SIP InfraSweden: Solutions for faster conversion to sustainable transport infrastructure

This is a call for proposals within the strategic innovation program InfraSweden. The purpose is to promote conversion to sustainable transport infrastructure in line with the goals of Agenda 2030.

The call for proposals covers innovations in the transport infrastructure sector at all stages - from planning and business models to production, operation, maintenance and decommissioning.

The projects shall:

• contribute to sustainable transport infrastructure
• be scalable
• can be implemented within five years of project completion.

The projects' innovative solutions must be developed jointly by the parties. The projects must be carried out in collaboration between, for example, business, public actors, research institutes and academia. One of the project parties must be the needs owner to ensure that the innovations can be implemented.

The projects that are granted support will be conducted within the strategic innovation program InfraSweden. This gives access to the program's network, seminars, conferences and offer on innovation coaching.

The call's budget is approximately SEK 10 million for the period 2025-2027 and offers up to 50 percent funding of the innovation projects' eligible costs.

Smaller project with a maximum of SEK 1 million in funding must have at least two parties and a project duration of no more than 12 months.

Larger project, which seek more than SEK 1 million, must have at least three parties and a project duration of up to 32 months.

Vinnova coordinates the assessment and decision-making process with the help of expert groups.

Each participant must be a legal person with a unique organization number. The project coordinator must be a Swedish legal person. At least one participant must be a needs owner.

The strategic innovation program InfraSweden is tasked with supporting innovative solutions that, in line with the goals of Agenda 2030, contribute to a sustainable transport system.

The focus of the call for proposals is innovations in transport infrastructure such as streets, roads and railways. Transport infrastructure within ports and airports is also included.

The focus of the call is project that can produce scalable innovations that can be implemented in the near future, no more than 5 years after the end of the project. The innovations will contribute to achieving InfraSweden's long-term objective of a sustainable transport infrastructure system in Sweden.

More information about InfraSweden's program description and effect logic can be found here

The projects must be carried out in cooperation between developing actors and owners of needs. Need owner refers to the actor who benefits from the solution and who must take care of the results of the project, i.e. manage, use or distribute. Examples of need owners are public and private clients, owners or managers of transport infrastructure, vehicle manufacturers, system owners and construction contractors. The developing the actors can be academia, institutes and business. Collaboration between different actors is crucial to achieving innovation.

In order to demonstrate the project's potential for implementation and scalability, proposal must describe what is required for the project's results to be implemented.

Examples of areas within the transport infrastructure sector that can be developed within the framework of this call for proposals are:

• Planning and decision support to successfully plan, produce and maintain sustainable transport infrastructure.
• Sustainable construction solutions from a life cycle perspective.
• Innovative and functional materials, construction solutions and construction methods that are traffic safe, efficient and sustainable.
• Circular and resource-efficient constructions and construction technology.
• Solutions in the planning and design of the transport infrastructure to reduce the climate impact from the traffic that uses the infrastructure.
• Solutions that contribute to the resilience of the transport infrastructure, i.e. resilience and adaptability, against climate change.
• Changed forms of procurement and business models that provide incentives for the development and implementation of new solutions and methods.
• Conversion to fossil-free construction work.
• Solutions for resource-efficient and climate-neutral operation and maintenance.
• New techniques and methods for the repair and life extension of existing transport infrastructure.
• Technology and work processes for a better working environment in the transport infrastructure sector.
• More efficient technologies, processes and applications in transport infrastructure using digitalisation, IoT, robotics and automation.
• Electrified and automated construction
• New transport infrastructure that promotes sustainable travel, for example electric road.

Applicant can advantageously review how the project idea relates to InfraSweden's nine innovation aspects. These mostly need to be developed in parallel for a project idea to reach all the way to application. More information about the innovation model is available on InfraSweden's website, InfraSwedens Innovationsakademi.

Applicant are welcome to contact the program office or the program's innovation manager to get tips and advice about their proposal.

Contribute to a sustainable system transition

Vinnova is tasked with promoting sustainable growth and system change. In order to implement sustainable system change, Vinnova has 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 efforts and project that Vinnova finances are assessed based on how they contribute to these perspectives.

Vinnova therefore always follows up and assesses:

• 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 with a focus on reduced emissions of greenhouse gases, reduced emissions of environmental pollutants and increased circularity and resource efficiency.

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

Agenda 2030 as a driving force for innovation

The offer of project funding is aimed at organizations such as:

• has the ability and capacity to quickly and resource-efficiently develop and test innovative solutions within the call's priorities. For example, products, services, processes, working methods and business and procurement models.
• has ambition and a clear plan to test its solution together with the project's need owners.

In order for an organization to be able to participate as a participant it must be a legal person, participate in the design and implementation of the project and be involved in sharing risks and results.

At least one participant must be a needs owner, i.e. an actor who benefits from the solution and who can take care of the outcome of the project. For example by managing, using or disseminating the results.

The coordinator must be a Swedish organization. International parties are welcome to participate in the proposed project. However, Funding is only granted to Swedish organizations, which also includes foreign organizations that have a branch or place of business in Sweden. In that case, the costs in the project must be attributable to the branch's or establishment's activities.

Which costs can be financed?

Vinnova's 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 license costs: Consulting services, know-how and patents purchased or used under license from an external actor; any consulting services should not, without special reasons, exceed 10-20 percent of a project party's budget.
• 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 Vinnova can finance, see Instructions for eligible costs.

Which eligibility requirements apply to costs that Vinnova finances?

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 that Vinnova can finance. This is determined individually for each organization. Vinnova therefore distinguishes between how much funding the project can receive, and how much each participating participant can receive.

How much funding can the project receive?

The call's budget is approximately SEK 10 million for the period 2025-2027. The project duration is limited to a maximum of 12 months for smaller innovation projects and 32 months for larger innovation projects.

Funding for small innovation projects will be granted with a maximum of SEK 1 million, while for large innovation projects there is no limit beyond the call's budget.

The contribution for the entire project can constitute a maximum of 50 percent of the project's eligible costs. In addition, each party needs to comply with permitted state aid levels according to the state aid rules.

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

Funding will be granted with support of § 9 regulation (2015:208) on support for research and development and innovation, i.e. as support for research and development projects according to Article 25 of Commission Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014 (GBER).

In this the call for proposals Vinnova provides support to project activities covered by the Experimental Development category. For a detailed description of this category and the highest possible support levels, see Support bases and support levels for funding according to Vinnova's support scheme. Please note that if a public organization wants to step in as a financier, it needs to be checked that the funding does not constitute state aid that leads to the permitted support levels being exceeded.

In order to be authorized to apply as a small or medium-sized company, the company size must be proven via a certificate, according to Template model declaration SMF, which is attached to proposal. If certificates are not attached, the company will be classified as a large company.

Funding may also be granted with support from § 2 p. 2 regulation (2015:208) on support for research and development and innovation, i.e. as support of minor importance (de minimis support) according to regulation (EU) no. 2023/ 2831. This can be particularly interesting for smaller companies. Before such support can be granted, a certificate of minor support must be submitted to Vinnova. This is done in connection with proposal. For more information and a template for a certificate of previous funding see Support of minor importance.

In this the call for proposals Vinnova also provides funding 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. Vinnova can finance up to 100 percent of such an organization's costs.

How is it determined whether 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. For example, if it is a limited 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.

In order for Vinnova 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.

Formal eligibility requirements

Only applications that meet the following formal eligibility requirements will be assessed:

• All project parties must be legal entities. Vinnova does not grant funding to individual companies.
• The coordinating party must be a Swedish legal entity and conduct activities in Sweden.
• The project manager must be employed by one of the project parties.
• Smaller innovation projects must have at least two parties and larger innovation projects at least three parties.
• The attachments in proposal must be designed strictly according to section 9.
• Proposal must be written in Swedish or English.
• Applications must be received no later than 2 pm on the last application day via Vinnova's e-services.

Other prerequisites

In addition to the formal requirements, the following conditions also apply that need to be met in order for the project to be granted funds:

• At least one participant must be a requirement owner for the project's results.
• The project duration must be limited to a maximum of 12 months for small innovation projects and 32 months for large innovation projects.
• The project can start no earlier than 19 March 2025 and no later than 30 April 2025.
• The status (secured, applied for, planned) for co-financing in the project, including each project party's own funding, must appear in proposal.
• Project parties must be listed in Vinnova's e-services, where the budget is shown for all project parties. It is not enough to indicate project parties in the project description.
• The project must not have started before proposal is submitted.

What is assessed?

Potential

• The project's potential to promote a transition to sustainable transport infrastructure in planning, construction, operation or maintenance.
• The scalability of the solution both nationally and internationally.
• Potential for implementation of results in the near future after project completion (maximum 5 years).
• The project's potential to contribute to increased gender equality.

Actors

• Composition, competence, ability and commitment of the constellation of actors in relation to project goals, execution and implementation.
• Business partners' share of co-financing.
• Stakeholders' degree of commitment and participation in the project.
• The composition of the team with regard to gender distribution, as well as the distribution of power and influence between men and women.

Feasibility

• How well the project plan and project budget are adapted to achieve the set goals.
• How well the chosen strategy contributes to disseminating the project's results and enabling its practical application.
• How well gender equality has been integrated into the project plan.

How are applications assessed?

The applications are assessed in competition. In addition to an individual assessment of each proposal, Vinnova may apply a portfolio perspective to achieve a certain spread of the granted projects, regarding aspects such as areas of application and size of project. The assessment is based on the electronic proposal submitted via Vinnova's e-services, see section 9.

Briefly, the decision-making process looks as follows:

1. Proposal are submitted via Vinnova's e-services.
2. Project reports are sent by the project manager to the program office for InfraSweden via programkontoret@infrasweden.nu
3. Only those applications that meet the formal requirements, see section 6, will be assessed based on the assessment criteria. The applications are assessed by specially appointed evaluator, external experts and Vinnova's expert programme manager, who submits their overall recommendation to Vinnova at an assessment meeting.
4. If necessary, Vinnova conducts telephone interviews with representatives of applicant project consortia. Notice can be given at relatively short notice, approximately one week before the decision date.
5. Vinnova makes decisions about project funding taking into account the assessors' recommendations.
6. Vinnova notifies the decision to applicant and informs the management of InfraSweden about the outcome.

Vinnova also assesses organizations' finances

Innan Vinnova decides on funding an overall assessment is also made of the organizational and financial status of those who receive funding. Vinnova uses information from credit reports, currently from Dun & Bradstreet.

For Vinnova 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.
• Joint stock companies must not have used up half or more of their share capital.

When Vinnova has assessed all applications, a decision is sent in which proposal is either granted or rejected. The decision states how much funding each party in the project is granted. The decision cannot be appealed.

What if you are granted funding?

If your proposal is approved, you must follow Vinnova's general terms and conditions for funding. The terms 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 Vinnova 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 result will be used.

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

Since the call for proposals is part of a strategic innovation program, these special conditions also apply:

• When you apply, you must send a summary of the project, a so-called project report, to InfraSweden. The project report must not contain confidential or sensitive information.
• At least one participant must represent the project at InfraSweden's conferences, usually two half days per year.
• When information or results from the project are shared, it must be stated that the work was carried out within the strategic innovation program InfraSweden, a joint effort by Vinnova, Formas and the Energy Agency.
• A brief description of the project and its objective must be submitted to InfraSweden at the latest at the start of the project, for publication on the program's website. An image, photo or illustration that fits the project must also be attached,
• Project reports that are public must be sent to InfraSweden during the course of the project but no later than at the end of the project.
• When the project is finished, the project must submit a final report to Vinnova based on Vinnova's instructions and to InfraSweden according to the program's final report template provided by InfraSweden's program office.
• Communication with InfraSweden must take place through the e-mail address programkontoret@infrasweden.nu.

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 comply with Vinnova's term, you may be liable for repayment. This also applies if you have been granted funding incorrectly or with too high an amount.

To apply funding, you fill in a proposal in Vinnova's e-service. Proposal contains questions about the project, participating project parties and budget.

You also attach these attachments to proposal:

• Project description: Maximum 10 A4 pages with 12-point text. The project description must address the issues raised in the template as carefully as possible.
• CV: For the project manager and other key people in the project according to the mandatory CV template, maximum 1 page per person with 12 points of text.
• Certificate of support of minor importance: Mandatory if organizations apply for de minimis support.
• Model declaration: Attached if participating project parties are to be classified as small or medium-sized enterprises. The model declaration is filled in, scanned and attached to proposal. If the declaration is not attached, the company will be classified as a large company.

The call's templates must be used for the appendices above, which you will find on this page. No other attachments may be attached.

At the same time as proposal is sent to Vinnova, the attachment Project Report must be sent to InfraSweden via e-mail: programkontoret@infrasweden.nu

The project report must be able to be distributed and published freely and must not contain confidential or otherwise sensitive information.

Start proposal in good time

Keep in mind that it takes time to make a proposal. Filling out templates can take several days, as it is based on analyzes you will be doing.

I Vinnovas e-service, you can start filling in information and then continue at a later time. You can also distribute authorizations to others whom you want to contribute to proposal. When proposal is ready, you mark it as done.

You can unlock proposal and make changes at any time, right up until the last application date. If you unlock proposal, you must then mark it as ready for it to be registered when the call for proposals closes.

2024-11-06

Addendum in section 7 under the heading "How are applications assessed?":

The applications are assessed in competition. In addition to an individual assessment of each proposal, Vinnova may apply a portfolio perspective to achieve a certain spread of the granted projects, regarding aspects such as areas of application and size of project. The assessment is based on the electronic proposal submitted via Vinnova's e-services, see section 9.