Open call instructions

Research Focus at ESA Phi-Lab Norway

The Arctic Phi-Lab research and innovation focus shall in general include: 

The Arctic Phi-lab aim to foster research and development of products and services with an Arctic focus by advancing technology and creating transformative innovations. 

We seek innovative projects that utilize space technology and data. We sponsor initiatives that foster new capabilities, products and solutions for user groups in sectors such as oil and gas, shipping, fisheries, aquaculture, wind farming, deep water mining, safety and security and others.  

The projects shall have a clear relevance in Arctic needs or presence.  

Who can apply?

The research project proposal must be submitted by (a team part of) a legal entity or a consortium of legal entities. The proposed research shall enable commercial market disruptive application, of potential high socio-economic impact; it shall be based on solid research-driven evidence of its feasibility. There shall be evidence of market traction for the applications that the technology (to be matured by the research project) enables.  

The idea shall have a valid space connection. This is:  

• The exploitation of space technology, use of knowledge from the space domain, or utilisation of space systems and space-based services in non-space domains (spin-off),  

• Or the provision of products or services for the space sector, addressing any part of the space value chain (from components to entirely new space systems or related facilities and services) and any related activity (from concept definition to operation), possibly using non-space technology (spin-in). 

Some further criteria apply:

• the project shall be relevant for the specific focus of competence of the Phi-Lab and the specific topics as defined in the previous Section; 
• the project shall be focused on maturing (a) technology(ies) towards the performance levels required by the target application(s).  
• The applicants must fulfil all the requirements below:
  • To be part of a legal entity established in an ESA Member State, Associate Member of European Cooperating State (specify Country), and can demonstrate that the research activity can deliver a benefit to the Phi-Lab, which is of particular importance for applicants that are part of a legal entity established in a State different from the one of the Phi-Lab.   
  • The proportion of the total project costs that must be allocated to Norwegian entities is 70%.  
  • To observe the remaining requirements stated in this document; 
  • When acting in collaboration with other national or foreign entities, the applicant will be the sole contractor and will be fully responsible for managing the funding. 
  • To declare that the work proposed under the submitted ESA Phi-Lab project is not being funded through other means (e.g. ESA R&D activities, ESA Business Incubation, ESA Business Applications, European Commission etc). 

How to apply

Please make sure you have received the following documents, which are part of the Open Call documentation:

1. Cover Letter including Requirement Checklists
2. ESA Phi-Lab Research Proposal:
   • Executive Summary
   • R&D and Potential Impact Proposal
   • Activity and Management Proposal
3. Draft Research Contract including Draft Service Agreement
4. Draft Workspace Agreement, if applicable. 

Make sure to fill in all required sections in the application templates and pay particular attention to the following:

• Instructions inside the documents (highlighted in blue in each template) shall be followed in order to fulfil all pre-conditions of the Open Call and for the application to be accepted.  
• Please read the Draft Contract carefully. The Cover Letter must include a clear, explicit and unambiguous statement declaring that the applicant has read, understood and accepted the terms and conditions contained in the contractual documentation (this is part of the Cover Letter template). Modifications or amendments to the Contract may only be done in exceptional cases. Please contact the local Arctic Phi-Lab manager for guidance.  
• Make sure the Cover Letter and the Requirement Checklists are signed by the legal representative of the Legal Entity. 
• Support in ESA Phi-Lab Norway may be requested for a maximum of 24 months.  
• All cost in the budget shall be in Euro.  

In order to prepare the proposal we strongly encourage you to contact the Arctic Phi-Lab very early in the planning process. The Arctic Phi-Lab will assist you during the preparation and in particular to obtain access to and include the Arctic Phi-Lab services and resources in an optimum way. Any questions related to preparation and/or submission of proposals should be sent to the same e-mail address: application@arcticphilab.no, or to any of the contacts referred to at the webpage.

Please submit the application documents in electronic form (pdf, maximum three files, one for each required document) by using this submit page.

Budget

The total available budget for the implementation of this Call is 1,8 M Euro.

The available Innovation Seed Funds per selected project is from a minimum of 200.000 Euro to a maximum of 500.000 Euro.

The Arctic Phi-Lab intends to issue 4-6 contracts. It is left up to the potential bidder to determine the size of the proposed work.

The duration of each contract may be maximum two years.

The proposed amount shall clearly indicate the required funding sources, e.g. the ESA Innovation Seed funding, the other funding amount and/or the in-kind contribution.

Note that the ESA Innovation Seed funding amount shall represent a percentage ranging from 50% to 80% of the total allowable cost of the activity, subject to compliance with the following provisions:

• Work carried out by SMEs may be funded up to a maximum level of up to 80% of the total allowable cost of the activity
• Work carried out by universities and research institutions involved as subcontractors in a consortium and justifying no further commercial interest in the product or service may be funded to a maximum level of 100% if this funding does not exceed 30% of the total allowable cost of the activity;
  • Should work need to be (sub)contracted for more than 30% of the total eligible costs, such additional share shall be co-funded up to a maximum of 50% of the total eligible costs; 
  • Universities and research institutions claiming to have any commercial interest in the future exploitation of the final product or service shall be required to demonstrate this interest. In such a case, the funding level for SME or non-SME shall apply.
• Work carried out by economic operators that are not SMEs nor universities and research institutions may be funded up to a maximum level of 50% of the total allowable cost of the activity.

Arctic Phi-Lab strongly encourages applicants to contact the local manager to discuss how Arctic Phi-Lab can provide domain expertise from Arctic Phi-Lab partners and Phi-Lab network. 

Additional cooperation in the R&D may be negotiated between the bidder and the ESA Phi-Lab.  

The projects requesting ESA Innovation Seed Funding equal or larger than 500 kE should provide evidence of their co-funding.  

Eligible costs

In order to be eligible, all project costs must be:

• Necessary to the execution of the project;
• Incurred by the beneficiary and recorded in its accounts;
• Incurred during the contract term;
• Indicated in the cost planning in the proposal;
• Without VAT, interest owned, or duties.

Expenses incurred in the preparation and dispatch of the proposal will not be reimbursed.

The project may consider the following direct costs:

1. Staff costs;
2. Subcontracting costs;
3. Access to data sources or intellectual property;
4. Materials, equipment, and facilities;
5. Travelling, subsistence, and accommodation costs. 

The following costs incurred are eligible:

• Train and plane costs in Economy Class, up to 700 Euro travelling in Europe and up to 1600 Euro travelling outside Europe;
• Taxi costs;
• Car rental and/or car mileage;
• Accommodation up to 250 Euro per person per night;
• Subsistence costs up to 100 Euro per person per day.

Information regarding all Travelling, Subsistence and Accommodation costs must be provided in the Mid- Term (where applicable) and Final Reports, and shall include the objectives of the occasion (event, meeting, etc.), contacts made and results.

• Business development and promotion (data sheets, flyers, trade shows etc.). Attendance to trade shows (or similar) should be agreed in advance with the local ESA Phi-Lab Manager.
• Other – costs not included in the above categories but deemed critical to the execution of the project should be agreed in advance with the local ESA Phi-Lab Manager.

The evaluation procedure

The evaluation of all received applications is managed locally by Arctic Phi-Lab and follows common ESA Phi-Lab procedures.

Once a published submission deadline has passed, Arctic Phi-Lab first assesses the formal aspects of applications received before the submission deadline. If a formal non-compliance of formal nature is found, the applicant may be asked to address this in an updated proposal within 48 hours. If the proposal is found non-admissible, the applicant will be informed and the reason will be explained. In such a case an applicant is eligible to submit a revised proposal at a later date.

If the application is compliant with the formal requirements, applicants will be invited to hold a presentation to the Arctic Phi-Lab evaluation board. The evaluation will typically take place a few weeks after the submission deadline. The evaluation board consists of representatives of Arctic Phi-Lab, ESA, Norwegian Space Agency, one representative from each of the consortium partners and other experts. There will also be an opportunity for the evaluation board to ask questions to the applicant.

The application and the presentation will be marked against the criteria in Table 1, taking weighting factors into account.

Criteria	Sub criteria	Explanation
Background and Experience (25%)	a) Experience team composition b) Partnerships and Support entities c) Vision	a) Does the team show skills and the relevant expertise to carry out the proposed activity? b) Does the Applicant have clear view on the partnerships that are required and have they obtained support from relevant Entities? c) Does the company propose a clear and feasible long-term vision? Does the targeted application/service fit in the company roadmap?
Research and Technology developments (30%)	a) Relevance to the Call b) Suitability of technology for targeted application c) Understanding of and leveraging on the State of the Art (SoA), novelty of the proposed research d) Maturity and feasibility for target application d) Relevance of the proposed R&D approach	a) Is the activity in line with the objectives of Phi-Lab and more specifically with the objectives of the Call? b) Is the technology to be further developed suitable to enable the target application. c) Does the Applicant provide a suitable analysis of the SoA? Does the proposed activity leverage on it, and represent a progress wrt the SoA d) Is the proposed technology mature enough [TB1] to enter the Phi-lab? Are the proposed developments (to achieve required performance and enable target application) feasible? Does the applicant have access to the requested facilities and data needed for the proposed activity? d) Is the proposed R&D approach adequate?    [TB1]Entry TRL>=3. Critical functions tested and validated in lab
Commercial Opportunities and Potential Socio-Economic Impact (25%)	a) Potential Market Segment b) Potential Product/ Service c) Potential Customers/Users d) Value Proposition e) Potential Socio- Economic Impact (including sustainability) f) IPR strategy	a) Does the Applicant potentially target an appropriate market segment? Does the Applicant have an understanding of this market segment and its needs? Have they collected the main (driving) requirements? b) Is there a targeted product/service identified? c) Are potential customers/users of the targeted market segment identified? d) Is the value statement explaining the main benefit(s) of the application enabled buy the research activities? Have representative user(s)/customer(s) validated the addressed problem and relevance of the target application (e.g. letter of interest)? e) Does the Applicant clearly articulate and explains the potential socio-economic impact resulting from the research activities? Is this considered realistic? f) How well does the IPR strategy support commercialisation? If no IPR is identified by the applicant, does the TEB consider there is potential for IP protection that may support commercialisation?
Activity and Management proposal (20%)	a) Relevance of the work to achieve objectives b) Milestones/Cost-planning / Work break down c) Approach to align research with market needs d) Management of the research project e) Fit with the Phi-Lab	a) Is the proposed R&D relevant to enable the target application (i.e. achieve the requirements). Is the workplan relevant to achieve the proposal objectives? b) Is the activity proposal feasible time and cost wise? Are clear milestones identified which allow the progressed to be monitored? Is there a WBS provided? Is the work logically broken down, with clear work descriptions and I/O?  c) Is the approach to keep the R&D targeted and aligned to market needs suitable? Are market representatives consulted?   d) Is the management, reporting, meetings and deliverables clearly addressed in the proposal?   e) Can the research project be relevantly and substantially supported by the Phi-Lab?

All applicants will be notified in writing about the outcome of the evaluation. The applicant may require, within 10 calendar days from the receipt of the notification, an oral debriefing explaining the reason why the application was successful or not.

Arctic Phi-Lab will enter into contract negotiations with successful applicants, taking the comments of the evaluation board into account. Arctic Phi-Lab has the right not to place a contract if, after three months after the notification to a successful applicant, no contract still has been signed, and this is because of a reason for which the applicant can be held accountable.

Additionally, Arctic Phi-Lab has the right not to place a contract in case the (intended) legal entity presented in the application is different from the actual established and registered legal entity. 

Furthermore, we kindly ask you to pay attention to the following:

• Please note that applications will be treated as confidential. However, the applicant’s idea may through this application fall into the public domain (e.g. if local laws require so). Therefore, we strongly recommend that the applicant discusses the protection of his/her idea with a dedicated expert in this field prior to application, and – if relevant – takes appropriate steps to protect the idea (e.g. by applying for a patent).
• As far as allowed by law, any title held by the applicant to his/her idea shall remain vested in him/her. An application to Arctic Phi-Lab will not result in the acquisition of any title whatsoever to the idea. However, ESA retains a right to use the Intellectual Property in specific cases. Please read the detailed conditions described under the section “Use of Intellectual Property Rights” in the Draft Contract.
• No expenses incurred in either stage of the application procedure will be reimbursed to the applicant by Arctic Phi-Lab, ESA and/or any third party.
• This Open Call does not impose any obligation upon Arctic Phi-Lab to enter into negotiations with any applicant.