Call for Applications: Research Excellence Programme (Malta)

The scope of the programme is to provide financial support for research, development and innovation through a bottom-up approach, across a broad range of scientific areas ranging from fundamental research, to industrial research and/or experimental development.

Aims

• Form a more comprehensive Maltese R&I system.
• Build capacity in new, multidisciplinary areas in the Maltese R&I sector.
• Fund the initial research in products or services that could have a significant impact on industry, and which could ultimately lead to new avenues for economic growth.
• Generate knowledge and build capacity for future areas and contribute to smart specialisation strategies and policy development.
• Strengthen and contribute to existing collaborations.

Funding Information

• State Aid:
  • The maximum possible grant value for a project is €100,000.
  • The project must start by at least 1 st February 2026 or as otherwise stated by Xjenza Malta. The project must be implemented across an 18-month period, without the possibility of an extension.
• Non State-Aid:
  • For the purposes of funding and reporting, a project submission shall be considered to be a single stage period of up to 18-months.

Eligible Costs

• Personnel Costs
• Costs of employed researchers, technicians and other supporting staff to the extent employed on the project.
• Management costs are limited to 10% of the project value. Any project management which is not carried out by the applicant shall be deemed as subcontracting and, apart from being subject to the 10% maximum threshold detailed herein, will also be calculated as part of the 25% maximum referred to in the subcontracting costs.
• Instruments and Specialised equipment.
• Consumables
• Travel
• Overheads (also known as indirect costs) and other Operating Expenses

Ineligible Costs

• Expenses related to loans, interest, etc
• Recoverable value added tax (VAT)
• Expenses which are recoverable through other funding mechanisms
• Re-purchase of equipment originally procured through other funding mechanisms
• Opportunity costs related to foregone production and production downtime arising from the allocation of resources to the Project
• Any activity related to the reproduction of a commercial product or process by a physical examination of an existing system or from plans, blueprints, detailed specifications or publicly available information
• Standard office equipment/stationery
• Organising conferences or businesses lunches
• Personnel hours for travelling
• Employee Overtime
• Patent renewal/maintenance fees
• Scientific Publication costs

Expected Deliverables

• Mandatory Deliverables
  • The Beneficiary must:
    • Report on project progress as per the list hereunder and in line with the templates provided:
    • Conduct a Kick-Off Meeting at the project’s start, followed by Project Progress Meetings every 6 months to provide verbal updates to the Managing Authority. Conclude the project with a final meeting. These deliverables should be provided through presentations. (Kindly note that the Managing Authority may, at its own discretion, request additional meetings if required).
    • Submit an End of Project Technical Report.
    • Submit an End of Project Audited Financial Report.
    • Publish at least one article in public media (e.g., a local newspaper or magazine) to raise public awareness, including an acknowledgment to the Managing Authority. These should not contain intellectual property but should raise awareness about the project and its benefits. A copy should be presented to Xjenza Malta within two weeks of publication. Additional publications may be considered.

Eligibility Criteria

• State Aid:
  • The applicant entity must be a Maltese registered entity by the date of application submission and applicants must be sole entities.
  • Any applicants that at the time of proposal submission are considered by Xjenza Malta to be non-compliant with respect to Grant Agreement obligations on other active projects funded by Xjenza Malta, may be immediately deemed ineligible at application stage or will not be awarded funding under this programme.
  • Any application submitted by or including the participation of any legal person or legal entity having, in totality or in majority ownership, the same shareholders, partners or persons holding and/or exercising a controlling power in any other legal entity which will have been at any time prior to such application declared as non-compliant or defaulting on any other contract or agreement entered into with Xjenza Malta, shall be automatically declared as inadmissible.
  • Funding under this Programme is made available on the basis that the beneficiary has not and will not benefit from any other grant or financial incentive of whatever nature, applied for and/or utilised for the same scope as that subject of the funding requested under this Programme.
  • Beneficiaries under these Rules for Participation must understand that, should they be found to be in breach of the conditions of the applicable State Aid Regulation, the Managing Authority will enforce the retrieval of disbursed funds with interest, in part or in full, as the case may necessitate.
• Non State-Aid:
  • Applicants must be sole entities.
  • Any applicant which at time of proposal submission is deemed to be non-compliant with respect to Grant Agreement obligations on other active projects funded by Xjenza Malta, may be immediately deemed ineligible at application stage or will not be awarded funding under this programme.
  • Any application submitted by or including the participation of any legal person or legal entity having, in totality or in majority ownership, the same shareholders, partners or persons holding and/ or exercising a controlling power in any other legal entity which will have been at any time prior to such application declared as non-compliant or defaulting on any other contract or agreement entered into with Xjenza Malta, shall be automatically declared as inadmissible.
  • Funding under this Programme is made available on the basis that the beneficiary has not benefited and will not benefit from any other grant or financial incentive of whatever nature, applied for and/or utilised for the same scope as that subject of the funding requested under this Programme.
  • Applicants under the Non-State Aid regime must understand that, should they be found to be in breach of the conditions for being exempt from State Aid regulations, Xjenza Malta will enforce the retrieval of disbursed funds with interest, in part or in full, as the case may necessitate.
  • The Applicant also undertakes to comply faithfully and immediately with any decision of the European Commission or a Maltese Judicial Authority declaring to be applicable to the project or activity.

Application Requirements

• The application form in MS Word (.docx) format and a signed scanned copy (to be sent by email):
  • A precise plan of project activities, timeframes, and deliverables, including a visual representation through a Gantt Chart.
  • A detailed plan of how Beneficiary’s knowledge and, where applicable subcontractors or collaborators, will be used to perform the project tasks and to achieve the project objectives (At this stage, if subcontractors have not been identified, one should mention the tasks that will be passed on and the expertise required.)
• The Detailed budget breakdown form (.xlsx).
• Curricula Vitae of key researchers including relevant track records. These should clearly establish that there is the potential in carrying out the project.
• Letters of intent or related correspondence to confirm a commitment for external researchers (where applicable) to collaborate on the Project.

For more information, visit Xjenza Malta.