The Ministry of Science publishes a Call for awarding grants for innovative projects

Pursuant to Article 11 of the Law on Innovation Activities (Official Gazette of Montenegro 42/16), the Rulebook on detailed terms and procedure for approval and the manner of using the funds from the Budget of Montenegro for innovative programmes and projects of general interest (Official Gazette of Montenegro 81/16) and the Decision of the Council of the Agency for Protection of Competition No. 01-502/4 from 26 June 2019

II Objectives of the Call

Objectives of the Call are the following:

» Strengthening the competitiveness of Montenegrin companies by co-financing the development of innovative market-oriented products, services and technologies that have large potential for commercialization and market application;
» Supporting the transfer of innovative ideas from scientific research institutions to the market, through cooperation with partners from the economy or through opening new companies / spin-off companies in Montenegro; and
» Strengthening human resources and creating new jobs.

Specific objectives are the following:

» Strengthening the innovative potential of the enterprises and their recognisability in the innovation system;
» Stimulating technological innovations and encouraging commercialization, i.e. the application of innovative ideas and technologies on the market;
» Encouraging the employment of highly qualified personnel in the research and innovation sector;
» Increasing the investment of private sector into Research and Development;
» Raising the level of commercial readiness through the funding of additional development of inventions / innovations;
» Addressing the gap in funding between research and commercialization;
» Increasing the number of patents that have the potential to be applied in practice;
» Stimulating cooperation with the Montenegrin scientific and economic Diaspora in order to create the conditions for their return, i.e. strengthening their connection and reintegration into the local community;
» Encouraging the transfer of knowledge and technology in cooperation with domestic and international partners from the scientific-research and economic sector.

III Budget per approved project

The Ministry of Science (hereinafter: the Ministry) shall award a grant in the amount up to EUR 100,000 per project approved.

The amount of funds allocated from the state budget for co-financing an innovative project will be determined depending on the type of eligible cost and size of the company or other innovative organization, i.e. Grant holder or project partner. The maximum amount of funds provided as support, i.e. the maximum state aid intensity, are determined as follows:

Type of eligible cost	Small enterprises and innovative organizations with up to 49 employees	Medium-sized enterprises and innovative organizations with between 50 and 249 employees	Large enterprises and innovative organizations with over 250 employees
Personnel costs (max 3 months in one year)	50%	50%	15%
The costs for employment of highly qualified personnel for full-time work during the duration of the project, provided that it does not replace other staff	100%	100%	100%
Expert/advisory/consulting services for research and development (up to 20% of the grant amount - approved co-financing)	50%	50%	15%
Procurement of necessary relevant equipment and instruments to the extent they are used for the project implementation and for the period of use on the project (up to 50% of the grant amount - the approved co-financing)	50%	50%	15%
Costs of intellectual property protection (patent application and associated costs, certification, standards, substantive patent examination, patent acquisition costs, etc.)	50%	50%	15%
Other overhead and other operating costs, including the costs of materials, consumables and related products directly generated as a result of the project (up to 10% of the Personnel costs)	50%	50%	15%
Prototype development costs (industrial research)	70%	60%	50%
Feasibility studies	70%	60%	50%

The Applicant is obliged to provide the remaining amount of funds from their own sources, as well as to provide proof of the financial contribution provided for the implementation of the project.

The Applicant may not, as part of their own financial participation in the project implementation, use the funds allocated to their by any public national or international source of funding (Budget of Montenegro, relevant international fund providers etc.), for the purpose of realizing the same activities proposed in the application for an innovative project under this Call.

The same innovative organization can apply for funds from other state aid providers for the same eligible costs, but under the condition that the total amount of state aid (co-financing) from all sources together cannot exceed the maximum permissible aid intensity.

IV Deadline for implementation

The projects approved under this Call shall be funded for a period of 12 to 24 months, i.e. from December 2019/January 2020 to December 2021/January 2022 at the latest.

V Eligibility criteria

The Call is open to innovative organizations in Montenegro, which meet the conditions in accordance with Article 15 of the Law on Innovation Activities (Official Gazette of Montenegro 42/16), i.e. that have been established in accordance with a separate law and registered in the Register of Innovative Organizations, and these include: scientific research institutions, higher education institutions, centres of excellence and business entities (innovative-entrepreneurial centre, business incubator, company, or part of a company).

The procedure of registration in the Register of Innovative Organizations has started in July 2018 and is continuously available to all interested organizations. The relevant Call is available on the following website: http://www.mna.gov.me/vijesti/189520/Upis-u-Registar-inovativnih-organizacija.html

The Rulebook on detailed conditions for registration in the Register of Innovative Organizations (Official Gazette of Montenegro 52/16) is available on the following website: http://www.mna.gov.me/biblioteka/pravilnici

An applicant cannot apply to the Call independently, but only in partnership with at least one domestic legal entity in line with the conditions of the Call.

The partnership must include at least one company from Montenegro.

An exception to the above requirement is possible only if it is envisaged that the implementation of the project would include the establishment of a new company / spin-off company in Montenegro by a scientific-research institution or a company.

International partners may be engaged only on the basis of expert services or consultancy agreements.

If the applicant is a company, it must meet the following requirements:

» Being registered in the Central Register of Business Entities of Montenegro;
» Being registered in the Register of Innovative Organizations, managed by the Ministry of Science;
» Having a headquarters at the territory of Montenegro;
» Doing business for at least two years before the expiry of the deadline for applications;
» Having positive business results in the last two financial years;
» Fulfilling the obligations to pay contributions and taxes regularly; and
» Not having used financial assistance from the public national and international source of funding, or donor programmes for the same activities covered by the project application.

Depending on the legal entity, the Ministry of Science will in official capacity provide a copy of the License for carrying out scientific research activities (scientific research Institutions) or a copy of the Decision on registration in the Register of Innovative Organizations (innovative organizations) for project partners.

The company, partner on the project, is obliged to additionally submit and attain to the following requirements:

» Being registered in the Central Register of Business Entities of Montenegro;
» Having a headquarters in the territory of Montenegro;
» Fulfilling the obligations to pay contributions and taxes regularly;
» Not being under bankruptcy or liquidation proceedings;
» Not having used financial assistance from the public national and international source of funding, or donor programmes for the same activities and the same technological readiness level, covered by the project application. If the same innovative organization applied for funds from other state aid providers for the same eligible costs, it is necessary to submit a statement in order to avoid exceeding the maximum allowable aid intensities

VI Content of the project application

Project applications shall contain the following:

» Signed and stamped Application Form (download here);
» Project budget (download here);
» Brief presentation of the project (in English);
» Resumes of key members of the project team – five members maximum (CV template);
» Proof of financial contribution provided for the implementation of the project from own sources;
» Statement as a proof of not showing the funds allocated to them from any public national or international source of funding (Budget of Montenegro, relevant international fund providers etc.) as their own financial participation in the realization of the project, for the for the purpose of realization of the same activities proposed in the application for an innovative project under this Call. If the same innovative organization applied for funds from other state aid providers for the same eligible costs, it is necessary to submit a statement in order to avoid exceeding the maximum allowable aid intensities.;
» Statement made by the Applicant that the contractual obligations from the previous projects financed from the state Budget in the last five years have been fulfilled; and
» Proof of registration in the Register of Innovative Organizations

In addition to the above, if the Applicant is a business entity, the following documents also need to be submitted:

» A photocopy of a Certificate from the Central Register of Business Entities;
» Annual financial statements for the past two years;
» Proof of settled tax obligations or relevant document on the reprogram of the tax debt; and
» A Confirmation or Certificate that no bankruptcy or liquidation proceedings have been launched or conducted against the organization.

VII Project applications evaluation

The administrative check of the received applications for the Call shall be conducted by the Ministry. After the administrative check, all project applications that meet the required conditions shall be submitted for evaluation.

The evaluation process shall be carried out by international experts and it shall take place in two phases:

» The first phase: each project application that passes the administrative check shall be submitted for evaluation, to be conducted by two international experts appointed by the Ministry. Their task is to carry out a distance evaluation of a particular application that is closely related to their field of expertise and to submit an individual evaluation report for the first phase of the evaluation process, using a form prepared and submitted by the Ministry of Science.

» The second phase: Project applications that are positively evaluated in the first phase of the evaluation will be delivered to the experts of the second phase of the evaluation. The second phase of evaluation shall be implemented by the Final Evaluation Commission (FEC) consisting of three international experts appointed by the Ministry, of which at least one member shall be in charge of the innovative and commercial aspect of the project.

VIII Criteria for selection of projects and evaluation method:

The criteria for the first phase of evaluation are the following:

» Quality and originality of innovative idea / innovation (30 points maximum);
» Quality of the proposed activity plan and the quality of the project budget (30 points maximum);
» Capacity of the Applicant, partners and members of the project team (30 points maximum); and
» Potential for commercialization (10 points maximum).

The criteria for the second phase of evaluation are the following:

» Innovation and competitiveness (30 points maximum);
» Quality of the project plan: technical characteristics, project management as well as the financial structure of the proposed budget (30 points maximum); and
» Commercialization of results, potential for market application and sustainability (40 points maximum).

Advantage in the selection process shall be given to the applicants that:

» Have young researchers and innovators up to 35 years of age and/or scientists or entrepreneurs from diaspora in their project team;
» Create new jobs; and
» Propose projects with potential for future applications within international programmes such as HORIZON 2020 and the like.

In the evaluation phase, the advantage in the selection process will be taken into account for the prioritization of project proposals with the same number of points.

The Ministry shall decide on awarding grants for innovation projects in line with the recommendations of the Final Evaluation Commission.

The list of the projects selected for co-financing shall be published on the website of the Ministry of Science.

IX Ethical issues

In the process of preparing the project application, the Applicant is obliged to observe ethical principles and rules.

If the project application implies an ethical issue, the Applicant is obliged to submit the approval of the Ethics Committee (if applicable) and / or provide other relevant proof of resolving the ethical issue.

X Deadline for applications

Applications for the Call should be submitted no later than 20 September 2019, by 2:00 pm.

XI Submission of the Application:

The completed and signed Application Form, along with the supporting documents, should be submitted in two hard copies (original and one copy) to the Ministry of Science, at the following address: Rimski trg br. 46, 81 000 Podgorica. In addition, the applications should be submitted in electronic form on the following e-mail address: ivan.tomovic@mna.gov.me

Collaborative Programme for Innovation is available here

Contact person for the Call in the Ministry of Science:

Marijeta BarjaktarovićLanzardi

Head of the Section for Innovations and Infrastructure

E-mail: marijeta.barjaktarovic@mna.gov.me; Tel: +382 20 234-577