FACTS AND FIGURES OF THE 5TH EXTRAORDINARY CALL FOR PROPOSALS
This article provides with an overview of the key preliminary data regarding the 5th Extraordinary Call for Proposals which was closed on 8th July 2022, including information on countries and stakeholders with the highest number of applications, the most popular topics and the available financial resources for the upcoming projects. The Call intends to develop preparatory measures for the activation of joint Master Programmes and the implementation of educational/training concepts jointly implemented by a network of universities.
The Programme received 17 project proposals:
- 9 under Priority Axis 1 “Innovative and Smart Region” (4 under the topic on Blue Economy and 5 under the topic on Social Innovation)
- 8 under Priority Axis 2 “Sustainable Region” (2 under the topic on Renewable Energy and 6 under the topic on Circular Economy)
The eligible project partners of the Call were representatives of Universities or faculties located in ERDF or IPA II Partner States, Research institutions with specific expertise in relation to the chosen topic and Business Institutions of the Programme area.
Preliminary data show the participation of 184 applicants (including lead, project, and associated partners), out of which 157 are lead and project partners and 30 are associated partners. Most of the applications were submitted by lead partners located in Croatia and Italy, followed by Greece and Slovenia. Regarding IPA Partner States, Bosnia and Herzegovina is the most represented country, followed by Serbia and Albania.
119 (66,3%) out of 184 beneficiaries are located in a ERDF Partner State and 62 (33,7%) in an IPA II Partner State. 2 associated partners come from North Macedonia.
Requested financial resources
The received 17 applications asked for overall EUR 12.896.310,27 EU contribution, out of which EUR 9.571.973,42 ERDF Fund and EUR 3.324.336,85 IPA Fund.
The requested EU funds are more than 3 times higher the EU available contributions of the call, which are of overall 4 MEUR, out of which EUR 3.000.000,00 ERDF Fund and EUR 1.000.000,00 IPA II funds.
Requested funds are slightly higher in Priority Axis 1 than in Priority Axis 2 – EUR 6.695.556,84 and EUR 6.200.753,43 respectively – also due to the higher number of project proposals received.
Background information on the 5th Extraordinary Call
The Fifth Extraordinary Call for proposals is focused on some of the topics of strategic relevance for both the ADRION Programme and the EUSAIR Macro-regional strategy and shall contribute to bridge the current to the new programming period.
The implementation of the Joint Master Programmes accredited by the respective universities will take place in the 2021-2027 programming period and will get further financial support.
This Call will also contribute to prepare the ground for further cooperation between EU and IPA countries and encourage the effective use of future EU funds in the domain of research and innovation.
Selected projects will implement their activities as from 1 October 2022 to 30 June 2023. The projects successfully complying with the goals of the present call shall be considered as strategic and granted in the 2021-2027 IPA ADRION Programme.