Applying for BESTF2 funding 11 th December 2013 Ewa Bloch, BESTF2 Call Secretariat

BESTF 2 call is open to legal entities * in the participating countries, including the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Sweden and Denmark. Projects must comply with the general BESTF2 criteria. Projects and partners must comply with the national criteria as set by the funding agencies of the participating countries. * Please check the respective national annexes for the types of organisations eligible for funding 2

BESTF2 basic information Call opens: 11 th Dec 2013 Expressions of interest: 10 th February 2014 National consultation period: 17 th February – 12 th May 2014 Deadline for full proposals: 12 th May 2014 Projects start: January 2015 Projects completed: 31 st August 2018 Budget available:€24.3 mln Funding rate: depending on the type of organisation and country, please see national annexes Eligible countries: the UK, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland and Denmark Countries per project: min. 2 eligible countries 3

BESTF2 key requirements All BESTF2 projects must: Be within the scope of BESTF2 call and the respective national programme; Be industry-led (at least 51% of person-months and costs to be incurred by industrial partners, excluding non-technical subcontracts); Address at least one of the seven value chains specified; Demonstrate value for money; Have appropriate sources (either internal or external) of matched funding. Allocation of funding will only be possible upon the verification of these third party funds. 4

BESTF2 key requirements In addition to the defined eligibility criteria, projects will only be supported where: There is at least one innovative step not demonstrated previously; At least 70% o f the bio-products produced by the plant shall be bioenergy, calculated on the basis of energy content of the products sold; Applied research will be moved into demonstration within the timeframe of the project; True cooperation exists between the consortium members, with risks and benefits shared; The industry coordinator of each project demonstrates relevant experience and interest in the project. 5

UK BESTF2 partners Three UK funding organisations: Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) Technology Strategy Board (TSB) Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) A total of € 6.5 mln available for UK participants Eligibility criteria set for industrial and academic participants 6

UK BESTF2 eligibility criteria (1) Eligibility criteria for UK industrial participants (TSB and DECC): All UK participants must be separate legal entities; Companies must have been trading for at least 12 months before the closing date for outline proposals (10 th February 2014). UK companies must be VAT registered and registered at Companies House; Companies have to provide evidence they have the resources and finances to undertake the project; Companies with fewer than 5 full time staff cannot lead a project, unless agreed prior to application with the Technology Strategy Board; There are specific accountancy rules for Sole Traders & Micro Companies (companies with less than 10 employees); 7

UK BESTF2 eligibility criteria (2) Grants will be provided under Article 31 of the EU State Aid General Block Exemption Regulation (“the Block Exemption”), and companies will need to be aware that a failure to comply with those terms may result in DECC, TSB, the European Commission or a court requiring the grant to be repaid together with interest Eligible project costs include: personnel costs, travel and subsistence, subcontracting, equipment and other costs. For more details on eligible project costs contact 8

UK BESTF2 eligibility criteria (3) Claims under the UK grant must be for project costs incurred in the UK, including subcontracting. UK subcontracting is capped at a maximum of 20% of the UK budget; The management of the project must be undertaken by a project participant and cannot be subcontracted; Industry partners are eligible for up to 60% funding of project costs. It is necessary that applicants demonstrate evidence of private funding to cover the balance of the eligible project costs. Such funding may come from a company’s own resources or external private sector investors, but may not include funding attributable to any public authority or EU institution. 9

UK BESTF2 eligibility criteria (4) Eligibility criteria for UK academic participants (BBSRC): UK Universities, Independent Research Organisations and Institutes that receive strategic funding from BBSRC are eligible to apply. Full details of eligibility conditions can be found on the BBSRC website: Funding is available for biological research under Value Chains 5, 6 and 7 only and where the feedstock is not derived from material that would be used for the human food chain or animal feed. Agricultural resides such as straw would be acceptable as a feedstock under this call (see position-statement.pdf). position-statement.pdf Subject to all conditions of eligibility and peer review being fully met, the budget earmarked by BBSRC for collaborative proposals is up to £1M. Proposals should be for a maximum of three years duration. 10

UK BESTF2 eligibility criteria (5) Research studentships (PhD) will not be supported under this initiative. Funding will be awarded on the basis of full economic cost as described on the BBSRC website. BBSRC has a very restricted budget available for equipment and other capital items. Applicants requesting items of equipment costing over £10k in their full proposals will be required to follow the guidelines as set out on the BBSRC website. guidance.aspx guidance.aspx UK applicants must comply with the mandatory national consultation period. BBSRC’s contact for the BESTF2 call is Dr Colin Miles, phone: ; 11

What next? Outline proposal by 10 th February 2014 submitted via the central Electronic Submission System on UK consultation period 17 th February – 12 th May The consultation period is mandatory and for eligible project ideas it is meant to result in Full proposal submission by 12 th May Proposals to be submitted via the Electronic Submission System; An independent evaluation process; Communication of results to applicants; Negotiation and contract signature; Projects commence in January

13

Outline proposal 14 Project Title Leading organisation and coordinator’s name Contact details Tel: Countries participating in the project Organisations expected to participate in the project Proposed project budget Project outline (max 500 words: project objectives, expected results and proposed work packages) Value chain(s) addressed Expected market impact

If you’re looking for partners Environmental Sustainability Knowledge Transfer Network is a good place to start! BESTF2 LinkedIn group Briefing Event on the BESTF2 Call in Utrecht, the Netherlands on 14th January

BESTF2 Call Secretariat contacts United Kingdom Megan Cooper, DECC, Ewa Bloch, TSB, Colin Miles, BBSRC, Denmark Jan Bunger, Energy Development and Demonstration Programme, Germany Thorsten Gottschau, Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e.V., 16

BESTF2 Call Secretariat contacts Netherlands Rebecca Van Leeuwen, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Spain Paloma Velasco, Centro Para El Desarrollo Tecnologico Industrial, Sweden Alice Kempe, Swedish Energy Agency, Switzerland Sandra Hemle, Swiss Federal Office of Energy, Yasmine Calisesi 17

Good luck! Ewa Bloch Technology Strategy Board, BESTF2 Call Secretariat and UK National Contact Point for EU Horizon 2020 Bioeconomy funding Tel