SME innov­a­tion: Energy effi­ciency, Cli­mate pro­tec­tion and Cli­mate adaptation

SMEs play an import­ant role in the field of cli­mate pro­tec­tion and cli­mate adapt­a­tion tech­no­lo­gies. They are pro­viders of products and ser­vices as well as pro­cess innov­at­ors who can reduce energy con­sump­tion and green­house gas emis­sions and con­trib­ute to adapt­a­tion to cli­mate change through new pro­cesses in industry and oth­er sec­tors. In addi­tion, they are spe­cial know-how car­ri­ers and rep­res­ent, in the spir­it of the future strategy, an import­ant point for the trans­fer of research res­ults from sci­ence to the economy.

The aim of this fund­ing meas­ure is to broaden the innov­a­tion base among SMEs for solu­tions in the areas of cli­mate pro­tec­tion and cli­mate adapt­a­tion. To this end, both first-time applic­ant com­pan­ies should be won over for research fund­ing and SMEs that are already act­ive in research should be motiv­ated to under­take fur­ther research and devel­op­ment activ­it­ies. The innov­at­ive products, pro­cesses, and ser­vices to be developed must con­trib­ute to cli­mate pro­tec­tion or adapt­a­tion to cli­mate change. In addi­tion to industry, oth­er rel­ev­ant fields of action are also addressed. At the same time, the fund­ing is inten­ded to cre­ate the con­di­tions to be able to con­vert the innov­a­tions into applic­a­tions, i.e. into mar­ket­able products, pro­cesses and services.

The sub­ject of the fund­ing is high-risk pre-com­pet­it­ive and com­pany-driv­en research and devel­op­ment pro­jects that are cross-tech­no­logy and applic­a­tion-related. These research and devel­op­ment pro­jects must be assigned to the tech­no­logy field of ​“energy effi­ciency, cli­mate pro­tec­tion and cli­mate adapt­a­tion” and be import­ant for the pos­i­tion­ing of the par­ti­cip­at­ing SMEs on the mar­ket. The pro­jects must show an eco­nom­ic exploit­a­tion per­spect­ive that is as cross-industry as pos­sible in order to achieve a high broad impact. This broad effect res­ults in the rel­ev­ance of cli­mate pro­tec­tion and cli­mate adaptation.

In the first stage of the pro­cess, pro­ject out­lines must be sub­mit­ted in writ­ten and/​or elec­tron­ic form to the com­mis­sioned BMBF pro­ject man­ager at any time. Access to the online sketch tool is avail­able via the inter­net portal.

Eval­u­ation dead­lines for pro­ject out­lines are April 15^th and Octo­ber 15^th of each year.

For joint pro­jects, the pro­ject out­lines must be sub­mit­ted in coordin­a­tion with the inten­ded joint coordinator.

The pro­ject out­line must not exceed ten pages (Arial font, font size 11, 1 line). Cov­er sheet and attach­ments such as bib­li­o­graphy and pos­sible let­ters of intent are excluded from this.

The dur­a­tion of this fund­ing dir­ect­ive will be exten­ded accord­ingly, but not bey­ond the 31^st. Decem­ber 2031.