Your company or research group is active in science-based innovation, research and development. The Bilateral Projects support offer provides a springboard to launch and implement your international innovation project.
This support offer is aimed at:
Implementation partners: SMEs, large corporations, start-ups, administrative bodies, non-profit organisations, and other private or public institutions
Research partners: researchers from Swiss research institutions
Innosuisse facilitates matchmaking opportunities, networking events and calls for projects with their strategic partner agencies in the respective countries. Each agency is responsible for funding applicants in their own country. Successful applications then receive joint support from Innosuisse.
You can find the funding conditions for the calls for projects currently underway in the tender documents.
1. Submit application
As a Swiss company, end-user organisation or other implementation partner, you work with a Swiss or international research institution and would like to learn about promoting bilateral innovation, make inroads into the innovation ecosystem in your target countries, scout for new collaboration opportunities and engage in a collaborative innovation project with international partners.
You can find more information on the specific requirements for submitting an application in the guidelines for the relevant call for projects.
Your Swiss consortium must meet the following requirements:
It includes at least one Swiss implementation partner plus a Swiss or international research institution
As a Swiss start-up that has yet to enter the market, you can also submit Eureka Network projects without a research partner if the funding rules of the partner country permit
You also always need at least one implementation partner from the respective partner country
Innosuisse reviews the Swiss funding application, while the relevant partner agency abroad reviews your project partner’s funding application. Innosuisse and the partner agency make the definitive funding decision in a joint consensus meeting.
As with funding for Swiss innovation projects, there is no limit to the duration of bilateral projects, but they should generally last between six and 36 months. Provided it makes sense for your project and the cost-benefit ratio is right, there is no financial limit for applications. Innosuisse covers up to 70 percent of the project costs of Swiss participants.
Innosuisse can make direct project contributions to research and implementation partners involved in international innovation projects:
In the case of Swiss start-ups that have not yet entered the market (the same criteria apply as for start-up innovation projects) and that submit an application without the involvement of any other Swiss partner and only with foreign companies (no research partner), Innosuisse’s maximum contribution to eligible project costs is 70 percent.
START-UP:
Before market entry: the start-up does not yet have any fully developed products or services on the market
With a scalable product or service
Founded no more than 5 years ago (in justified exceptional cases, up to 10 years ago)
With less than 50 full-time equivalents (at the time of submitting the application); if the start-up is controlled by another company, the entire group of companies cannot employ more than 249 full-time equivalents
SME:
Less than 250 full-time equivalents
LARGE COMPANY:
More than 250 full-time equivalents
Once you have verified that you meet the requirements, submit your application on the Innosuisse application plateform as part of a pending or active call for projects. Innosuisse will commence the evaluation process as soon as all information is complete.
Your international partner must submit your proposal to the relevant funding agency at the same as your Innosuisse application.
Important: On the Innosuisse submission portal, select the instrument “IraSME/Bilateral Cooperation”.
You must also submit the following mandatory documents:
the PDF document containing the description of the international project as an annex to the application For the bilateral/IraSME project: Submit the joint IraSME proposal and the unsigned draft of the consortium agreement by e-mail to the following address: info@ira-sme.net $
an unsigned draft of the consortium agreement, including the intellectual property rights (IPRs)
documents for assessing financial viability (for Swiss implementation partners with less than 250 full-time equivalents), specifically:
income statement for the past two years
balance sheet for the past two years
other financial supporting documents for agreed financing arrangements
if no annual financial statements are available: complete the financing form and upload it to the Innosuisse submission portal
In a first step, the Innosuisse Secretariat checks whether your application meets the formal requirements. If these requirements are met, the evaluation process begins. In a second step, two independent experts evaluate the content of your application according to specific criteria. Based on this evaluation, the Innosuisse Innovation Council makes a decision on whether to fund your project.
Please note that bilateral projects will only be approved if both Innosuisse and its partner agency(-ies) accept the funding application. If either Innosuisse or its partner agency(-ies) reject the associated funding requests, the entire application will be rejected.
The experts evaluate the submitted applications on the basis of the following criteria:
International collaboration: Does the international collaboration add value compared with a national innovation project?
Innovation content: Does the project take a novel the scientific and economic approach? Specifically: What does your innovation do that others don’t? What is the scientific, technological or social potential?
Added value for the Swiss economy or society: Will bringing the research findings to market have a positive impact on your organisation? Specifically: What is the positive added value? Does your product have a unique selling proposition? How are sales and earnings performing? What value can industrial partners or other implementation partners be expected to get out of it?
In the case of innovation projects in the societal and social realm: When the project is successfully implemented, will this lead to a tangible reduction in social costs and will it add economic value (e.g. by reducing poverty, increasing quality of life, improving quality of education, reducing inequities, supporting biodiversity)?
Methodical quality: How efficient and effective is the project in terms of its set-up and structure? Are the objectives and milestones quantitative and realistic? Does the project offer a good cost-benefit ratio? Expertise of project partners: Do the project partners have the expertise needed to implement the project and bring it to market as intended?
Contribution to the sustainable development of society, the economy and the environment: Does the innovation contribute to the sustainable development of society, the economy and/or the environment (e.g. with regard to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs))?
The Innosuisse Innovation Council makes its decision on your application by allocating it to one of five thematic sub-groups:
Information & Communications Technology (ICT)
Life Sciences (LS)
Engineering (ENG)
Energy & Environment (E&E)
Social Sciences & Business Management (SSBM)
Once the Innovation Council has made its decision and the consensus meeting has been held with the partner agency, Innosuisse will notify you of the approval by e-mail. Projects may also be approved subject to conditions. You must conclude a funding agreement with Innosuisse before starting the project.
If the decision is not in your favour, Innosuisse will notify you of the rejection within two weeks, outlining the reasons why your application was denied. You can lodge an appeal against Innosuisse’s decision to the Federal Administrative Court within 30 days. You also have the option of contacting Innosuisse directly to clear up any questions and discuss the next steps.
3. Conclude contract and start project
The project partners must conclude a funding agreement with Innosuisse, which will be sent to them by e-mail. You may only start your innovation project as contractually agreed once you have signed the contract and returned it by e-mail.
You must start your project within three months after the contract takes effect.
Bilateral projects require a consortium agreement encompassing all partners involved in the international project, including the foreign partners.
The project partners must define the rules governing collaboration on the international innovation project before the project is launched and send Innosuisse a signed copy of the consortium agreement.
PLEASE NOTE: Given the importance and potential complexity of these negotiations, Innosuisse recommends that the project partners start working on this as soon as possible and conclude a framework agreement right at the outset when drafting the application.
4. Project reporting
Over the course of your innovation project, you in your capacity as project partner must provide regular progress reports so that Innosuisse is kept informed on how the project is going. If you want to make significant changes to your innovation project, you must submit a proposal to do so.
PLEASE NOTE: Please submit all reports (status reports, final reports and financial reports) directly on the application plateform. Please contact us at bilateral-cooperation@innosuisse.ch if you would like to submit a report outside the prearranged schedule.
You can find the timing and deadlines of the reports required for your innovation project in the letter notifying you that your application was approved, as well as in the funding agreement.
You must submit a report ten days after reaching the milestone for your project. Supplementary conditions may additionally stipulate one or more status reports.
Extensions: If you are unable to conclude your innovation project by the deadline specified in the project plan, you can file an extension request without an increase in the agreed budget by submitting a status report completed in full.
You only need to submit an interim financial report if explicitly requested to do so by Innosuisse.
Please refer to the document “Eligible material costs” for information on entering the material costs:
You can use the “Timesheet” below as evidence for financial reporting. Please note that you must present a detailed list per day and per employee outlining the hours worked on the project, on request.
If you want to make significant changes to your project, you must submit a request to this effect to Innosuisse using an interim status report, together with a request to make changes to the financial plan where appropriate (please upload the completed form in Excel format along with the status report). This applies in particular when switching project partners, making changes to the scope or objectives of the project, updating the project plan, or in the case of changes that would have a considerable financial impact on the project (additional costs > 10 percent).
You can report negligible financial changes (additional costs < 10 percent) directly as part of final reporting.
You can request an extension or budget increase by submitting a status report completed in full.
You must send a final scientific report and the financial reports to Innosuisse no later than one month after concluding your project. These are used for quality assurance and financial auditing purposes and also to gauge how effective the project has been.
Please refer to the document “Eligible material costs” for information on entering the material costs:
PLEASE NOTE: Please submit all reports (status reports, final reports and financial reports) directly on the Innosuisse submission portal.
You can use the “Timesheet” below as evidence of the hours spent for financial reporting. Please note that you must present a detailed list per day and per employee outlining the hours worked on the project, on request.
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