops.

• Sustainable Packaging:
Develop eco-friendly packaging solutions for fish, vegetables, and herbs to extend shelf life.‍

• Microalgal Biomass Utilization:
Improve production, collection, and valorization of microalgal biomass (e.g., for biofertilizers).

• Digitalization & Automation:
‍Implement data collection, AI integration, and automation for smarter system management.

‍Date 17th of June to 8th of December 2025

Location: Online

‍Duration: 6 Months

‍Price: Free

Deadline: extended to 8 June 2025

Visit the below link to read further.

For more information, contact: jan@bgi.pt

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Source of Funding: Exploit4InnoMat

The Exploit4InnoMat Open Call offers selected applicants free access to top-tier testing, validation, and upscaling services through a 6-month support program. Our Open Innovation Test Bed (OITB)provides tools, expertise, and training to help companies accelerate their material innovations for the building envelope.

Who Can Apply?

Source of Funding: European Cooperation in Science & Technology (COST)

A COST Action is an interdisciplinary research network that brings researchers and innovators together to investigate a topic for four years. Open to all science and technology fields, including new and emerging ones, COST Actions are also bottom-up meaning you can propose a network based on your own interests or ideas.

The funding a COST Action receives covers the expenses of networking activities and can be used to fund events, Short-Term Scientific Missions, Training Schools, communication activities, and virtual networking tools. A COST Action has an estimate budget of €125,000 in its first year and €150,000 per year for the other three years.

Participants are invited to submit a proposals that contributes to the scientific, technological, economic, cultural or societal knowledge advancement and development of Europe. Multi- and interdisciplinary proposals are encouraged.

The Open Call Action proposal submission, evaluation, selection and approval (SESA) procedure is fully science and technology-driven and will ensure a simple, transparent and competitive proposal evaluation and selection process, reflecting the bottom-up, open and inclusive principles of COST.

Visit the below link to read further.

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Visit the below link to view the 19 funding opportunities under Cascade Funding, an instrument by the European Commission. 

Please note that these calls have different deadlines within the month of May 2025.

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Source of Funding: Xjenza Malta

Xjenza Malta, in collaboration with the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) of the People’s Republic of China, has launched the SINO-MALTA 2025 Joint Call for R&I Proposals. The aim of this Science and Technology Cooperation – SINO-MALTA Fund, is to intensify scientific collaboration between the two countries to strengthen R&D activities, technology transfer and to carry out comprehensive, steady, and long-term cooperation through support of researchers’ mobility and the networking of industries, universities and research institutions to generate mutual-beneficial and win-win research.

For the SINO-MALTA Fund 2025 Joint Call, the eligible thematic areas are:

• Health
• Green and Blue Transitions
• Digital Technologies

Funding & Project Details for the SINO-MALTA 2025 Call

• Call Budget: €1,200,000
• Funding: Up to €200,000 for the Malta-based consortium (at least one Malta-based partner).
• Project Duration: Up to 24 months
• Application Deadline: 30th June 2025, 23:59 PM CET
• Technology Readiness Levels (TRL): 1–7

Who Can Apply?

Each consortium must include:

• At least one eligible Malta-based Private Entity. Public entities and Research and Knowledge Dissemination Organisations (RKDOs) are also eligible to apply as lead or partner, provided that at least one eligible Malta-based private entity is involved.
• At least one eligible China-based entity

Projects should be balanced in terms of workload and funding distribution between the two partners.

Visit the below link to read further and download the application forms and guidelines.

Online Information Session

Xjenza Malta will be hosting an online information session on 13th May 2025 from 10:00 to 11:00 AM CET. This session is dedicated to interested Malta-based entities and will cover key details about the call, eligibility criteria, and the application process.

Interested participants can register here: SINO-MALTA Fund 2025 Call – Virtual Information Session

Still looking for a partner? Use the plumtri matchmaking tool to find your partners by registering your interest here: https://bit.ly/3EYhBkR, you can also use the partner search tool by registering here: https://bit.ly/4hhLcrc

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