Green Platform Initiative 2023

For this call, only companies and research institutes may serve as Project Owner.

• Companies applying must be registered in the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises and have economic activity in Norway.
• Research institutes are limited to institutes with basic funding and state-owned institutes without basic funding. See the list of approved Norwegian research organisations.
• Sole proprietorships may not serve as Project Owner.

Requirements relating to the Project Owner

Both companies and research institutes may assume the role of Project Owner organisation. Even if one organisation is the Project Owner and submits the grant application, the application must be supported by a consortium.

At the time of application submission, the Project Owner is the organisation that represents the consortium and approves the submission of the grant application. In the event that funding is awarded to the project, the Project Owner will have a coordinating role for the project as a whole and will also be the party that enters into a contract with the Research Council. Each partner will nevertheless be responsible for upholding their duties and contributions to the project. The distribution of tasks, working methods, rights and obligations between the Project Owner and partners are to be regulated in the consortium agreement.

Requirements relating to the project manager

The project manager will be the point of contact between the funding agencies and the entire consortium behind the application. The consortium chooses the project manager they consider to be most suitable. The project manager may be employed by the Project Owner or one of the partners.
There are no formal requirements for the project manager's qualifications, but being able to demonstrate experience in managing large, complex R&D projects is a clear advantage. The project manager's competence and suitability to carry out the project will nevertheless be assessed by external referees.

Requirements relating to partners

In the Green Platform Initiative, the project is to be carried out by a consortium, which is an association of at least three Norwegian independent partners, of which at least two must be companies.

Other partners may include Norwegian research institutes, universities, public entities and other civil society organisations.

Foreign companies and research organisations may also participate as partners. International research organisations may receive grants on equal terms as Norwegian research institutes. Foreign companies cannot receive grants from the Norwegian funding system.

Companies belonging to the same corporate structure will not be considered independent partners in the consortium (read more about partners and suppliers in innovation projects).

Under the Green Platform call for proposals, the partners are required to carry out the project in effective collaboration. This means collaboration between at least two independent parties to exchange knowledge or technology or to achieve a common objective based on the division of labour, where the parties jointly define the scope of the collaborative project, contribute to its implementation and share its risks and results. Contracted research, the provision of research services or other types of services, are not considered to be actual collaboration.

We recommend that you only include partners who have a clear and dedicated role and a real contribution to the implementation of the project, and who have clear ambitions to exploit and contribute to commercialisation and dissemination of the project results.

Partners that you have entered in the grant application are part of the basis for the awarded funding. If you change the project composition or work packages after signing the contract, this must be approved by the funding agencies. Changes that have not been approved may result in the funding being withdrawn. Proposed changes may also result in adjustment of the amount of funding.

You can apply for funding to cover costs that are necessary to carry out the project. The Project Owner is responsible for obtaining information about costs from the project partners. These costs should be entered in the budget according to the type they belong.

You can apply for funding for

• payroll and indirect expenses
• equipment (rental/depreciation of instruments and equipment), this also includes existing equipment made available by the catapult centres
• other operating expenses (including the use of subcontractors)

Both companies and research organisations should work in effective collaboration and record their costs under payroll and indirect expenses, equipment or other operating costs. The item "Procurement of R&D services" in the application form must therefore not be used.

You can find detailed and important information about what the budget should contain on the information page What to enter in the project budget .
The use of subcontractors in connection with R&D activities must be reserved for deliveries of services, equipment and other tasks of limited scope and which the partners cannot carry out without their assistance. Subcontractors may not have a formal role in the management of the project or become the owner of the project results. They cannot assume the role as partners in the consortium.

Scope of funding

The Research Council, Innovation Norway and Siva may together allocate between NOK 30–80 million in funding per project under this call. Public funding to companies within the Green Platform programme is only used to cover costs covered by Article 25 of the GBER, i.e. only for industrial research (IF) and/or experimental development (EU).

Each project partner must describe its own project activities and the need for public risk mitigation in connection with these. The State Aid Rules set an upper limit on the share of aid that may be received.

Activity	Large enterprise	Mid-sized business	Small business	GBER
Industrial research	50 %	60 %	70 %	Article 25
Experimental development	25 %	35 %	45 %	Article 25
Maximum amoun tof support per partner	50 %	50 %	50 %

The Research Council and Innovation Norway may provide collaboration bonuses, but the total amount of support per partner must not exceed 50 per cent of eligible costs. Catapult centres may be reimbursed for up to 65 per cent of eligible costs, including cooperation bonuses.

If the collaboration meets one of the conditions set out below, industry partners in the project may also receive up to 15 per cent in collaboration bonus to cover R&D project costs:

• effective cooperation between undertakings where at least one is an SME (small and medium-sized enterprises) or where the cooperation is carried out in at least two member states or in a member state and a state party to the EEA Agreement, and no undertaking alone accounts for more than 70 per cent of the eligible costs, or
• effective collaboration between an enterprise and one or more organisations for research and knowledge dissemination, where the latter alone account for at least 10 per cent of the eligible costs and have the right to publish their own research results

The higher education sector must use the total cost model (the TDI model) when budgeting costs, while the institute sector must use the rates that have been reported to the Research Council.

Public organisations may apply for up to 50 per cent support. If a public organisation is to be regarded as an enterprise in the context of state aid, it must comply with the State Aid Rules in the same way as other companies.

Project costs for catapult centres must be entered in the application form and in the Budget template - Green Platform 2023, in the same way as for other project costs, but preferably as a separate work package or sub-project where appropriate. In addition, the catapult centres must submit their budget in their own budget template. This can be found at the end of this call (Budget template – Norwegian Catapult 2023, only in Norwegian).

Green Platform projects must also include market-oriented activities that are necessary for scaling and commercialising the results. A plan for these activities is to be included in the project description. Implementation of market-oriented activities may take place during the project period and/or after completion of the project. These are activities that are not covered by Article 25 and are therefore not eligible for support.

Conditions for funding

Funding awarded to research institutes is limited to their non-economic activity in the form of independent research conducted in effective collaboration with others. Thus, it does not constitute state aid. The Research Council assumes that the necessary separation of accounts is in place.

Funding from the Research Council of Norway, Innovation Norway and Siva is awarded to companies in accordance with Article 25 of the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER, Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014). In addition, the general conditions set out in Chapter I of the Regulation must be met. The scheme is to be practised in accordance with the EEA State Aid Rules. Conditions and concepts are to be interpreted in accordance with corresponding conditions and concepts in the State Aid Rules.

Support from the various funding agencies will be reported as an aid scheme to the EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA). Support from the Research Council will be given the reference GBER 34/2023/RDI.

Undertakings that do not met the requirements for reimbursement pursuant to a prior decision by the EFTA Surveillance Authority/the European Commission in which the aid has been declared illegal and incompatible with the internal market are not eligible for state aid.

You must provide us with updated and supplementary information about the project and its partners, including documentation of implementation capacity and own financing. Companies participating in the project must also submit a "Template for partner information for companies" confirming that they are eligible to receive state aid, download the document template at the bottom of the call.

The Project Owner or partners must be independent of any sub-contractor in the project, i.e. they must operate at arm's length in accordance with the State Aid Rules.

If one of the undertakings in the consortium receives total state aid from the Research Council, Innovation Norway or Siva equivalent to EUR 500 000, we will publish it in the Register of State Aid in the Brønnøysund Register Centre). See ESA State aid Guidelines for more details.

If the project is awarded funding, you must notify as soon as possible any partners listed on the stock exchange as well as partners in the process of becoming listed. They are required to consider if the allocation of funding may constitute stock exchange-sensitive information.

Funding from the Research Council will be disbursed in arrears based on an EHF invoice sent by the Project Owner to the Research Council. Only actual costs entered in the project partners' accounts will be covered. All claims must be done electronically, see Non-automatic payment with EHF invoice.

The disbursement of funds from Innovation Norway will be made as instalments of funding for innovation projects, where up to 30 per cent of the grant can be disbursed in advance. When you can document that at least 50 per cent of the total project costs have been incurred, up to 50 per cent of the grant may be disbursed. Of the total grants, at least 20 per cent must be withheld until the project has been completed and a final report with auditor-approved project accounts is available.

The support from Siva is disbursed in advance with up to 90 per cent. Of the total grant, a minimum of 10 per cent must be withheld until the project has been completed and the final report and auditor-approved accounts are available.

The application must be based on a project outline submitted by the deadline 8 March 2023.

The application must be created and submitted via "My RCN web". The deadline for this call for proposals is 7 June, at 23:59. Please note that you can only submit an application once. If you submit the application before the deadline and afterwards see that it still needs to be changed, you can create a new application – e.g. as a copy of the one you have already submitted – and thus submit a new version before the deadline expires.

• Grant applications and all attachments must be submitted in Norwegian or English. We encourage the use of Norwegian.
• All attachments must be in PDF format.
• All requirements relating to the Project Owner must be met.
• Requirements relating to partners must be met.
• The project must start between 1 January 2024 and 1 february 2024. Projects that have been offered funding, but have not been started within this period, may lose their allocation.

Mandatory attachments

• Project description of maximum 15 pages. Use the standard template that you can download at the bottom of the page.
• CV for the project manager and for the most important project participants. A maximum of five CVs may be submitted per application, each of a maximum of four pages. It is mandatory to use the CV templates at the bottom of the call. Key project participants who are researchers should use the CV template called "Template for CV researchers". Other key project participants can use the CV template called "Template for CV". Subcontractors must not submit CVs.
• Applicants are responsible for deciding which project participants are the most important, and in which cases it will be important for the application review process to assess the project participants' qualifications.
• Information regarding companies in the consortium. Use the standard template.
• Letter of Intent from all registered partners in the project.
• Project budget. To be uploaded under Attachments/Other.
• Specified catapult budget when applying for support from catapult centre(s). support. To be uploaded under Attachments/Other.

Optional attachment

• Applicants are free to enclose a short description of qualifications or propose up to three referees who are presumed to be qualified to review their grant proposal. The Research Council is not under any obligation to use the proposed referees but may use them as needed.

All attachments to the application must be submitted together with the application. We do not accept attachments submitted after the application deadline unless we have asked for additional documentation.

We will not consider documents and websites linked to in the application, or attachments other than those specified above. Be careful to upload the correct attachment type, as there are no technical restrictions on what kind of templates it is possible to upload in the application form.

Applications will be assessed in accordance with the criteria below.

The criteria will be assessed by a panel of external referees. Each criterion is given a mark from 1–7 (with 7 being the highest). The average of these marks will be the overall mark for the application. 

The degree of innovation is an expression of how novel and groundbreaking the project is compared to what is available in the market both nationally and internationally. Innovation is understood as value-creation/ novelty in the market.

To what extent

• the project represents something new, innovative and ambitious that challenges established approaches and creates added value in the industry/area in general and for the partners in the project in particular
• the project addresses known needs or new market opportunities for partners in the project

Excellence is an expression of the scope and quality of the project's R&D activities.

To what extent

• the project is based on relevant and up-to-date knowledge
• the status of the research represents state-of-the-art
• the R&D activities are relevant and essential to achieve the goals of project
• the R&D activities are of high quality and are clearly described

The potential for value creation is an expression of the expected financial benefits for the partners in the project and the industry/area in general following implementation and commercialisation. We consider the commercial potential towards 2030 against the overall costs of the project. In the assessment, we assume that the realisation will be successful and aligned with the stated ambitions of the project.

The extent to which the results of the project

• generate new, green turnover
• strengthen competitiveness in new or established markets
• provide other business gains (e.g. reduced costs, better resource utilisation, new business models, digitalisation and enabling technologies)

The project results will have significant positive outcomes and impacts on climate and the environment in a 2030 perspective and move us closer to a low-emission society in 2050.

To what extent

• the project contributes significantly to solving at least one of the six environmental objectives of the EU taxonomy without significant negative impact on the other five environmental goals ("Do No Significant Harm")
• the application substantiates and quantifies the climate and environmental benefits
• the project clarifies benefits using suitable methods/tools such as Life Cycle Analysis

Socio-economic value is an expression of the significance the project will have for society in general beyond the value creation within the companies in the project.

The extent to which the project

• contribute to the development of new or secure established jobs in relevant industries/sectors
• boost export revenues from new green markets
• include plans for communication and dissemination of knowledge and results
• contribute to the sustainable transformation of the public sector and civil society
• build knowledge and research capacity benefiting green transformations in society
• develop and increase utilisation of national testing and verification infrastructure for new green technologies or solutions

The ability to implement the project covers the partners' overall ability to carry out the project in line with stated objectives and ambitions, as well as the quality of the project organisation presented in the grant application.

To what extent

• the project plan has specific and well-developed goals, work packages, milestones, and a robust set of risk assessments
• there is a balanced and appropriate allocation of budget, tasks, roles, risks, and results between the partners
• the budget and financing plan are realistic and feasible, where the partners possess sufficient financial implementation capacity
• the project is strategically endorsed by the Project Owner and other partners
• the project manager has the appropriate skills and experience to lead a large R&D project
• the project has access to expertise and capacity needed to carry out the project
• there are plans for market-related activities such as scaling and commercialisation during and after the project period to ensure realisation of benefits and project objectives

After the application deadline, the Research Council, Innovation Norway and Siva will first check that the applications meet the formal requirements for funding. Applications that do not satisfy these will be rejected.

Grant applications that satisfy the formal requirements will be assessed by an external referee panel comprising impartial referees with relevant expertise. The referee panel will award a mark for each of the six assessment criteria. The six marks will form the basis for the overall mark, which is calculated as an average of the six assessment criteria.

Based on the overall mark and an initial portfolio assessment, up to 25 applications with an overall mark higher or equal to 5 will be invited to an interview in which the referee panel and advisers from the funding agencies will participate. The purpose of the interviews is to give the referee panel the opportunity to ask questions and clarify ambiguities in the application. One outcome of the interview may be that one or more marks are adjusted before the overall mark is set. Applications that are not invited to an interview will be rejected.

The funding decision will be made on the basis of the budget framework for the funding agencies in addition to each application's overall mark and a portfolio assessment.

The overall mark is an expression of the quality of the application. The overall mark must be ≥ 5 for an application to be considered worthy of funding.

The portfolio assessment will show the extent to which the applications contribute to the objective of the Green Platform portfolio. In the portfolio assessment, the committee will take into account and emphasise the following criteria:

• The extent to which the planned activity overlaps with activity in projects that have recently received funding allocations.
• The extent to which the projects utilise knowledge/expertise environments and infrastructures.
• The extent to which the projects contribute to geographical spread.
• The extent to which the projects contribute to a breadth of sectors, industries, industries and technologies.

If applications are considered "otherwise being equal" we will consider:

• level of sustainability with regards to effects on climate, environment and society
• level of market maturity and potential
• adequate regional distribution
• good gender balance regarding the project manager.

The Green Platform budget provides an overall framework for the funding. The individual budgets of Innovation Norway, Siva and the Research Council may therefore influence the final funding decision.

When the Executive Board of the Green Platform has made a final decision, we will publish which projects that will be awarded funding.

Please note that a project may be funded by any or all of the funding agencies. Applications that do not receive a final decision on allocation will be rejected.

We do not make any decisions during the process. Therefore, no information will be available on the status of the application until a decision on funding has been published.