Research grants

Research and Innovation projects: FET-Open - novel ideas for radically new technologies

Funding institution

European Commission

Scope

This call aims to support early-stage joint science and technology research for radically new future technological possibilities. The call is entirely non-prescriptive with regards to the nature or purpose of the technologies that are envisaged and thus targets mainly the unexpected. A bottom-up selection process will build up a diverse portfolio of projects. In order to identify and seize opportunities of long-term benefit for citizens, the economy and society, the early detection of promising new areas, developments and trends, wherever they come from, will be essential.
Specific challenge: Supporting a large set of early stage, high risk visionary science and technology collaborative research projects is necessary for the successful exploration of new foundations for radically new future technologies. Nurturing fragile ideas requires an agile, risk-friendly and highly interdisciplinary research approach, expanding well beyond the strictly technological disciplines. Recognising and stimulating the driving role of new high-potential actors in research and innovation, such as women, young researchers and high-tech SMEs, is also important for nurturing the scientific and industrial leaders of the future.
Scope: Proposals are sought for collaborative research with all of the following characteristics:
• Long-term vision: the research proposed must address a new, original or radical long-term vision of technology-enabled possibilities that are far beyond the state of the art and currently not anticipated by technology roadmaps.
• Breakthrough S&T target: research must target scientifically ambitious and technologically concrete breakthroughs that are arguably crucial steps towards achieving the long-term vision and that are plausibly attainable within the life-time of the proposed project.
• Foundational: the breakthroughs that are envisaged must be foundational in the sense that they can establish a basis for a new line of technology not currently anticipated.
• Novelty: the research proposed must find its plausibility in new ideas and concepts, rather than in the application or incremental refinement of existing ones.
• High-risk: the potential of a new technological direction depends on a whole range of factors that cannot be apprehended from a single disciplinary viewpoint. This inherent high-risk has to be countered by a strongly interdisciplinary research approach, where needed expanding well beyond the strictly technological realm.
• Interdisciplinary: the proposed collaborations must be interdisciplinary in the sense that they go beyond current mainstream collaboration configurations in joint science- and technology research, and that they aim to advance different scientific and technological disciplines together and in synergy towards a breakthrough.
This call is open to early-stage research on any new technological possibility.
The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of between EUR 2 and 4 million would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.
Expected impact: Proposals must aim at one of the following two impacts:
• Initiating a radically new line of technology by establishing Proof-of-Principle of a new technological possibility and its new scientific underpinning, or
• Kick-starting an emerging innovation eco-system of high-potential actors around a solid baseline of feasibility and potential for a new technological option, ready for early take-up.
The active involvement of new and high-potential research and innovation players, which may become the European scientific and technological leaders of the future, is encouraged. Impact is also sought in terms of take up of new research and innovation practices and, more generally, from making leading-edge science and technology research more open, collaborative, creative and closer to society.
Evaluation:
Excellence: 60%
Clarity of targeted breakthrough and its specific science and technology contributions towards a long-term vision. Novelty, level of• ambition and foundational character. Range and added value• from interdisciplinarity. Appropriatness of the• research methods.
Impact: 20%
Importance of the new technological outcome with regards to its transformational impact on technology and/or society. Quality of measures for• achieving impact on science, technology and/or society. Impact from• empowerment of new and high potential actors towards future technological leadership.
Implementation: 20%
Quality of the workplan and clarity of intermediate targets. Relevant expertise in• the consortium. Appropriate allocation• and justification of resources (personmonths, equipment, budget).
 

Requirements

At least three legal entities from EU Member States or Associated Countries

Deadline

29 September 2015

IISPV Deadline

1 September 2015 (Please, contact upi@iispv.cat before that date)

Founding

Duration

Typically 36-48 months

Processing of grants

Proposals are to be submitted through the Participants Portal of the EC.
The application includes an Administrative form (Part A) to be completed electronically and a Research proposal (Part B) of 15 pages that includes the following sections:
1- S&T Excellence (Targeted breakthrough, Long term vision and Objectives; Relation to the work programme; Novelty, level of ambition and foundational character; Research methods, Interdisciplinary nature)
2- Impact (Expected impacts; Measures to maximise impact - a) Dissemination and exploitation of results - b) Communication activities)
3- Implementation (Project work plan; Management and risk assessment; Consortium as a whole; Resources to be committed)
4- Members of the consortium (Participants; Third Parties involved
5- Ethics and Security
 

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