Receiving financial support for research as part of the Eurostars programme

• A company, regardless of its size and which has a business unit in Wallonia, that satisfies the definition of the recommendation from the European Commission of 6 May 2003 (2003/361/EC) (Official Journal L124 of 20 May 2003). At the time of submitting the application, the company must not be experiencing difficulties, in accordance with the guidelines from the European Union concerning State aid and the rescue and restructuring of companies in difficulty.
   
• An approved research centre, that is, any organisation with the main objective of carrying out research and providing services that contribute to technological and economic development in Wallonia, which does not satisfy any of the definitions referred to in Articles 8 and 12 of the Decree and which has been approved in accordance with the provisions established in said Decree. The list of approved research centres is available on the Waltech website: http://www.wal-tech.be/
   
• A university department, that is, any department, laboratory, team or other entity that depends on one of more university institutions organised or subsidised by the French Community and which is not legally distinct from these institutions.
   
• A department at a college or associated research centre, that is, any department, laboratory, team or other entity, whether legally distinct or not, that is dependant on one or more colleges, as referred to by the Decree from the Council of the French Community of 5 August 1995, establishing the general organisation of higher education in colleges, or by the Decree from the Council of the German Community of 27 June 2005 concerning the creation of an autonomous college.

The conditions according to which the aid will be granted, as well as the amount and the definition of admissible expenses, are established in the Decree of 3 July 2008 concerning support for research, development and innovation in Wallonia and its implementing decrees.

The maximum amount of the aid varies from 35% to 100%, depending on the type of partner, research or even the number of partners.

Recoverable advances and subsidies are requested to cover all costs related to the performance of research, in accordance with Articles 22, 62 and 79 of the Decree of 3 July 2008 concerning support for research, development and innovation in Wallonia.  They cover:

• staffing costs for researchers, technicians, administrators and managers;
• operating costs;
• general costs;
• cost of equipment used;
• subcontracting costs.

Generally, this call for proposals is renewed twice a year. 

I. Submission procedure

The submission procedure involves a single stage:

• Stage 1: Submission of the Eurostars proposal and the Walloon region funding application form.

Preferably, an information meeting will be organised between the administration’s representatives and the project partners before a proposal is submitted.

II. Evaluation procedure

The project-evaluation procedure comprises several stages:

• Stage 1: The potential added value for Wallonia will be evaluated by an expert from the administration.
• Stage 2: The proposal will be evaluated based on three criteria (quality of the proposal, technological quality and added value) by three independent experts, who have been appointed by the EUROSTARS programme.
• Stage 3: All proposals will be presented to a selection committee (IEP) that has been appointed by the Eurostars programme. This committee will rule on the proposals that are selected for financing and those that are not.
• Stage 4: The selected proposal will be sent to the Minister for Research.
• Stage 5: The relevant project leaders will be notified of the proposals selected for funding.

III. Identification, authentication and signing

Funding applications are submitted exclusively via the online ONTIME platform, which is part of the Wallonia research and technology portal.

This platform works with a strong authentication system, which requires an email address. If you have not already done so, you will need to create an account on the platform via a link that is provided on the home page. Every time you log in, a temporary password will be sent to this email address so you can connect. 
Note that the platform does not currently use any electronic-signing mechanism for submitting funding applications.

IV. Supporting documents to be provided

• Mandatory annexes: 
  • Financial documents from the companies;
  • Signature of the applicants;
• Optional annexes: Figures – drawings – diagrams

V. Application-processing deadlines

Generally speaking, the time between the submission of your application and notification of the financing decision varies between three months and six months. This time frame is provided as an indication and may not be met. We do everything we can to provide you with a decision as quickly as possible.

• Walloon participants agree to provide the financial, material and human resources needed to complete the project.
• Any information that is needed for the evaluation must be made available.
• A Walloon region funding application form must be submitted.
• Eligibility rules for the EUROSTARS programme:
  • The partnership must be formed by at least two independent organisations from different EUROSTARS member countries and 50% of the research must be carried out by an SME(s) that is heavily involved in research.
  • No country or partner can carry out more than 75% of the research.
• Eligibility rules for funding from the administration:
  • 40% of the Walloon budget must be allocated to one or more Walloon companies.
  • Walloon industrial partners must be in good financial standing.
  • Walloon participants must have a business unit in Wallonia.
  • The project cannot have already received public funding.
  • The budget for Walloon participants must comply with the administration’s budget structure.
  • The subcontracting budget cannot exceed 20% of the project's total budget.
  • A project cannot last for more than three years.

• The conditions according to which the aid is granted, as well as the amount and the definition of admissible expenses, are established in the Decree of 3 July 2008 concerning support for research, development and innovation in Wallonia and its implementing decrees. The text of this Decree can be found at the following addresses:

  Decree of 3 July 2008 concerning support for research, development and innovation in Wallonia
  Decree of 13 March 2014 amending the Decree of 3 July 2008 concerning support for research, development and innovation in Wallonia
  Decree of 21 May 2015 concerning the amendment of the Decree of 3 July 2008 concerning support for research, development and innovation in Wallonia

  The Decrees from the Walloon Government that are applicable to this call can be found at the following addresses:

  Decree from the Walloon Government of 18 September 2008 concerning support for research, development and innovation in Wallonia
  Decree from the Walloon Government of 30 April 2009, adopted in application of Article 123 of the Decree of 3 July 2008 concerning support for research, development and innovation in Wallonia

  Text concerning the Management of State aid for research, development and innovation(2014/C 198/01).