Objectives

The Brazilian Company of Research and Industrial Innovation, EMBRAPII, with the support of ApexBrasil and Business Finland, are pleased to announce the 1th edition of the TechMakers Brazil-Finland bilateral activation for joint R&D project outlines. The proposals sought should contribute to the development of ready-to-market solutions for products, technology-based services, or methods that hold significant market potential in both Brazil and Finland. While the activation is open to all scientific disciplines, projects in the following topics are particularly appreciated:

• Bioeconomy
• Circular Economy
• Clean Energy
• Decarbonization
• Economy Digitalization
• Sustainable Mining

Eligibility criteria

All proposals must meet following eligibility criteria to be qualified for evaluation:

• The project consortium must include at least one business entity from each country (Brazil and Finland) and one research institute accredited by EMBRAPII as “EMBRAPII unit”.
  
• Participation of other research organisations and other commercial companies from both countries is welcome in accordance with the funding regulations of each country.
• The research organisations and commercial companies must comply with the regulations of their respective countries.
• To ensure that projects promote genuine international collaboration rather than internal company research, affiliated companies will be considered as a single entity under the parent company. Each Brazilian registered organisation involved in an application must be a separate legal entity, not linked to the Finland partners or vice versa.
• The project must demonstrate a relevant innovation content, added value and benefit from the bilateral cooperation in both countries.

Only proposals meeting all eligibility criteria will be considered for evaluation. There will be no opportunity to correct errors in the proposals after the application deadline.

Please note that the inclusion of an ineligible partner in a proposal will result in the entire proposal not being considered.

Evaluation Criteria - EMBRAPII, Brazil

The EMBRAPII Units decide autonomously on the use of the EMBRAPII funding for their contribution to an innovation project in cooperation with a business operating in Brazil. Therefore, the scope of a project must be in line with the expertise of one of the EMBRAPII Units in Brazil (please see https://embrapii.org.br/unidades-embrapii/). Additional EMBRAPII requirements are the following:

• The Brazilian part of the project must address an industrial need and involve one or more industrial partners.
• The international cooperation should provide significant added-value
• The “Technology Readiness Level” (TRL) should range from experimental proof-of-concept (TRL 3) to technology demonstrated in relevant environment (TRL 6). Projects co-financed by the Brazilian Development Bank – BNDES, can be in the range of 7 to 9 on the TRL scale
• The Brazilian part of the project must be developed/managed by an EMBRAPII unit.

Business Finland funding criteria

Within this join activity, Business Finland can support various kinds of research, development and innovation projects between Finland and Brazil. The proposal must meet the general Business Finland funding prerequisites:

• Ambitious R&D or business idea
• Experienced and committed team
• Necessary financial resources
• Viable research to business or global growth plan

Depending of the type of funding instrument, additional criteria may apply, see https://www.businessfinland.fi/en/for-finnish-customers/services/funding