Funding industrial research carried out by one or more university and/or college departments in partnership with a company – Win2Wal

The promoter must be:

• a university department;
• a college department or a research centre linked to a college.

The project may be carried out by the promoter alone, or with partners, depending on the research needs. Possible partners include:

• a university department;
• a college department or a research centre linked to a college;
• an approved research centre.

The research consortium must be supported by a unique company that is likely to value the results of the project.

The support consists of granting subsidies that are expressed as a percentage of the eligible expenses:

• For university departments, college departments, research centres associated with a college: funding consists of a subsidy. The amount of this subsidy is set at 100 %.
• For research centres: funding consists of a subsidy. The amount of this subsidy is set at 75%.

Subsidies are intended to cover costs related to conducting research, in accordance with the ‘Guide to eligible expenses’.

They cover:

• staffing costs for researchers and technicians;
• operating costs;
• general costs;
• acquisition of specific equipment for the research;
• cost of equipment used;
• subcontracting costs.

Research projects will last for a maximum of forty-eight months, with a mid-term evaluation.

The submission process has the following three stages:

• Stage 1:  Declaration of intent. This is submitted, in accordance with the provisions of the call for tenders, via the ‘ONTIME’ platform, which is used for the entire procedure.
• Stage 2:  The declaration of intent is submitted to the administration by the sponsors, in order to allow the administration to assist the sponsors with the submission of a detailed proposal. The company and a representative of the sponsor’s research department must be present. At the end of the meeting, a link for accessing the detailed proposal on the ‘ONTIME’ platform is sent to the sponsor.
• Stage 3:  The detailed proposal. Only detailed proposals that have been the subject of a declaration of intent and a presentation, and which have been submitted in accordance with the rules of the call in effect, shall be taken under consideration. The date on which the electronic submission occurs on the FPS-EER IT server shall prevail. In the event of multiple electronic submissions of the same detailed proposal, only the last version submitted before the submission deadline will be considered. The detailed proposal includes a generic section (consortium, project, budget, work plan, etc.) and a scientific annex.

In cases where the project includes sensitive data from an industrial proponent or lab, a special document may also be appended.

The selection procedure involves three successive stages:

• Stage 1: Eligibility

The eligibility of each of the detailed proposals is examined by the administration, based on the outlined criteria. Ineligible detailed proposals are not evaluated.

• Stage 2: Assessment

The administration assesses the projects that have been submitted based on five defined criteria and ratings. The evaluation results in an overall score of between 0 and 100 (that is, the sum of the scores for all the individual criteria). The administration may use independent experts, if necessary.

There are two possible outcomes of the technical evaluation:

• Favourable: The project receives a score greater than, or equal to, 60 % for each of the evaluation criteria;
• Unfavourable: The project receives a score lower than 60 % for at least one of the evaluation criteria.

There are two rankings for detailed proposals (‘Favourable’) that are selected for funding:

• a ranking for proposals with a university department as the sponsor;
• a ranking for proposals with a college, or a research centre backed by a college, as the sponsor.

The administration provides the selection jury with ‘an eligibility and evaluation report’ on all the eligible detailed proposals.

• Stage 3: The jury

At a minimum, the selection jury comprises a representative for the Minister for Research, a representative for the Minister for Economy, four representatives from the ‘Scientific policy’ centre of excellence from Wallonia’s Economic and Social Council and three representatives for the administration. It suggests a ranking of the projects to the Minister for Research, who will make any decisions about funding.

Target audience details – Eligibility criteria

A detailed proposal is eligible if the following elements are all answered in the affirmative:

• The promoter originates from a university or college;
• Any partners originate from a university, an approved research centre or a college;
• At the time of the submission, the project is supported by an existing company with headquarters in Wallonia, which satisfies the definition in the Walloon Decree of 3 July 2008 concerning support for research, development and innovation in Wallonia;
• The project concerns one of the technological fields included in the programme, which corresponds to the on-going call;
• The project last for a maximum of forty-eight months;
• A consortium agreement signed by all the partners (including the company) is attached to the proposal when it is submitted;
• The project has not already received public funding.

Assessment criteria and project selection

Research projects are assessed on a technical level in accordance with the criteria defined by the Walloon Government Decree of 29 June 2017 concerning support for research, development and innovation in Wallonia. Each of the criteria defined in the decree has its own maximum score and is defined below:

• Article 38 – The innovative nature of the project (rating/15);
• Article 45/46 – Excellence and experience (rating/20);
• Articles 39 and 45/46 – The quality, feasibility and relevance of the project (rating/20);
• Article 40–43/1 – The promotion of innovation (rating/35);
• Article 41 – The contribution to sustainable development (rating/10)

Other conditions

The company provides complementary and additional support on top of the funding from the Walloon region. It must be motivated and detailed.

Any contribution (provision of equipment, provision of specialised research staff, supply of consumables, purchase of equipment, employment of staff, financial intervention, etc.) will be evaluated to both satisfy the research needs and demonstrate the real interest for the company. This evaluation will be considered in the overall evaluation of the project, as part of the “Added value of the innovation” criterion.