Given the compliance of the “Teaming for Excellence” activities with the objectives of the Programme Jan Amos Comenius (hereinafter as “P JAC”), the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (hereinafter as “MEYS”) as the Managing Authority of P JAC assumes that after P JAC approval by the European Commission, funds for the complementary financing of investment expenditures of successful projects will most likely be provided in this programme. Funding should take the form of a separate P JAC call in Priority 1 focused on the expansion of research and development. Funding should be intended to support projects of Czech applicants who will be successful in both rounds of evaluation of the Teaming for Excellence HORIZON-WIDERA-2022-ACCESS-01-two-stage call of the European Commission and will receive funding in it. The indicative expected allocation of the P JAC call is CZK 1 billion.
Preliminary framework conditions of the call P JAC:
- Eligible applicant: a Czech research organization whose project will be successful in both rounds of evaluation of the Teaming for Excellence HORIZON-WIDERA-2022-ACCESS-01-two-stage call and which will receive funding from the European Commission in this call;
- Estimated maximum allocation for the project: CZK 700 million;
- Expected duration of the project: maximum 6 years;
- The need for compliance of the project with at least one specialisation domain of the National Research and Innovation Strategy for Smart Specialisation of the Czech Republic 2021 - 2027 (hereinafter as “National RIS3”) and with at least one of the mentioned R&D&I topics that define the focus of the domain. The specialisation domains and their definition are listed in Annex No. 1 of the National RIS3[1]. The Managing Authority of the P JAC points out that Annex No. 1 of the National RIS3 is being updated (in the specification of R&D&I topics, not in the specialisation domains). Based on information from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, responsible for the National RIS3, it is assumed that an updated version of Annex No. 1 will be published in autumn 2021 - it will subsequently be binding on applicants for support in P JAC calls;
- State aid: possibility to choose from two variants - i) outside state aid, ii) in accordance with GBER (in the current version at the time of announcing the P JAC call);
- Excluded activity: construction of a new research centre (anywhere in the Czech Republic).
Applicants who succeed in the first round of the European Commission's evaluation will be able to submit a complementary project to the relevant P JAC call. Projects will have to meet the relevant conditions of the call and related documentation, including the Co-financing Rules of the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund plus, the Cohesion Fund, the Just Transition Fund, the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund, the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, Internal Security Fund and The Border Management and Visa Instrument for the 2021-2027 programming period[2].
If the project meets all the conditions of the call and successfully passes the evaluation, a Letter of Commitment will be issued to the applicant, which is a necessary attachment to submit a full application to the second round of the call Teaming for Excellence HORIZON-WIDERA-2022-ACCESS-01-two-stage.
The model of the approval process and the evaluation criteria of the P JAC call will be developed during the preparation of the call and approved by the P JAC Monitoring Committee. The method of evaluation of the call P JAC will reflect both the rules of EU Funds and the method of evaluation of the call Teaming for Excellence HORIZON-WIDERA-2022-ACCESS-01-two-stage from Horizon Europe.
MEYS would like to point out that the announcement, content and conditions of the call will depend on the final form of the P JAC after its approval by the European Commission, which is expected at the beginning of 2022.
Due to the fact that the preparation of the anticipated P JAC call will take place in the second half of 2021, the MEYS would like to ask future applicants of the P JAC call to fill in a short form with basic information about the submitted project to the Horizon Europe (template is available here, estimated size approx. two A4). These data will be used in the preparation of the P JAC call and for the contact of the MA of the P JAC with the applicants. Please send the completed template by e-mail to TeamingOPJAK@msmt.cz. Considering both the closing date of the first round of the Teaming for Excellence call HORIZON-WIDERA-2022-ACCESS-01-two-stage and the ongoing preparation of the call, the MEYS would welcome the form to be sent/completed by October 8th 2021 at the latest.
Should you have any questions, please send them to the e-mail address TeamingOPJAK@msmt.cz.
[1] The current version is available here: https://www.mpo.cz/en/business/ris3-strategy/
[2] In accordance with the Resolution of the Government of the Czech Republic of April 12th 2021 No. 354, available on the website of the Ministry of Finance: https://www.mfcr.cz/cs/legislativa/metodiky/2021/pravidla-spolufinancovani-efrr-esf-fs-fo-41530