Deadline: 1-Feb-22
The European Commission (EC) has announced an open call for Innovation Investments Strand 1 – MANU to improve the delivery of new or improved products, processes or services in the manufacturing industry.
In the context of advanced manufacturing; knowledge and innovative technologies are used to produce complex products and improve processes to lower waste, pollution, material consumption and energy use. Robotics, 3D and 4D printing, artificial intelligence as well as high performance computing for modeling are important elements in advanced manufacturing.
The present call for proposals under this topic supports interregional innovation investments for the uptake of new or improved manufacturing solutions, as well as for supporting industry to face the challenge of digitization and to promote the shift towards a more environmentally sustainable production (zero pollution ambition for a toxic-free environment).
Themes and priorities
The present call for proposals under this topic encourages applications in one or a combination of the following intervention areas (a non-exclusive list):
- Demonstration processes, ie helping new products to reach the market faster or having more efficient and sustainable processes adopted by the industry.
- Valuation of research results and practical applications. This might include the active involvement of ecosystems and the co-creation process with stakeholders and end-users.
- Connecting or making complementary use of testing and demonstration facilities at interregional level. In this framework, synergies with circularity hubs are encouraged.
- Improving the use of natural resources and in the reuse of materials, promoting circularity models (de- and remanufacturing) and investments in carbon neutrality. Specific implementation (including funding) strategies can be envisioned, ensuring the participation of all stakeholders (industry, SMEs, local authorities, educational institutions and civil society).
- Implementation of interregional demonstration cases to test and replicate the results.
- Innovation diffusion and involvement of SMEs in EU value chains.
Funding information
The available call budget is EUR 39,795,300 for 2021 and EUR 36,763,277 for 2022.
Eligibility Criteria
In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:
- be legal entities (public or private bodies)
- be established in one of the eligible countries, ie:
- EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs))
- non-EU countries:
- listed EEA countries and countries associated to the I3 Instrument or
- countries which are in ongoing negotiations for an association agreement and where the agreement enters into force before grant signature
For more information, visit https://bit.ly/3y7VNjG