Announcement of an open call for recipients of RTO Services

Deadline for submission of RTO service requests: 14 March 2019.
Expected duration of projects: 4 months
Budget for each pilot project: 5000 – 15000 Euros
Eligible to apply: SMEs from Central Europe (Austria, Croatia, The Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia)
Submission of RTO service requests: through one of our KETGATE points
ketgate.eu/about-us/
Language in which the request should be submitted: English

Ready for the future!
Nowadays, we live in a dynamic and interconnected world. Mega-trends, including fast changes in globalization and technological developments, are creating new users’ needs and market forces. For any organization to subsist and thrive today, creating innovative products and services is crucial.
The mission of the EU-funded project KETGATE is to increase the innovation capacity and competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Central Europe. To achieve this, the network KETGATE facilitates the transnational cooperation between SMEs and Research and Technology Organisations (RTOs), with the objective of fostering innovation by the use of Key Enabling Technologies (KETs).
To accomplish this goal, the project KETGATE will demonstrate the operation mode of this new network by piloting transnational cooperation projects within a SME and RTO(s). Six projects can be financed by the project KETGATE:

1) Three bilateral transnational pilot projects within a SME and a RTO.
2) Three joint transnational pilot projects within a SME and two or more RTOs.

What kind of projects can be financed by KETGATE?
The types of activities that qualify for receiving financial support must focus on the use of one or more key enabling technologies* in all industrial sectors. Examples of these pilot projects are:
1             Development of concepts
2             Design of a lab-scale or pilot plant
3             Proof of principles
4             Analytics
5             Material developing and/or testing
6             Piloting of process
7             Demonstration of a technology for different application

The budget for the pilot projects can varied from 5000 to a maximum of 15000 Euros and the pilot project must start at the latest on May, 31st 2019 and have a maximum duration of 4 months.

Who can apply for the pilot projects financed by KETGATE?
The call is open to all SMEs located in Central Europe**. The applicant SME must be a single company (not in a consortium) and active in any industrial sector.

From which RTOs can I receive services?
The RTOs which can provide service during the pilot projects financed by KETGATE are:

1) Bay Zoltan Nonprofit Ltd. for Applied Research -Hungary
https://ketgate.eu/bay-zoltan-nonprofit-ltd-for-applied-research/

2) Joanneum Research MATERIALS – Austria
https://ketgate.eu/joanneum-research-forschungsgesellschaft-mbh/

3) Jožef Stefan Institute -Slovenia
https://ketgate.eu/jozef-stefan-institute/

How does the application process work?
1. Contact a business advisor at the KETGATE Point nearest to you: https://ketgate.eu/about-us/
2. Together with the business advisor, the SME fills out the RTO service support request.
3. The business advisor uploads the SME’s request to our KETGATE platform.
4. The RTOs, interested in the SME’s request will contact the SME and provide them with a concrete offer for the SME’s request.
5. The offer will be evaluated by three experts in our consortium, which will not benefit directly nor indirectly from the pilot project.
6. SME accepts the offer, which will be financed by KETGATE.
7. The pilot project can start.

Do you have further questions?
Please contact your KETGATE POINT nearest to you https://ketgate.eu/about-us/ or the project coordinator:
Dr. Jennifer Bilbao
Ketgate-lp@steinbeis-europa.de
+49 711 123 4025

KETGATE is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund via Interreg Central Europe
* https://ketgate.eu/about-kets/
** Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Croatia, Parts of Germany (Baden-Wurttemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia) and Parts of Italy (Piemonte, Valle d’Aosta, Lombardia, Liguria, Emilia Romagna, Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Provincia Autonoma di Trento, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano).