Blog from April, 2019

Last updated on 30 April 2019

What is the maximum amount one organisation/individual can be granted ?

Over the three calls (lifetime of the NGI TRUST project), a single organisation/individual cannot be awarded more than €200,000 for one or more projects (for example, €50,000 for a type 1 project followed by €150,000 for a type 2).

Regarding eligible costs we understand that for Type 2, NGI-Trust would cover 66% of costs, while the consortium would need to cover the remaining 1/3 of those costs (up to a maximum of combined funding of 180K€ per project), right? (E.g. if consortium partners provide 50K€ of own funds, NGI-Trust would provide 100K€).

That is correct.

Should project participants be located in an EU country ? And does this apply also to team members (EU nationals) and subcontractors ?

Project participants should be registered (if a legal entity) or resident (if an individual) in one of the EU28 Member States or in one of the Horizon 2020 Associated Countries - see list here : http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/grants_manual/hi/3cpart/h2020-hi-list-ac_en.pdf

There are no restrictions on the nationality of team members but they should be employed by a participant organisation.

Similarly, there is no restriction on the nationality or location of subcontractors. Subcontracting needs to be explained in the application (why you use a subcontractor, input to the project, etc.).

For a type 2 or type 3 project, do you have any further details of what constitutes matched funding?

We are flexible concerning matching funding, which may come either from internal funds of the organisation or external funding. In the latter case you should indicate the source, e.g. national or regional public funding, external investor, bank loan, etc.

We are a start-up formed this year with no financial accounts to date. Reading the guide for applicants of the NGI_Trust Open Call, it states that you need to provide the “Statement of overall turnover for the last two financial years”. Because of this, we are not sure if a start-up is eligible for participation in this call. Are we eligible to apply?

Yes, we will be flexible in considering proposals from start-ups, we are seeking to support innovative ideas with potential. In the absence of annual accounts, we will consider other evidence (e.g. investments into the start-up, past record of the founders, etc.).

We are registered in an EU28 country. Two members of our team who will have a key role in the proposed project are from a non-EU28 country. Does this constitute any eligibility problem?

The key criterion is the place of registration of your company, not the nationality of staff.

Are large firms eligible beneficiaries of the NGI-Trust call?

There is no restriction on large companies per se. We are interested in funding use cases from a number of sectors/verticals where it may make sense to involve a larger firm.

UK partners have concerns about being eligible of not after March. Furthermore, there is an uncertainty regarding the funding situation depending on how the Brexit situation unfolds. Should we be concerned about that, or can UK companies apply without worry and be guaranteed of funding through this the open call?

For British applicants: Please note that until the UK leaves the EU, EU law continues to apply to and within the UK, when it comes to rights and obligations; this includes the eligibility of UK legal entities to fully participate and receive funding in Horizon 2020 actions. Please be aware however that the eligibility criteria must be complied with for the entire duration of the grant. If the United Kingdom withdraws from the EU during the grant period without concluding an agreement with the EU ensuring in particular that British applicants continue to be eligible, you will cease to be eligible to receive EU funding (while continuing, where possible, to participate) or be required to leave the project on the basis of Article 50 of the grant agreement

Can we participate in two different consortia with two different proposals? In this case, can we lead both consortia?

Yes, organisations and partnerships can make multiple applications. No restrictions to leadership of partnerships apply.

In the proposal template, section 1.3, it is requested to tick the Type of Project (viability, execution or transition). Is it correct to tick only one type? Meaning that the proposers are not allowed to choose a multi-type of project by gathering different activities even if they respect the 200k€ limit.

That is correct, you should select one type of project, however, you may carry out feasibility work part of a type 2 project (although this should not be the main activity).

Can you confirm that we can apply for a type 2 execution or a type 3 transition already for the first call or is the first call only for type 1 viability project.

The first call is open to proposals for all three types of projects.

For a two partner project, is all payment/justification handled via the lead partner?

Payments will be made to the lead partner. We do not require financial reporting from the third-parties but you should keep appropriate documented evidence of your expenditure as a recipient of EU funding.

In your guide it says "Financial support will be paid in instalments against achievement of milestones". What does this mean for the financial execution, i.e.

- is payment (a posterior) following the completion of milestones?
- do milestones/deliverables justify the payment or is a detailed declaration of expenditures needed?

We will provide an advance payment, plus an interim payment (based on an agreed milestone) then a final payment (based on your final report).

We will not ask for a detailed declaration of expenditure, however, you should be able to prove expenditure in the event of an audit by the European Commission, so you will be expected to keep a proper set of supporting documents.

Will it be possible to re-submit a project rejected on the first round?

Yes, if a proposal is not accepted, you will receive feedback and you are free to resubmit to the second or third round calls.

For a project fitting perfectly in the scope but already between the development and commercialisation stage, is it wiser to wait for October's call as the first round will include a "larger number of early-stage feasibility studies"?

There is no need to wait, we are accepting all three types of project proposals for the first call.

Does NGI_Trust pay overhead (e.g. 25% as in H2020 calls/programmes) for costs that cannot be identified and calculated by the beneficiary as being directly attributed to the project?

The funding is awarded as a lump sum (cash) contribution, we have no set rules for how organisations design their budget internally. The aim of the budget in the proposal is to convince the evaluators that that the requested funding is coherent with the effort invested in producing the outcome the project aims to achieve. It should give NGI TRUST a ‘value for money’ perspective on your project.

Can travel expenses be requested for a publication of the project's results where the conference is after the project period has ended? (e.g., do you reimburse travel expenses individually or via a lump sum / similar?)

Travel expenses are an eligible cost but should be within the contractual period of the project funding awarded.

The aim of the call is to support the development of technologies that are rapidly applicable and hence, you will be provided with support on intellectual property management (e.g. to check whether you should protect the IP developed in advance of a publication or conference papers).

In Section 4.2 of the template, there is a table for personal "Person-Month". How do we fill this out in case of e.g. a Professor who will work on the project but not charge (name known) and e.g. a master student who will charge PMs on the project (but name may not be known at this point in time)?

The table is intended to provide an overall estimate of effort, if you need to recruit team members and don’t know their names this is not a problem.

We were wondering about the possibility of attaching support letters from other Companies which are supporting our research. Is it possible?

You can attach letters of support in so far as they are relevant for the proposal.

The NGI Trust open call text says that: “Projects will receive support in the form of technical coaching, business mentoring and IP advice from the project partners and other NGI projects” (p.2 – Section 4). Does this mean that the budget will be provided to the applicants in the form of services offered by the NGI consortium, or are these services additional to the provided budget?

The funding is in ‘cash’ up to €100,000 for type 1 (there is no obligation to ask for maximum, you can ask for less). Support is provided by the consortium on top of the funding.