FUNDING BODY: European Commission.

CALL FOCUS:

• The FTI pilot aims to reduce the time from idea to market and to increase the participation in Horizon 2020 of industry, and in particular of first-time industry applicants*. It should stimulate private sector investment, promote research and innovation with a focus on value creation, and accelerate the development of innovative products, processes and services.
  * In the context of the FTI pilot, a “first-time industry applicant” means a legal entity that is a private, for-profit organisation that has obtained a PIC for the first time under Horizon 2020.
• A particular aim is to nurture trans-disciplinary and cross-sector approaches. All kinds of innovation actors can work together to develop sustainable innovations addressing societal needs or areas under 'Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies', and create viable business opportunities. FTI projects must be business-driven and clearly demonstrate a realistic potential for quick deployment and market take-up of innovations.

ELIGIBLE INSTITUTIONS:

• At least three legal entities. Each of the three shall be established in a different Member State or associated country. All three legal entities shall be independent of each other.
• Consortia must involve participation from industry. Universities, research and technology organisations and further innovation actors may also participate. Actors that can play a key role in the commercialisation process are encouraged to take part, such as cluster organisations, end-users, industrial associations, incubators, investors, or the public sector. First-time industry applicants and SMEs are particularly welcome.
• A maximum of 5 legal entities can participate in a project. At least one of the following minimum conditions shall be met:
  - either at least 60% of the overall budget of the proposal must be allocated to consortium partner(s) from industry,
  - or the minimum number of industry participants must be 2 in a consortium of 3 or 4 partners, and 3 in a consortium of 5 partners.

FTI INSTRUMENT DESCRIPTION. Specific challenge:

Innovation is fostered when new ideas can emerge and easily translate into socio-economic value. Working together, partners with complementary backgrounds, knowledge and skills, and in new and established value-chains, can turn these ideas into sustainable innovative products, processes and services that both address societal challenges and/or are highly competitive in global markets. FTI aims to accelerate this commercialisation process by providing extended funding opportunities through an open and agile scheme nurturing bottom-up ideas from innovative constituencies across Europe.

Scope:

• FTI supports projects undertaking innovation from the demonstration stage through to market uptake, including stages such as piloting, test-beds, systems validation in real world/working conditions, validation of business models, pre-normative research, and standard-setting.
• It targets relatively mature new technologies, concepts, processes and business models that need a last development step to reach the market and achieve wider deployment. If a proposal involves technological innovation, the consortium must declare that the technology or the technologies concerned are at least at Technology Readiness Level (TRL).
• Projects can be interdisciplinary.
• Proposals must relate to any field under the specific objective "Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies" and/or to any of the specific objectives under the priority "Societal challenges".
• Proposals should specify the intended outcome of the project and describe its key performance indicators/success criteria.
• Proposals must include a business plan clearly describing the market potential (potential users/customers and benefits for them; targeted European/global markets, etc.), the business opportunities for participants, measures to enhance the probability of eventual commercial take-up and a credible commercialisation strategy that identifies next steps and specifies other actors to be involved. Particular attention should be paid to IP protection and ownership and to the possibility of commercial exploitation ('freedom to operate').

Expected impact: should be clearly described in both qualitative and quantitative terms. Factors such as time sensitivity and the international competitive situation should be considered in the light of the technology/innovation fields and industry sectors concerned.
Possible impacts on sustainability or climate change, or on other cross-cutting objectives of Horizon 2020, should also be highlighted.

• Fast development, commercial take-up and/or wide deployment of sustainable innovative solutions (products, processes, services, business models etc.) in enabling and industrial technologies and/or for tackling societal challenges.
• Time to initial market take-up no later than 3 years after the beginning of the FTI project. In very well-justified cases linked to the specific characteristics of a particular innovation field or industry sector, the time to initial market take-up could be longer.
• Enhanced competitiveness and growth of business partners in the consortium, measured in terms of turnover and job creation.
• Increased industry participation, including SMEs, and more industry first-time applicants to Horizon 2020.
• Leveraging more private investment into research and/or innovation.
• Where appropriate, addressing transnational value-chains and/or EU-wide or global markets.

INSTRUMENT FUNDING LEVEL:

• Innovation Actions: 70% (except for non-profit legal entities, where a rate of 100% applies).
• EU contribution:
  • Indicative EU contribution per project is expected to be between EUR 1 and 2 million.
  • Maximum EU contribution per project is EUR 3 million.

ELIGIBLE COSTS:

• Personnel cost (additional remuneration up to EUR 8000 per year and per person)
• Other direct cost: travel and subsistence; equipment, informatics, consumables, among other needed cost.
• Subcontracting
• Indirect cost (25% total direct cost, except subcontracting)
  

REMARKS

• The criterion 'Impact' will be evaluated first, followed by 'Excellence' and 'Implementation'.
• For proposals with the same score, any further prioritisation will be based on the following factors applied in the following order: value of 'Impact' criterion; size of budget allocated to SMEs; number of first-time industry applicants; number of industry participants; gender balance among the personnel named in the proposal as primarily responsible for carrying out the research and/or innovation activities.
• Participants are required to conclude a consortium agreement prior to grant agreement.
  

INDICATIVE BUDGET: Overall indicative budget: EUR 100.00 million. The budget available will be divided equally between each cut-off date.

DEADLINES: FTI 2016

• 15 Mar
• 01 Jun
• 25 Oct

Opening date: 2 December 2015

MÁS INFORMACIÓN:

• European Commission Webpage
• FTI Pilot promotional leaflet: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/horizon2020/document.cfm?doc_id=8276