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Summary 

The GÉANT Innovation Fund Programme invites proposals from eligible organisations and research teams for research projects. The programme offers researchers flexibility to focus on any subject area or topic providing that it falls within GÉANT’s remit. Proposals can, for example, draw from networking, cloud, security, trust & Identity and education, but the primary focus and impact must benefit the GÉANT European Research and Education community.   

We particularly encourage ambitious and novel research proposals addressing new concepts and techniques and those with the potential for significant scientific or societal and economic impact. Our funding decisions are based on a number of criteria, including: quality, innovation, potential impact and value for money. The call for proposals is for project funding of up to EUR30k, for a duration of no longer than 6 months. 

Proposals may be submitted in response to the call at any time – there are no fixed closing dates. 

Introduction 

The needs of Research and Education users are continuously evolving, and for NRENs and the GÉANT community it is important to identify innovative ideas to support technological evolution, new use cases, and help to accelerate and to expand these ideas into new services or tools.   

GÉANT Association has reserved EUR300k to support an Innovation Fund for specific projects to be carried out by members of the GÉANT Community i.e. universities, research institutions/institutes or other such legal entities to which a GÉANT Association member NREN provides services. Projects benefiting from this funding are selected by means of a competitive call for projects and funding by the Innovation Fund Programme.  

This document contains the basic information needed to prepare a proposal to the Innovation Fund Programme. It also describes how the proposal should be submitted, and the criteria on which it will be evaluated. 

A successful applicant will sign an agreement with the GÉANT Association, which will outline the work to be done, the likely outcomes and results, as well as the conditions under which their projects will be carried out.  

Scope and Contents of Proposals 

The scope of the Innovation Fund is to support innovative ideas coming from talents from the GÉANT Community, help these innovators by means of a proof of concept enabled or facilitated (depending the scope) by this Fund. This enables innovators to work on their ideas and to try them out in a real environment, with flexible and light constraints. Examples of previous innovation within the GEANT Community include: eduroam, eduVPN and eduMEET. 

It is expected that participants in this programme will propose concrete and specific plans that enable them to achieve specific results during the given timeframe. Selected projects may be invited to refine and implement the plan during the proposal evaluation process. Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) will be managed according to the corresponding agreement which the beneficiaries shall adhere to. 

For further details on how to submit proposals, visit the GÉANT website www.geant.net/xxx. In particular, potential applicants should consult the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). Note that the FAQ page will be regularly updated with responses to questions received. 

Eligibility 

Member NRENs from the GÉANT Association or legal entities from one of its ‘connected institutions’. i.e. any organisation recognised as a member of the GÉANT community (excluding GÉANT Association industry associates) are eligible to submit proposals. This means that applications from universities, research institutes or institutions, where they are connected to an NREN, are welcomed and eligible for funding under this programme. 

Funding of Participation 

An indicative maximum budget of up to a maximum of EUR30K will be assigned to selected projects for the purpose of carrying out the work. We expect projects to be 3-6 months in duration. Work will need to completed and invoices submitted by December 2021. 

Match funding is not required, however, those projects that have already secured match funding may be given priority. 

Proposals may be submitted by a single organisation or by a small consortium. Large consortiums are not expected to submit proposals. However, only the lead partner organisation will receive funding and they will be responsible for assigning a budget to any other partners within their project. GÉANT will not ask for a detailed declaration of expenditure, however, participants should be able to prove expenditure in the event of an audit, so will need to maintain the project’s supporting documentation. 

How to Prepare and Submit a Proposal 

Proposals can be submitted via GÉANT’s Indico system as described in this document. Documents will be submitted by Indico at https://events.geant.org/event/350/  

Applicants should follow the structure outlined in Appendix A when presenting the content of their proposals. The list of headings is designed to highlight those aspects that will be assessed against the evaluation criteria as set out in Apppendix B3. It covers, among other things, the concept and objectives of the proposed work, the participants and their roles, the implementation details and the impact that is expected to arise from the proposed work. 

Applicants must: 

• Download and complete the application form. 
• When completed, the applicants must ensure that proposals are saved as a Microsoft Word document or PDF, and then upload via the Indico system to https://events.geant.org/event/350/  

Proposal Language 

The proposal must be prepared in English. Proposals submitted in any other language will not be evaluated. 

Submission of Proposals 

Proposals created according to the above instructions must be submitted electronically via Indico (https://events.geant.org/event/350/).  Proposals sent to the Innovation Fund by any other means are regarded as “not submitted”, and will not be evaluated. 

Only accepted proposals will be made public.  

Proposal Evaluation and Selection 

The evaluation of proposals will take place on a monthly basis. Eligible proposals will be evaluated, using the form shown in Appendix B3. 

A minimum of three subject matter experts will be assigned to make an initial evaluation of each proposal received.   

A final evaluation will then be completed by committee which may include: 

• Members of the GÉANT Community Committee (GCC). 

• Steering committees of Special Interest Groups (SIGs) and Task Forces (TFs).  
• Well recognised subject matter experts from the GÉANT Community. 
• Ex officio members from the GÉANT Association. 

All members will sign a conflict of interest form before taking part in the evaluation process and must be independent of any member of the consortium and of any applicant. In case one or more of the ex officio members are not independent, they shall abstain into the evaluation process in order to perform strictly administrative functions. 

During the evaluation process, the lead partner in a proposal may be invited for a negotiation meeting with members of the evaluation committee - for example, in cases where further clarifications are required regarding the content, costs or outcomes of the project. 

Once a proposal has been selected the lead partner (representing the consortium if several legal entities are involved) taking part in the project will enter into an agreement with the GÉANT Association which makes clear the work that will be carried out and the outcomes and expected results of such work.  Activities may only start upon signature of the agreement. 

Timetable 

The Innovation Fund call will be open continuously for the duration of the programme. Monthly reminders of the call will be issued, and evaluations will be called not later than four weeks after a proposal is received.  

Indicative timetable for the first Innovation Fund programme 

Final Report  

Accepted proposals will submit a final report to the evaluation committee. The report shall include the results achieved, or the reason why they were not achieved and “lessons learned” during the activity. Upon acceptance of the evaluation committee of the final report, an interaction with the project coordinator will explore if necessary how to carry on further the obtained results.  

Checklist 

This section provides a list of points against which applicants are advised to check their proposals prior to submission. 

• Is your organisation eligible? 

If in doubt please check either with your local NREN or the Innovation Fund co-ordinator (innovationfund@geant.org) 

• Is the proposal eligible? 

Applicants must submit a complete proposal, using the Indico submission system. Any proposal not meeting the eligibility requirements will be considered ineligible and will not be evaluated. 

• Is the proposal complete? 

Proposals must comprise a Part A, containing the administrative information on standard forms, and a Part B, containing the description of the applicant’s proposal as described in this Guide. A proposal that does not contain both parts will be considered ineligible and will not be evaluated. 

• Do you need further advice and support? 

For further information and help please email innovationfund@geant.org. Answers to your question may be included in an FAQ section available on the Innovation Fund web page on the GÉANT website. 

Support to Applicants 

For further information and help, please consult the Innovation Fund Programme web pages in the first instance www.geant.org/XXXX. 

If the information you require is not on the website, please contact: innovationfund@geant.org 

FAQs 

What is the maximum amount a single organisation can be granted? 

A single eligible legal entity will be awarded up to €30,000 per project.  Multiple applications can be submitted since each project will be judged separately on its merits.   

What costs are eligible? 

Costs directly associated with undertaking the project are eligible.  For example: manpower, travel, etc. 

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 in a country where a GÉANT Association NREN is located. 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 (need for subcontractor, input to the project, etc.).   

Match funding - is it needed? 

Projects which provide matching funding will be scored more highly. There is flexibility concerning matching funding, which may come either from internal funds of the organisation or external funding. In the latter case, it is important to indicate the source, e.g. national or regional public funding, external investor, bank loan, etc. in the proposal. 

Are large/small companies eligible beneficiaries? 

The single legal entity applying should be part of the research and education community and have services provided to them by their local NREN. Therefore, it is unlikely that large or small businesses will be eligible to apply (except in circumstances where there is a clear link to the local NREN). 

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

Payments will be made to the lead partner only.  

How will the funding be paid? Do milestones/deliverables justify the payment or is a detailed declaration of expenditures needed? 

We will not provide an advance payment (after signature of the funding agreement by both parties) but simply a final payment based on the acceptance of your final report.  Interim payments will only be considered in exceptional circumstances. 

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

Does GÉANT 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 provided as a lump sum contribution, we have no set rules for how organisations design their budget internally. The aim of the budget in the proposal is to demonstrate to the evaluators that the requested funding is consistent with the effort invested in producing the outcome the project aims to achieve. It should give GÉANT a ‘value for money’ perspective on your project.   

Is it possible to attach support letters e.g. from the local NREN?  

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