Open Calls

1st Innovation Scheme Open Call (Closed)

About the Call

Through TIS #1 (OC1-2024-TIS-01), ENFIELD will allocate €1.1 million to support a minimum of 18 small-scale projects that address specific technical challenges aligned with its mission. These calls are designed to attract R&D-intensive organisations to carry out applied research activities within key industrial sectors, including Energy, Healthcare, Manufacturing, and Space. At the same time, ENFIELD aims to disseminate cutting-edge AI knowledge beyond its consortium, fostering deeper connections between academic and industrial research communities and strengthening Europe’s AI innovation ecosystem.

Objectives

This call seeks to support research institutes, start-ups, SMEs and Large Companies willing to undertake short-term (3 to 6 months) research within ENFIELD’s network of Centres of Excellence.

Selected applicants will contribute to AI research aligned with one or more of ENFIELD’s four pillars and four industrial domains by responding to pre-defined scientific challenges listed in the official Catalogue of Challenges.

General Information

Call opening: 1 June 2024

Deadline for submission:
~~31 July 2024, 17h00 CET~~

Open Call Summary Report

Selected Projects

Project	Third Party Granted	Host Institution	Project Duration	Grant Awarded
SEASHINE – Safe intelligent agent to optimize ship energy management	Aalto University Foundation sr.	Predict	6 Months	60,000€
Improving low data volume defect detection via neural architecture search	Fain Tech doo	POLIMI	6 Months	42,000€
Gecko: VR Healthtech App for AI driven Cardio Fitness Coach	Grassroot Arts and Research UG	KNOW	6 Months	42,000€
LEarning Defect Detection from Samples with REduced size and SYnthetiC Labelled data (LeddsResycl)	JOANNEUM RESEARCH Fortschungsgesellschaft mbH	POLIMI	6 Months	60,000€
Generative LLM for Single-Cell Transcriptomics of Alzheimer’s Disease	LIBRA AI Technologies	KNOW	6 Months	60,000€
Quantum-Inspired Tensor Networks for On-Board Hyperspectral Data Processing	Multiverse Computing SL	ECoE	6 Months	59,885€
HYPERBOLA: HYPerspEctRal onBOard cLoud AI	Neuralio OÜ	ECoE	6 Months	59,500€
Explainable association of drug side effects to changes in the proteome	Cytocast Hungary Kft.	KNOW	6 Months	59,500€
Physics-aware neural networks and edge processing for low voltage systems (PANNEL)	SUSTENERGO CERTH Spin-Off P.C.	ISKRA	6 Months	56,875€

More Information on TIS#1

Maximum Grant

Duration of the project (months)

Expected beneficiaries

What We Offer

Opportunity to benefit from an innovation grant for applied research activities that could place you in the forefront of your field.
Chance to network and benefit from mutual exchanges, feedback and collaboration with peers and various experts in the AI field.
Up to 60.000€ in financial support.
Visibility and promotion.
Possibility to benefit from a specific IPR strategy for promising exploitation opportunities.

What We Are Looking for

TIS#1 was designed to attract the top-level R&D entities to conduct applied research activities related to specific technological challenges raised by ENFIELD project.

Industrial Domains

Below are the technological challenges identified by the ENFIELD project:

Energy

VE.1 – Defining physical parameters of the electrical grid
VE.2 – Heed on early signs of Energy Poverty
VE.3 – Smart management of an electrical factory (micro-grids) of modern ship

Healthcare

VH.1 – Enhancing Drug Development Through AI
VH.2 – Enhancing Healthcare Accessibility Through AI-Driven Telemedicine

Manufacturing

VM.1 – Low-volume training dataset for computer vision

Space

VS.1 – AI satellite on-board processing model for cloud and cloud shadow masking on hyperspectral images with a metadata perspective

Who Can Apply?

Research centres and private-for-profit company (start-ups, SMEs, large companies) based in EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries can apply to this open call. Proposals can be submitted by one (1) legal entity (or a group of a minimum of 2 legal entities).

How to Apply?

Read all documents with special attention to:

Guidelines for Applicants
Frequently Asked Questions

Download relevant call documents:

Call for Proposals
Catalogue of Challenges

Prepare your application:

Fill in the Technical Annex
Complete the Budget Template

Start your Application:

Make sure you answer all questions in the application form and upload all relevant documents.

Submit before the deadline

Documentation

These are the necessary documents that will help you to get the best understanding of the Open Call requirements, application and selection process. We advise you to read them carefully before applying.

All the documents can be downloaded here.

Application:

Selected Applicants:

TIS #1 Webinar
Watch here the presentation of the open call.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

A legal entity or a consortium of a minimum of two legal entities established in one of the EU Member States or Horizon Europe associated countries. Legal entities can be:

Research Centres (legal entities);

Private-for-profit companies (including start-ups, SMEs, and large companies). A beneficiary is qualified as an SME as defined in the EU recommendation 2003/361;

An updated list of countries eligible to participate can be found here;

The following additional conditions apply:
- There should not be any conflict of interest with any of the ENFIELD partners;
- The participating organizations should not have been declared bankrupt or have initiated bankruptcy procedures;
- The organizations applying should not have convictions for fraudulent behavior, other financial irregularities, and unethical or illegal business practices.

Private-for-profit companies including start-ups, SMEs, and large companies established in one of the EU Member States or Horizon Europe associated countries can apply to the call. An updated list of countries eligible to participate can be found here. A beneficiary is qualified as an SME as defined in the EU recommendation 2003/3611.

First, you need to access the public open call. After reading it carefully, you should complete the technical proposal annex and upload it in PDF format along with the simplified costs estimation in the application form.

Applications can be submitted in English only. The 2-minute presentation video must also be in English.

The duration of the project is up to the applicant to propose and must have a maximum duration of six (6) months.

The First Innovation Scheme Open Call will award around 8 proposals, each to be granted with up to 60.000EUR.

When the beneficiaries are private-for-profit organizations, once determined the total estimated cost for the proposal, the exact amount of financial support to be granted as a lump sum will be calculated as 70% of the eligible cost, following the rules of the Horizon Europe programme. When the beneficiaries are research centres (legal entities), the financial support to be granted as a lump sum will be calculated as 100% of the eligible costs.

Applicants will have to submit a simplified costs estimation for the implementation of their proposal, which includes the expected costs concerning Staff Costs; Travel Costs; Equipment/Tech Consumables Costs (depreciation) and, whenever required, Subcontracting Costs. Following the standard flat rate applicable in the Horizon Europe programme, a flat rate of 25% for overheads will be applied.

Payments will be done in two (2) lump sums: one at the beginning of the project (50% with sub-grant agreement signature) and one at the end of the project against the achievement of agreed milestones and deliverables (50% with expected outcome).

Applicants will have to submit a simplified costs estimation (here) for the implementation of their proposal, which includes the expected costs concerning Staff Costs; Travel Costs; Equipment/Tech Consumables Costs (depreciation) and, whenever required, Subcontracting Costs. Payments will be done in lump sums, based on concrete results and not administrative justifications.

Payments will be done in lump sums, based on concrete results and not administrative justifications. However, your costs and funding breakdown will be required to ensure that the funding is used for the right purpose, as well as for traceability and accountability.

Subcontracting is not encouraged. The general rule applicable to the ENFIELD project is that the selected beneficiaries must have the appropriate resources to implement the full set of tasks needed within the project. This means it is not allowed to subcontract key parts of the project. Examples (not restricted to) of not desired subcontracting are paying an external developer not in the company, paying a research centre or foundation to execute technical tasks, etc. Employees of a company are never considered subcontractors but part of the company itself. Example (not restricted to) of subcontracting activities that could be appropriate if needed are legal services or design services. In addition, the subcontracting amount should not represent a relevant amount of the total budget and should be justified on the submitted proposal.

The funds of the project come from the Horizon Europe Programme. This means its regulation will apply to the funds. If you get additional public funding from other entities, it will be your responsibility to assure the compatibleness of the different sources of funding.

Yes. Applicants can submit multiple proposals but only one project can be awarded per beneficiary.

Proposals should be submitted until Sunday, 31 July 2024 at 17:00 (CET).

All applicants will be informed of the results of the evaluation process by email by 19 August 2024 (indicative date). The list of the selected projects will then be published on the information channels of the ENFIELD project.

Queries about applications can be sent by email to enfield.opencall@inova.business before 25 July 2024. We cannot guarantee that emails will be answered after this date.

ENFIELD will have two innovation open calls. The first, currently open until 31 July 2024 – 17:00 (CET), and one other, foreseen for spring 2025.