Call for Proposals: Bio-intelligent Manufacturing Industries (Made in Europe Partnership) – RIA

Scope

• The biological transformation of industry is a pioneering frontier that the industry of the Union and Associated Countries can harness to enhance circularity and sustainability, while advancing production efficiency and competitiveness.
• The biological transformation of industry involves the integration of bio-intelligent structures, processes, organisms or materials into technology by systematically applying knowledge from biology. This should lead to a necessary convergence of biotechnology with mechanical engineering, production technology and information technology with new possibilities for the flexible adaptation of production and value creation processes to requirements, especially in the context of sustainability.
• The biological transformation of industries includes but is not limited to:
  • Bio-inspired manufacturing processes (biomimicry, biomimetics);
  • Development of bio-intelligent manufacturing systems or tools;
  • Expanding opportunities of bio-intelligent and bio-based materials by substituting fossil-based raw materials and limiting the release of microplastics, e.g. in the textile industry;
  • A systematic application of the knowledge of nature and/or natural processes aiming at optimising a manufacturing system through a convergence and the integration of technical and biological processes.

Funding Information

The check will normally be done for the coordinator if the requested grant amount is equal to or greater than EUR 500 000, except for:

• public bodies (entities established as a public body under national law, including local, regional or national authorities) or international organisations; and
• cases where the individual requested grant amount is not more than EUR 60 000 (lowvalue grant).

Expected Outcome

• European manufacturing industries are reinforced through biological transformation; in particular
  • Access to bio-intelligent production technologies and architecture;
  • Technological advances and improvements in sustainability (in particular SDGs 11, 12 and 13) arising from the integration of bio-intelligent principles, functions, structures and technologies in manufacturing;
  • Substitution of raw materials by bio-based materials, or implementation of bio-based or bio-intelligent manufacturing operations, and business models leading to regenerative production.

Eligibility Criteria

• Entities eligible to participate
  • Any legal entity, regardless of its place of establishment, including legal entities from nonassociated third countries or international organisations (including international European research organisations) is eligible to participate (whether it is eligible for funding or not), provided that the conditions laid down in the Horizon Europe Regulation have been met, along with any other conditions laid down in the specific call topic.
  • A ‘legal entity’ means any natural or legal person created and recognised as such under national law, EU law or international law, which has legal personality and which may, acting in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity without legal personality.
  • Beneficiaries and affiliated entities must register in the Participant Register before submitting their application, in order to get a participant identification code (PIC) and be validated by the Central Validation Service before signing the grant agreement. For the validation, they will be asked to upload the necessary documents showing their legal status and origin during the grant preparation stage. A validated PIC is not a prerequisite for submitting an application.
• Entities eligible for funding
  • To become a beneficiary, legal entities must be eligible for funding.
  • To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries:
    • the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden.
    • the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States: Aruba (NL), Bonaire (NL), Curação (NL), French Polynesia (FR), French Southern and Antarctic Territories (FR), Greenland (DK), New Caledonia (FR), Saba (NL), Saint Barthélemy (FR), Sint Eustatius (NL), Sint Maarten (NL), St. Pierre and Miquelon (FR), Wallis and Futuna Islands (FR).
    • countries associated to Horizon Europe; Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine.
• Specific cases:
  • Affiliated entities — Affiliated entities are eligible for funding if they are established in one of the countries listed above, or in a country identified in the specific call conditions.
  • Associated partners — Entities not eligible for funding (and therefore not able to participate as beneficiaries) may participate as associated partners, unless specified otherwise in the specific call conditions.
  • Coordination and Support Actions – To be eligible to participate as beneficiaries (or affiliated entities) in ‘Coordination and support’ actions, legal entities must be established in a Member State or Associated Country, unless the specific call conditions provide otherwise. Legal entities established in a non-associated third country may, however, participate in ‘Coordination and support’ actions as associated partners, unless this is explicitly excluded by the specific call conditions.
  • EU bodies — Legal entities created under EU law may also be eligible to receive funding, unless their basic act states otherwise.
  • International organisations — International European research organisations are eligible to receive funding.

For more information, visit European Commission.