One of the main aims of the Economic Development and Innovation Operative Programme (EDIOP) is to boost the research, development and innovation activities of domestic enterprises. The three calls for R&D&I tenders announced on 25 August, which grant funding of altogether HUF 71bn, focus on this goal, Minister of State for the Utilization of EU Funding Balázs Rákossy said.

The call for tender with the title “Supporting the R&D&I activities of enterprises” is expecting tenders by micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises as well as large companies of HUF 50bn in total. As of 30 September 2015, applicants can claim grants of between HUF 50 million and HUF 1bn for the realization of new, marketable services, technologies and product prototypes of high added value.

According to the terms of the call for tender, the grants can be requested for expenses related to industrial research associated with a development project, research development, innovation activities, labour costs, acquisition of fixed assets and marketing. Applicants are allowed to realize their project ideas on their own or jointly, with up to two partners, the Minister of State pointed out.

Under the call for tender with the title “Intellectual property rights”, micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, budgetary institutions and non-profit organizations can claim grants of between HUF 1 million and HUF 6 million. This project aims to support the obtaining and maintaining of domestic or international patents as well as the valuation and audit activities related to intellectual property. As a result of improved intellectual property rights activities, the number of domestic and foreign applications for property rights protection as well as of patents issued is expected to rise, Balázs Rákossy stressed.

The calculated and ever-broader application of the legal instruments of property rights protection will bolster the success of domestic enterprises and research institutions on markets and help them recover R&D&I expenditures.

The call for tender with the title “Strengthening of research infrastructure – globalization and networking” aims to bolster the international competitiveness of domestic research infrastructure and research efficiency, and to facilitate research networking.

Tenderers which may apply for between HUF 50 million and HUF 1bn out of the total fund of HUF 20bn include budgetary institutions, related legal entities (in case they are qualified as research facilities), tertiary education institutions owned by churches and non-profit organizations majority-owned by the state.

This model funds the obtaining, construction or upgrading of research equipment and infrastructure that enable Hungarian companies to participate within or join international research infrastructure and thus the project contributes to the realization of priorities set out in the Horizon 2020 Programme, the Minister of State emphasised.

(Ministry for National Economy)