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Applicants who will coordinate a project addressing a Section 1 or Section 2 topic featured in the PRIMA Annual Work Plan 2022 have the opportunity of engaging a service provider who can support them through the pre- / full proposal writing and/or submission stages.

Submission deadlines are as follows:

• Assistance with PRIMA Section 1 proposals – 22nd February 2022 (23:59 CET)
• Assistance with PRIMA Section 2 proposals – 1st March 2022 (23:59 CET)

The documentation associated with this scheme can be accessed through the following link.

Click here to read the PRIMA 2022 call.

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PRIMA – Partnership for R&I in the Mediterranean – facilitates collaborative R&I in the areas of Water Management, Farming Systems and Agro-Food Chains. PRIMA operates under two main lines of funding – Section 1 and Section 2. Section 1 Calls are funded directly by the European Commission whilst Section 2 Calls are funded directly by the countries participating in PRIMA.

Project proposals address the following topics under Section 2 are eligible for funding:

Thematic Area 1: Water Management

• Topic 2.1.1-2022 (RIA) Prevent and reduce land and water salinization and pollution due to agri-food activities.

Thematic Area 2: Farming Systems

• Topic 2.2.1-2022 (RIA) Improving the sustainability of agro-pastoralism in the Mediterranean Region under the context of climate change.

Thematic Area 3: Food Value Chain

• Topic 2.3.1-2022 (RIA) Enabling the transition to healthy and sustainable dietary behaviour.

For more information, to download the application form and regulations, please click on the below link.

Click here to read the PRIMA Proposal Writing Assistance Scheme call.

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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.

• Project proposals should be sent electronically and received by not later than 23:59pm CET on Monday 28th of February, 2022.
• This call provides financial support 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.

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

An online information session will be held on Monday 31st January 2022 at 1:00 pm CET. Kindly register for this info event via this link: https://forms.gle/ivQDdNj9iXNuPso86

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

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Part of MDIA’s budget has been earmarked for the creation of support measures for the further diffusion of innovative technology arrangements within the public and private sector in order to increase efficiency, transparency and citizen engagement.

The overall objective of the MDIA AI Applied Research Grant is to support capacity-building efforts related to Artificial Intelligence research in Malta. Specifically, this Grant aims to encourage:

• Increased capacity for AI-related research in Malta;
• Increased investment in AI-related R&D activities;
• Increased adoption of AI technologies by the public and private sectors;
• Increased collaboration between academia and commercial entities.

Indeed, the AI Applied Research Fund is in line with the AI Strategy Implementation and Governance. In terms of rationale and scope, this Grant is aligned with several of the goals of the Malta AI Strategy including:

• Building awareness of AI and its potential benefits for society;
• Stimulating R&D through AI-related activities;
• Fostering a culture of collaboration between research institutions and industry;
• Demonstrating the potential benefits of AI applications to both the public and private sectors.

In addition, this Grant aims to advance progress related to a number of Actions within the Malta AI Strategy.

The closing date for the submission of proposals is 31st March 2022. The Grant will close upon total exhaustion of funds or at the discretion of the MDIA, whichever is the earlier.

Click the below link to download the Guidance Notes and the Application Form.

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The Innovation Fund’s aim is to contribute towards a climate-neutral Europe by 2050 through funding the demonstration of innovative low-carbon technologies.

It is a 25 Billion Euro Fund managed directly by the European Commission, running over the period 2020 – 2030, and issuing competitive calls at least twice a year.

It will fund the demonstration of innovative low-carbon technologies under 5 categories: -

• Innovative Renewable Energy Generation
• Energy Storage
• Innovative Low-Carbon Technologies and Processes in Energy Intensive Industries including Products Substituting Carbon Intensive Ones
• Construction and operation of Carbon Capture and Storage
• Carbon Capture and Utilisation

Projects need to: have a good degree of innovation, significantly reduce GHG emissions, be sufficiently mature, have scalability potential and be cost-efficient. 

For those that are not fully mature but are still promising with respect to innovation and GHG emission abatement, the fund may also provide project development assistance (in the form of consultation) to help the project reach a more mature stage.

The Current OPEN Call has a budget of 1.5 Billion Euro and is directed towards large-scale projects i.e. projects having a capital expenditure greater than 7.5 Million Euro. This call is single-staged.

Projects must be located in an EU Member State, Norway or Iceland. 

Applicants can be private or public entities or international organisations (see call for exact definitions). A legal entity can apply on its own or within a consortium.

The EU will finance up to 60% of the project relevant costs that include capital expenditure and operational expenditure for the first 10 years following entry into operation.

The payment of the lump sum contributions will be subject to the proper implementation of the action and the achievement of the results, and the completion of the work packages. Those payments after entry into operation will be disbursed in annual instalments based on verified emission avoidance.

Before award of projects, the European Commission will consult with the relevant Member State.

The Innovation Fund will also issue a call directed towards small-scale projects i.e. projects having a capital expenditure less than 7.5 Million Euro, next March 2022.

National Contact Point: Maria Dimech, EU Direct Funds Unit within the Funds and Programmes Division; e: maria.dimech.1@gov.mt , t: +35622001164

The NCP website can be found in this: link.    

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Tourism has been one of the sectors most acutely, and pervasively, affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Travel bans, lockdowns, and safety concerns all contributed to curtailing the growth and development of the tourism ecosystem across the EU, particularly for accommodation services, air travel, trade fairs and cultural events,  with serious spill-over effects on the economic outlook of the Union. On average, tourism contributes to 11% of the EU’s GDP.

While the intensive COVID-19 vaccination campaigns across Europe are enabling travelling and local tourism activities to re-commence, the crisis should be taken as an opportunity to steer the tourism ecosystem towards more sustainable, smarter and resilient practices. This call for proposals is part of the overall COVID-19 recovery strategy for a sustainable tourism ecosystem, whilst being in line with the priorities of the European Commission`s SME strategy and the updated European Industrial Strategy.

The general objective of the action is to monitor the sustainability performance of SMEs in the tourism sector, whilst boosting their awareness, development and capacity in the area of sustainable innovations.The action also aims to support tourism SMEs in developing their skills and capacities in sustainable tourism; to provide capacity building, value chain insights and technical assistance to SMEs; to develop a monitoring framework which regularly collects and makes available data on the sustainability performance of the SMEs; to foster innovative solutions for sustainable tourism; and to build effective mechanisms for best practice exchange and dissemination of transferable tools and knowledge between the SMEs, also at a European level.

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The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) is pleased to announce the EIT HEI Initiative’s new call for proposals supporting up to 40 consortia of higher education institutions (HEIs) and non-academic organisations with a maximum of EUR 1.2 million each. With the support of the EIT Community, Europe’s largest innovation ecosystem, HEIs will design activities that will improve their entrepreneurial and innovation capacity at all levels becoming engines of innovation.

The EIT HEI pilot initiative builds on the success of its first call launched earlier this year which saw close to 750 organisations from across Europe apply for support. As a result, the pilot awarded 24 projects involving 142 HEIs and 155 non-academic organisations (companies, research centres, public authorities and associations) a total of EUR 28.8 million of funding, mentorship, and access to the EIT’s innovation ecosystem.

For the new call for proposals, up to 40 projects will be selected and awarded a maximum of EUR 1.2 million with up to EUR 300 000 for Phase 1 (July−December 2022) and up to EUR 900 000 for Phase 2 (January 2023 - July 2024). Activities can focus on several themes, including:

• fostering institutional engagement and change;
• strengthening partnerships between higher education, business and research organisations;
• developing innovation and business support services;
• enhancing the quality of entrepreneurial education;
• creating and disseminating knowledge.

The deadline for submitting proposals is 28 February 2022.

Full details and access to the application portal can be found at eit-hei.eu.

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What types of application is TRANSVAC looking for?

TRANSVAC seeks to support vaccine-related projects currently in the preclinical phase of development. 

TRANSVAC’s goal is to further support and accelerate vaccine-related projects by providing access to the services and expertise contained within the TRANSVAC Infrastructure. Most technologies and experience are thereby free of charge. All Intellectual Property generated by the project will remain the ownership of the User, unless indicated otherwise prior to starting work within TRANSVAC. Under the EC rules, the User must be able to make the work performed within TRANSVAC public.

These services are not restricted to any disease area and will be offered free of charge, with few exceptions. Researchers working on vaccine candidates and/or adjuvants at different stages of development in academia, research institutes, SMEs and industry can submit an application. Click link below to read further.

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EUSPA has recently launched the Horizon Europe Call. With a budget of 32.6 million EUR, it aims at developing applications to transform the digital economy and boost the EU Green Deal.

Horizon Europe is the EU funding mechanism to strengthen research and innovation in developing, supporting and implementing EU policies to tackle global challenges such as climate change. EUSPA will manage this instrument to foster the creation of downstream applications that leverage data from the EU Space Programme, specially Galileo, EGNOS, and Copernicus.

The call is focused on three areas:

• EGNSS and Copernicus applications fostering the EU Green Deal
• EGNSS applications for safety and crisis management
• EGNSS applications for the digital age

The deadline for the applications is 16th of February 2022.

Here you will find the press release in English. It is also available in all EU Languages here.

Should you have any questions, please, contact com@euspa.europa.eu.

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The main objective of this procurement procedure is to gain insights on the characteristics of the water and practices followed by the industry to maintain water quality used during the post-harvest handling and processing operations for fresh and frozen fruit, vegetables and herbs (ffFVHs).

Tender Specifications

Click on the link below to read further.

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