Moonshots through synthetic biology

With this the call for proposals we want to turn the almost impossible into reality. Vinnova finances pioneering project, so-called moonshots that go beyond the ordinary and can make a real difference with global impact. A moonshot can be briefly described:

• Almost impossible objective: Project that requires new breakthroughs and shifts paradigms.
• Bold visions: Ideas that are big, radical and untested, that unite the team towards long-term objective.
• World-changing impact: Solutions that strive to improve the future of humanity, not just financial gains.

The solutions must be based on innovation in synthetic biology. The technology is based on designing and constructing complex biological systems that have functions that do not exist in nature.

The projects are expected to set ambitious objective, further develop and validate ideas, as well as mobilize and engage actors.

The call for proposals is aimed at visionary actors, single applicant or consortia who, through hard work, contribute to worldwide solutions through the innovative use of synthetic biology. The actors must have the knowledge and ambitions to develop the idea and objectives, as well as validate the technology.

In this the call for proposals you can apply for up to SEK 1,000,000 per project that can lead to global breakthroughs. Funding can be granted up to 100 percent aid intensity per project. The project that are granted are expected to have a project duration of 3 to 6 months.

The world is facing global social challenges that today can be perceived as impossible to address. At the same time, we humans have long been curious and motivated to achieve just that – the almost impossible. We need to strive to think big to achieve something grand.

This type of innovation is sometimes referred to as a "moonshot". The term originates from the first moon landing in 1969 with the vision of that time - to one day land on the moon. After hard work, they finally succeeded in achieving the goal, a huge step for humanity, and to achieve this, a long series of innovations in widely different fields was required.

This call for proposals is designed to explore moonshots. The projects must start from a large and engaging problem and propose a radical solution with ambitious, but realistic objective to solve important societal challenges.

A moonshot can be characterized as:

• Difficult, almost impossible to achieve: A moonshot means taking on something that at first glance may seem almost impossible. It requires bringing out new knowledge or developing new technology, breakthroughs that shift paradigms and change the way we think or act in society.
• Bold Visions: A moonshot is based on a bold vision of how the future should be and serves as a beacon for action and achievement. It is about having a grand and sometimes radical idea that has not been tried before and that requires time to realize. The vision gathers and unites the team around the goal.
• World-Changing: Moonshot seeks to create opportunities for great change that improves the future of humanity at large, not just for financial gain. This can mean large-scale effects that are transformative, disruptive and beneficial to a wider audience. Moonshots are often associated with high risk, but will be of great benefit to the world if the moonshot is successful.

The solutions in this call for proposals must be based on innovation in synthetic biology. Synthetic biology is an emerging area of research and innovation within the bioeconomy. It draws on biology, chemistry, computer science and engineering to design and build complex biological systems with functions that do not exist in nature. The technology makes it possible to construct new living organisms and to modify already existing creatures, plants or other biological material so that they acquire new or improved properties. Examples of areas of use can be found in food, energy and medicine.

Synthetic biology is an enabling technology that is also called Engineering Biology or new genomic techniques (NGTs) internationally.

In this offer project are financed that are approximately 3–6 months long, starting in the fall of 2024.

After the completion of the moonshot project, dialogue with Vinnova can be initiated regarding follow-on financing for further development or implementation of the projects. Only completed moonshot projects have the opportunity to take part in possible follow-on funding.

Contribute to a sustainable system transition

Vinnova is tasked with promoting sustainable growth and system change. In order to carry out sustainable system change, we have chosen to start from the UN's global sustainability goals, defined in Agenda 2030. There, Vinnova prioritizes two perspectives: gender equality and climate change. All initiatives and project we finance are assessed based on how they contribute to these perspectives.

We therefore always follow up and assess:

• if women and men participate equally in the project, share in the contribution and have influence and power over the project
• how well the project analyzes and takes a position on whether there are gender or gender aspects that are relevant to the project's problem formulation, solutions and effects
• how well the project contributes to climate change

Equal innovation - what it means for you who seek funding from us

Agenda 2030 as a driving force for innovation

Make available scientific publications and results

When results from research and innovation are made freely available, more people can contribute to solving societal challenges. This the call for proposals will contribute to making results available to everyone. Therefore, all scientific publication must be open access.

This call for proposals is aimed at visionary actors, single applicant or consortia that can contribute to solutions in synthetic biology.

Applicant must have the knowledge and ambitions to successfully develop the idea and objectives, as well as validate the technology. We welcome specialists and researchers in synthetic biology as well as actors with a defined need for the solutions, preferably in collaboration.

The actors must consist of legal entities such as companies, non-profit organisations, the public sector and research organisations. The projects may include foreign partners, but Vinnova only grants funding to Swedish organisations.

Possible activities within the framework of this the call for proposals are for example:

• produce ambitious objective, so-called moonshots
• develop, evaluate, analyze and validate the idea
• produce a utility calculation
• conduct workshops, seminars or conferences to test and/or develop the Moonshot
• identifying and mobilizing cooperation partners and building networks with complementary actors
• develop a strategy or action plan to execute and implement the moonshot
• communicate and spread the vision to gather and engage people around the moonshot

What costs can we finance?

Our funding is covered by rules on state aid. The rules govern what kinds of costs we can finance. These are called eligible costs.

In this the call for proposals these types of costs are eligible:

• Personnel costs: Salaries, social security contributions and other personnel costs
• Equipment, land and buildings: Instruments, equipment and rent for premises other than regular business premises
• Consulting and licensing costs: Consulting services, knowledge and patents purchased or used under license from an external actor
• Other direct costs: For example materials, stock items and travel necessary to carry out the project
• Indirect costs (overhead): Costs that are not incurred as an immediate consequence of but can be related to the project, for example regular premises and cleaning
  Indirect costs may constitute a maximum of 30 percent of personnel costs

For more detailed information on which costs we can finance, see Instructions for eligible costs.

What eligibility requirements apply to costs we finance?

For a cost to be eligible, it must be necessary for the activities of the project. Project costs must also be properly accounted for and reported separately from the organization's other costs. An organization may also not take up someone else's costs as its own.

For more detailed information on which eligibility requirements, limitations and exceptions apply, see Instructions for eligible costs.

The rules on state aid also govern what proportion of the costs we can finance. This is determined individually for each organization. We therefore distinguish between how much funding the project can receive, and how much each participating participant can receive.

How much funding can the project receive?

In this call for proposals project can apply for up to SEK 1 million for a project that lasts between 3–6 months. Preliminary budget for the offer is SEK 5 million.

How much funding can a participant receive?

How much funding each participating participant can receive mainly depends on:

• which activities the party will carry out in the project
• party size and activities

In this the call for proposals we provide support for feasibility studies.

Feasibility studies can be simply described as an evaluation and analysis of:

• strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and risks in an upcoming research and development project
• what resources are required to implement the project
• how likely it is that the project will succeed.

For full definition, see Support bases and support levels for funding

In this the call for proposals we can also provide de minimis support, also called support of minor importance. We can finance up to 100 percent of a project party's costs.

An organization can receive a maximum of 300,000 euros over a three-year period in this form of support, regardless of financier and project. This means that if the same organization received support of less importance in other project from other funders before, it affects how big the support can be in this the call for proposals.

Submit a certificate of de-minimum support when you submit proposal. It is required for us to be able to grant this support.

Certificates of de minimis support can be found on this page

In this the call for proposals we also provide support to organizations that do not carry out economic activities. By that is meant that they do not offer a service or product in a market. This usually includes universities and university colleges, research institutes and other organizations.

We can fund up to 100 percent of such an organization's non-financial costs.

In order for us to take a position on and assess your proposal it must meet certain formal eligibility requirements. If the requirements are not met, proposal is rejected immediately.

• All project parties must be legal entities. Please note that sole proprietorships or sole traders are not legal entities.
• All beneficiary must have a Swedish organization number.
• Proposal must be written in Swedish or English.
• Proposal must follow the instructions given in section 9.
• Proposal must contain all requested attachments.

What do we assess?

The project proposal must be in line with the call's aim. The applications will be assessed based on the main criteria potential, actors and implementation.

Potential (50 percent)

• To what extent does the project propose a visionary and bold objective on a large and complex societal challenge, which has potential to contribute to world-changing solutions.
• How well the solution developed is based on synthetic biology
• How well the project is judged to contribute to increased gender equality
• How well the project is judged to contribute positively to the global goals in Agenda 2030, and how well it is judged to minimize the negative effects.

Actors (20 percent)

• To what extent does the project group have access to relevant knowledge and competence in the field of synthetic biology.
• To what extent the project team has the ability to engage relevant actors.
• How well composed the project team is in terms of gender distribution. As well as how well power and influence is distributed between women and men in the project team.

Feasibility (30 percent)

• To what extent the project's activities are appropriate for creating the conditions for a bold moonshot in synthetic biology.
• To what extent the project is based on a credible schedule and budget to reach set objective as well as desired results and long-term effects.
• To what extent does the project have the ambition and ability to communicate and engage the relevant target group around its moonshot.
• How well risks are described and managed in the implementation of the project.

How do we judge?

Only applications that meet the formal requirements, see section 6, will be assessed. The applications are assessed in competition with each other based on the assessment criteria specified in section 7 by external and internal evaluator at Vinnova. Vinnova reserves the right to apply a portfolio perspective in the selection.

We also assess financial status

Before we decide on funding, we also make an overall assessment of the organizational and financial status of those who receive funding. We use information we receive from credit reports, currently from Dun & Bradstreet.

In order for us to grant funding this applies:

• Organizations seeking funding for personnel costs must be registered as employers with the Swedish Tax Agency
• Organizations must not be insolvent, undergo liquidation or corporate restructuring. They must also not have unpaid debts with the Swedish Enforcement Agency.
• Limited companies must not have used up half or more of their share capital.

When we have assessed all applications, we will send a decision in which we either grant or reject your proposal. In the decision, we state how much funding each party in the project is granted. Our decision cannot be appealed.

What if you are granted funding?

If we grant your proposal you must follow our general terms and conditions for funding. The terms and conditions include this:

• That you must sign a special document in which you approve your participation and undertake to carry out the project
• That you must report how things are going, your costs and achieved results to us regularly during the project period
• If you are several parties, you must agree on your mutual rights and obligations in the project in an agreement. It can take time to get a project agreement in place, so please start this before the project starts.
• How the results will be used and how scientific publication will take place.

See our general terms and conditions and get help understanding and fulfilling them

We can also decide to add supplementary special conditions for individual project. In that case, they appear in the decision.

Can you have to pay back funding?

If you do not follow our term you may be liable for a refund. This also applies if you have been granted funding incorrectly or with an amount that is too high.

When the call for proposals closes, proposal will be registered. Then we send an e-mail confirmation to the person responsible for the user account, the project manager and the company signatory. If you have not received a confirmation within 24 hours after the call for proposals closes, please contact us.

When the call for proposals is closed, you cannot change anything in proposal. Then you can only supplement if we ask for it.

Who can read your proposal?

Your proposal will be read by employees at Vinnova and the specially appointed evaluator who participate in this the call for proposals. Everyone works under confidentiality.

Applications submitted to us become public documents. This means that we must disclose them if they are requested. However, we keep confidential information that we believe could mean financial damage to the individual if disclosed. This may, for example, be information about business and operating conditions, inventions or research results.

This is how we handle public documents and confidentiality