6G International research and innovation cooperation 2024

Development of 6G has begun, and the technology is expected to improve speed and data processing, seamless connectivity and significantly reduce latency. 6G systems involve various areas of technology, from software and artificial intelligence (AI) to semiconductors and radio communications. A faster wireless system is expected to lead to a range of new data-driven applications and enable increased productivity for various areas and industries.

The government has tasked Vinnova and the Swedish Research Council with strengthening basic research, applied research and innovation within the sixth generation wireless communication system (6G). The aim is to strengthen the position of Swedish research and innovation within wireless communication systems, increase the competitiveness of Swedish companies in the field and strengthen the conditions for Swedish research environments to participate in international research collaboration and gain access to international research infrastructure.

The purpose of this call for proposals is to give Swedish actors the opportunity to, together with actors in selected countries, plan the start-up and implementation of joint research and innovation projects as well as in-depth innovation collaborations within the 6G area.

objective of the call is to:

• Contribute to strengthened innovation cooperation between Sweden and relevant actors in theUSA, Canada, Great Britain, Japan, India, South Korea, Singapore and within the EU.
• Contribute to knowledge development and innovation in the 6G area.

The call for proposals is aimed at Swedish companies, academia and research institutes that want to develop 6G collaborations with international actors. It is possible to apply for funds to deepen already ongoing collaborations.

The participant seeking funding must be a Swedish legal entity. In this respect, a foreign organization that has a branch or place of business in Sweden is equated with a Swedish legal person. The costs in the project must be able to be linked to the activities at the branch or place of business. The international actor needs to have its own funding for its costs.

Funding: Each project can be financed can be financed with a maximum of SEK 2 million and a maximum of 70 percent of the Swedish part of the project's total eligible costs.

Project duration: 12 to 18 months.

The call's preliminary budget is SEK 20 million.

Wireless communication plays a crucial role in society and communication networks have become a central part of the critical infrastructure. With increasing eligibility requirements for wireless technology, continued research efforts are also required that strengthen cooperation both nationally and internationally, which is crucial for, among other things, standardization and continuous development.

Development of 6G has begun, and the technology is expected to improve speed and data processing, seamless connectivity and significantly reduced latency. 6G systems involve various areas of technology, from software and artificial intelligence (AI) to semiconductors and radio communications. A faster wireless system is expected to lead to a range of new data-driven applications and enable increased productivity in many different areas and industries. A secure and robust digital infrastructure is also of great importance to both business and society as a whole.

The government has tasked Vinnova and the Swedish Research Council with strengthening basic research, applied research and innovation within the sixth generation wireless communication system (6G). The aim is to strengthen the position of Swedish research and innovation within wireless communication systems, increase the competitiveness of Swedish companies in the field and strengthen the conditions for Swedish research environments to participate in international research collaboration and gain access to international research infrastructure. The investment includes a total of SEK 390 million and the assignment must be finalized in March 2027.

Read about the government mission: Research investment should contribute to the development of 6G

The purpose of this call for proposals is to give Swedish actors the opportunity to, together with actors in selected countries, plan the start-up and implementation of joint research and innovation projects as well as in-depth innovation collaborations within the 6G area.

objective of the call is to:

• Contribute to strengthened innovation cooperation between Sweden and relevant actors in theUSA, Canada, Great Britain, Japan, India, South Korea, Singapore and within the EU.
• Contribute to knowledge development and innovation in the 6G area.

6G network is expected to improve speed, data processing, seamless connectivity and significantly reduced latency in systems. It will also offer basic services to all sectors, across different types of networks and public or private deployment scenarios.

A 6G wireless system includes several areas, including:

• Technology and network infrastructure
  - Extremely low latency / Delay tolerant latency
  - Network optimization based on AI/ML (Artificiell Intelligens / Machine learning)
  - Platform for wireless services
  - Intermittent connection and communication
  - Edge/Fog computing at scale
  - Shared infrastructure with virtualized layers
  - Spectrum sharing
  - WiFi collaboration between providers and standards
  - Open interface
  - Sub-THz-band
  - Backhaul development with increased cell density
  - Non-terrestrial (satellite) networks
• Standards, policy and regulations
• Ecosystems and economic models
• Applications and Services

The listed technology areas have been identified as important focus areas for the development of the 6G network ecosystem.

6G Global Roadmap Taxonomy Report (purdue.edu)

With the call for proposals Vinnova wants to support research and innovation activities that, through closer collaboration between actors in Sweden and internationally, contribute to global 6G development.

It shall particularly:

• Contribute to strengthened innovation cooperation between Sweden and international actors.
• Increase international research and innovation collaborations in the 6G area.
• Contribute to knowledge development and innovation in the 6G area.
• Strengthen competence development and secure competence supply in the long term.
• Meet the need for synergies between investments in 6G and other areas required for a strong 6G system.

Focus on climate and gender equality in all our investments

Vinnova is tasked with promoting sustainable growth and community development. Genom Agenda 2030, the countries of the world have agreed on a global agreement and understanding of what characterizes sustainable development. Through our efforts, we contribute to the global commitment to reach the goals.

In Inom Agenda 2030, Vinnova has particularly singled out climate and gender equality as two central sustainability perspectives to which our funded investments should contribute positively. Project financed by Vinnova are thus expected to take special account of the climate and gender equality aspects. Linked to the development of 6G, it is above all increased energy efficiency and lifetime of components that are the priority.

Our work to contribute to the goals of Agenda 2030

One aspect that Vinnova follows up and assesses is whether both women and men take part in the grant in an equal way, participate in and have influence over the project. This aspect is assessed under the actor criterion, see section 7.

Another aspect involves analyzing and deciding whether there are gender or gender aspects that are relevant to the project's problem area, solutions and utilization.

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

Free access to scientific publications and results

Results from research and innovation that are made freely available increase the opportunity for more people to contribute to solutions to societal challenges. This the call for proposals should contribute to making more results freely available to everyone. Therefore, all scientific publication must be open access.

We address Swedish companies, academia and research institutes that want to develop collaborations in the 6G area with parties in the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Japan, India, South Korea, Singapore and within the EU. It is possible to apply for funds to deepen already ongoing collaborations.

The participant seeking funding must be a Swedish legal entity. In this respect, a foreign organization that has a branch or place of business in Sweden is equated with a Swedish legal person. The costs in the project must be able to be linked to the activities at the branch or place of business. The international actor needs to have its own funding for its costs.

A declaration of intent from international actors must be attached. An authorized representative certifies the organization's participation and the extent of their participation. Any template can be used.

It is possible to apply for funding for activities that are part of research and development projects with a focus that meets the call's aim according to section 2.

Funding is offered for research and innovation projects in the 6G area where international cooperation is the focus. In order to strengthen and broaden the collaboration, stays internationally or in Sweden can be valuable. You can apply for funding for activities both in Sweden and internationally. However, the project coordinator must have a place of business in Sweden.

Vinnova does not finance business development, customer processing, marketing or other ordinary business-related activities. Applications that only include one or a couple of meetings to investigate whether there are possibilities to create a collaboration will not receive funding.

Examples of eligible activities:

• Investigation of technical and design conditions.
• Development of prototypes or demonstrators. This may also include pilot work, testing and validation.
• Research and development of production methods.
• Planning and conducting studies or tests to verify an innovation.
• The creation of components that make up parts of complex systems.
• Research or critical analysis, which aims to acquire new knowledge and new skills to develop new products, processes or services.
• Analysis of the potential of research and development projects aimed at supporting the decision-making process for the project to be a success.
• Evaluation that maps the strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and risks of research and development projects.

We do not finance routine or recurring changes to existing products, services, manufacturing methods or manufacturing processes. Funds are also not allocated to educational efforts, courses, marketing, sales, ongoing operations, quality assurance, certification, investment in equipment and tools or intellectual property rights strategies and protection.

The length of the projects can be between 12 and 18 months.

Our funding is covered by rules on government support. The rules govern both what kind of costs and what proportion of the costs we can finance. This is determined for each organization individually. We therefore distinguish how much funding the project can receive, and how much each participating participant can receive.

The total grant budget is provisionally SEK 20 million for this call for proposals.

How much funding can the project get?

Vinnova's funding can amount to SEK 2 million per project. It can amount to a maximum of 70 percent of the project's total eligible costs.

How much funding can a participant receive?

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

• Which activities the party will carry out in the project.
• Party size and activities.

In this the call for proposals we provide support to industrial research, experimental development or feasibility studies. For full definitions, see Support bases and support levels for funding.

What percentage of the costs we can finance - that is, the maximum level of support - depends on the size of the organization and the type of activity.

Industrial research can be simply described as seeking new knowledge through planned research or critical analysis in order to develop or significantly improve products, processes or services. I Experimentell's development can be simply described as combining, shaping and using existing knowledge to produce new or improved products, processes or services.

Experimental development refers to acquiring, combining, shaping and using existing scientific, technical, business and other relevant knowledge and skills with the aim of developing new or improved products, processes or services, including digital products, processes or services in any field or in any technology, industry or sector. This can also include e.g. activities aimed at conceptual definition, planning and documentation of new products, processes or services.

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.

Not state aid

In this the call for proposals we also provide support to organizations that do not conduct economic activities. This generally includes universities and university colleges, research institutes and other organizations that do not offer a service or product on a market.

We can finance up to 100 percent of such organizations' costs.

How do you determine if an organization carries out economic activities?

An organization that offers any kind of service or product on a market is considered to be conducting economic activities and cannot be granted this form of support. 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 takes - that is, whether it is a limited liability company, a trading company, an economic association, a non-profit association or a foundation.

If you are unsure whether an organization in your project carries out financial activities, contact call manager. However, the organization itself is responsible for assessing whether it carries out economic activities.

What costs can we finance?

Our funding may only go to certain types of costs. 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 our instruction on 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 our instruction on eligible costs.

In order for us to take a position on and assess your proposal it must meet certain basic requirements - so-called formal eligibility requirements. If these eligibility requirements are not met, our evaluator will not process your proposal.

Conditions for us to assess proposal

Vinnova will only assess applications that meet the following formal eligibility requirements:

• Proposal must be an international collaboration in the 6G area with international actors from one or more of the following countries: USA, Canada, Great Britain, Japan, India, South Korea, Singapore and the EU.
• A declaration of intent from international actors must be attached. An authorized representative certifies the organization's participation and the extent of their participation. Any template can be used.
• The participant seeking funding must be a Swedish legal entity. In this respect, a foreign organization that has a branch or place of business in Sweden is equated with a Swedish legal person. The costs in the project must be able to be linked to the activities at the branch or place of business. The international actor needs to have its own funding for its costs.
• Funding is not granted to organizations that are insolvent or that are undergoing liquidation or company restructuring, or that have unpaid debts with the Swedish Enforcement Agency or payment notices.
• If the organization is a limited company, half or more of the share capital must not be used up.
• Vinnova takes credit information on all applicant who are not public actors, and funding is not granted to organizations with the lowest credit rating C.
• The organization seeking funding for personnel costs must be registered as an employer with the Tax Agency at the latest when the grant decision is made.
• Proposal must be written in Swedish or English.
• The project described in proposal must not have started before proposal is submitted.
• Proposal must follow all instructions and contain all appendices according to section 9.

What do we assess?

Proposal must be in line with the call's objective and aim stated in section 2, meet the requirements above and will be assessed according to the criteria below.

In addition to an individual assessment of each proposal Vinnova may apply a portfolio perspective to achieve thematic distribution of the granted projects, regarding aspects such as technology area, countries and size of project.

Potential

• Strengthened innovation cooperation between Sweden and international partners in the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Japan, India, South Korea, Singapore and within the EU.
• The project's technology level related to the international research front.
• The project's potential to contribute to the call's overall objectives.
• How well the project is judged to contribute positively to the global goals in Agenda 2030, with a particular focus on energy and resource efficiency.

Actors

• International anchoring and strategically important international actors.
• The actors' competence and ability to carry out the project and achieve the project goals with regard to the composition and competence of the project group.
• To what extent does the project group have access to relevant competence in sustainability.
• How well composed the project team is in terms of gender distribution. As well as how well power and influence are distributed evenly between women and men in the project team.

Feasibility

• The realism of the project plan in relation to set objective, methods, activities and budget.
• The participation and relevance of the specified project parties in the project's various work packages and activities.
• How well the project structure contributes to the utilization and dissemination of the results, both within the own organizations and outside the consortium.
• How well risks are described and managed in the implementation of the project.
• How well aspects relating to gender equality and climate have been integrated into the project plan.

How do we judge?

Project applications will be assessed in competition and the assessment is based on the electronic proposal submitted via Vinnova's e-services.

Schematically, the decision process looks like this:

1. Proposal are submitted via Vinnova's e-services.
2. The applications that meet the formal requirements and the thematic fit of the call will be assessed based on the criteria stated above by Vinnova's appointed evaluator.
3. Selected project may be interviewed.
4. Vinnova makes decisions about which project are to be financed and decisions are communicated to applicant.

Vinnova strives to achieve a certain spread of the challenge area and size of the granted projects and reserves the right to apply a portfolio approach to granted project.

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 include this:

• That you must sign a special document in which you agree to carry out the project.
• That you must report your costs and results to us regularly during the project.
• If you are several parties, you must agree on what applies to the project in a project agreement.
• How the results will be used, and how any scientific publication will take place.

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

Other instructions:

• In the event that the project team is not equal, the following instructions apply: In connection with the first progress report, a plan must be attached that explains how a better gender distribution can be achieved during the project period, for example during recruitment or the like. It does not apply within 40/60 for women and men.
• 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 your proposal has been registered, we send a confirmation to the person responsible for the user account as well as to the project manager and the signatory.

If you submit a proposal on the same day as the call for proposals closes, it may take a few hours before you receive a confirmation. 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 external employees who work 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. But we keep confidential information that we judge could mean financial damage to the individual if it is 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