Call for R&TD Projects in Co-Promotion - International Partnerships

The UT Austin Portugal Program announces a Call for Co-Promotion R&TD Projects - International Partnerships (UT Austin Portugal Program, MIT Portugal Program, CMU Portugal Program), under Portugal2020.

Deadline: May 31st, 2019

The Call intends to support the creation of transatlantic Research and Technological Development consortia, led by Portuguese companies and involving non-corporate organizations of the Portuguese Research and Innovation System and research teams at The University of Texas at Austin.

This Call will only finance Portuguese consortia. UT Austin’s participation will be directly funded by the UT Austin Portugal Program’s budget available at the University of Texas at Austin.

FAQs

1. Who should apply to this call?

- Companies located in mainland Portugal;
- Non-corporate academic and research organizations of the National Research and Innovation System (NRIS).

2. Should UT Austin faculty apply to this Call?

Yes, as partners. Under this Call, UT Austin faculty are not considered applicants (or beneficiaries), but partners of eligible Portuguese entities. Applications should be led by companies in Portugal in conjunction with non-corporate academic and research organizations of the NRIS. The Portuguese consortium is required to identify their research partners at UT Austin (or at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, MDACC, in the case of proposals in the area of Medical Physics).

3. Are non-corporate academic and research organizations from the Autonomous Regions of The Azores and Madeira eligible under this Call (AAC 04/SI/2019)?

They are not eligible, but can be added as Partners. Their participation will be funded by the respective Regional Operational Programs. A Clarification Note (“Nota de Aclaração”) about the participation of these organizations can be found here.

4. What type of projects are we looking for?

Up to 3-year innovative projects led by Portuguese companies, aligned with priorities of the National or Regional Research and Innovation Smart Specialization Strategy and contributing to major global challenges, namely those addressed by the Atlantic Interactions initiative, while improving companies’ competitiveness in international markets. 

Proposed projects must include industry-oriented research and experimental development activities, leading to new or improved market applications, i.e., products, processes or systems with international exploitation potential and cover, at least, one of the four Scientific Areas of the UT Austin Portugal Program:

- Space-Earth Interactions;
- Medical Physics for Emerging Therapies;
- Advanced Computing, Quantum Computing, Data Analysis and Visualization;
- Nano Materials for New Markets.

5. What are the key requirements for consortium composition and who are the Principal Investigators (PIs)?

As mentioned before, proposed projects must be carried out by an international consortium, led by a company located in mainland Portugal and involving, at least, two non-corporate academic/research organizations from the Research and Innovation System in Portugal and, at least, two Principal Investigators from UT Austin (or from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center – MDACC – for proposals related with Medical Physics). PIs at UT Austin (or MDACC) must be tenured or tenured-track faculty.

Additionally, the consortia must clearly demonstrate that the participation of corporate partners operating in phases of the value chain which are critical to accelerate and improve the market take-up of the developed technologies is guaranteed.

6. Is an individual Principal Investigator (PI) at UT Austin limited to one application only?

No, there is no limit on the number of projects for which one particular PI, UT Austin (or at MD Anderson Cancer Center, in the area of Medical Physics) may apply.

7. Can faculty members in other U.S. institutions besides UT Austin apply to the call as Principal Investigators?

UT Austin will only fund tenured or tenured-track faculty from UT Austin. In the area of Medical Physics, faculty from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center are also eligible as PI. In this case, although projects may be led by MDACC faculty, the inclusion of at least one PI at UT Austin is encouraged.

8. What is the official language of proposals?

Proposals submitted under this call consist of several mandatory documents.

Technical annex: The official template, which can be downloaded from Compete2020 website, is available in Portuguese only, but it must be filled in English.

(Nevertheless, an English version of the annex can be found here; it should be used only as a working document and during proposal writing; for submission purposes, the Portuguese template takes full precedence).

Electronic application form: The electronic form is available in Portuguese only (at Balcão2020) but it must be completed in English. The form is mostly intended for the collection of information about the Portuguese beneficiaries and their participation in the proposed project, not about the US partners. UT Austin should be identified as a partner in this form.

Declaration of funding: Document in English issued by UT Austin and confirming the availability of funds at the University to support a project in case of its approval in Portugal under the present call.

9. Must proposals be submitted both in Portugal and at UT Austin?

Under this call, only proposals submitted in Portugal, through the electronic platform at Balcão 2020, will be considered for eligibility checks and evaluation. The Portuguese consortium, namely the consortium’s coordinator, is responsible for submitting the application forms and required documents, some of which must be provided by UT Austin in advance.

During the writing of proposals, UT Austin project PI’s are highly encouraged to contact the Program’s Executive Director at UT Austin (Marco Bravo: bravo@utexas.edu) to discuss the proposals they are involved in. Information provided should always include:

•    Acronym & Full title of the proposal;
•    Identification of the PIs;
•    Executive summary of the project,
•    Planned work plan and activities, highlighting the responsibilities of the UT Austin PIs participating as partners;
•    Detailed budget requested by the PIs at UT Austin (or MD Anderson Cancer Center, in the area of Medical Physics).

Based on the information provided, UT Austin will issue a declaration of funding which must be sent to the Portuguese consortium and annexed to the application process. In the absence of this letter, the application may be ruled ineligible.

After submission of proposals, PIs from UT Austin (and MD Anderson Cancer Center, in the area of Medical Physics) should send to the UT Austin Portugal Program’s Office in the US an electronic version of the technical annexes submitted by the Portuguese consortia they teamed up with.

10. What is the intended budget for the UT Austin Portugal Program in this Call?

A minimum of 5 (five) million euros is available to fund the Portuguese partners in projects submitted under this Partnership. Indicatively, each project should not exceed, for the total duration of the project of 3 years, 1,25 million euros for the Portuguese consortium.

PIs from UT Austin will not be funded by the Portuguese Call. They will be directly funded by the UT Austin Portugal Program’s budget available at UT Austin. UT Austin will contribute with up to 1 (one) million dollars for each approved project from a total budget of 5 million dollars devoted to this call through the UT Austin Portugal Program.

The exact amount allocated to each project by UT Austin will depend, however, on the total number of projects approved for funding on the Portuguese side.

11. What are the funding rates? (Applicable to Portuguese consortia only)

Co-funding rates of eligible costs may vary according to the type and size of the beneficiary, the region where investments are made, the nature of undertaken activities (whether they are Research or Development activities), the strategy for dissemination of results or the degree of involvement of industry or academic partners. 

Companies may benefit from a maximum of 50% up to 85% co-funding, depending on certain criteria, and non-corporate organizations from the Portuguese Research and Innovation System from 100% funding.

12. What about the funding at UT?

Funding at UT will be executed at a 100% rate for eligible expenses directly related to the research activities (e.g. research assistants, travel, equipment time). Examples of non-eligible expenses are PI salary and equipment acquisition. PIs at UT Austin (or MD Anderson for applications in the area of Medical Physics) should include indirect costs on their budgets at a rate of 38%. Total funding amount of each 3-year project should not exceed $1 (one) million U.S. dollars, including indirect costs.

13. How will projects be evaluated?

Projects will be evaluated on the basis of their merit, by an independent panel of international experts, determined by the following rationale:

35% A + 20% B + 15% C + 30% D

A - Overall quality of the Project, B - Impact on the competitiveness of the leading company, C - Contribution to the economy and D - Contribution to regional convergence.

An English translation of the Evaluation Criteria is available here. Nevertheless, the Portuguese version takes full precedence over the English one.

Additional information

Applications must be submitted through the plataform Balcão 2020.

The Call is open from March 13 to May 31, 2019 (19:00 Lisbon time/ 1pm Austin time).

The information provided in this page does not replace the reading of the official announcement and related documentation published here. 

If you would like to get support from the Program to find potential partners for consortium building or have any inquiries of scientific nature related with project proposals to be submitted under this call, please contact us at info@utaustinportugal.org

Last update: May 7, 2019