Source of Funding: SeaClear 2.0

SeaClear2.0 is seeking to collaborate with 5 Associated Regions in the Atlantic +Arctic, Baltic, Mediterranean, and Danube/Black Sea basins. With a grant of up to €100,000 each, the selected regions will be strategic partners, showcasing the feasibility, replicability, and scale-up of SeaClear2.0’s pioneering solutions for identifying, collecting, and valorising marine litter. In return, the selected regions will have the opportunity to enhance their capacities and approaches to identify and implement site-specific solutions for preventing and minimising marine litter and foster an ocean literate society through community activation and citizen engagement, in their regions.

The European Partnership in Transforming Health and Care Systems (THCS)’s SECOND joint transnational call for proposals entitled “Innovate to Prevent: Personalised Prevention in Health and Care Services” 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 other Research Funding Organisations from 20 countries launched the 2nd Joint Transnational Co-funded Call and will be financially supporting R&I projects supporting the implementation of innovative person-centred health and care models addressing prevention strategies, with the key help of existing IT and digital technologies and services, as well as existing and emerging data. The ultimate goal is to improve health and care system dimensions such as quality, efficiency, equity, and sustainability. Improving the quality of preventive services will lead to improving the quality of life of citizens and patients, as well as reducing the burden and costs for the entirety of health and care services.

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 second 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 national 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 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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Restore4Life are looking for at least 5 Associated Regions to receive up to €100,000 to prepare roadmaps, plans, and projects to restore wetland ecosystems in their region. The Call for Associated Regions is specifically designed to engage and collaborate with Local and Regional Authorities.  

The aim is to share the results and knowledge of the project on an ongoing basis with the selected ‘associated regions’ and to provide them with scientific and technical support for the implementation of wetland restoration solutions in their territory. This will involve the twinning of each Associated Region with a similar demonstration site and the provision of technical advisory services necessary to prepare roadmaps, plans and projects to restore ecosystems in the associated regions addressing possible barriers and showing the feasibility of implementing innovative solutions.

On March 22, from 10 AM CET, Restore4Life will hold an Interactive Workshop on the Application for the Open Call. The workshop aims to provide valuable insights, clarify any questions you may have, and offer guidance on creating a successful Open Call application. We believe this session will be instrumental in ensuring a comprehensive understanding of the application requirements and, in turn, contribute to the success of your submission. If you’d like to attend the Workshop, you should register here.

The Open Call closes on 29 May 2024 at 5 PM CET (Brussels time).

Press release Open Call Launch.pdf

Press release Open Call Launch.pdf

Visit the below link to read further.

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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: SBEP - Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership

The Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership is a Horizon Europe co-funded partnership. It constitutes a network of 25 countries and the European Commission that enables an unprecedented effort to pool research and innovation investments and align national programmes at pan-European scale.

MCST, as one of the Research Funding Organisations launched the 2nd Joint Transnational Co-Funded Call and will be financially supporting R&I projects addressing challenges on the following priority areas:

• Digital Twins of the Oceans (DTO) at Regional Sub-basin Scale
• Blue Economy Sectors: Development of Marine Multi-use Infrastructures
• Planning and Managing Sea-uses at the Regional Level
• Blue Bioresources

Entities residing in Malta are eligible for funding, with the option of requesting up to €500,000 to participate in a SBEP proposal consortium*.

For further information on this year’s call, kindly refer to the Call Text, as well as the provisional National Rules for Participation for State Aid  and Non-State Aid .

Pre-proposal submission deadline – 10th April 2024, 15:00 CET.

Visit the below link to read further and download the application forms, while the recording of the information session held on 22nd February 2024 here below.

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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: Malta Council for Science and Technology

PRIMA – Partnership for R&I in the Mediterranean – facilitates collaborative R&I in the areas of Water Management, Farming Systems and Agro-Food Chain. The Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems (WEFE) Nexus approach is mainstreamed into all its topics under the three thematic areas above.

PRIMA Participating States fund transnational R&I projects addressing the scope and objectives of the PRIMA Section 2 multi-topic call tackling the following topics:

Thematic Area 1: Water Management in the Nexus

• Topic 2.1.1 (RIA) Effective water accounting approaches under crisis conditions: climate change and external shocks

Thematic Area 2: Farming Systems in the Nexus

• Topic 2.2.1 (RIA) Revitalizing agroforestry practices for sustainable land use and climate resilience in the Mediterranean region

Thematic Area 3: Agro-food Value Chain in the Nexus

• Topic 2.3.1 (RIA) Leveraging urban and local food systems for sustainable food systems transformation.

Entities residing in Malta are eligible for funding under the Section 2 calls, with the option of requesting up to € 500,000 to participate in a PRIMA proposal consortium (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).

Click on the below link to download guidelines and application forms.  The recording of the workshop: PRIMA Collaborate - An Event Uniting MED Researchers in Malta for Innovation (8-9 February 2024) can be viewed here below:

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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: European Commission

Supporting the deployment of trans-continental backbone networks, such as submarine cables, to strengthen the quality and resilience of connectivity between EU countries and beyond.

Studies

This topic will support studies for the deployment of backbone connectivity for routes within Member States (including OCTs), between Member States (including OCTs), and between Member States (including OCTs) and third countries which can fit within the scope described in Section 2.1 (CEF-DIG-2023-GATEWAYS-WORKS).

Proposals under this topic shall address studies including the preparatory work required prior to signing a contract with a supplier, such as marine ground surveys for submarine cables and application for required permits.

Click here to read further.

Works

This topic will support the deployment of backbone connectivity for routes within Member States (including OCTs), between Member States (including OCTs), and between Member States (including OCTs) and third countries:

(1) where there is a lack of redundancy on a route. This is typically the case of routes which are not served by at least two present or credibly planned backbone infrastructures; or

(2) where existing or credibly planned backbone infrastructure cannot reliably satisfy the demand, taking into account, the increase in demand linked to ongoing or credibly planned investments in the upgrade of access networks in territories concerned. The utilisation of existing capacity as well as the expected lifetime of existing backbone networks are among the elements that may be taken into account to justify such a market failure and the urgency of intervention; or

(3) where despite the presence of a backbone infrastructure providing sufficient capacity and guaranteeing the necessary redundancy, in the absence of credible plans from alternative operators to enter the market, the users in the served territories suffer (or could suffer in the absence of adequate regulatory remedies) from suboptimal services or prices compared to those offered in more competitive but otherwise comparable areas or routes. This could be the case for instance if the backbone infrastructure or a substantial part of it is in the hands of an operator which according to a competent national regulatory authority has significant market power in the relevant market.

Click here to read further.

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