Impact Innovation: Resilient metals and minerals supply for strengthened preparedness

This the call for proposals is aimed at companies in the metal and mineral industry with activities in Sweden, academia and research institutes, as well as authorities and other public actors.

The projects that are granted funding in the call for proposals are expected to create knowledge, concepts and tools that make it possible to analyze, plan and strengthen Sweden's metal and mineral supply in peacetime, at high alert and, ultimately, during war, but also in other security-politically challenging situations.

The call for proposals will fund project that strengthen

1. the industry's ability to contribute to total defense and/or
2. industry's conditions for contributing to total defense.

The offer is part of Swedish Metals & Minerals, a programme within the joint innovation initiative Impact Innovation by the Swedish Energy Agency, Forma and Vinnova. The program's mission is "To ensure a sustainable and resilient supply of metals and minerals for society's transition".

The purpose of the call for proposals is to finance project that strengthen the ability to supply the total defense with important metals and minerals. The Swedish metal and mineral industry must function in peacetime, at high alert and, most importantly, during war, but also in other security-politically challenging situations.

The call for proposals will fund project that strengthen

1. the industry's ability to contribute to total defense and/or
2. industry's conditions for contributing to total defense.

objective of the program is to have an appropriate capacity for adaptation that is in line with the direction of Sweden's total defense and Article 3 of the NATO Treaty on resilience. This could, for example, be an ability to maintain or rapidly broaden and increase metal and mineral production.

The focus of Sweden's total defense

NATO Resilience Treaty

The projects that are granted funding in the call for proposals are expected to create knowledge, concepts and tools that make it possible to analyze, plan and strengthen Sweden's metal and mineral supply in peacetime, at high alert and, ultimately, during war, but also in other security-politically challenging situations.

Project deliverables may include, for example:

• Analyses of dependencies and risks in metal and mineral supply.
• Decision support and scenario analyses for the metal and mineral industry.
• Technical or organizational solutions for the metals and minerals industry's preparedness and resilience.
• Methods, models or tools that enable planning, prioritization or coordination in the event of disruptions.

Making scientific publications accessible

Any scientific publication must be open access.

The call for proposals is aimed at actor constellations consisting of companies in the metal and mineral industry with activities in Sweden, academia and research institutes, as well as authorities and other public actors that can contribute to the call's objective.

The consortium must consist of at least one Swedish company and at least one Swedish research organization (university, university college or research institute). A Swedish company refers to a limited liability company registered in Sweden.

Participant seeking funding must be Swedish legal entities. In this respect, a Swedish legal entity is considered to be a foreign organisation that has a branch or establishment in Sweden. The costs in the project must then be attributable to activities of the branch or establishment. Foreign actors who do not have a branch or establishment in Sweden can be project participants without funding from Vinnova.

We fund project that contribute to strengthened resilience and supply security in key metal and mineral value chains in line with the call's aim, and that address at least one of the following tracks:

1. Industry's ability to contribute to total defense

2. Industry's conditions for contributing to total defense

1. Industry's ability to contribute to total defense

Here, project proposals are requested whose results strengthen the metal and mineral industry's ability to contribute to Sweden's, the EU's and NATO's resilience in peace, at high alert and, ultimately, during war, but also in other security-politically challenging situations.

The focus is on issues that the industry itself has control over and that can be answered through changes in working methods, organisation, technology, production or collaboration.

Project proposals can, for example, concern:

• Collaboration between industries, emergency response sectors and authorities to enable supply.
• Tools for increased flexibility, rapid scale-up and adaptability of production of important metals and minerals in the event of disruptions in supply chains or changing needs.
• Methods for strengthening robustness and redundancy in industrial processes.

2. Industry's conditions for contributing to total defense

Here, project proposals are requested whose results strengthen the metal and mineral industry's preparedness and adaptability to be able to maintain production and deliveries in peacetime, at high alert and, in the extreme, during war, but also in other security-politically challenging situations.

The focus is on being able to meet external factors that the industry does not fully control, through the development of knowledge, tools and structures.

Project proposals can, for example, concern:

• Tools to deal with attacks, including cyberattacks or sabotage.
• Methods for maintaining activities when market forces are out of play.
• Identification, analysis and management of technical, organizational or legal factors, bottlenecks or other critical points in supply flows.
• Geoeconomic studies that can clarify difficulties and solutions for a resilient metal and mineral supply.

The content of the project must be of the nature of industrial research or experimental development. For brief descriptions of industrial research and experimental development, see section 5. For a complete definition, see funding grounds and levels.

What costs can we finance?

Our funding is subject to state aid rules. The rules govern what types of costs we can finance. These are called eligible costs.

In this the call for proposals, these types of costs are eligible:

• Salary costs: Gross salary paid as well as employer contributions and other salary-related costs.
• Equipment, land and buildings: Instruments, equipment and rent for premises other than regular business premises.
• Consulting and licensing costs: Consulting services, knowledge and patents purchased or licensed from an external party. Costs of this type may not exceed 20 percent of a project party's budget. We can accept a higher percentage than 20 percent in case of special needs. You must then clearly describe and justify this need in proposal. This justification will be taken into account in the assessment of proposal.
• Other direct costs: For example, materials, supplies and travel necessary to carry out the project.
• Indirect costs (overhead):Costs that are not incurred as a direct result of but can be related to the project, for example regular premises and cleaning. A project party's indirect costs may constitute a maximum of 30 percent of the project party's eligible salary costs. Universities, university colleges and certain other research organizations and government agencies have higher maximum limits depending on the type of activities.

For more detailed information about which costs we can finance, see Instructions for eligible costs

What eligibility requirements apply to costs we finance?

For a cost to be eligible, it must be:

• Actual, reasonable and necessary for the activities of the project
• Booked correctly and distinguishable on a separate project code in the accounting.

An organisation may not claim someone else's costs as its own.

For more detailed information on which eligibility requirements, limitations and exceptions apply, see Instructions for eligible costs

state aid rules govern how much of the costs we can finance. This is determined individually for each organisation. We therefore differentiate between how much funding the project can receive, and how much each participant can receive.

How much funding can the project receive?

The call for proposals has a reserved budget of 40 million SEK.

It is possible to apply for funding for two categories of project:

1. Project lasting up to 18 months with a grant amount of up to SEK 1.5 million. In this category of project, Vinnova's funding may amount to a maximum of 80 percent of the project's total eligible cost.
2. Project with a grant amount exceeding SEK 1.5 million and/or project that runs for 18-36 months. There is no set maximum grant amount for this project category, but Vinnova's funding may amount to a maximum of 50 percent of the project's total eligible cost.

The categorization does not affect the content of the project but only applies to the length and scope of the project.

How much funding can a participant receive?

How much funding each participant can receive depends mainly on:

• project party size and activities
• which activities the project partner will carry out in the project.

Descriptions in the following sections about what support we can provide are simplified. For full details, see funding Criteria and Levels.

Support for companies conducting research and development

In this the call for proposals we provide support for industrial research and experimental development.

Industrial research can be simply described as seeking new knowledge through planned research or critical analysis to develop or significantly improve products, processes or services.

Experimental development can be simply described as combining, shaping and using existing knowledge to develop new or improved products, processes or services.

How much of the costs can we finance?

The organisation's size and type of activity determines how large a proportion of the costs we can finance, i.e. the maximum level of support.

Hur EU defines small and medium-sized enterprises as stated in the User Guide on the definition of SMEs which you can find here.

Situations where we finance a higher proportion

If the project is covered by any of these bonus bases, we can finance a higher proportion of the costs.

• Actual cooperation: Some level of cooperation between small and larger companies, between companies in two different European countries or between research organisations and companies
• Dissemination of results: Extensive dissemination through, for example, conferences or open databases.
• Other bonus basis

Support for non-economic activities

In this the call for proposals we also provide support to organisations that do not engage in economic activities. This means that the organisation does not offer a service or product on a market. This usually includes universities and university colleges, research institutes that engage in non-economic activities and other organisations that do not offer a service or product on a market.

We can finance up to 100 percent of such an organization's costs.

How is it determined whether an organisation is engaged in economic activities?

An organisation that offers any kind of service or product on a market is considered to be carrying out economic activities and cannot be granted this form of support. It is therefore the organisation's ordinary activities that are decisive, while the nature of the activities in the project is irrelevant. It also does not matter how the organisation is financed: whether it is public or private, or whether it has a profit-making purpose. It does not matter what legal form the operation has. For example, whether it is a limited liability company, a trading company, an economic association, a non-profit association or a foundation.

If you are unsure whether an organisation in your project is conducting economic activities, contact call manager. However, The organisation is responsible for assessing whether it is conducting economic activities.

In order for us to assess your proposal it must meet certain formal eligibility requirements. If the requirements are not met, we will reject proposal immediately.

Eligibility requirements for project parties

• All project parties must be legal entities. Natural persons or individual companies cannot participate.
• The coordinating project party must be a Swedish legal entity and conduct activities in Sweden.
• At the time of application, the constellation of actors includes at least two project partners, including the coordinating project partner.
• At least one participant must be a Swedish company and at least one must be a Swedish research organization (university, university college or research institute). A Swedish company refers to a limited liability company registered in Sweden.
• The project parties seeking funding from Vinnova must be either Swedish legal entities or foreign organisations that have a branch or operating location in Sweden and where the costs in the project are attributable to the branch's or operating location's activities.

Eligibility requirements for the project

• The project must start no later than August 17, 2026 and be completed no later than August 30, 2029.
• The project must not have begun before proposal is submitted.

Eligibility requirements on proposal

• Proposal must be written in Swedish or English.
• Proposal must follow the instructions given in section 9.
• Proposal must contain all attachments requested in section 9.
• Proposal should not contain attachments beyond those requested in section 9.
• The appendices must be written on the templates provided, follow the formatting of the templates and not exceed the maximum number of pages according to section 9.
• Statements of intent from all project parties must be attached, completed in full and signed by an authorized person. Research organizations must also submit a statement of intent.

Applications that meet the formal requirements will proceed to assessment. In the assessment, we look at whether the project proposal fits into the call for proposals, how much potential your project idea has, how realistic it is and who will implement the project.

What do we assess?

When assessing applications, we look at four main criteria:

• Relevance: We assess whether the project proposal is sufficiently in line with the call's focus, aim and objective. It is not possible to compensate for a deemed insufficient relevance through a high rating against other assessment criteria.
• Potential: We analyze what effects and what value we can expect from the project.
• Actors: We assess the participants' competence and ability to implement the project and achieve the desired results and effects.
• Feasibility: We assess how realistic and credible the project plan is, both for implementing the project and for achieving desired results.

Vinnova is tasked with contributing to increased gender equality. The balance between women and men in terms of distribution of participation in the project and of power and influence is therefore part of the assessment criterion Actors, see Equal funding of innovations.

Relevance

The project results must be applicable and have clear relevance for strengthening the metal and mineral industry's ability to supply the total defense with important metals and minerals.

Potential

1. How credibly and clearly proposal identifies and describes the needs, from a total defense perspective, that the project addresses and justifies why these needs are relevant to the call's aim.
2. To what extent can the expected results of the project proposal be used to strengthen the industry's ability to supply metals and minerals for total defense in peacetime, at high alert and, ultimately, during war, but also in other security-politically challenging situations?
3. How well the project proposal addresses at least one of the two tracks of the call:
   - Industry's ability to contribute to total defense.
   - The industry's conditions for being able to contribute to total defense.
4. How well proposal describes what the next step is after a successful project, as well as how the project plans to adapt the deliveries in relation to the organisations (within or outside the current project consortium) that are expected to be able to take this step.

Actors

1. The conditions for the constellation of actors to implement the project and ensure the use and exploitation of the project's results.
2. The extent to which proposal credibly demonstrates that the competencies required for successful implementation of the project are available, either directly in the actor constellation or indirectly accessible via, for example, project partners, specified consultants or a reference group for the project.
3. How well balanced the project group is in terms of distribution of participation in the project, as well as power and influence between women and men.

Feasibility

1. The extent to which the project description contains clear objective and deliverables that respond to the project's issues, are follow-upable and can be achieved through the project's implementation.
2. To what extent does the project description show that the project's time and activity plan
   - contains activities that comply with the definitions of industrial research or experimental development (see section 5).
   - is appropriate in terms of the project's objective and ambitions.
   - is logical and reasonable in terms of available resources, such as budget, expertise, equipment and project time, in relation to what is to be accomplished.
3. How well proposal identifies the risks involved in the implementation and describes an appropriate plan for managing them.
4. How the need for consulting services and licenses is justified for any project parties whose budget contains more than 20 percent of this type of cost (assessed by Vinnova).

How do we assess?

The project selection is handled by Vinnova in a process where applications that meet the formal requirements in section 6 compete with each other for the call's budget.

Applications that meet the formal requirements according to section 6 are assessed in relation to the above assessment criteria by external evaluator. The evaluators are experts in the field and appointed by Vinnova. They work under confidentiality and professional secrecy. The assessment is based on the electronic proposal submitted via Vinnova's e-service (see section 9).

The external assessors' combined assessment results in a recommendation to Vinnova. Based on the assessors' recommendation and Vinnova's assessment of financial status (see below), we make a decision on which applications are granted funding and which are rejected. Our decision cannot be appealed.

How does it affect an organization's financial status?

Before deciding on funding we also conduct a comprehensive assessment of the organizational and financial status of those receiving funding. We use information we obtain from credit reports, currently from Dun & Bradstreet.

In order for us to grant funding the following applies:

• Organisations seeking funding for personnel costs must be registered as employers with the Swedish Tax Agency.
• Organisations must not be insolvent, or undergoing liquidation or corporate restructuring. They must also not have any significant unpaid debts with the Swedish Enforcement Authority.
• Organisations may not cover project costs in this the call for proposals with public funding or own funds intended for other project.
• Limited liability companies must not have used up half or more of their share capital.
• Small and medium-sized enterprises must be able to demonstrate, upon request, that they have the financial capacity to carry out the project according to their budget in proposal.

When the selection process is complete, Vinnova makes a decision to either grant or reject your proposal. Vinnova notifies the coordinating project party of the decision. The Swedish Metals & Minerals program office receives information about the outcome.

Since applications are assessed competitively, you may be rejected even though you meet all eligibility requirements and criteria. Vinnova's decision cannot be appealed.

If your proposal is approved, we will state in the decision how much of the costs we will cover for each organisation.

What happens if you are granted funding?

If we grant your proposal, you must follow our general terms and conditions for funding. The terms include, among other things:

• That each participant must sign a special document in which the project party approves their participation and undertakes to implement the project.
• That you report how things are going, your costs and achieved results to us regularly during the project period.
• If you are multiple parties, you must agree on your mutual rights and obligations in the project in an agreement. It can take time to get a project agreement in place, so please start working on this well in advance of the project starting.

See our general terms and conditions and get help understanding and fulfilling them

You also need to follow the special conditions that apply to this the call for proposals:

1. The project must be represented by at least one participant at conferences and other activities organized within Swedish Metals & Minerals, approximately once or twice a year. The costs for such participation are eligible for support.
2. The project shall, during its duration, contribute to and maintain a continuous dialogue with the Swedish Metals & Minerals program office. This includes separate reporting to the program office during the project's implementation, and the project being assigned a contact person at the program office who assists the project and monitors it on behalf of the program.
3. Instead of paragraph 7.3 of General terms and conditions the following applies:
   When communicating about the project, regardless of the communication channel, and when publishing project results, it must be stated that the work is/was carried out within Swedish Metals & Minerals, a programme within the Swedish Energy Agency, Forma and Vinnova's joint innovation initiative Impact Innovation.
4. When reporting the final project, the project results must be summarized according to the template available at impactinnovation.se. This summary must be uploaded as an attachment to the final report to Vinnova and at the same time sent to the program office for Swedish Metals & Minerals via e-mail programkontor@swedishmetalsandminerals.se. The summary must not contain sensitive information.

We may also decide to add supplementary special conditions for individual project. In such cases, they will be stated in the decision.

Could you have to pay back funding?

If you have received more money than you are entitled to or if you do not follow our term, you may be required to repay.

When the call for proposals closes, your proposal will be registered as. We will then send an email confirmation to the person responsible for the user account in the e-service as well as to the project manager and the signatory of the coordinating project party. Please contact us if you have not received a confirmation within 24 hours of the call for proposals closing.

Once the call for proposals is closed, you cannot change anything in proposal. You can only make additions if we ask you to.

Who can read your proposal?

Your proposal will be read by Vinnova employees and the evaluator participating in this the call for proposals. Everyone works under a duty of confidentiality.

Applications submitted to us become public documents. This means that we must disclose them if requested. However, we keep certain types of information confidential if disclosure could be expected to cause financial harm to the individual. This applies to information about business and operational conditions, inventions or research results.

How we handle public documents and confidentiality