CFPs: Joint R&D Projects with Strong Commercial Potential in Switzerland and South Korea

Scope/Objectives

• The Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT) and the Swiss Innovation Agency (Innosuisse) announce a bilateral call for joint R&D projects aimed at developing market-ready solutions for products, technology-based services or processes that have significant market potential in both South Korea and Switzerland. The call is open to all scientific disciplines, with particular emphasis on the following areas:
  • Biotech; Medtech
  • Digitalisation; Industry 4.0; IoT; Artificial Intelligence
  • Additive manufacturing
  • Smart Materials; Innovative Surfaces
  • Augmented and Virtual Reality
  • Hydrogen Technologies
  • Renewable Energy & Batteries

Funding Information

• Switzerland – Innosuisse funding regulations:
  • Innosuisse is responsible for promoting science-based innovation in Switzerland. One of its main tasks is to help bring innovative products and services to the market for the benefit of the Swiss economy. Swiss implementation partners receive a non-exclusive right to exploit the project results in their specific business area.
    • Innosuisse covers a maximum of 70% of the total Swiss project costs as follows:
      • Funding rate for research organisations: 100% of eligible costs
      • Funding rate for start-ups and SMEs or other implementation partners < 250 FTE: max. 50% of eligible costs
      • Funding rate for large companies or other implementation partners > 250 FTE: max. 25% of eligible costs
    • If the commercial entity in Switzerland is a single start-up (before market entry and <50 FTE), the requirement for a research institute in the project consortium is waived.
    • The implementation partners must cover at least 30% of the total Swiss project costs.
  • Eligible costs: Only costs necessary for the proper execution of the project are eligible. These include personnel costs (salaries + employer’s social contributions), material costs, coordination costs (management of the consortium, if not covered by personnel or material costs), travel costs (covers international travel to project partners) and overheads (only for research institutions).
  • Own Contribution Requirements for Implementation Partners:
    • Contribution Obligation: Implementation partners are required to contribute 50%-75% to their project costs.
    • SMEs, Start-ups, Organisations (for-profit, non-profit, end-user) with less than 250 FTE must demonstrate their capacity to finance own contributions by submitting the documents to Innosuisse as described above in the submission section. Failure to provide this evidence may lead to formal rejection of the application.
    • Large companies and implementation partners (>250 FTE) are not required to submit their audited financial documents.
• Korea – KIAT funding regulations:
  • The South Korean dedicated budget provided by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and managed by KIAT is open to all type of applications from Korean companies with registered R&D laboratories, Korean research institutes and universities.
  • Project funding consists of government contributions and civilian dues (cash and in-kind). The amount of government contributions will vary depending on the type of executing organizations and project in accordance with Article 24 (Funding criteria) and Article 25 (Civilian dues) of the Common Operational Regulations for the Industrial Technology Innovation Programs.
    • KIAT covers the total Korean project costs as follows:
      • Funding rate for research organisations: 100% of eligible costs
      • Funding rate for small companies: max. 66.6% of eligible costs
      • Funding rate for medium companies: max. 50% of eligible costs
      • Funding rate for large companies: max. 33.3% of eligible costs.

Eligibility Criteria

• To be considered for evaluation, proposals must meet the following eligibility criteria:
  • Project duration: The project must have a duration between 18 and 36 months.
  • Consortium Composition:
    • Mandatory Participants:
      • At least one business entity from each participating country (South Korea and Switzerland)
      • At least one research institute from either South Korea or Switzerland
      • Exception: If the Swiss applicant is an individual start-up (pre-market and <50 FTE), the requirement to include a research institute is waived.
    • Additional Participants:
      • Additional research organizations or commercial companies from either country may participate, adhering to the funding rules of their respective countries.
  • Legal Status: To ensure genuine international collaboration, rather than internal company research, affiliated companies within the consortium will be treated as a single entity under their parent company. South Korean entities must not be linked to the Swiss partners or vice versa.
  • Projects must demonstrate significant innovation content, clear added value and substantial bilateral cooperation benefits.
  • Resource Allocation: No single country may contribute more than 70% or less than 30% of the total person-months dedicated to the project. Person-months refers to the cumulative time (in months) allocated by staff to the project.
  • Consortium Agreement (CA): A draft CA covering Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) must be submitted with the proposal.
  • Mandatory Documents: Financial documents demonstrating the implementation partners’ ability to finance their own contributions must be included.
  • Eligible Costs: Only costs incurred within the respective country are eligible. Cross-border funding is not allowed.
• Proposals that fail to meet any of the eligibility criteria will not be considered for evaluation. Errors in proposals cannot be corrected after the application deadline. Proposals that include ineligible partners will result in the entire proposal being disqualified.

For more information, visit Innosuisse.