FET Innovation Launchpad

Topic description

Specific Challenge:

This topic aims at turning results from FET-funded projects into genuine societal or economic innovations.

Short individual or collaborative actions focused on the non-scientific aspects and the early stages of turning a result of an ongoing or recently finished project funded through FET under FP7 or Horizon 2020^[1] into a genuine innovation with socio-economic impacts. The precise link with the relevant FET project and the specific result for which a FET Innovation Launchpad proposal is intended, are to be explicitly described in the proposal. This topic does not fund research or activities that are/were already foreseen in the original FET project. Activities proposed should reflect the level of maturity of the result to be taken up. They can include the definition of a commercialisation process, market and competitiveness analysis, technology assessment, verification of innovation potential, consolidation of intellectual property rights, business case development. Proposals can include activities with, for instance, partners for technology transfer, licence-takers, investors and other sources of financing, societal organisations or potential end-users. Limited low-risk technology development (for instance for demonstration, testing or minor adjustment to specific requirements) can be supported as long as it has a clear and necessary role in the broader proposed innovation strategy and plan.

The Commission considers that proposals for actions no longer than 18 months and requesting a contribution from the EU of up to EUR 0.1 million would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. For grants awarded under this topic as a result of proposals submitted as of 9 October 2019, the costs will be declared based on lump sums of a fixed total amount of EUR 0.1 million for each grant, as authorised by decision of the authorizing officer responsible.^[2] Details of the lump sum funding pilot scheme are published on the Funding & Tenders Portal together with the specific Model Grant Agreement for Lump Sums applicable.

• Increased value creation from FET projects by picking up innovation opportunities.
• Improved societal and market acceptance of concrete high-potential innovations from FET projects.
• Stimulating, supporting and rewarding an open and proactive mind-set towards exploitation beyond the research world.
• Contributing to the competitiveness of European industry/economy by seeding future growth and the creation of jobs from FET research.

EIC Pilot
Open Innovation

[1]Research and Innovation Actions funded under any call in the FET work programmes under Horizon 2020 for 2014-2015, for 2016-2017, and for 2018-2019-2020; projects funded under the FET part of any of the LEIT-ICT work programmes under FP7. See the Call Conditions for specific eligibility conditions.

[2]'Decsion authorising the use of reimbursement on the basis of lump sums for the FET Innovation Launchpad actions under the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation' (17/05/2019). See http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/other/legal/lump_sum/lumpsumdecision-fet-innovation-launchpad_en.pdf