National Training Fund,
the Intermediary
of
financed by EEA/Norwegian Financial Mechanisms
and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic
announces 1st
Call for Proposals
within the framework
of
the Measure ,,A"
The Research Support Fund (CZ) was established within the allocation of the Priority Area No. 6 Academic
Research of the EEA/Norwegian Financial Mechanisms in the Czech Republic.
The Fund shall support sub-projects in the field of academic research aiming to strengthen
cooperation and scientific networking between the EEA EFTA states (Iceland, Liechtenstein,
Norway) and the Czech Republic.
The Fund is intended to be a supplementary source of financing (rather than substitution) to
current activities and supports in the field of Research and Development (R&D) provided by
the European Communities and other public funds.
Sub-projects shall involve know-how transfer in the field of research in respect of innovative
approaches and complex R&D solutions, of methods, procedures, technologies, setting up of
new patents and prototypes, of industrial applications etc.
* The total amount of the grants available for 1st
Call for Proposals is 1,800,000.
* Sub-project shall last 8 -18 months.
* End-recipients of the research sub-projects may receive grant assistance up to 250,000.
The minimal amount of the grant is 25,000.
Proposals can be submitted electronically
from March 10th
, 2008
until 07:00:00 a.m. of May 12th
, 2008.
(The given date and time are monitored by the Funďs webpage www.eea-researchfund.cz.
The proposal submitted at 07:00:01 of May 12th
, 2008 and later will be rejected by the default function
of the Funďs webpage. Each applicant is responsible for reserving enough time for the preparation of
a proposal and its timely submission.)
Requirements for co-financing:
The Research support Fund (CZ) grant can finance up to 90% of total eligible costs of the subproject,
providing that the total eligible costs will be spent for activities of non-economic
character1
.
Apart the Funďs grant, the Final Beneficiary shall finance the sub-project in the share of at
least 10% of the sub-projecťs approved budget (the total eligible costs).
1
Non-economic activities ­ see point 3.1.1. in OJ 2006/C 323/01: Community Framework for State Aid for Research and
Development and Innovation.
Eligibility of applicants
The following legal entities registered in the Czech Republic are eligible to submit
the proposal:
research institutions,
public or private tertiary education institutions involved in research activities,
businesses providing and/or supporting R&D activities in Priority Sectors
not-for-profit organisations active in research
Partnership
Projects shall be realised in partnership of the Czech applicant with at least one partner from
donor states: Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway.
Partner(s) from the Czech Republic can also participate in the proposal.
The partners shall be registered as one of the types of legal entities listed above.
Not more than four partners can participate in the sub-project.
Eligible activities
Academic research activities targeted at the priority sectors of the EEA Financial Mechanism
are eligible for grants from the Fund, with special focus on environment, health and children's
living conditions.
The Steering Committee of the Fund decided according the Fund set-up Item 2.1. that in this
call the proposals shall be submitted in one of the following R&D fields:
2. Protection of the environment:
2.4 waste management
2.6 measures for decrees of GHG2
2.7 biodiversity losses reduction & preservation of untouched natural habitats
4. Healthcare:
4.2 prevention of communicable diseases
4.3 safety & quality of food
4.4 specific health problems of children
5. Promotion of sustainable development:
5.1 designing, enforcing and implementation on Strategies of Sustainable Development
6. Children's living conditions:
6.1 general, selective and indicated prevention of drug abuse in childhood and in adolescence
6.2 specific economic & social problems influencing children's living conditions.
Implementation of verified HRD schemes, procedures or HRD management methods can be
part of all sub-projects.
2
GHG ­ green-house gases
Submitting Proposals
The proposal shall be submitted in English by filling in the specific web form: A-Application.
The A-Application shall be submitted on-line at the Funďs webpage: www.eearesearchfund.cz
. The A-Application shall be filled in attentively and completely in
accordance with the Implementation Manual.
A successful on-line registration is therefore a condition in order to obtain access to the system
at the Funďs webpage and fill in the A-Application.
Detailed information about the on-line registration and the A-Application as well as the Call for
Proposals and the Implementation Manual can be found at the Funďs webpage: www.eearesearchfund.cz
.
Currency
All financial information in the A-Application shall be presented in EUR.
Currency conversion shall be calculated according to these exchange rates:
* CZK/EUR 26,564
* ISK/EUR 91,268
* CHF/EUR 1,642
* NOK/EUR 7,899
(The rates of currency conversion for proving the real expenditures related to the sub-project
realisation will follow the actual rates specified according the rules set by the EEA/Norwegian
Financial Mechanisms. All exchange rate risks are on the side of the Grant Final Beneficiary.)
Appraisal procedure
The appraisal of the submitted proposals (A-Applications) consists of three stages:
Stage I ­ Formal appraisal, which will be carried out by the Fund Intermediary (NVF). The Applicants
whose proposal fails to meet formal (administrative and eligibility) criteria set out above and in
the Implementation Manual will be asked to correct their A-Application within the term of 5
days.
Any Applicant may appeal against the decision of refusal of his/hers A-Application with regard
to the compliance with formal requirements within 10 days of the notification of results to
the Applicant by the Fund Intermediary.
Stage II ­ Content-related appraisal of the A-Application will be carried out by two experts. The Expert
Panel will then evaluate proposals according the selection criteria set in the Implementation
Manual. Final scoring will be based on Expert Panel members consensus.
Stage III ­ A-Applications that will reach at least 70 points (out of total 100) will be passed to
the Steering Committee.
Decision on co-financing the sub-project is made by the Steering Committee of the Fund.
The Steering Committee's decisions will be supported by Expert Panel appraisal,
the Secretariaťs recommendation and by a short presentation of applicants at the beginning of
its session.
The subprojects will be selected with a respect to the award criteria adopted by the Funďs
Steering Committee (see the Implementation Manual).
The Applicant can appeal against neither the decisions of a content-related character nor the
decisions of the Steering Committee of the Fund.
Questions & consultations
Applicants are recommended to fill in the Project Idea Form at the Funďs webpage, consult it
with the Intermediary as well as the content of the A-Application.
Questions and requests for consultations may be sent by e-mail (in Czech or in English) within
the whole period of the open call ­ preferably through the Funďs webpage http://www.eea-
researchfund.cz.
All such questions will be answered by e-mail.
Typical questions and answers will be published at the section Consultation in the registered
part of Funďs webpage (last publication of answers is planned on Wednesday, May 7th
, 2008).
Further information related to the Research Support Fund (CZ) and EEA/Norwegian Financial
Mechanisms are available at the web sites: http://www.eea-researchfund.cz ,
www.eeagrants.org and www.eeagrants.cz .
Contact to Fund Intermediary
Národní vzdělávací fond (National Training Fund), o.p.s.
Ing. Lenka Schrecková
Opletalova 25, 110 00 Praha 1
Phone: +420 224 500 514
E-mail: schreckova@nvf.cz