Impact Innovation: Research and development projects within Techological Action Areas in the Swedish Metals and Minerals program

The offer is part of Swedish Metals & Minerals, a programme within the joint innovation initiative Impact Innovation by the Swedish Energy Agency, Forma and Vinnova. The program's mission is "To ensure a sustainable and resilient supply of metals and minerals for society's transition".

Through funding of research and development projects, this call for proposals aims to promote the development of innovative solutions and improvements that support Swedish Metals & Minerals' mission within the framework of one or more of the program's technical focus areas "Technological Action Areas” according to section 2.1 of the program's scope document available at Scope - Swedish Metals & Minerals.

The proposed solution or improvement is expected to have a novelty value and funded and successfully implemented project are expected to raise the level of development of the solution or improvement in a way that provides clear and significant funding to the program's mission.

The call for proposals is aimed at consortia consisting of at least three project partners, of which at least one Swedish research organization and at least one company with activities in Sweden. Actor roles that are relevant to the implementation of the project and opportunities to utilize project results are expected to be represented in the project consortium. Examples of actor roles can be needs owner, solution owner, result disseminator and manager of project results. Project participants must be legal entities.

There is no set maximum grant amount per project, but 20-30 project are expected to be funded within the call's budget of SEK 125 million.

Vinnova's funding may amount to a maximum of 60 percent of the project's total eligible cost.

The project duration may not exceed 48 months and the latest completion date for project implementation is November 17, 2029.

This call for proposals is carried out within the framework of Impact Innovation-programmet Swedish Metals & Minerals. Impact Innovation is Sweden's major innovation initiative to tackle the challenges of our time and the future. In collaborations between private, public and non-profit actors, Impact Innovation meets real technical and societal needs with groundbreaking solutions. On the way to a sustainable and competitive Sweden, attractive to live in for everyone. Together we show what is possible and are ahead internationally.

Swedish Metals & Minerals' mission is "To ensure a sustainable and resilient supply of metals and minerals for societal transformation". This means increasing and securing the supply of metals and minerals while reducing the planetary footprint of extraction and production. The background of the program and the areas of focus that are considered central to fulfilling the mission are described in more detail in the program's scope document, which can be found at Scope - Swedish Metals & Minerals.

By funding research and development projects the call for proposals aims to promote the development of innovative solutions and improvements that support the program's mission within the framework of one or more of the program's technical focus areas "Technological Action Areas”" according to section 2.1 of the scope document. The proposed solution or improvement is expected to have a novelty value and funded and successfully implemented project are expected to raise the level of development of the solution or improvement in a way that provides a clear and significant funding to the program's mission.

Project applications are expected to be based on an analysis of potential of the project idea, including assessment of development needs, commercial and technical benefits, sustainability and risks. The analysis may, but does not have to, be the result of a feasibility study within Swedish Metals & Minerals.

In parallel with this call for proposals the Swedish Energy Agency is conducting a thematic call for proposals within Swedish Metals & Minerals. The Energy Agency's call for proposals is entitled "Impact Innovation: Urgent challenges within Swedish Metals & Minerals" and covers four specified themes

• enable access to critical raw materials from Sweden
• increased use of scrap and other secondary raw materials
• sustainable water management in the mining and metal production sectors
• reducing the environmental footprint of large waste streams in the mining and metal production sectors.

The Swedish Energy Agency's call for proposals is aimed at shorter project where the project results can be used in the near future. Potential applicant consortia are encouraged to evaluate whether the Swedish Energy Agency's thematic call for proposals may be more suitable for the current project idea.

Contribute to a sustainable system transformation

Impact Innovation will contribute to global competitiveness through transition to sustainable development in line with the UN's global sustainability goals, defined in Agenda 2030. For Swedish Metals & Minerals, this is expressed through the program's mission, which reads "To ensure a sustainable and resilient metal and mineral supply for society's transition". This means increasing and securing the supply of metals and minerals while reducing the planetary footprint of extraction and production.

Vinnova prioritizes two perspectives in Agenda 2030: gender equality and climate change. Initiatives and project that Vinnova funds are assessed based on how they contribute to these perspectives.

In this call for proposals we are primarily assessing the following:

• If women and men participate in the project on an equal footing, receive contributions and have influence and power over the project.
• The project's potential to contribute to climate change and objective according to Agenda 2030, taking into account aspects that are current and relevant within the technical intervention area(s) that the project addresses.

Gender-equal innovation – what it means for those seeking funding from us

Agenda 2030 as a driver for innovation

Making scientific publications and results available

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

The call for proposals is aimed at consortia consisting of at least three project parties, of which at least one Swedish research organization and at least one company with activities in Sweden. The consortia may consist of companies, public organizations, non-governmental organizations, research institutes, universities, university colleges and other relevant actors that have the competence and ability to implement the project.

Actor roles that are relevant to the project's implementation and opportunities to utilize project results are expected to be represented in the project consortium. Examples of actor roles can be needs owner, solution owner, result disseminator or manager of project results. The project partners must be legal entities.

Participant seeking funding must be Swedish legal entities. In this respect, a Swedish legal entity is considered to be a foreign organization that has a branch or establishment in Sweden. The costs in the project must then be attributable to activities of the branch or establishment. Foreign actors who do not have a branch or establishment in Sweden can be project participants without funding from Vinnova.

This call for proposals concerns funding of research and development projects that, through innovative solutions or improvements, support the program's mission within the framework of one or more of the program's technical focus areas according to section 2.1 of the program's scope document, which can be found at Scope - Swedish Metals & Minerals.

The projects must have the character of industrial research or experimental development in accordance with the definitions in Article 25 of the EU Commission Regulation (651/2014) on General Block Exemption (GBER). This applies to the focus and content of the projects regardless of whether the Regulation applies to the participation of individual project parties. Within the framework of the call for proposals we therefore do not fund

• routine or recurring changes to existing goods, production lines, manufacturing processes, services or other ongoing operations. This applies even if the changes may involve improvements
• courses, marketing, sales, regular business development, ongoing operations, quality assurance, certification or equivalent, investment in equipment or tools, and intellectual property strategies and protection

For brief descriptions of industrial research and experimental development, see section 5. For a full definition, see funding bases and levels.

What costs can Vinnova finance?

Vinnova's funding is covered by state aid rules. The rules govern what types of costs can be financed. These are called eligible costs.

In this the call for proposals the following 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 party. Costs for consulting services from external parties may constitute a maximum of 20 percent of a project party's budget. Exceptionally, we may accept a higher proportion than 20 percent in the event of special needs. You must then describe the consulting efforts in detail in proposal and clearly justify the need for them. The description and justification are taken into account in the assessment of proposal.
• Other direct costs: For example, materials, supplies and travel necessary to carry out the project.
• Indirect costs: Costs that are not incurred as an immediate consequence of but can be related to the project, such as regular premises and cleaning.
  A project party's indirect costs may constitute a maximum of 30 percent of the project party's personnel costs. Universities, university colleges, and certain research organizations and government agencies have higher maximum limits depending on the type of activities.

For a full description of these types of costs, see Instructions for eligible costs.

What eligibility requirements apply to costs in project financed by Vinnova?

For a cost to be eligible, it must be:

• necessary for the activities in the project
• recorded correctly and separately from the organization's other costs

An organization may not claim 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 state aid rules govern how much of the costs we can finance. This is determined individually for each organization. We therefore differentiate between how much funding the project can receive, and how much each participant can receive.

How much funding can the project receive?

There is no set maximum grant amount per project, but 20-30 project are expected to be funded within the call's budget of SEK 125 million.

Vinnova's funding may amount to a maximum of 60 percent of the project's total eligible cost.

How much funding can a participant receive?

How much funding a participant can receive depends mainly on:

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

An organization that offers some kind of service or product on a market is considered to be engaged in economic activities. It does not matter how the organization is financed, whether it is public or private, or whether it has a profit motive. It also does not matter what legal form the business has. For example, whether it is a limited liability company, a trading company, an economic association, a non-profit association or a foundation.

Contact call manager if you are unsure whether an organization in your project is conducting economic activities. However, the organization itself is responsible for assessing whether it is conducting economic activities.

In this the call for proposals we use the following supporting criteria:

• Not state aid (to organizations that do not participate in the project with economic activities)
• De minimis Support, also known as de minimis support, in accordance with the EU Commission Regulation (2023/2831) on de minimis support
• Support for industrial research in accordance with Article 25 of the EU Commission Regulation (651/2014) on General Block Exemption (GBER)
• Support for experimental development in accordance with Article 25 of the EU Commission Regulation (651/2014) on General Block Exemption (GBER)

These four bases of support are described in more detail below.

Not state aid

This support basis can only be used for funding to organisations that do not engage in economic activities. This usually includes universities and university colleges, research institutes that engage in non-economic activities and other organisations that do not offer a service or product on a market. We can finance up to 100 percent of the costs of such an organisation.

Support of minor importance, also known as de minimis support

This form of support can be used for funding to organizations that conduct economic activities. Through 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 the funder and project. This means that if the same organization has previously received support of lesser importance from Vinnova or other funders, this will affect how large the support can be in this the call for proposals.

Please submit a certificate of minor support when you submit proposal. This is required for us to be able to grant this support.

Certificate of Minor support

We grant funding in accordance with the EU Commission Regulation (2023/2831) on de minimis support.

Support for industrial research and experimental development

These support bases are used for funding organizations that conduct economic activities.

What is industrial research and experimental development?

Industrial research can be simply described as seeking new knowledge through planned research or critical analysis to develop or significantly improve products, processes or services.

Experimental development can be simply described as combining, shaping and using existing knowledge to develop new or improved products, processes or services.

For full definitions, see funding bases and levels

How much of the costs can we finance?

The size of the organization and type of activity determines how large a proportion of the costs we can finance, i.e. the maximum level of support.

Hur EU defines small and medium-sized enterprises as stated in the User Guide on the definition of SMEs which you can find here.

Bonus Basics

If the project is covered by a bonus basis, we can finance a higher proportion of the costs according to the table above. Examples of bonus bases are:

• Actual collaboration: Some level of collaboration between small and larger companies, between companies in two different European countries or between research organisations and companies
• Dissemination of results: Extensive dissemination through, for example, conferences or open databases.

For complete information about these and other bonus bases, see funding bases and support levels

We grant funding in accordance with Article 25 of the EU Commission Regulation (651/2014) on General Block Exemption (GBER).

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 will be rejected immediately.

Eligibility requirements for the composition of the project consortium

• The applicant consortium contains at least three project partners, of which at least one Swedish research organization (university, university college or research institute) and at least one company with activities in Sweden. Different workplaces or workplaces in an organization, for example different departments at a university, are counted as one participant as they constitute the same legal entity.

Eligibility requirements on organizational form of project parties

• All project parties must be legal entities. Natural persons or individual companies cannot participate as project parties.
• The coordinating project party must be a Swedish legal entity and conduct activities in Sweden.
• The project parties seeking funding from Vinnova are either Swedish legal entities or foreign organizations that have a branch or operating location in Sweden and where the costs in the project are attributable to the branch's or operating location's activities.

Eligibility requirements for the project

• The project must not have begun before proposal is submitted.

Eligibility requirements on proposal

• Proposal must be written in Swedish or English.
• Proposal must follow the instructions given in section 9.
• Proposal must contain all attachments requested in section 9.
• Proposal should not contain attachments beyond those requested in section 9.
• The appendices must be written on the templates provided, meet formatting requirements and not exceed the maximum number of pages according to section 9.
• Letters of intent from all project parties must be attached, completed in full and signed by an authorized person. Research organizations must also submit a letter of intent.

What do we assess?

Potential

1. It is credibly demonstrated that the project addresses one or more technical focus areas in section 2.1 of Swedish Metals & Minerals ' scope document.
2. proposal clearly states what the project is expected to result in and deliver, and how the project's expected results will contribute to Swedish Metals & Minerals' mission according to the scope document. The assessment includes the project's potential to contribute to climate change and objective according to Agenda 2030, taking into account aspects that are current and relevant within the technical focus area(s) that the project addresses.
3. It is clear from proposal in what way the proposed solution or improvement is new or significantly better than the equivalent already applied in Sweden and internationally, and that its economic and technical conditions have been analyzed.
4. How well proposal describes what the next step is after a successful project, and how the project plans to adapt the deliveries in relation to the organizations (within or outside the current project consortium) that are expected to be able to take this step.

Actors

1. The project consortium's conditions for implementing the project and ensuring the use and exploitation of the project's results.
2. The extent to which proposal credibly demonstrates that the competencies required for successful implementation of the project are available, either directly in the project consortium or indirectly accessible via, for example, project partners, specified consultants or a reference group for the project.
3. How well balanced the project group is in terms of gender distribution and the distribution of power and influence between women and men.
4. How well consulting services are described and the need for consulting services is justified for any project parties whose budget contains more than 20 percent consulting costs.

Feasibility

1. How well proposal identifies and describes key challenges for the development of the intended solution or improvement, and analyzes risks in implementation.
2. To what extent does the project description show that the project's time and activity plan:
   - contains activities that comply with the definitions of industrial research or experimental development (see section 5).
   - is appropriate in terms of the project's objective and ambitions.
   - is logical and reasonable in terms of available resources such as budget, expertise, equipment, project time, etc. in relation to what is to be done.
3. How well proposal identifies the risks involved in the implementation and describes an appropriate plan for managing them.
4. It is clear from proposal how the approach is new or otherwise different from approaches used in any previous attempts to address the same or similar issues. This sub-criterion is not included in the assessment of project proposals that address new issues that have not previously been attempted.

How do we assess?

The project selection is handled by Vinnova in a process where applications that meet the formal requirements in section 6 compete with each other for the call's budget.

Applications that meet the formal requirements according to section 6 are assessed in relation to the above assessment criteria by external evaluator. The evaluators are appointed by Vinnova and work under a duty of confidentiality and professional secrecy. The assessment is based on the electronic proposal submitted via Vinnova's e-service (see section 9).

The external assessors' combined assessment results in a recommendation to Vinnova. Based on the assessors' recommendation and Vinnova's assessment of financial status (see below), we make a decision on which applications are granted funding and which are rejected. Our decision cannot be appealed.

We also assess financial status

Before deciding on funding, we also conduct a comprehensive assessment of the organizational and financial status of those receiving funding. We use information we obtain from credit reports, currently from Dun & Bradstreet.

In order for us to grant funding the following applies:

• Organizations seeking funding for personnel costs must be registered as employers with the Swedish Tax Agency. This also applies to organizations that budget for personnel costs but do not seek funding from Vinnova.
• Organizations must not be insolvent, undergoing liquidation or corporate restructuring, nor must they have any significant unpaid debts with the Swedish Enforcement Authority.
• Limited liability companies must not have used up half or more of their share capital.
• SMEs must be able to demonstrate, upon request, that they have the financial capacity to implement the project according to their budget in proposal. They cannot use public funding or their own funds intended for other project to cover project costs in this call for proposals.

When the selection process is complete and Vinnova has made a decision to either grant or reject your proposal, Vinnova will notify the coordinating project party of the decision. The Swedish Metals & Minerals Program Office will be informed of the outcome. Our decision cannot be appealed.

In decisions about an approved proposal, we state how much funding each party in the project is granted.

What happens if you are granted funding?

If we grant your proposal, you must follow our general terms and conditions for funding. The terms include, among other things:

• That you will sign a special document in which you approve your participation and commit to carrying out the project.
• That you report how the project is going, your costs and achieved results to us regularly during the project period.
• If you are multiple 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 it is a good idea to start working on this before the project starts.

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

You also need to follow the special conditions that apply to this the call for proposals:

• The project must be represented by at least one participant at the conferences and other activities organized within the program, approximately one to two times per year. The costs for such participation are eligible for support.
• The project shall, during its duration, contribute to and maintain a continuous dialogue with the Swedish Metals & Minerals program office. This includes separate reporting to the program office during the project's implementation, and the project being assigned a contact person at the program office who assists the project and monitors it on behalf of the program.
• Instead of paragraph 7.3 of General terms and conditions the following applies:
  When communicating about the project and when publishing project results, it must be stated that the work is/was carried out with financial support from the Impact Innovation program Swedish Metals & Minerals – an initiative of the Swedish Energy Agency, Formas and Vinnova. Publication refers to, for example, publication, regardless of medium, and oral presentations.

• When reporting the project, a summary of the project results must be uploaded as an attachment to the final report to Vinnova. The summary must also be sent to the program office for Swedish Metals & Minerals via e-mail programkontor@swedishmetalsandminerals.se. The summary must follow the template that will be available at www.impactinnovation.se. This summary must be freely distributed and published on the websites of the Swedish Energy Agency, Forma, Vinnova, Impact Innovations and Swedish Metals & Minerals and must therefore not contain confidential or otherwise sensitive information.

We may also decide to add supplementary special conditions for individual project. In such cases, they will be stated in the decision.

Could you have to pay back funding?

If you do not follow our term, you may be required to repay the amount. This also applies if you have been granted funding incorrectly or for an amount that is too high.

When the call for proposals closes, your proposal will be registered as. We will then send an email confirmation to the person responsible for the user account in the e-service as well as to the project manager and the signatory of the coordinating project party. Please contact us if you have not received a confirmation within 24 hours of the call for proposals closing.

Once the call for proposals is closed, you cannot change anything in proposal. You can only make additions if we ask you to.

Who can read your proposal?

Your proposal will be read by Vinnova employees and the external evaluator participating in this the call for proposals. Everyone works under a duty of confidentiality.

Applications submitted to Vinnova become public documents. This means that we must disclose them if requested. However, we classify information that we believe could cause financial harm to the individual if disclosed. This could, for example, include information about business and operational conditions, inventions or research results.

How we handle public documents and confidentiality