AEI public-private partnership project grant available
Innovation consultancy for the management of national AEI projects
The State Research Agency has launched the 2021 grants for the execution of public-private collaboration projects, with a budget of 375 million euros. The initiatives must be led by a company, have a minimum budget of €400,000 and an execution period of 3 years.
From the Innovation Consultancy area, we offer our clients a team specialised in the management of national projects with experience in calls for proposals from the AEI and other public R&D&I funding bodies.
Between 19 January and 9 February 2022, the application period for the 2021 call for applications for grants for the implementation of public-private partnership projects launched by the State Research Agency (AEI), which belongs to the Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN), will be open. This initiative was presented by the AEI in an online meeting held on 11 January and is included in the State Plan for Scientific, Technical and Innovation Research 2021-2023 and in the European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Mechanism.
The purpose of this call is to finance experimental development projects in collaboration between companies and research centers, advancing in the incorporation of knowledge and scientific-technical results that enable the validation and pre-competitive development of new technologies, products and services. These projects also aim to mobilise private investment, generate employment and improve the country’s technological balance, as well as strengthen the international leadership capacity of the Spanish Science, Technology and Innovation System and its agents, contributing to improving the competitiveness of the business fabric.
The programme includes the following six thematic priorities, which are included in the State Plan for Scientific, Technical and Innovation Research 2021-2023:
- Health
- Culture, creativity and inclusive society.
- Civil security for society.
- Digital world, industry, space and defence.
- Climate, energy and mobility.
- Food, bioeconomy, natural resources and environment.
This EIP call has a total budget of €375 million: €225 million in loans and €150 million from the Recovery Plan in non-repayable grants. The nature of the projects submitted must be Experimental Development in public-private partnership, under the leadership of a company. In addition, the initiatives must be multiannual, starting in 2022 and with a duration of 3 years, and a minimum budget of €400,000.
Beneficiaries of aid for public-private partnership projects
The beneficiaries of this aid for the implementation of projects in public-private collaboration of the AEI will be:
- Public research bodies.
- Public universities.
- Health research institutes.
- Other public R&D centres.
- State-level technology centres and state-level technological innovation support centres.
- Private universities with proven R&D capacity and activity.
- Other private R&D centres, with their own legal personality and non-profit-making status, which have defined R&D as their main activity in their articles of association.
- Companies: any commercial company, regardless of its legal form, which habitually carries out an economic activity aimed at the market.
- Sectoral business associations.
The minimum participation of each partner must be 10% of the total budget of the project. In turn, the distribution of participation must be greater than or equal to 51% in the case of companies and less than or equal to 49% in the case of research organisations.
Execution of projects in public-private collaboration
The project will be carried out in a single period (without annual payments), submitting a single scientific-technical report at the end of the project, as well as the indicators of the Spanish Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation 2021-2027, in order to carry out the ex-post evaluation of the project, as established in article 27 of the regulatory bases.
However, the financial justification will be carried out on an annual basis by presenting the expenses incurred, regardless of the aid payment schedule, which will be proportional to the amount available in the call for proposals for each year. The presentation of the annual financial justification will also determine the release of the payment corresponding to the following year.
The drafting of the application report shall preferably be done in English, although proposals in Spanish will also be accepted, and shall be submitted through the electronic headquarters of the Secretary of State for Universities, Research, Development and Innovation before 9 February 2022 at 14.00 (peninsular time).
Principle of no significant harm to enviroment (DNSH)
According to Article 17 of Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2020 (Taxonomy Regulation), projects may not involve activities that directly or indirectly cause significant harm to the environment, this being an indispensable and excluding requirement for the consideration of applications submitted.
The 6 environmental objectives identified in the Taxonomy Regulation are:
- Climate change mitigation.
- Adaptation to climate change.
- Sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources.
- Transition to a circular economy.
- Pollution prevention and control.
- Protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems.
The analysis of the DNSH principle will be carried out in a differentiated manner for each of these 6 environmental objectives and in a particularised manner for each project in order to ensure compliance.
