The application procedure for funding to strengthen the innovative capacity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has 2 stages.

Stage 1: Project outline

• For collaborative projects, the collaborative coordinator submits the project outline agreed between the partners.
• The project outline should not exceed 10 A4 pages including cover sheet and attachments (Arial font, font size at least 10, single line spacing, margins at least 2 centimeters).
• The project outline must be submitted in digital form via the online outline tool PT-Outline.
• The project outline will be evaluated in a competitive process with the involvement of external experts, if necessary, according to the following criteria:
  • Technical relevance to the funding measure and the objectives of the funding program
  • Importance of the research objective, social need and relevance of the planned research and development
  • level of innovation of the research and development approach compared to the state of the art in science and technology
  • Scientific and technical quality of the solution concept and the work plan
  • Qualification of the partners, collaborative structure and project management, if applicable
  • Financial viability of the project
  • Quality and feasibility of the exploitation plan: Commercialization perspective, market potential, contribution of the project to the future positioning of the participating companies on the market, social need
  • Assessment of the social, economic and ecological consequences, opportunities and risks associated with the scientific and technical innovations.
• If your project idea is selected, you will receive a positive written request to submit the application (stage 2).

Stage 2: Submission of the application

You submit your application for funding for a project to strengthen the innovative capacity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as follows:

• The application is submitted electronically via the "easy-Online" portal.
• Call up the "easy-Online" Internet portal. There you will be guided step by step through the application process.
• Fill in all the fields required for the application and send it with a qualified electronic online signature.
• If you do not have a qualified electronic signature, you must print out the application in addition to submitting it electronically, sign it and send it to the project management organization together with the other application documents in the next step.
• Once the project management organization has received the application, you will receive a confirmation of receipt.
• The responsible administrator at the project management organization will contact you during the processing of your application to clarify any queries.
• Applications are evaluated and checked according to the following criteria:
  • Proof of SME status by means of an SME declaration and a significant proportion of the research work by the participating SME(s)
  • Compliance with the requirements from the first stage of the procedure
  • Quality of the detailed description of the solution concept, the work plan and the organization of the collaboration in the network
  • Quality of the detailed description of the exploitation plan
  • Eligibility of the requested funds
  • Necessity and appropriateness of the requested funds
  • Comprehensibility of the explanations of the financing plan
• You will receive a decision on your application.
• In the event of a positive decision, you will receive a grant notification by post.