FAQ

Further details on the different thematic calls can be found in the targeted call text and the respective FAQ sections on the platform. The FAQ sections will be updated with answers to questions received so that all participants can have access to the same level of information.

The first thing to have in mind is that the “Matchmaking” platform is an open platform and confidential information should not be published. When describing a project idea, your objective as the project initiator is to raise awareness and to encourage stakeholders to share their suggestions and to connect if relevant. The description should thus enable understanding what your objectives are and what the underlying concept is without providing any technical information. It is also recommended to describe well the expertise needed and what type of synergies you are looking for.

Project initiators are often interested in getting access to relevant contributions but are sometimes concerned by the fact that some stakeholders would use this opportunity to market less suitable services. Initiators always have the possibility to decide at their own discretion whether they want to pursue discussions with a party.

The aim of the “Matchmaking” platform is to connect people and to add transparency to the process of forming a consortium. Main discussions will take place in bilateral exchanges with the project initiator, preferably under non-disclosure agreements. Instead of directly entering into contact with the project initiator, the use of the public platform allows the contributor to increase visibility around its expertise. In some cases, it is understandable that a stakeholder interested in a project idea does not want to be identified. The possibility to publish anonymous comments is an encouragement to use the open platform even in such cases, as the transparency on the expertise suggested brings added value to other platform users.

No. Consortia can immediately start a project when the call opens. Select a call, go to the “Browse ideas” section. When the call opens, there will be an option: “Start a project”. We recommend using the “Matchmaking” section as this gives the opportunity to the project initiators to tap into a formidable knowledge pool. Consortia should always beware of publishing any confidential information.

In the context of open innovation, the protection of intellectual property (IP) plays a crucial role. Without IP protection, you may not want to share any ideas. Open innovation does not imply a free sharing of ideas and know-how. Open innovation and protecting ideas as well as intellectual property can go hand in hand, if relevant measures are in place. Do not disclose confidential, non-obvious, novel and detailed information about your ideas or solutions when posting an idea. Sign a non-disclosure agreement before entering into discussions.

For technical support on the platform, you can contact the support team. For further questions on the platform or the thematic calls, which are not already covered in the respective FAQ sections, you can also fill in the contact form on the platform . Luxinnovation will contact you to discuss your questions.

No. The FNR will fund the costs of the eligible research organisations in Luxembourg, up to 500.000 € per project covering all project specific costs. The Ministry of the Economy will co-finance costs borne by Luxembourg eligible companies up to ±700.000 € per project, using the R&D aid scheme. It is expected that the projects will be considered as experimental development projects. In this case, the maximum co-financing rates for companies through collaboration are as follows: Small company: 60%; Medium company: 50%; Large company: 40%.

For FNR funding, hospitals need to be accredited by the Ministry of Higher Education and Research to be eligible. For Directorate of Health funding, hospitals need to conduct clinical research. The Joint Call general eligibility criteria require one FNR-eligible participating organisation to be part of the consortium. Further details on the Directorate of Health funding scheme can be found here. (in French only). Further details will be announced at the end of phase 1.

In an “effective collaboration” at least two independent parties pursue a common objective based on the division of labour and jointly define its scope, participate in its design, contribute to its implementation and share its financial, technological, scientific and other risks, as well as its results. The terms and conditions of a collaboration project, in particular as regards contributions to its costs, the sharing of risks and results, the dissemination of results, access to and rules for allocation of IPR, must be concluded prior to the start of the project (as defined within section 2.2.2 of the EU RDI Framework).

Yes. However, entities outside Luxembourg cannot receive funding from either the Ministry of the Economy or the FNR. They can either self-fund their contribution or should guarantee their ability to cover the contribution in a project. Consortia should bear in mind that if a participant bases its contribution on an external source of funding which would be declined, this would jeopardize the entire project.

There is no fixed limit but the funding authorities foresee for this call a limited number of consortia. It is up to the entities to define how much effort they can put into different proposals. Only projects that will reach a certain quality threshold will have the possibility to be funded.

No. The objective of the platform is to support collaborative research. It is a minimum requirement to make sure that at least one research organisation and one company are involved in a project before starting it. When starting a project, the project initiator will be asked to communicate the e-mail address of a user in a partner organisation. The consortium can start preparing a project only when that user will have registered on the platform and accepted to join the project.

Yes. To add a partner, you only have to mention the email address of the invited user. The invitation will be sent out only after all consortium members have approved the invitation. To remove a consortium member, send a request to the contact point for the call.

• Phase 1: During phase 1, the applicants need to prepare and submit a project outline directly on the research-industry-collaboration platform. By clicking on “Apply”, the applicants can start creating their applications and will get access to the questions and required attachments for phase 1.
• Phase 2: Applicants, who have been invited to proceed to phase 2, will need to prepare a full project proposal (FPP) to be submitted by each project applicant to the Ministry of the Economy (MyGuichet platform) for companies or to FNR (FNR grant management system) for accredited research organisations. The FPP as well as the financial annexes to be appended by each partner to the aid application can be downloaded from the research-industry-collaboration platform at the beginning of phase 2.

All entities participating need to create an account on the platform and need to be validated in order to be able to submit a project. At least one person from the different participating entities is invited within the project and validates the participation of that entity in the consortium. However, the submission itself can be done by a single person from the consortium. The platform will request the necessary information for each participating entity within the consortium.

No, consortia do not need to address all steps, and can apply for funding at any of the three steps, which can be considered as key R&D milestones towards market access for health technologies. Although it would be possible to cover more than one step within the same project, consortia should select the predominant step within their project outline.

Yes, this Joint Call provides a financial incentive to consortia that have a specific digital product or service at prototype stage for which they wish to demonstrate its relevance and benefit for human health and society. The solution must be at prototype stage latest by the submission of the final proposal at the end of phase 2.

No. The FNR will fund the costs of the eligible research organisations in Luxembourg, up to 500.000 € per project covering all project-specific costs. The Ministry of the Economy will co-finance costs borne by Luxembourg eligible companies up to 500.000 € per project, using the R&D aid scheme. It is expected that the projects will be considered as industrial research or experimental development). In this case, the maximum co-financing rates for companies through collaboration are as follows:

In an “effective collaboration” at least two independent parties pursue a common objective based on the division of labour and jointly define its scope, participate in its design, contribute to its implementation and share its financial, technological, scientific and other risks, as well as its results. The terms and conditions of a collaboration project, in particular as regards contributions to its costs, the sharing of risks and results, the dissemination of results, access to and rules for allocation of IPR, must be concluded prior to the start of the project (as defined within section 2.2.2 of the EU RDI Framework)

The consortium must be composed of national applicants only. Under justified conditions, sub-contractors from NATO Members, EU EEA/EFTA States, as well as the following NATO Indo-Pacific Partners, Australia, Japan, Republic of South Korea and New Zealand, could contribute to the project. Self-funded partners are permitted to participate in the consortium.

There is no fixed limit, but the funding authorities foresee for this call a limited number of consortia. It is up to the entities to define how much effort they can put into different proposals. Only projects that will reach a certain quality threshold will have the possibility to be funded.

No. The objective of the platform is to support collaborative research. It is a minimum requirement to make sure that at least one public research organisation and one company are involved in a project before starting it. When starting a project, the project initiator will be asked to communicate the e-mail address of a user in a partner organisation. The consortium can start preparing a project only when that user has registered on the platform and accepted to join the project.

Yes. To add a partner, you only have to mention the email address of the invited user. The invitation will be sent out only after all consortium members have approved the invitation. To remove a consortium member, send a request to the contact point for the call.

Yes. All the employees from the applicant companies and research organisations taking part in the project need to have nationalities of a NATO Member Country, from an EU EEA/EFTA Country, or from one of the following NATO Indo-Pacific Partners, Australia, Japan, Republic of South Korea, and New Zealand. Applicants should list all nationalities an employee might have. In case of dual citizenship, it is sufficient that one nationality is of the before-mentioned countries.

Under justified conditions, sub-contractors with a headquarter in a NATO Member Country, EU EEA/EFTA States, as well as the following NATO Indo-Pacific Partners, Australia, Japan, Republic of South Korea and New Zealand, could contribute to the project. The restrictions regarding the nationalities do not apply to the employees of the sub-contractors as long as their headquarter is in one of the before-mentioned countries.

Yes. Start-ups can participate in the call if they fulfil all the eligibility requirements and have all required authorisations to operate.

Yes. In the template for phase 1, information concerning the IP needs to be documented to understand who the IP owner is or will be, and where it is located to ensure that the freedom to operate is guaranteed. In the phase 2 application, more details regarding the IP will need to be provided in the project application and the draft collaboration agreement, such as the access to and rules for allocation of IPR.

Yes. There are no restrictions regarding the size or age of the applicant companies.

• Phase 1: During phase 1, the applicants need to prepare and submit a project outline directly on the research-industry-collaboration.lu platform. By clicking on “Apply”, the applicants can start creating their applications and will get access to the questions and required attachments for phase 1.
• Phase 2: Applicants, who have been invited to proceed to phase 2, will need to prepare a full project proposal (FPP) to be submitted by each project applicant to the Ministry of the Economy (MyGuichet platform) for companies or to FNR (FNR grant management system) for accredited research organisations. The FPP as well as the financial annexes to be appended by each partner to the aid application can be downloaded from the research-industry-collaboration platform at the beginning of phase 2.

All entities participating in the project need to create an account on the platform and need to be validated to be able to submit a project. At least one person from the different participating entities needs to be invited to the project and to validate the participation of that entity in the consortium. However, the submission itself can be done by a single person of the consortium. The platform will request the necessary information for each participating entity within the consortium.

• Personal narrative for the Principal Investigator (for RPOs only)
• List of personnel that is going to work on the project, including their nationalities and work experience in a full CV – Europass format (for companies and RPOs)
• Declaration of honour as part of the phase 1 submission process, ensuring that in case of the presence of non-NATO or EU EEA/EFTA nationalities, appropriate measures are put in place for safeguarding project related information (for companies and RPOs)
• The phase 1 indications on the people working on the project are preliminary and can be adapted during phase 2

For both companies and research organisations, a legal representative of the respective organisation should sign the declaration of honour.

The total project costs correspond to the total eligible costs of all the partners participating in the consortium.

Yes, the limit for applications by the same PI per call is 2.

No. The FNR will fund the costs of the eligible research organisations in Luxembourg, up to 400.000 € per project covering all project specific costs. The Ministry of the Economy will co-finance costs borne by Luxembourg eligible companies up to ±700.000 € per project, using the R&D aid scheme. It is expected that the projects will be considered as industrial research and/or experimental development projects. In this case, the maximum co-financing rates for companies through collaboration are as follows:

In an “effective collaboration” at least two independent parties pursue a common objective based on the division of labour and jointly define its scope, participate in its design, contribute to its implementation and share its financial, technological, scientific and other risks, as well as its results. The terms and conditions of a collaboration project, in particular as regards contributions to its costs, the sharing of risks and results, the dissemination of results, access to and rules for allocation of IPR, must be concluded prior to the start of the project (as defined within section 2.2.2 of the EU RDI Framework).

Yes. However, entities outside Luxembourg cannot receive funding from either the Ministry of the Economy or the FNR. They can either self-fund their contribution or should guarantee their ability to cover the contribution in a project. Consortia should bear in mind that if a participant bases its contribution on an external source of funding which would be declined, this would jeopardize the entire project.

There is no fixed limit but the funding authorities foresee for this call a limited number of consortia. It is up to the entities to define how much effort they can put into different proposals. Only projects that will reach a certain quality threshold will have the possibility to be funded.

No. The objective of the platform is to support collaborative research. It is a minimum requirement to make sure that at least one research organisation and one company are involved in a project before starting it. When starting a project, the project initiator will be asked to communicate the e-mail address of a user in a partner organisation. The consortium can start preparing a project only when that user will have registered on the platform and accepted to join the project.

Yes. To add a partner, you only have to mention the email address of the invited user. The invitation will be sent out only after all consortium members have approved the invitation. To remove a consortium member, send a request to the contact point for the call.

• Phase 1: During phase 1, the applicants need to prepare and submit a project outline directly on the research-industry-collaboration platform. By clicking on “Apply”, the applicants can start creating their applications and will get access to the questions and required attachments for phase 1.
  
  
• Phase 2: Applicants, who have been invited to proceed to phase 2, will need to prepare a full project proposal (FPP) to be submitted by each project applicant to the Ministry of the Economy (MyGuichet platform) for companies or to FNR (FNR grant management system) for accredited research organisations. The FPP as well as the financial annexes to be appended by each partner to the aid application can be downloaded from the research-industry-collaboration platform at the beginning of phase 2.

All entities participating need to create an account on the platform and need to be validated in order to be able to submit a project. At least one person from the different participating entities is invited within the project and validates the participation of that entity in the consortium. However, the submission itself can be done by a single person of the consortium. The platform will request the necessary information for each participating entity within the consortium.

Yes, it is possible to include a self-funded partner into the mandatory consortium of the Joint Call HPC. However, a self-funded partner should only be complementing a consortium already composed of at least one national public research organisation (eligible to FNR funding) as well as at least one national company (eligible to funding from the Ministry of the Economy).

Phase 1: The self-funded partner would need to be added as a consortium partner to the project on the research-industry-collaboration.lu platform and would need to submit all the mandatory information / attachments.

Phase 2: Since the self-funded partner will not request any funding from the Ministry of the Economy or the FNR, it would not need to submit a detailed aid application at the end of phase 2. However, the consortium’s joint application (full project proposal) as well as the draft collaboration agreement should include additional information on the self-funded partner, its implication/role and budget in the project.

No. The FNR will fund the costs of the eligible research organisations in Luxembourg, up to 700.000 € per project covering all project specific costs. The Ministry of the Economy will co-finance costs borne by Luxembourg eligible companies up to 700.000 € per project, using the R&D aid scheme. It is expected that the projects will be considered as industrial research and/or experimental development projects. In this case, the maximum co-financing rates for companies through collaboration are as follows:

In an “effective collaboration” at least two independent parties pursue a common objective based on the division of labour and jointly define its scope, participate in its design, contribute to its implementation and share its financial, technological, scientific and other risks, as well as its results. The terms and conditions of a collaboration project, in particular as regards contributions to its costs, the sharing of risks and results, the dissemination of results, access to and rules for allocation of IPR, must be concluded prior to the start of the project (as defined within section 2.2.2 of the EU RDI Framework).

Yes. However, entities outside Luxembourg cannot receive funding from either the Ministry of the Economy or the FNR. They can either self-fund their contribution or should guarantee their ability to cover the contribution in a project. Consortia should bear in mind that if a participant bases its contribution on an external source of funding which would be declined, this would jeopardize the entire project.

There is no fixed limit but the funding authorities foresee for this call a limited number of consortia. It is up to the entities to define how much effort they can put into different proposals. Only projects that will reach a certain quality threshold will have the possibility to be funded.

No. The objective of the platform is to support collaborative research. It is a minimum requirement to make sure that at least one public research organisation and one company are involved in a project before starting it. When starting a project, the project initiator will be asked to communicate the e-mail address of a user in a partner organisation. The consortium can start preparing a project only when that user will have registered on the platform and accepted to join the project.

Yes. To add a partner, you only have to mention the email address of the invited user. The invitation will be sent out only after all consortium members have approved the invitation. To remove a consortium member, send a request to the contact point for the call.

• Phase 1: During phase 1, the applicants need to prepare and submit a project outline directly on the research-industry-collaboration platform. By clicking on “Apply”, the applicants can start creating their applications and will get access to the questions and required attachments for phase 1.
  
  
• Phase 2: Applicants, who have been invited to proceed to phase 2, will need to prepare a full project proposal (FPP) to be submitted by each project applicant to the Ministry of the Economy (MyGuichet platform) for companies or to FNR (FNR grant management system) for accredited research organisations. The FPP as well as the financial annexes to be appended by each partner to the aid application can be downloaded from the research-industry-collaboration platform at the beginning of phase 2.

All entities participating need to create an account on the platform and need to be validated to be able to submit a project. At least one person from the different participating entities is invited within the project and validates the participation of that entity in the consortium. However, the submission itself can be done by a single person of the consortium. The platform will request the necessary information for each participating entity within the consortium.

Yes, it is possible to include a self-funded partner into the mandatory consortium of the Joint Call 5G. However, a self-funded partner should only be complementing a consortium already composed of at least one national public research organisation (eligible to FNR funding) as well as at least one national company (eligible to funding from the Ministry of the Economy).

Phase 1: The self-funded partner would need to be added as a consortium partner to the project on the research-industry-collaboration.lu platform and would need to submit all the mandatory information / attachments.

Phase 2: Since the self-funded partner will not request any funding from the Ministry of the Economy or the FNR, it would not need to submit a detailed aid application at the end of phase 2. However, the consortium’s joint application (full project proposal) as well as the draft collaboration agreement should include additional information on the self-funded partner, its implication/role and budget in the project.