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The National Centre for Research and Development

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FAQ

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Call 2024

 

  1. Where can I find the call documents (i.e. concerning the application procedure and form)?

All call information, documents and guidelines are available here

The on-line system for submission of applications is available here

  1. What is meant by “Programme Component (PC)", “Programme Component Operator (PCO)”, “Programme Component Partner (PCP)” and “Principal Investigator”?

Programme Component (PC) also called “project” – a series of activities carried out with the support of the Swiss Contribution, which is aimed at achieving agreed objectives and outcomes for the Programme.

Programme Component Operator (PCO) – an entity formally responsible for submitting the proposal under the Programme and implementing a project. The PCO is formally responsible for submitting the proposal, signing the Partnership agreement with the PCPs, signing project contract with the Programme Operator (PO), distribution of funding among the PCPs, submitting periodic and final reports to the PO and generally managing all activities related to project proposal, as well as project implementation and closure. PCO may only be research organisation established as a legal person in Poland or enterprise established in Poland.

Programme Component Partner (PCP) – an entity being part of the international project consortium.

Principal Investigator (PI) – a researcher having a scientific lead of a project submitted under the Programme. The PI is responsible for controlling the technical direction and academic quality of the project, and will ensure that the project is carried out in compliance with the terms, conditions of the call as well as those specified in Regulations. The Principal Investigator (of any nationality) must be an employee of the PCO or will have to be employed by the PCO at least for the duration of the project implementation peri

  1. What types of entities are eligible for funding?

Only the following entities may act as Programme Component Operator (PCO):

  • Research organisation established as a legal person in Poland,
  • Enterprise established in Poland.

The following entities are eligible to apply as Programme Component Partners – PCPs:

  • Research organisation established as a legal person in Poland or in Switzerland,
  • Enterprise established in Poland or in Switzerland.
  1. What is the definition of research organisation and enterprise?

The research organization is defined in:

  • Article 2 paragraph 83, Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty:

Research and knowledge-dissemination organization – means an entity (such as universities or research institutes, technology transfer agencies, innovation intermediaries, research-oriented physical or virtual collaborative entities), irrespective of its legal status (organised under public or private law) or way of financing, whose primary goal is to independently conduct fundamental research, industrial research or experimental development or to widely disseminate the results of such activities by way of teaching, publication or knowledge transfer. Where such entity also pursues economic activities the financing, the costs and the revenues of those economic activities must be accounted for separately. Undertakings that can exert a decisive influence upon such an entity, in the quality of, for example, shareholders or members, may not enjoy preferential access to the results generated by it.

  • Article 7 paragraph 1 of the Polish Law on Higher Education and Science that stipulates:

The system of higher education and science is composed of:

1) higher education institutions;

2) federations of entities of the higher education system and science, hereinafter referred to as “federations”;

3) the Polish Academy of Sciences, acting on the basis of the Act of 30 April 2010 on the Polish Academy of Sciences, hereinafter referred to as “PAN”;

4) scientific institutes of PAN, acting on the basis of the Act referred to in point 3, hereinafter referred to as “PAN institutes”;

5) research institutes, acting on the basis of the Act of 30 April 2010 on research institutes;

6) international scientific institutes established on the basis of separate acts operating on the territory of the Republic of Poland, hereinafter referred to as “international institutes”;

6a) Łukasiewicz Centre, operating under the Act of 21 February 2019 on the Łukasiewicz Research Network;

6b) institutes operating within the Łukasiewicz Research Network, hereinafter referred to as “institutes of the Łukasiewicz Network”;

7) Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences, hereinafter referred to as “PAU”;

8) other entities conducting mainly scientific activities on an independent and continuous basis.

  • And according to Art. 37. 1. of the Act on the National Centre for Research and Development the call is open to:

1) entities mentioned in Article 7 points 1, 2 and 4 to 8 of the Polish Law on Higher Education and Science.

The definition of enterprise is given in Article 2, Annex I, Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty:

An enterprise is considered to be any entity engaged in an economic activity, irrespective of its legal form. This includes, in particular, self-employed persons and family businesses engaged in craft or other activities, and partnerships or associations regularly engaged in an economic activity.

Staff headcount and financial thresholds determining enterprise categories:

1. The category of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (‘SMEs’) is made up of enterprises which employ fewer than 250 persons and which have an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 50 million, and/or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 43 million.

2. Within the SME category, a small enterprise is defined as an enterprise which employs fewer than 50 persons and whose annual turnover and/or annual balance sheet total does not exceed EUR 10 million.

3. Within the SME category, a micro-enterprise is defined as an enterprise which employs fewer than 10 persons and whose annual turnover and/or annual balance sheet total does not exceed EUR 2 million.

  1. Does the eligible consortium have to include an enterprise?

The eligible consortium has to include at least one enterprise, established in Poland or Switzerland.

  1. Is there any limit as to the number of applications submitted by a single entity?

There are no formal restrictions in this regard.

  1. What is the maximum number of entities that can be a part of the consortium?

The maximum number of entities composing a consortium is 20.

  1. Can entities from countries other than Poland and Switzerland be Programme Component Partners (PCPs)?

Entities from other countries than Poland and Switzerland are allowed to participate in the project using their own funding. Their share in the total eligible costs of the project shall not exceed 10%.

The proposal must provide a clear justification for their involvement in the project.

  1. How should proposals be submitted?

Proposals shall be submitted electronically, in English, through the Programme Operator’s on-line submission system, available here

Proposals sent on paper, removable electronic storage medium (e.g. CD-ROM, diskette, portable drive etc.), by email, by fax or any other system will not be regarded as having been received by the Programme Operator.

Only the Programme Component Operator (identified by user ID and password) is authorised to submit a proposal on behalf of the consortium. The PCO must be duly authorized to represent all PCPs on behalf of which it submits the project proposal (at least a letter of intent should be signed).

Only proposals that have been completed fully and correctly may be submitted. If more than one copy of the same proposal is received, only the most recent eligible version (before deadline) is evaluated.

The PCO can edit and validate the proposal until the closing date of the call. The deadline for submission of proposals is the 1st of July 2024, 16:00 CET.

The date and time of receipt of the last version of submitted proposals are recorded by the on-line submission system. After submitting the proposal successfully, an e-mail acknowledging the receipt of the proposal is sent by the online system to the PCO.

The Programme Operator has no access to the proposal until the call deadline has passed.

Detailed description of the application form and the instruction on how to submit the proposal are presented in the Proposal Manual.

  1. Can a proposal be withdrawn?

A proposal may be withdrawn by the PCO at any stage of the call procedure, that is until the publication of the final ranking list. To withdraw a proposal, the PCO delivers a written statement, signed by the PCO’s legal representative, to the PO’s seat. The statement has to indicate clearly the proposal in question and the PCO’s intent to withdraw it. Date of delivery of the abovementioned statement to the PO will be regarded as date of the proposal’s withdrawal.

  1. Can other users edit/see my application in the LSI system?

No, it is not possible to add supporting editors or readers to an application.

  1. What is a mentoring plan?

Mentoring plan is a description of the planned mentor-mentee relationship (participants, clear description of goals and objectives of this relationship, as well as needs and availability, incl. means of communication, schedule of contact and meetings, topics/skills to be explored by a mentee in which a mentor has expertise or knowledge, etc.).

  1. Does every proposal need a mentoring plan?

Call 2024 features an obligation to include the mentoring plan in the proposal for at least one young researcher (as defined in Article 360 point section 2 point 2 and Article 360 section 3 of the Polish Law on Higher Education and Science). A mentoring plan is not applicable when the Principal Investigator (PI) meets the criteria of a “young researcher” mentioned above. In this case, the project itself demonstrates the development of the young researcher's career.

Both mentor and mentee shall be involved in project implementation.

  1. Can activities such as coordination, dissemination, management be a separate Work Package (WP)?

No, such activities cannot constitute a separate WP. They may only be parts of Work Packages.

  1. Are there any limits regarding the type and number of Work Packages (WPs)?

Only industrial research and experimental development will be funded. The number of WP is limited to 10. The number of WP should be appropriate to the complexity of the project and, where appropriate, can be broken down into major tasks.

Description of work is the scientific content-related part of the proposal. Therefore, it must remain unchanged even if the administrative parts of the proposal are sent back for amendment or completion.

  1. What types of research are eligible for funding under Call 2024?

The applicant may apply for funding to cover the following types of activities:

  1. Industrial research – planned research or critical investigation aimed at the acquisition of new knowledge and skills for developing new products, processes or services or for bringing about a significant improvement in existing products, processes or services. It comprises the creation of component parts of complex systems, and may include the construction of prototypes in a laboratory environment or in an environment with simulated interfaces to existing systems as well as of pilot lines, when necessary for the industrial research and notably for generic technology validation, as defined in Article 2(85) of Commission Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014,
  2. Experimental development – acquiring, combining, shaping and using existing scientific, technological, business and other relevant knowledge and skills with the aim of developing new or improved products, processes or services. Experimental development may comprise prototyping, demonstrating, piloting, testing and validation of new or improved products, processes or services in environments representative of real life operating conditions where the primary objective is to make further technical improvements on products, processes or services that are not substantially set. This may include the development of a commercially usable prototype or pilot which is necessarily the final commercial product and which is too expensive to produce for it to be used only for demonstration and validation purposes. Experimental development does not include routine or periodic changes made to existing products, production lines, manufacturing processes, services and other operations in progress, even if those changes may represent improvements, as defined in Article 2(86) of Commission Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014.

 

  1. Is there a template of a letter of intent?

No, there is no template of a letter of intent. Section “VIII. OŚWIADCZENIA / STATEMENTS” of the Project Proposal includes a declaration for the Programme Component Operator that at least a letter of intent (regarding the conclusion of a consortium agreement) has been signed.

A letter of intent is not an annex to the Project Proposal, but it has to be signed before the Project Proposal is submitted.

  1. Is there a template of a Partnership Agreement?

No, there is no template of a Partnership Agreement. The partnership agreement should be in English, and must contain the elements listed in point 4.3. “Guide for Applicants”. The PO verifies if the Partnership agreement complies with requirements mentioned above.

A Partnership Agreement should be signed by the PCO and the PCPs and delivered to the PO before signing the project contract with the PO.

  1. What is the recommended duration of a project?

The project implementation period is from 24 months up to 36 months. The final date of eligibility of the project costs is the 31st March 2029 and after that date expenditures are not eligible anymore.

  1. Is the CALL 2024 following the criteria of international Innosuisse calls? (eg. cash contribution for enterprises, Innosuisse rates)

No. The “standard” Innosuisse rules do not apply in this call (neither cash contribution nor Innosuisse rates). This call has specific criteria that can be found here.

  1. Which entities should fill in “Information for evaluation purposes”?

Information for evaluation purposes should be provided by Polish entities only (PCO and PCPs) at the stage of applying for funding. It does not apply to Swiss PCP. Evaluation Survey Templates for research organisations and enterprises are available respectively in Annex 2a and Annex 2b to the List of Necessary Information, Declarations and Documents Required at the Stage of Applying for Funding, Issuing Funding Decision and Signing of Project Contract (Annex 1 to the Guide for Applicants).

Information for evaluation purposes is submitted directly via an interactive form generated online. PCO and each Polish PCP shall enter the data for evaluation purposes separately. The data shall cover the period of three years preceding the submission of the proposal.

  1. Which entities should fill in Analysis of the Financial Capacity to Implement the Project?

That document is necessary at the stage of issuing funding decisions (not at the stage of applying for funding).

All Polish enterprises implementing projects recommended for funding and for which a positive decision on awarding funds has been issued are obliged to  fill in the Analysis of the Financial Capacity to Implement the Project. It is also obligatory for Swiss enterprises implementing projects recommended for funding and for which a positive decision on awarding funds has been issued, with less than 250 ull time equivalent (FTE), which don’t have annual accounts encompassing the last two years.

Templates for Polish and Swiss enterprises are available respectively in Annex 5 and Annex 6 to the List of Necessary Information, Declarations and Documents Required at the Stage of Applying for Funding, Issuing Funding Decision and Signing of Project Contract (Annex 1 to the Guide for Applicants).

  1. Are there any requirements for the commercialization of the project results?

The Programme aims to increase the level of innovation of the research conducted and the transfer of results to the economy. Therefore, the expected results should reach high TRL levels, ideally allowing the commercialization of results and their introduction into the economy. Commercialization is not required, although it is desirable as a result of an implemented project.

  1. Are there requirements for the level of TRL (Technology Readiness Level ) in the project?

The minimal, starting level of TRL is 2 (technology concept formulated), and the maximum is 9 (actual system proven in operational environment). The final TRL level achieved through the project must be higher than the initial TRL level.

  1. Does the project have to include experimental development or can it consist of industrial research only?

There are no requirements concerning the proportion of industrial research and experimental development planned in the project. A project may include only industrial research or only experimental development. The scope of work depends on the specifics of the project. The total number of WPs must not exceed 10.

  1. Can the Principal Investigator be a WP leader at the same time?

Yes, the PI can also serve as a WP leader. In fact, the PI can lead multiple Work Packages as long as she/he can effectively manage all the associated work.

  1. Where can we find a partner for the project?

We recommend using the B2Match matchmaking tool to find partners for joint proposals.

B2Match is an open “1-to-1” networking platform that facilitates contacts and cooperation between entities from Poland and Switzerland who want to jointly submit proposals. It is run and administered by Swiss Programme Partner - Innosuisse.

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