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: Malta Council for Science and Technology

MCST launched its annual thematic programme this year, and the theme for 2023 is the Space Upstream. This field of scientific research is extensively broad and presents myriad opportunities where the sky is not the limit. It presents opportunities for Maltese stakeholders to conduct research in the following areas:

• The transportation of items or personnel into Space
• Space Exploration
• The development of related ground-based technology

The call is open to all Maltese legal entities from the public, private and academic institutions under three funding modalities (De Minmis ; GBER ; State Aid n/a).

An applicant or each partner within a consortium is to opt for one funding modality, making use of the respective rules and application template accessed below. A proposal can apply for a grant of up to €125,000 in order to carry out their research projects during a period of 12 or 18 months. For more information about this call and to find the application documents please check out our webpage: https://mcst.gov.mt/space-upstream-programme/

Funded projects under this Call must start between October and November of 2023.

Information Session about the Call:

MCST together with ESA will deliver an information session about the Call. The session will be held online.

9th June, between 10:00 and 11:30Hrs

You may request a copy of the recording by sending an email to space.mcst@gov.mt.

Please confirm your attendance by filling in the Google form (Link provided below). You may also book a one-to-one session with an ESA representative to discuss your proposal by booking an appointment in the form provided: https://forms.gle/KuizVedLAHmo9tor5

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Source of Funding: Malta Council for Science and Technology

The Commercialisation Voucher Programme is a formidable instrument aimed at bridging the existing gap in the R&I framework as well as improving the overall development and commercialization potential of innovative ideas. This Programme acts as a demand side measure, enticing user driven innovation, with an aim to increase research, technological development, and innovation activities, which could eventually be implemented in industry. The Vouchers are primarily intended to assist prospective applicants of the FUSION Technology Development Programme to prepare themselves better in terms of project proposal and validation. In some cases, it may also assist beneficiaries of previous or current R&I Programmes as well as projects funded through the European Programmes. Submission, evaluation, and selection of application will be in the form of a one-stage process in which a legal representative of the applicant will be asked to submit all the necessary information, to enable a decision on acceptance or rejection. The Commercialisation Vouchers are subject to a Scientific Evaluation and priority will be given to the Smart Specialisation Areas. State Aid rules apply.

Interested parties should submit their application form electronically to voucher.mcst@gov.mt with “CVP 2023 Call Application” as a subject. The Application must be dated and signed by the applying entity’s legal representative. It shall be the responsibility of the applicant to ensure the timely submission of the application within the timeframes provided for in the call. Emails larger than 6MB shall be automatically rejected by the system. File sharing software is limited to WeTransfer or Dropbox.  All received applications shall be acknowledged by email and provided with a reference number.   Additional notes to applicants:

• Altering the parameters of the application template might lead to disqualification. Inputted text should not exceed the printable area of the text boxes.
• Annex I is to be used to include a clear diagrammatic representation of how the project will go beyond the state-of-the-art. Annex I should be stamped or signed by the applicant and scanned together with the application form.
• Annex 2 is to be used to include a reference list with full citations for each item. Annex 2 should be stamped or signed by the applicant and scanned together with the application form.
• Additional information pertaining to guidelines, rules, procedures, and the application form can be found in the documents attached with this call.

Visit the below link to download guidelines and application forms.

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Source of Funding: Malta Council for Science and Technology

The Technology Extension Support Programme will form part of FUSION, the National Funding Programme, administered by the R&I Unit at MCST. The Technology Extension Support Programme will incentivise industry to seek technical support from Higher Education Institutes (HEI), to ensure incremental product or process improvement. This programme aims to accelerate the application of technological innovation to the industry, in a low-risk environment. This support measure is designed to incorporate R&I at all stages of product or process development and support collaborations between private and public entities. Maltese private entities can benefit from up to €40,000 per project of 15-months. Get in touch by contacting us on rtdi.mcst@gov.mt keeping abigail.aquilina@gov.mt in copy further information or assistance.

Visit the below link to acess the call specifications.

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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 now receiving applications for the Space Research Fund 2023.  Application deadline is 29th of May 11.59pm

The Space Research Fund continues to provide financial support for research, development and innovation in the downstream Satellite Earth Observation (EO) sector, specifically projects that deal with the processing and exploitation of data collected through EO satellites. The call is open to all Maltese legal entities under three funding modalities (De Minmis ; GBER ; State Aid n/a).

An applicant or each partner within a consortium is to opt for one funding modality, making use of the respective rules and application template accessed below. A proposal can apply for a grant of up to €150,000 in order to carry out their research projects during a period of 20 months across two stages.

Funded projects under this Call must start between August and September of 2023.

Information Sessions about the Call:

MCST together with ESA will deliver an information session about the Call. The session will be held at MCST:

26th April, between 9:00 and 11:00 hrs.

The information session materials can be found in the tabs below. You may request a copy of the recording by sending an email to space.mcst@gov.mt.

You may also book a one-to-one session with an ESA representative to discuss your proposal. You will be able to meet them in person on the 26th April after the info session from 1.30pm onwards, and on the 27th of April. Please book an appointment in advance by sending an email to space.mcst@gov.mt  

Source of Funding: Malta Council for Science and Technology

The European Partnership in Transforming Health and Care Systems (THCS)’s FIRST joint transnational call for proposals entitled “Healthcare of the Future” is NOW OPEN! This partnership gives the opportunity to coordinate and optimize research and innovation efforts in Europe and its partner countries supporting the much-needed transformation of health and care systems.

MCST together with 36 other Research Funding Organisations from 23 countries launched the 1st Joint Transnational Co-funded Call and will be financially supporting R&I projects addressing challenges on the following research areas:

1. Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR): this encompasses a wide range of research activities, including policy analysis, systems thinking, and implementation science, health economics, sociology, political science, anthropology, epidemiology, and management.
2. Health Technology Research (HTR): this includes a wide range of research areas such as medical devices, diagnostics, digital health, telemedicine, mobile health, electronic health records and others.
3. Social, Economic and Behavioural Research: this encompasses a wide range of research activities, including sociology, economics, political, behavioural research, anthropology, epidemiology, and management, with the goal of informing decision-making and improving health outcomes.

Entities based in Malta are eligible to request up to € 500,000 in funding so that together with their consortium they can submit a proposal to this first THCS transnational call (N.B. 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 capping).

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

Deadline for Intent to Apply letter submission – 23rd May 2023 (14:00 CET)

Full proposal submission deadline – 13th June 2023 (14:00 CET)

Click here to view the recorded session of the launch event held on 24th March 2023, and download the presentation from here.

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Source of Funding: Horizon Europe

The Hop On Facility allows for legal entities from low R&I performing countries to join already selected collaborative R&I actions, subject to the agreement of the respective consortium and provided that legal entities from such countries are not yet participating in it. The scheme aims to improve the inclusiveness of Horizon Europe by involving more research institutions from Widening countries under Horizon Europe Pillar 2 and EIC Pathfinder actions.

Main selection criteria are excellence and added value of the new partner performing a relevant additional task in the project. All consortium partners need to agree on the accession of the new partner whereas the R&I relevance and complementarity needs to be demonstrated. The accepted application will trigger a GA amendment with the service in charge of the related topic.

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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 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.

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

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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 27th of February, 2023.

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

Email on rep.mcst@gov.mt (keeping abigail.aquilina@gov.mt in copy) for further information and to schedule one-to-one meetings.

An online information session will be held on Wednesday 25th January at 1:00 pm CET. Kindly register for this informative event via this link: https://forms.gle/YkNypr7vUGgUyhDx5

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