S tart-ups with newideas are b e ingurged to apply forfunding under amultibillion euroEU initiative for re-

search and development. In a cash-poor economy, the EU’s SeventhFramework Programme for Re-search and Technological Develop-ment (FP7) is offering Irish start-ups and SMEs valuable funding tosupport new products and technol-ogies.According to Imelda Lambkin,

director of the National SupportNetwork forFP7 in Ireland,the pro-gramme has a wide remit with po-tential relevance to a broad range ofsmaller ventures.‘‘This is the European fund for

research and development and it isopen to all small to medium enter-prises that have an interest in fund-ing research and developmentthrough international collabora-tion,’’ Lambkin said.

Latest callOn July 20, the European Com-

mission will launch more than 40calls for FP7 funding proposalsworth e11 billion.‘‘There will be major calls in all

areas, spanning ICT, telcos, envir-onmental, energy, transport, secur-ity and space,’’ said Lambkin.‘‘There will be opportunities for allkinds of companies from start-upsand SMEs through to multina-tionals.’’Valued at e50 million overall,

FP7 dates back four years and willrununtil 2013.Since the programmebegan,171 Irish companies have se-cured combined FP7 funding ofe74.8 million for 262 separate pro-jects.Lambkinbelieves FP7 provides a

valuable funding route to innovativeyoung firms at a time when otherinvestment avenues are limited.‘‘Companies shouldbe looking to

Europe as an avenue for getting in-volved in innovative technology de-velopment projects that will in turnlead to increases in export sales andjobs,’’ said Lambkin.According to Lambkin, the ma-

jor benefit of FP7 funding is that itcan help start-ups to carry out com-mercially valuable research thatmight otherwise be beyond theirreach.‘‘You get access to technologies

and expertise that will support thedevelopment and growth of busi-ness internationally and you canbe-gin tomake contactwith companiesthat are more developed than you,which canbe a fantastic learning ex-ercise,’’ she said.

How to applyIf you are interested in applying

for funding under the scheme butare not sure if you qualify, your firstport of call should be the website forthe National Support Network forFP7 in Ireland (see Getting Startedpanel).Established in 2006 to support

FP7 applications from companies,third level researchers, hospitalsandother interested parties, the net-work has 20 National ContactPoints around the country.These contact points represent

the bodies involved in the network,including Science Foundation Ire-land, the Environmental ProtectionAgency, the IrishUniversities Asso-ciation and the Sustainable EnergyAuthority of Ireland.Each one has a nominated repre-

sentative from one of these partici-pat ing bodies, who can helpcompanies and researchers to ascer-tain their suitability for the scheme.Researching FP7 using EU

sources can be a complicated pro-cess.Under each programme, fundsare released in tranches for bothspecific or ‘top down’ researchareas ^ ie for health, energy or theenvironment ^ or non-specific,‘bottom-up’ research ^ for example,‘Research for the Benefit of SMEs’.‘‘Through the bottom-up pro-

grammes, any SME can decide theyhave a business need that needs tobe researched at a European level,’’said Lambkin. ‘‘This would includeany business need an SME has incommon with other SMEs operat-ing in the same field.Typically, thesecompanies would collaborate withother companies in a minimum ofthree member states with a sharedR&D interest.’’To apply for FP7 funding, you

must complete a written proposaland submit it electronically to theEuropean Commission on, or be-

fore, a specified closing date.‘‘These applications are very de-

tailed in nature,’’ Lambkin said.‘‘There are a series of steps thatSMEswould need to take in prepar-ing the proposal. One is a very in-tensive partner search ^ looking toget the right partners together toparticipate in this piece of research.‘‘Another would be defining the

research itself ^ the science andtechnology. You must also thinkabout the teamyou are bringing to-gether ^ how youwill manage it andensure it works together efficiently.The European impact of the re-search is crucial.You have to learnto speak the language of Europeanimpact.‘‘Typically, the evaluation takes

about three months.You would askfor a specific amount of fundingand, during the preparation stage,you would work with your partnersto hammer out the details of who isgoing to do what and how much itwill cost to do it.‘‘The call for funding will typi-

cally be for projects up to a value ofe3 million between partners. Manyof the calls require a minimum ofthree legal entities in three memberstates.‘‘If you collaborate with a com-

pany in the North, it would beviewed as two companies in twomember states. In practice, you dotend to have multiple participants.’’

Are you eligible?To make the application process

easier tonavigate,the contact pointsset upby theNational FP7Networkin Ireland are identified by subjectmatter or research topic.Under the framework’s e32.4 bil-

lion Cooperation Programme, forexample, companies that log on tothe network’s website are referredon to theFP7 contactwith responsi-bility for one of the following re-search areas:& health& food agriculture and fisheries,biotechnology& information and communicationtechnologies& nano-sciences, nanotechnolo-gies, materials and new productiontechnologies& energy& environment, including climatechange& transport, including aeronautics& security& space& socio-economic sciences and thehumanities.While the Cooperative Pro-

gramme supports all types of re-search activities with the aim ofconsolidating European leadershipin key scientific and technologyareas, FP7 also has a e4.09 millionCapacities Programme,which aimsto improve overall capacity for re-search and innovation.According toThe National Sup-

portNetwork forFP7,there is a spe-cific focus on SMEs under theCapacities Programme,which is de-signed to meet the needs of the pri-vate sector.However, research projects un-

dertaken through the CooperationProgramme are also open to parti-cipation from SMEs and start-ups.

Mentoring supportLast month,Nines Photovoltaics,

a solar technology start-up based inDublin, announced it had securedFP7 funding of e1.2 million.The company has developed a

dry processing system that reducesthe cost and environmental impactof manufacturing photovoltaic(PV) solar cells, which are used toconvert sunlight into electricity.Nines secured the funding under

FP7’s Research for the Benefit ofSMEsprogramme.Itwill use the in-vestment to collaborate with Eur-opean partners, research institutesand SMEs to further develop its so-lar cell manufacturing technology.CarlDiver, chief executive of Do-

negal-based CDAMC,worked withNines in a mentoring capacity tohelp the company secure the fund-ing.The collaboration between the

two firms was part of a two-yearFP7 pilot initiative coordinated by

the Institutes of Technology Ireland(IoTI), the central support office forIreland’s 13 institutes of technology.

Orna Duggan, senior IoTI re-search executive, said the projecthad been successful in its aim to in-crease the scale and quality of in-du s t r y - a c ad em i c r e s e a r chcollaboration in Ireland. It will nowbe managed,on a full-time basis, byEnterprise Ireland.‘‘Running the support pro-

gramme on a pilot scale over a two-year period, we supported over 51industry-academic engagements,’’Duggan said.Thirty-four applications were

filed during the two-year pro-gramme,27 ofwhich involved colla-boration with Irish companies. Ofthese, nine were successful.The to-tal value of the projects funded wase14.5 million.Ireland’s FP7 success rate gener-

ally is higher than the EU average,according to Duggan, at 24.04 percent compared to 22.5 per cent.

CDAMCEstablished in 2008,CDAMC is a

research anddevelopment companythat specialises in manufacturingprocesses and, in particular, micro-machining.It has twice secured FP7 funding

under the Research for the Benefitof SMEs programme and is one oftwo Irish partners involved in ae3.5 million project to develop alife-cycle assessment tool to enablesmall manufacturers to cut energycosts.The four-year project is being led

by Fraunhofer Institute in Ger-many. The other Irish partner in-volved in the project is Dublincompany MicroPro. CDAMC’sshare of the total funding amount ise115,000.‘‘From 2000, I worked in the

automotive sector for General Mo-tors in Germany, the UK andSpain,’’ said Diver,who returned toIreland to establishCDAMC inFal-carragh in 2007. ‘‘I was involved inmanufacturing process develop-ment and new products and pickedup expertise in specific manufac-turing processes.‘‘I discovered FP7 and ap-

proached IT Sligo in the summer of2009 to work with us on putting aproposal together.We have just twopeople andwe are too small to frontthe kind of research we want to doourselves.‘‘Through IT Sligo, we became

involved in the FP7 mentoring pro-

gramme run by the IoTI.We wroteour proposal with support and gui-dance from them and we were suc-cessful.

‘‘It can be difficult to get yourhead around the applicationprocessif yougo throughtheEU’sFP7web-site.There are somanydifferent top-down calls, which the EuropeanCommission sees as the way for-ward for Europe, so they will lookfor research in specific areas like en-ergy efficiency for example.

‘‘The contact points run by theFP7 network in Ireland are reallyhelpful in providing guidance andlooking at your proposal to see if itfits.You will get a very early indica-tion from them as towhether or notyou have a shot.

‘‘We got our funding under thecall for Research for the Benefit ofSMEs. This is a bottom-up ap-proach so anything goes as long asthe SMEs involved can commer-cially exploit the research.

‘‘In preparing our submission,wedid have some ups and downs. Oneof the main requirements under thecall for Research for the Benefit ofSMEs is that you work with threeSMEs from three member statesand three research partners.

‘‘We have seven partners on theproject and it did take some time to

find them.We had one researcher inCardiff University in mind, for ex-ample, but then they moved to an-other university. At another stage,we went so far as to meet with aGerman SME we had identifiedonly to findout that theydidn’tmeetthe commission’s SME criteria (seeEligible SMEs panel).‘‘That said, I would still say that

Research for the Benefit of SMEs isanice one for small businesses togetinvolved in at an early stage, be-cause it is open to all research pro-jects, whereas the top-down callsare very specific.‘‘Our call opened in July 2009,

and the closing date was early De-cember.We found out in late Febru-ary what score we got.You can get amaximumof 15 points.‘‘It took a fewweeks fromthere to

find out what our ranking was. Ithink there were about 700 propo-sals for that call and about 130 weresuccessful. We ranked in andaround the 80th place.‘‘Your proposal has to include a

very detailed project plan with deli-verables right theway through.Typi-cally, funding is cappedat aboute1.1million for projects of e1.5 million,so that works out at about 70 percent, but we applied for funding ofe1.2 million andwe got that.’’

Fund bonanza for start-upsOUTONYOUROWN

The EU is releasing researchfunding of e11 billion thismonth, creating hugeopportunities for innovators

Imelda Lambkin, director of the National Support Network for FP7 in Ireland, Enterprise Ireland

Carl Diver, chief executive, CDAMC SHAUN EGAN

The EU FrameworkProgrammes for Researchand Innovation date back to1984. They are the EU’s maininstruments for supportingcollaborative research,development and innovationin science, engineering andtechnology.As the latest in the series of

framework programmes, FP7is open to public and privateentities of all sizes within theEU. It also has provision forthe participation of non-EUcountries.FP7 is operated on a

competitive basis, wherebyproposals are evaluated bypanels of independent expertsagainst set criteria.Participation is on aninternationally collaborativebasis and must involveEuropean partners.A National Support

Network for FP7 wasestablished in 2006 with 21National Contact Points,which support applicationsunder each of the frameworkprogrammes by:& identification and profilingof potential participants& provision of information,advice, financial support andtraining& assistance with partnersearch activities& pre-submission supportand evaluation& post-call review, supportand training& ongoing support on legal,contractual and IP issues forsuccessful participants& ongoing advice and supporton the next steps for successfuland unsuccessful applicants.

For more info, log on towww.fp7ireland.com

Getting started

For the purposes of FP7, theEuropean Commission definesSMEs along the following lines:& legal entities with fewer than250 employees& companies with an annualturnover of less than e50million or a yearly balancesheet below e43 million& autonomous ventures whichare less than 25 per cent ownedby other enterprises and ownless than 25 per cent of otherenterprises themselves& if a partnership with otherorganisations is greater than 25

per cent, a proportion of thedata of the partnerorganisations is included in thecalculation to determine staffheadcount and financialdetails.The commission also

distinguishes between‘research-performing SMEs’ –those with the ability toconduct research in-house –and ‘research-acquiringSMEs’ – those ventures thatneed to outsource research to auniversity or research centre toperform on their behalf.

Eligible SMEs

‘There will beopportunitiesfor all kindsof companies,fromstart-upsthrough tomulti-nationals’

Edward Duffy, chief executive; Simon Forsyth, chief financial officer and Laurent Clochard, chieftechnology officer, Nines Photovoltaics FENNELLS

ElaineO’Regan

n24 THE SUNDAY BUSINESS POSTJULY 10 2011