The PULSATE project will provide 4.07 M€ of direct financial equity-free support via 4 Open Calls, to boost the adoption of Laser-based Advanced and Additive Manufacturing (LBAAM) technologies that will empower the European Manufacturing industry digitalization. The project is currently running the 2nd Open Call for proposals, that will close next 29th July 2022, at 5m CET.
About the PULSATE project
PULSATE is an EU funded project (EU Horizon 2020) that aims to mitigate the SME’s barriers in the adoption of Laser-based Advanced and Additive Manufacturing (LBAAM) technologies such as the high-investment costs, technology complexity and integration and low awareness, by encouraging its adoption by SMEs and promote the development of SME-friendly laser-based equipment and solutions.
The project, that follows a cascade funding scheme (take a look at our last publication about How Cascade Funding Works and discover all the benefits for your organisation), will run four open calls 4 proposals to engage European SMEs and slightly bigger companies for taking advantage of the knowledge and services offered by the PULSATE project in all areas of Laser-Based Manufacturing (micro/nano-processing, laser-based Additive Manufacturing, High Power Laser-based Manufacturing, and LBAAM Digitisation). Additionally, these calls aim at fostering the SMEs’ potential through the development and implementation of technologies, skills, and digital capabilities.
PULSATE 2nd Open Call Details
In the second Open Call the PULSATE project is looking for 10 high potential Technology Transfer Experiments (TTEs) to accelerate the design, development and uptake of Laser Based Advanced & Additive Manufacturing (LBAAM) by European industry – especially SMEs. What is exactly a TTE? A TTE experiment in the context of the project is an end-user-relevant case study applicable to laser-based equipment for the Advanced and Additive Manufacturing market, within one of the following areas of experimentation:
- Laser equipment integration, interoperability, and robust automation.
- Technology for cost-effective laser-based manufacturing.
- First part right and zero-defect laser-based production.
- Flexible technology for small to large batches.
- From CAD to PLM: data integration and flow.
WHO CAN APPLY?
The application to the second open call can only be done as a consortium of minimum 2 companies acting as Technology Provider (System Integrator) and Adopter / End User (Manufacturing Company). All applicants [technology supplier applicant(s), industry partner(s)] must be registered in one of the EU27 Member States or in Horizon 2020 Associated Countries. The list of the countries associated with Horizon 2020 is available here.
Additionally, all companies involved in Technology Transfer Experiment must fulfil the criteria of an SMEs (Headcount <250 employees AND annual turnover less or equal to 50 million EUR OR annual balance sheet total less or equal to 43 million €) and/or Slightly Bigger definition (Headcount <500 employees AND annual turnover less or equal to 100 million EUR OR annual balance sheet total less or equal to 86 million €).
TRL LEVEL
PROPOSAL
The proposals consist of an online form with 3 main sections:
- Excellence: This section should provide a description of the technology and TRL level, the objectives of the TTE and how it addresses the selected experimentation area, and the advancement of the innovation beyond the State of the Art.
- Impact: This section should provide information about the value proposition, the commercialisation strategy, the social and economic impact and the scalability and European dimension.
- Implementation: This section should provide details about the concrete actions to be implemented, resources to be used, estimated timeline, risk assessment and team composition.
A summary of the application form in PDF format can be found here.
DURATION OF THE PROJECTS
The selected Experiments will be involved in the PULSATE programme that will last 13 months and is divided into three stages:
- STAGE 1: Technology Development (M1-M6).
- STAGE 2: Proof of concept (M7-M11)
- STAGE 3: Scalability (M12-M13)
Projects are expected to start at January 2023. At the end of each stage there will be an evaluation performed by the consortium that will assess the experiment progress and confirm if the TTE can continue to the next stage and receive corresponding grant.
WHERE TO SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION
The PULSATE application form is available on FundingBox Platform, which is the sole entry point for all application submissions to the PULSATE Open Call. Applications must be submitted in English and before the official deadline: 29 July 2022, 17:00 CET
FUNDING
The budget for this second Open Call is around EUR 1 500 000 that will be allocated by to the 10 successful experiments. The funding for each TTE is as a lump sum of up to 150k EUR. The requested grant is calculated with funding rate that is the 70% of costs declared for experiment execution. This means that applicants presenting a budget with a total cost of EUR 214 000, will receive the EUR 150 000 (70% of total costs).
Important! Entities participating should have not received more than 100 000 EUR via open calls (FSTP) from H2020 I4MS and SAE projects (including PULSATE).
PAYMENTS
Transfer of the awarded financial contribution will be upon demonstration of the project’s implementation in line with the milestones set for the TTE. While there is no direct information about the dates of the payments, from our experience these should be given to the teams after each of the stage’s evaluation (if successful), this means M7, M12 and M14.
RELEVANT DATES
- Launch of the 2nd Open Call 02/05/ 2022
- Deadline of the 2nd Open Call 29/07/2022, 17:00 CET
- Evaluation of the applications 01/08/2022 – 30/10/2022
- Announcement of the final beneficiaries Nov – Dec 22
- Contracting procedure of the Sub-Grant Agreements Nov – Dec 22
- Tentative Start date of sub-projects 1/1/2023
USEFUL INFORMATION AND ADDITIONAL MATERIALS
The PULSATE consortium has recently carried out the open call launch event in which you will find more details about the project, the open call and the consortium that is behind the initiative.
For further questions and clarifications, you may check and address the following ways:
I. Frequently Asked Questions [FAQs]
II. Guidelines for applicants [LINK]
How can SPLORO support your organisation with cascade funding grants?
We want to help you make these type of calls more accessible for your organisation. That is why we have designed a series of services to maximise your opportunities of receiving this financing:
- Identification and analysis of funding opportunities: our team monitors all open calls and make a first check on the eligibility of your organization.
- Proposals writing and submission management: we support you to land that idea that you have in mind and adapt it to the requirements of the call. In addition, we carry out the management and upload on the different platforms of all the necessary documentation to ensure that your project is eligible for the call.
- Access to international network: if you have not identified a partner yet, or simply don’t know who to start this adventure with, in consortium projects we take care of finding the partner for your project.
- Project management support: our service does not end with uploading the documentation, we help you throughout the full life cycle of the project, providing you management support and ensuring that you receive 100% of the grant you have won.
If you want to know more about our services for startups, do not hesitate to contact us and book a meeting with our CEO through this link ;).
If you need assistance in the proposal writing preparation, finding the right partners for the call or even having a double-check on what you are currently preparing, do not hesitate to contact us
If you are, on the other hand, managing a cascade grant and want us to promote your call and do a review of this nature, feel free to contact, we can definitely address the topic and help with dissemination within our networks.