The main objective of the action is to promote collaborations between existing businesses operating in the Region of the Ionian Islands and research organizations, aiming at the development of innovative products or services, process optimization and the enhancement of business competitiveness.

The action supports research projects implemented through genuine collaboration between businesses and research centers, institutes or university laboratories in the following priority sectors of the RIS3 Strategy 2021–2027 for the Region of the Ionian Islands:

• 02-TCC: Tourism – Culture – Creative Industries
• 03-AGR: Agrifood Value Chain
• 04-ENVCE: Environment – Circular Economy

Eligible Beneficiaries

The following entities are eligible to participate in the action:

• Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)
• Large enterprises only within collaborative projects involving at least one SME
• Research organizations, including universities, research institutes and technology transfer organizations
• Other entities treated as research organizations under specific conditions

Eligible Costs

Eligible costs within the research project may include:

• Personnel costs related to staff employed at the research facility during the project implementation period and connected to the beneficiary through employment contracts.
• Additional costs covered through a flat-rate of 40% over eligible direct personnel costs. These may include:
  • depreciation costs of instruments and equipment,
  • depreciation costs for buildings and land,
  • contracted research, knowledge and patents acquired or licensed from external sources under arm’s length conditions,
  • additional overheads and other operational expenses directly resulting from the project.

Budget Limits

Under the action, research projects with eligible budgets ranging from €50,000 to €400,000 will be funded.

The following restrictions apply:

• The business partners’ budget must be equal to or greater than 40% of the total eligible project budget.
• Research projects with a total eligible budget below €50,000 are considered ineligible.
• The requested budget of a participating enterprise may not exceed 60% of the highest annual turnover achieved during one of the previous three financial years.

Key Participation Requirements

Businesses submitting proposals must:

• operate within the Region of the Ionian Islands at the time of submission and implement the corresponding expenses within the region,
• have completed at least one full financial year prior to submission,
• contribute to the core activities of the research project,
• comply with Article 2, Paragraph 18 of Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 regarding non-problematic enterprises,
• participate in only one proposal under the present call,
• comply with labour legislation requirements,
• be registered in the Beneficial Ownership Registry prior to submission,
• appoint a business entity as project coordinator.

Non-Eligible Participants

The following entities are not eligible to participate:

• Public enterprises, public bodies, public organizations and their subsidiaries, as well as Legal Entities Governed by Public Law (NPDD), including companies directly or indirectly controlled by public authorities with participation exceeding 25%.
• Offshore companies.

Evaluation Procedure

The evaluation process of funding applications will follow a comparative assessment procedure.

QLC Support

The QLC team supports businesses and research organizations in the development of partnerships, proposal preparation and the administrative monitoring of research and innovation projects.

Contact us to assess your organization’s eligibility and participation potential within the action.