VLAIO and EFRO call: Strengthening research and innovation capacity

Projects are submitted via the EFRO E-counter. Before submission, the project must be submitted via a pre-submission. The pre-submission must be submitted at the latest on Monday 18 November 2024. The deadline for submission of the full project proposal is Friday 7 February 2025.

What is the content of the call and which projects are we expecting?

Within this call, we are looking for projects that can contribute to strengthening research and innovation capacity. We mainly focus on investment projects. Flanking operational activities (in the development/exploitation of infrastructure) are not excluded, if the state aid regime allows this, but must be limited in any case (both in terms of content and finance). Pure operating projects are not eligible for this call for projects.

There is an additional need in Flanders for targeted investments in (shared) R&D infrastructures, in line with the Flemish knowledge centres and spearhead clusters.

Particular areas of focus around research and innovation include:

• The further promotion of open innovation platforms and ecosystems, accessible to a broad spectrum of actors (knowledge institutions, companies). 
• The routing of SMEs to new and also existing infrastructure to strengthen interaction with knowledge institutions and accelerate conversion to commercial products and services. 
• Increased investment in horizontal areas, such as digitalisation, that transcend a purely sectoral approach, which in turn should lead to the creation of new companies and products.
• The development and creation of new, practical applications based on advanced technologies requires cooperation between knowledge centres, cluster organisations and companies.

From these observations, the need for additional research and innovation capacity meeting the following characteristics emerges:

• Investments in (shared) infrastructure, i.c. state-of-the-art facilities, machines, hardware and their housing. This infrastructure supports innovation ecosystems of multiple organisations and is accessible to a broad spectrum of (potential) actors (knowledge institutions and private companies).
• Research and development at a high TRL level that can thus stimulate and facilitate the market introduction of innovative applications. 
• Demand-driven character, responding to opportunities relevant to Flemish companies. 
• Management and implementation according to a quadruple helix model. Besides companies and knowledge institutions, governments and end-users or citizens also have a relevant role. 
• Aimed at remedying existing social needs (health, ageing, mobility, climate change, energy efficiency, circular and bio-based economy, etc.), in addition to an economic added value. 
• Sustainable character: the lasting impact of investments must be ensured, with sufficient assurance of long-term infrastructure utilisation, based on a sustainable business model. 
• Focused on sectors with high potential for Flemish companies, in particular the 10 priority areas of the Flemish Smart Specialisation Strategy, as well as (cross-sectoral) niches with demonstrated growth potential for Flanders. However, this should also leave room for new trends in the rapidly evolving innovation landscape.

In concrete terms, this can translate into the following actions:

• Expansion of investments at existing knowledge centres, provided they meet the above characteristics. 
• Expansion of investments at existing cluster organisations (including the recognised spearhead clusters). Cluster organisations already have a strong support base. Additional investments in technological innovations should lift the sector represented by the cluster organisation to a higher level. 
• Expanding capacity at enterprises, with the explicit objective of sharing this infrastructure on a non-discriminatory basis and at market-based prices. 
• Providing collective energy-efficient business accommodation for companies active in developing innovative applications, possibly in the vicinity of (strategic) research centres. This with a view to achieving cross-fertilisation so that new products and services, based on a workable business model, can be realised (incubators). 
• Expansion of knowledge centres where co-creation between companies and knowledge institutions is an explicit objective, with the aim of creating new products and services. 
• Realisation of innovation ecosystems between multiple organisations within partnerships based on a sustainable and innovative business model. 
• The (physical) development of living labs and living labs where innovative applications are developed and tested with a view to transferability to companies, with sufficient mechanisms for knowledge dissemination. This must involve knowledge that is broadly applicable and transcends individual cases. 
• The development of pilot lines and demonstration capacity, often the last step towards marketing. In practice, this can lead to the development of pilot plants that boost the entire sector in which the pilot plant operates.

Higher-defined actions should focus on the priority domains of Flemish Smart Specialisation (and the foreseen transitions around industry, climate and circular economy. These domains are characterised by considerable support and have great growth potential. This potential also means that major technological evolutions will take place in which support for companies in implementing these innovations will be necessary.

The priority domains of Flemish Smart Specialisation are the following:

• Sustainable Chemistry, 
• Advanced materials; 
• Smart manufacturing; 
• Health; 
• Specialised logistics; 
• Agro food industry, 
• Electronic systems, Internet of Things, photonics, Energy; 
• Cleantech; 
• Blue economy; 

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