Source of Funding: Malta Council for Science and Technology

The Malta Council for Science and Technology would like to announce that it is currently receiving project proposals under the FUSION Technology Development Programme LITE.

• The call closes on the 23:59pm of Wednesday, 10th of April, 2024 .
• This call provides financial support for research, development and innovation preferably within the SMART Specialisation Areas.
• The focus is on innovative research with high commercial Impact.
• An Information Session will be held at 10am on the 4th of March. Please register at: https://forms.gle/A9v6KcsMv7CAhAFP9
• More information on this opportunity for funding, the eligibility criteria, the rules for participation and the application form, can be found in the attachments below.
• The additional documentation to be submitted together with the application form for this call can be found on the MCST Resource page here: https://mcst.gov.mt/resource-page/
• Please note, submission is to be done through email. File size limits may apply when submitting. Please ensure that the email does not bounce back after submitting.
• Please note that the call documents are currently still awaiting approval from the necessary authority and may be amended. In the case of an amendment a note of the date of amendment will be uploaded here, on this web page.

Visit the below link to download application forms and guidelines.

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Source of Funding: Malta Council for Science and Technology

The Malta Council for Science and Technology would like to announce that it is currently receiving project proposals under the FUSION R&I: Research Excellence Programme.

This call provides financial support (up to €80,000) for the early-stage development of innovative projects, through a bottom-up approach. All scientific research areas are being considered, and for projects which may be commercially applicable, this programme targets research at the initial Technology Readiness Levels (between TRL 1 and TRL 4).

Project proposals should be sent electronically and received by not later than 23:59 CET on Monday, 18th March, 2024.

More information on this funding opportunity, the eligibility criteria, the rules for participation and the application form, can be found on the below link.

Contact us by email on rep.mcst@gov.mt (keeping eric.balakrishnan@gov.mt in copy) for further information and to schedule one-to-one meetings.

An online information session will be held on Monday, 12th February 2024 at 13:00 CET. Click here to register for this informative event. 

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Source of Funding: Interreg Malta-Italia

In the Gazzetta Ufficiale della Regione Siciliana no. 1 of 5 January 2024, the extract of the Public Notice 01/2023 for the presentation of cooperation projects under the specific objectives of the INTERREG VI – A Italia-Malta programme, approved by the Managing Authority with DDG no. 1273 of 29/12/2023, was published.

The total ERDF contribution is €27,669,485 divided as follows for each specific objective

Priority 1 – A smarter area of cooperation to promote research and innovation and the development of skills for smart specialisation

• Specific Objective 1.1 – Developing and enhancing research and innovation capacities and the uptake of advanced technologies in the cross-border area (RSO1.1) – € 6.020.880 (ERDF)
  • Specific Objective 1.2 – Develop skills for smart specialisation, industrial transition and entrepreneurship in the cross-border area (RSO1.4) – € 3.386.745 (ERDF)

Priority 2 – A resilient cooperation area, which strengthens the protection and preservation of nature also through the efficient use of resources

• Specific Objective 2.1 – Promoting climate change adaptation, disaster risk prevention and resilience in the cross-border area (RSO2.4) – € 5.693.985 (ERDF)
  • Specific Objective 2.2 – Promoting the transition to a circular economy in the cross-border area (RSO2.6) – € 2.515.947 (ERDF)
  • Specific Objective 2.3 – Enhancing the protection and preservation of nature, biodiversity, green infrastructure and reducing pollution in the cross-border area (RSO2.7) – € 5.031.893 (ERDF)

Priority 3 – An area of efficient cooperation in social capital through the role of culture and sustainable tourism in economic development

• Specific Objective 3.1 – Enhancing the role of culture and sustainable tourism in the cross-border area in economic development, social inclusion and social innovation (RSO4.6) – € 1.976.392 (ERDF)

Priority 4 – An area of cooperation with better governance between Italy and Malta

• Specific Objective 4.1 – Enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of cooperation in the cross-border area (ISO6.4) – € 3.043.643 (ERDF)

The amounts shown above constitute the contribution of the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), equal to 80% of the INTERREG VI-A Italy Malta programme.
For Italian beneficiaries (public and private bodies as well as bodies governed by public law) the national contribution, equal to 20%, is ensured by the national Fondo di Rotazione, without prejudice to the rules on state aid.
For Maltese beneficiaries the national contribution, equal to 20%, is to be ensured from the partner itself.

Deadline: 4 April 2024

Continue reading on the below link.

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Source of Funding: Horizon Europe

n the 2ndWork Programme of Horizon Europe 2023-2024

• Building on the positiveoutcome of the Africa Initiative I ofHorizon Europe Work Programme 2021-2022.
• A total budget of ~300 MEUR through ~30 topics under calls for proposals to boostEU-Africa cooperation
  on Research & Innovation (R&I).
• Enabling the implementation of the short-term and medium-term actions of the AU-EU Innovation Agenda, aiming to translate R&I into tangible positive impact on the ground, particularly in the areas of:

1. Green Transition (260 MEUR)
2. Innovation & Technology (35 MEUR)
3. Capacities for Science (9 MEUR)

Call deadlines varies from call to call, please click here to read further.

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Source of Funding: Malta Council for Science and Technology

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 2023 CETPartnership Joint Call is a 2-stage call structured around 12 call modules. The call modules describe specific topics and/or challenges that applicants shall address in their project proposal. Applicants must choose and apply a specific call module when submitting their project proposal. Evaluation and ranking of the project proposals will be performed separately per call module.

Source of Funding: Malta Council for Science and Technology

The Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST) is receiving proposals under the Internationalisation Partnership Awards Scheme Plus (IPAS+). The Scheme is divided into two options. Applicants are to fill in the appropriate sections of the form; they may select either Option A or Option B, or both:

Option A: opportunities for collaborative initiatives between Maltese entities and at least one foreign entity of proven track record of excellence. Proposals should describe the nature of the joint activities that would be funded through the Award. Applicants are to demonstrate how the proposed activities contribute towards and align with achieving the goals of the National R&I Strategy, and to describe the potential of any activities to become self-sustaining or generate longer-term outcomes.

Option B: opportunities for Maltese entities intending to submit a Horizon Europe/Partnerships proposal as the coordinator of the consortium to engage a service provider (local or foreign) who will be supporting the applicant through proposal writing and submission. The amount of the Award available to any one successful applicant is capped at €6000 per Option. Some exceptions regarding the financial capping for Option B can be found in the rules for participation. All projects are evaluated by a selection panel set up by MCST on the basis of evaluation criteria outlined in the Call text.

Interested Applicants are to submit their application form electronically to ipas.mcst@gov.mt keeping in copy Mr. Robert Cauchi at robert.cauchi@gov.mt with “IPAS+ – Application 2023” as subject heading. The deadline for submission is Friday 13th October 2023 at 11.30pm. The application must be dated and signed by the applicant and the legal representative. All received applications shall be acknowledged by email. Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.

An online info session with more details on the IPAS+ call will be held on Wednesday 13th September 2023 at 10.00am. To register for this info session kindly press here.

 Continue reading and download the application forms from the below link.

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Source of Funding: Horizon Europe

HORIZON-CL4-2024-TWIN-TRANSITION-01-46: CO2-neutral steel production with hydrogen, secondary carbon carriers and electricity OR innovative steel applications for low CO2 emissions (Research Innovation Action) – Portfolio topic covering two independent technology areas, with an overall available budget of 20 M€.

Enhance CO2-neutral steel production with hydrogen, secondary carbon carriers and electricity

Expected Outcomes:

• Introduce the use of secondary carbon sources in the steelmaking process.
• Combine the reduction of fossil carbon-related emissions with improvements in the materials and energy flows.
• Adapt to the use of low-CO2 hydrogen for heating in rolling, shaping, and heat treatment, considering also a coupling between hydrogen and/or electrical heating and fuel-flexibility concepts.
• Valorisation of non-conventional ores, e.g., in (photo)electrolysis processes.
• Substitution of fossil sources as carburiser and slag foaming agent in electric arc furnaces (EAF).
• Pre-reduction or reduction smelting with hydrogen and/or electricity for residues.
• Identify and analyse the amount of European existing technologies that could be efficiently retrofitted to CO2 neutral solutions (e.g. H2 DRI).

OR

Contribute to innovative steel applications for low CO2 emissions

Expected Outcomes:

• New or modified alloying concepts, downstream processing and manufacturing processes for new clean steel grades.
• Manufacture steels with improved life cycle contributions to CO2 emissions reduction.
• Clean steel grades with improved in-use properties.
• Innovative simulation methods and tools to accelerate development of clean steel grades.
• Advanced grades of steel for use in efficient high temperature processes.
• Advanced grades of steel for use in the railway's systems of high-speed trains.
• High-performance structural steels not containing critical strategic elements and/or characterized by increased tolerance to the content of contaminants in the scrap.
• Steel grades with increased use of low-quality input materials.

Call Opening Date: 19 September 2023

Application Deadline: 7 February 2024

Visit the below link for further details.

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Source of Funding: European Commission

Under the Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS), the European Commission funds research on:

• New, sustainable and low-carbon steelmaking and finishing processes
• Advanced steel grades and applications
• The conservation of resources, protection of the environment and circular economy
• The management of workforce and working conditions

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Source of Funding: European Commission

In line with the New European Innovation Agenda’s flagship on accelerating and strengthening innovation in European Innovation Ecosystems across the EU and addressing the innovation divide, this action is intended to create connected Regional Innovation Valleys (RIVs) across the European Union (EU), involving regions with lower innovation performances, by building on strategic areas of regional strength and specialisation (defined in their smart specialisation strategies), in support of key EU priorities.

The European Commission dedicated EUR 122 million under Horizon Europe (European Innovation Ecosystems) and under the European Regional Development Fund (Interregional Innovation Investments (I3) Instrument).

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Source of Funding: European Commission

The New Interregional Innovation Investments (I3) Instrument calls has been published; the I3 instrument, as part of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), aims at promoting innovation and interregional collaboration providing financial and advisory support for projects and the development of value chains.

Deadline for applications is: 17th October 2023.

More information on the open calls can be found via the below link:

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