Deadline: 31 January 2019

The Estonian Ministry of Education and Research and the Estonian Research Council in cooperation with the Research Council of Norwayhave announced a call for proposals under EEA Financial Mechanism Baltic Research Programme in Estonia.

The main goal of the Baltic Research Programme is to enhance research-based knowledge development in Baltic States through research cooperation between Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein and Baltic States.

The Programme will contribute to the reduction of economic and social disparities in the European Economic Area and to the strengthening of bilateral relations between the Donor States and Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania through financial contributions in the field of research. Based on the programme agreement, the funds of donor countries account for 85% of the programme budget and 15% is contributed by Estonia. The programme’s main outcome is enhanced performance of Baltic research internationally.

The Baltic Research Programme shall strengthen research cooperation with the aim of stimulating strong and sustainable collaboration, complementarity, capacity and competence-building and provide a step for future collaborative research projects on EU and regional level. An important objective of the Programme is to present regional Baltic added value and strengthen human resources in research through facilitating international relations and involving PhD students and postdocs in the projects.

Priority Areas

• Public health; translational medicine; health technologies
• Migration; social inclusion
• Regional cyber security; public security
• Environmentally friendly solutions
• Regional economic development; employment; labour market regulations and social policy
• More effective use of resources

Funding Information

The minimum amount of grant assistance applied for is € 300 000; the maximum amount is € 800 000 (including overhead costs and VAT) for projects with one Baltic State partner and one Donor State partner. Applications with partners from all Baltic States and one Donor State partner may apply for a project grant up to € 1,000,000. The total amount available in this call is € 6,000,000.

Eligibility Criteria

• Minimum number of partners
  • A mandatory criterion for the projects is the involvement of:
    • at least one project partner from at least one of the Baltic States (Latvia and/ or Lithuania);
    • at least one project partner from Norway and/or Iceland and/or Liechtenstein (donor project partner).
• Eligibility criteria for Project Promoters
  • Eligible applicants are positively evaluated research and development institutions established in Estonia
  • The research team consists of a principal investigator (researcher in charge) and a research staff (main participants, including PhD students, and other participants).
• Eligibility criteria for the principal investigator (researcher in charge):
  • must be an experienced researcher/project leader with doctoraldegree of Estonia or an equivalent academic degree.
• Please note that the evaluators will pay particular attention to the qualification and performance of principal investigator (PI) as well as gender when evaluating the gender balance aspect.
• Eligibility criteria for main participants:
  • a main participant of the project is a person who participates in the substantial performance of the project. The main participant of the project shall have at least the master’s degree or the respective qualification.
• Eligibility criteria for project partners
  • Project partners have to be research organisations, as defined in the EU Framework for State aid for research and development and innovation (2014/C 198/01): ‘research and knowledge dissemination organisation’ or ‘research organisation’ means an entity (such as universities or research institutes, technology transfer agencies, innovation intermediaries, research-oriented physical or virtual collaborative entities), irrespective of its legal status (organised under public or private law) or way of financing, whose primary goal is to independently conduct fundamental research, industrial research or experimental development or to widely disseminate the results of such activities by way of teaching, publication or knowledge transfer. Where such entity also pursues economic activities, the financing, the costs and the revenues of those economic activities must be accounted for separately. Undertakings that can exert a decisive influence upon such an entity, for example in the quality of shareholders or members, may not enjoy a preferential access to the results generated by it.
  • Information about the project partner institution(s) (name and their role in the project) has to be provided in the application.
  • Project partner(s) from Norway and/or Iceland and/or Liechtenstein should be listed under “Project partners in Norway, Iceland and/or Liechtenstein” in the application form (official name of the institution in English is mandatory). Norwegian entities included in the Research Council of Norway List of Research Organisations,2 are eligible in this call. Other Norwegian partners may consult the Research Council of Norway to verify their eligibility status. Icelandic partners should consult RANNIS.
  • Project partner(s) from other Baltic States should be listed under “Project partners in Latvia and/or Lithuania” in the application form (official name of the institution in English is mandatory). Latvian partners may consult the State Education Development Agency and Lithuanian partners the Research Council of Lithuania to verify their eligibility status.
  • Entities established in countries outside the Baltic States or Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein (third countries) can participate as additional project partners. Project costs will not be covered for third country partners from the project grant, except for travel costs for participants from their institution. Indicative estimation of travel costs for them has to be provided in the application. Additional project partner(s) should be listed under “Additional project partners (3rd countries)” in the application form (official name of the institution in English is mandatory).
  • Project partner(s) from Estonia should be positively evaluated research and development institutions established in Estonia and listed under “Project partners in Estonia”.
  • Each project partner has to provide a letter of intent confirming their participation in the project which will be submitted to the application form by project promoter.
  • Please note that adding project partners during the project is not allowed.

How to Apply

Applications must be submitted electronically from the mention system given on the website.

For more information, please visit https://bit.ly/2TpcaTa