SHAPE 11th Call inviting Applications from European SMEs

Deadline: 1 June 2020

The Eleventh Call for Applications to SHAPE (SME HPC Adoption Programme in Europe) invites applications from European SMEs with an interesting idea that would benefit from High Performance Computing for increasing their competitiveness.

SHAPE aims to work with selected SMEs to introduce HPC-based tools and techniques into their business, operational, or production environment. The selected solutions should bring a potential tangible Return on Investment to the SME’s business.

PRACE (Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe) makes it possible for European small to medium enterprises (SMEs) to apply for expert assistance and resources on PRACE systems via SHAPE (SME HPC Adoption Programme in Europe). The aim of SHAPE is to assist SMEs in overcoming barriers to adopting HPC, such as initial cost, lack of in-house expertise and lack of access to resources.

Eligibility Criteria

SHAPE is open to SMEs which meet the following criteria:

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represent 99% of all businesses in the EU. The definition of an SME is important for access to finance and EU support programmes targeted specifically at these enterprises.
Their head offices are based in one of the following countries or they can justify substantial R&D activity in one or more of these countries:
- Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom
Only proposals with a civilian purpose will be eligible to participate in SHAPE.

Assessment Criteria

The panel judges the applications using the following criteria:

Strength of the business case
- The expertise and resources provided through the SHAPE programme are expected to produce a significant Return on Investment for the company. In the mid-term, the SME should be able to build on the results to, for instance, increase its market share, renew its investment, offer new products or services, or recruit dedicated staff. The solution implemented should be part of a business plan to further engage in HPC in the long term.
Technical Achievability
- The proposals are expected to be realistically achievable in the timescales described and with the resources made available.
Other aspects considered
- The commitment of the SMEs to co-invest with PRACE in achieving the project goals. This would manifest itself as the effort detailed in the work plan for the project being at least approximately equally split between the SME and PRACE
- The innovative aspects of the proposal
- The social and economic impact on society as a whole