Support for a climate-neutral economy, for investments by municipalities, associations and research institutions to implement the energy transition and climate protection in Saxony.

The funding is intended for the implementation of the innovation strategy of the Free State of Saxony and to

• bolster the competitiveness of application-oriented energy and climate research,
• the increase of energy efficiency and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
• the adaptation to the effects of climate change
• protecting the population from climate-related extreme weather phenomena, and
• the sustainable energy supply,

in order to enable regions and people to cope with the societal, employment, economic and environmental impacts of the transition to the European Union's 2030 energy and climate targets and to a carbon-neutral Union economy by 2050, based on the Paris Agreement.

Module 1 (universities eligible to apply): Funding is provided for application-oriented and preferably application-related pre-competitive research projects in energy and climate research with a thematic focus in particular on energy efficiency technologies, renewable energy technologies, sector coupling, energy storage technologies, hydrogen-based economy, digitalization of the energy industry and intelligent networking of energy systems, sustainable circular economy, and eco-innovations in the fields:

• energy,
• climate,
• recycling economy.

Institutions of higher education are not eligible to apply in the following project areas of the Energy and Climate 2023 Guideline:

• Module 2: Measures to increase energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions
• Module 3: Measures to develop smart energy systems, grids and energy storage systems at the local level (currently not yet in force).
• Module 4: Measures to adapt to the effects of climate change (climate change adaptation)
• Module 5: Sustainable energy supply (JTF)

Beneficiaries are universities and extramural, non-profit research institutions in the Free State of Saxony as well as the Berufsakademie Sachsen (Saxony University of Cooperative Education), as far as transfer-oriented research projects are concerned.

The projects must go beyond the state of the art or the state of science and have the potential to make an important contribution to fulfilling the energy and climate policy objectives of the Free State of Saxony.

The project must include at least one technology validation in the laboratory(TRL 4) and, if possible, a validation under operating conditions(TRL 5) or a demonstration under operating conditions(TRL 6).

Cooperation projects in the form of transnational and interdisciplinary research projects are permitted between at least two project partners from universities, the Berufsakademie Sachsen or non-university, non-profit research institutions.

Funding is only available for beneficiaries in the Free State of Saxony.

The maximum grant amount for projects is 1 million euros (upper limit), the minimum grant amount is 10,000 euros (lower limit). The upper limit may be exceeded in individual cases for projects of outstanding importance for the Free State of Saxony. This must be substantiated by the beneficiaries

Sub-projects that cannot be allocated to the objects of funding are permitted up to a total of 10 percent of the eligible expenditure and costs of the overall project, provided they are necessary to fulfill the overall objective of the research project.

The beneficiaries agree that the project will be supported free of charge by the Energy Research Competence Center of the Saxon Energy Agency GmbH (SAENA) - a company of the Free State of Saxony. The aim is to increase the probability of successful utilization of the research results.

Appropriate utilization of the research results for third parties within the European Union under non-discriminatory conditions must be guaranteed. Appropriate use of the research results is regularly assumed if at least one peer-reviewed publication or at least two specialist publications (journal articles, contributions to conferences or anthologies, monographs; patent applications, non-discriminatory accessible research report) are produced for each funded full-time equivalent (in terms of Research Associates) per 18 months of project duration. Presentations do not fulfill the requirement. The calculation is rounded down to whole numbers. The required number of publications is determined and specified upon approval. For project durations of less than 18 months, it is regularly assumed that at least one publication fulfills the requirement.

Partial funding for a specific project in the form of a grant.

Project term projects should last no longer than 48 months.

Funding is 100 percent of eligible expenses/costs.

• Expenditures for project-specific equipment, instruments, fixtures and tools,
• Expenditures for rental/lease of equipment if they do not exceed the depreciation cost of similar equipment,infrastructure or assets and do not include finance charges,
• Expenditures for third-party services,
• Personnel expenses for researchers, technicians, and other supporting staff, if employed on the project,
• Expenses for the registration of property rights,
• expenses for the acquisition of intellectual property rights from third parties,
• other project-related operating expenses including expenses for materials and supplies.

Personnel expenses are disbursed as unit costs in the project. For staff remunerated according to the collective agreement for the public service of the federal states (TV-L) or the collective agreement for the public service (TVöD), invoicing is based on a monthly rate according to allocation to the remuneration group and level, the project-related job share and the actual working hours. Due to the monthly rates (scientific staff) and hourly rates (student assistants), there may be underfunding in personnel costs in individual cases, which must then be financed from other sources of financing of the professorship. The extent of underfunding can be calculated by the EPC; the availability of own contribution must be confirmed with the full proposal at the latest.

Project-related indirect overhead costs are granted as lump-sum financing of indirect costs in the amount of 25 percent on direct expenditures/costs (except for third-party services). The lump sum funding covers all indirect expenses.

Only additional eligible project expenses/costs that are not already covered by basic funding from the institution of higher education or a research institution are eligible for funding.

Not eligible for funding:

• Personnel expenses and costs, insofar as they are covered by public budgets,
• Value-added tax, insofar as the beneficiaries are entitled to deduct input tax,
• Projects with a grant amount of less than EUR 10,000 (lower limit) and projects with a grant amount of more than EUR 1,000,000 euros (upper limit). The upper limit may be exceeded in individual cases for projects of outstanding importance for the Free State of Saxony. The beneficiaries must provide substantiated evidence of this.
• Construction costs, additional construction costs including planning services therefor,
• Contract research for companies as well as cooperation projects between companies and research institutions.

Project outlines and applications can be submitted with immediate effect.

The EPC accompanies the projects of TU Dresden in accordance with the announcement of the Vice-Rector Research 2/2023 and must be involved in the two-stage application process. The EPC advises on the funding conditions and the application process, has powers of attorney for the legally binding signature vis-à-vis the SAB and has central access to the SAB funding portal for the submission of project proposals.

Applicants must submit the following documents by email to

• Project proposal according to SAB structure with signature of coordinating Chair(project proposal structure )
• Calculation template (in Excel and PDF format)
• Details of the project proposal
• Notification of third-party funding

Subsequently:

• Legally binding signature of the project proposals by SG 5.2 (EPC)
• Upload to the SAB funding portal by SG 5.2 (EPC)
• Review of the project proposals by a committee (Ministry/SAB)
• Invitation to submit full proposal by the SAB or rejection

For projects that have received a Seal of Excellence from the European Commission, a simplified review of the content of the funding application can be implemented by the SAB/SMEKUL.

Project proposal structure

Calculation template (in Excel and PDF format)

Details of the project proposal

Innovation strategy brief overview

Innovation Strategy Free State of Saxony

Guideline FRL EFRE/JTF Energy and Climate/ 2023

Communication from the Vice-Rector Research 2/2023

Notification of third-party funding

TUD-EPC Privacy Policy

Program page of the SAB

Press release SMEKUL