FAQ
1. The application area of the call -robotics and smart manufacturing- is wide. Does the call address to specific focus areas? If yes, what areas? For example, do smart gates counts?
2. What are the criteria for SMEs (or slightly bigger companies) to be eligible?
The definition of ‘SME’ refers to the one given in Horizion2020 guidelines.
Nevertheless, for FSTP (Financial Support to Third Parties) purpose “SMEs or slightly bigger” is defined by extending the current European Commission definition of SME to increase the Employee Threshold to 500 and the Turnover to €100M.
Whether you count as an SME may depend on how you count your workforce, turnover or balance sheet. Please note that you must take into account any relationships you have with other enterprises. Depending on the category in which your enterprise fits, you may then need to add some or all the data. For more details: Regulation 2003/361/EC – see “Annex” for a full definition of a SME.
3. What is the expected composition of the consortium presenting an application? Is it an individual project proposal or more than one entity is required? If so, who is eligible to submit the proposal?
4. Is the maximum funding of 300.000€ allocated to the consortium or to each consortium partner?
This call foresees a maximum grant of 200.000€ per consortium.
Partners that might have received prior funding from TRINITY or other DIH^2 projects, can receive funding up to max 300.000€ for individual company.
5. Can a company apply funding from several DIH project?
Yes.
6. How long (in terms of pages) the application is planned to be?
7. Does SME receive 100% funding?
· The maximum funding rate is 70% of the eligible total costs.· The funding of the leading SME (or slightly bigger company) must be at least 40% of the entire use-case demonstration budget.
8. What are eligible costs? What kind of activities will be supported?
For eligible costs it is meant personnel costs, subcontracting, and consumables.
9. Can I purchase equipment, such as a robot, using TRINITY money?
The depreciation of the equipment used in the project is eligible, according to the company’s depreciation policy.
The maximum depreciation time is 10 months assuming that the equipment is used only for the project and all the time.
Assuming a 5-year full depreciation (100%), TRINITY covers the 5% of the purchase value for equipment purchased specifically for the project and used only for it during the 6 to 10 months demonstration period.
10. Can SMEs propose an additional funding for the project from their own resources? For example, 200.000€ from TRINITY + 200.000€ of own resources.
11. What should be delivered at the end of the project (deliverables)? How is it decided that a project has reached the expected results stated in the proposal?
The expected outcomes from your demonstration project are:
· public abstract
· video of the achieved result (your demonstrator in use)
· short report (e.g. a white paper) to be published.
Companies can choose to deliver or publish additional material at their own convenience.
12. Can I present the same proposal for the open calls foreseen in the other robotics Innovation Actions?
No, the grant is based on PIC number, and for a single PIC number the grant cannot exceed 300.000€.
The 300.000€ threshold applies to each consortium for each Innovation Action, but a consortium cannot submit the same proposal in more than one call.
Example:
A consortium can receive funding from the different innovation actions, for instance, 200.000€ from RIMA, 300.000€ from DIH², and 200.000€ from TRINITY, provided it does not submit the same proposal in more than one call.
13. How will TRINITY evaluate the proposals submitted?
14. How is conflict of interest addressed?? What if a TRINITY partner is part of the consortium submitting a proposal to get funding from TRINITY DIHs?
TRINITY partners can assist but cannot perform subcontracting to a SME. If a SME would like to turn to one of the TRINITY partners for assistance in the preparation of the project proposal, the costs cannot be covered by TRINITY funding.
Please note that turning to one of TRINITY partner for consulting will not automatically guarantee the shortlisting of your proposal.</div>
15. A large company X is willing to apply for the funding, but it is not eligible because it is not included in the ‘SME’ definition. They would like to use their subsidiary company Y as an applicant for the open call because it fits to the SME definition. Is it possible?
The company Y is valid for the call if it is completely independent from the company X or any other company.
By ‘independent’ it is meant that if the large company X owns more than 25 % of the subsidiary company shares, company Y is calculated as a large enterprise and not valid for applying for the call. If the company Y itself owns more than 25 % of the shares of another large company C, it is still not valid for the call.
Please refer to the user guide to the SME definition for more information.</div>
16. If a company would like to test TRINITY modules but is not interested in applying for the funding, is this possible? If yes, with what terms?
17. Does each company in the consortium have to write a separate contract? Will they have their own budget?
18. BREXIT: Are participants from UK eligible to apply?
19. Is it mandatory to have partners from two of three different EU countries (cross-border dimension)?
Yes. At least two countries must be involved in one consortium.
20. Is it possible to receive funding for other institutions besides SMEs (e.g. research institutes, universities)?
Yes.
The funding rate is available for both companies and other institutions, such as research institutes, by the 70% margin. The main clause for receiving funding is the possibility to transfer the research results to on-site production. However, depending on each individual case, it solely lies on the project descriptions (proposals) and how they are evaluated.
In any way, in case of non-industrial legal entities (e.g. Universities) involved in the consortium, funding will be provided if the leader of the consortium is a SME, and the total funding for the SME (or slightly bigger company) must be at minimum 40% of the entire experiment budget.
21. What is the maximum funding available?
The maximum funding that is available to distribute is 200.000€.
22. Do standard, yet customized, projects receive funding?
23. When a robot provider is needed to be developed as a sub-supplier, how it should be denoted in the provided budget: as a sub-supplier to the main partner or a separate partner?
24. Can a technology provider be the leader of the consortium?
Yes, provided it is a SME.
25. How many Project partners there can be in a consortium?
3 partners for a consortium is the maximum.
26. What is the scope of the Project proposal?
27. Is there a maximum number of proposals which can be funded?
28. What is the targeted TRL (Technology readiness Level) of the final result?
Proposals funded start from a TRL around 6-7, with a target to clearly reach the TRL 7.
29. What are the rules of Intellectual Property (IP)?
30. Can the description of the 'Benefit and Competition' titles in the “Executive summary” be merged into 1 section?
31. Can you apply for a proposal that implements more than one Use Case?
Yes.
32. How detailed should be the description of the section “Potential impact and exploitation plans”?
33. If the project is more related to moving goods in a warehouse rather than in a manufacturing plant, is that part of the scope?
34. What if the consortium has multiple clients with different applications and wish to submit 2 different proposals?
One company can be the lead applicant in one submitted proposal only.
35. Is it necessary to fill the Annex 7 before or after the acceptance of the project?
No. It is only requested in case your application is accepted for funding.