ECSEL JU - European partnership programme in electronic components and systems
Vinnova finances within ECSEL JU projects with actors along the entire electronic components and systems value chain with both software and hardware focus. The application areas are found, for example, in the automotive sector, medical technology and industrial production, the financial sector is also included.
ECSEL JU is a so-called partnership program where the funding comes from the European Commission, funding authorities in participating countries and participating organizations. Every year, ECSEL JU has two different calls: RIA (Research and Innovation Action) and IA (Innovation Action). What distinguishes these calls is mainly how close the implementation of the projects is. Some years, calls are also opened with a special focus area with a dedicated budget.
ECSEL JU Calls 2020
ECSEL JU has three open calls this year, one for ECSEL-IA, one for ECSEL-RIA and one for ECSEL-CSA.
ECSEL-CSA- the call for proposal focuses on Digital Excellence.
In addition to these announcements, ECSEL JU has also opened a joint call for proposals with IMI JU (Innovative Medicine Initiative Joint Undertaking) which focuses on the new generation of digital technology for clinical trials at home. The call for proposal is called H2020-ECSEL-2020-3-IMI-ECSEL-Joint Activity and was opened 26 May 2020.
Vinnova will not be able to grant national funding to Swedish participants in project applying for this joint call for proposals ECSEL JU and IMI JU due to limited program budget.
What can you apply for funding for?
The projects that are funded are large European collaborative projects and have a broad industrial participation. They aim to develop products and services, solve an industrial challenge or develop new standards or standardization processes.
Who can apply?
In order to receive funding, the results must be relevant to the competitiveness of Swedish business and industry. Expected results of the projects are, for example, prototypes and demonstrators of interest to potential customers in an international market. For a successful proposal for national funding to Vinnova, participation from Swedish companies is required for at least 50 percent of the Swedish project budget.
For project with a small company as a participant, the company must have when submitting the complete international proposal:
- At least one million kronor in net sales according to the latest annual report. Net sales do not include public grant from, for example, Vinnova or the EU.
- At least three full-time employees.
How much can you apply for?
Vinnova has an annual grant budget of SEK 55 million for ECSEL JU and the EU Commission contributes the corresponding amount to participating Swedish organizations. The following grant levels apply to the grant from Vinnova:
| Large companies | Small and medium-sized companies | Universities, colleges and research institutes | |
| RIA - Research and Innovation Action | 25% | 30% | 50% |
| IA - Innovation Action | 20% | 25% | 50% |
Please note that the European Commission finances projects with corresponding levels, except for universities, colleges and research institutes where the European Commission's grant level is 35 percent. The financing of indirect costs also differs between Vinnova and the European Commission.
To encourage more Swedish companies and organizations to be coordinators for the ECSEL project, it is possible to apply for coordinator support from Vinnova. It is partly possible to apply for up to SEK 300,000 in grant to be the technical coordinator during the work on the complete international proposal. This call for proposals opens after it has been decided which project sketches may proceed and send in complete proposal. In addition, Swedish organizations that are project coordinators for the entire international consortium receive a grant of SEK 300,000 per year in addition to the percentages stated in Vinnova's term for ECSEL JU.
that's how it goes
ECSEL JU has one call for proposals per year and the application process takes place in several steps as described below. The content of the project proposals is evaluated by international experts and in parallel, Vinnova evaluates the participating Swedish organizations' plan to contribute to sustainable growth in Sweden.
- First, the entire international consortium submits a first outline, a so-called Project Outline, to ECSEL JU (not to Vinnova).
- The sketches that are judged to have the greatest potential and maintain the highest quality will have the opportunity to submit a complete proposal. In connection with ECSEL JU sending out information about which project proposals are given the opportunity to submit a complete proposal, feedback is also given on how you can improve proposal.
- The complete proposal from the international consortium is submitted to ECSEL JU and evaluated by international experts. Together with the international proposal, all Swedish parties must also send in a Letter of Intent (LoI), as well as a description of their objective with the project and how it can contribute to sustainable growth in Sweden, the so-called Part C. A template for this can be found on Vinnova's website, see link below.
- In connection with the international evaluation of the complete proposal, Vinnova makes an assessment of the participating Swedish organizations' ability to contribute to sustainable growth in Sweden and whether they meet Vinnova's eligibility requirements. Those companies that do not meet Vinnova's eligibility requirements or do not have a sufficiently convincing plan to contribute to sustainable growth in Sweden can be denied funding from Vinnova.
- Then a ranking of the projects is made based on the technical evaluation and the priorities of the participating countries. Based on this ranking, a decision is then made on which project will receive funding.
- The Swedish organizations included in the project applications selected for funding within ECSEL JU are invited by Vinnova to submit a simpler proposal with formalities in Vinnova's system.
Term and templates for proposal
Sweden_national rules 2020_ECSEL.pdf
Vinnova conducts a national growth assessment prior to its decisions to support Swedish organizations' participation in project within ECSEL JU. This assessment is based on documents that the Swedish project partners attach to the final international project application (Part C). The format for this document is stated in the project template (which is available in both Swedish and English).
Template swedish project summary_ECSEL_2020.docx