The KAPPA PROGRAMME: Basic parameters of The First Call for proposals

The Board of the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TA CR) approved the basic parameters of the first call for proposals of the KAPPA Programme financed by EEA and Norway Grants. The parameters are based on the approved Programme Agreement. The call for proposals will be announced in the fourth quarter of 2019. The exact announcement date will be published after the September meeting of the KAPPA Programme Committee in Oslo. In total, almost 32.5 million EUR will be distributed in the KAPPA Programme.

The Programme Agreement fulfills the role of an international programme and defines the basic parameters of the entire KAPPA Programme as well as the parameters of the first call for proposals listed below.

Eligible applicants are research organizations and enterprises. An entity that does not meet the definition of a research organization under the EU Commission Regulation acts as an enterprise in the project. The Project promoter (the main applicant) must be from Czechia and have at least one project partner from Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein. Research organizations from the third countries, i.e. from other states except the Czechia, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, can be project partners and are entitled to a limited amount of financial support, which will be specified in the Call documentation. An enterprise under the age of 18 months (from the date of registration to the submission of a project proposal) shall submit a financial plan due to a non-existent accounting history.

The KAPPA Programme is not thematically limited and project proposals are expected from different areas. A part of the funding (about 5,2 million EUR) will be allocated to the projects with focus on carbon capture and storage (CCS). The average aid intensity for the Programme is 80%. Each applicant shall comply with the maximum aid intensity according to the type of applicant and the nature of the activities in accordance with the EU Commission Regulation. The exact conditions for the amount of aid intensity for a project and for additional funding from other sources will be set out in the Call documentation. The minimum financial support per project is 500,000 EUR, the maximum is 1,500,000 EUR (for CCS projects 2,500,000 EUR). Eligible costs are up to April 30, 2024. The reporting of indirect costs is possible only on the basis of a flat rate rate of 25%.

Project proposals will be evaluated by three foreign experts outside the Czechia, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, by panel(s), Programme Committee and the TA CR Board.. The outcome of the evaluation will be two rating lists. One for CCS projects and one for other projects of the EEA and Norway Grants.

The exact date of the call for proposal will also be determined with regard to the other calls under the EEA and Norway Grants in the Research programmes. In Poland, the call for basic research will be closed in September, but at the same time a call for applied research will be launched. In Romania, the call for Research programme closes at the end of October. The Portuguese Ocean Research programme will open a call in November. Therefore, we recommend to search for potential project partners who can be very busy in the second half of the year. The information in the Partner Search section at kappa.tacr.cz/en can help you with that.