Terms of Reference
For Korean-Czech Bilateral Co-funding R&D Projects

1. Scope

A Call for Proposals for Joint R&D Projects between the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT) and the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TA CR) is hereby announced. Joint R&D projects focus on developing innovative products and applications.
Applicants are expected to develop ready-to-market solutions for products, technology based services or methods which have strong market potential.

NOTE: This Joint Call for Proposals, written in the English language, serves to provide the common understanding of the program structure and to brief the requirements in general terms. Participants are subject to additional rules and regulations.
Lead Organizations (Principal Applicants) on both sides, Czech and Korean, have the responsibility to understand the respective national laws, rules and regulations, and abide accordingly.

2. Program Structure

Project results shall contribute to the development of commercial products, processes and / or technical services. The project should have an obvious advantage and added value resulting from the cooperation between the participants from the two organizing institutions (e.g. increased knowledge base, commercial needs, access to R&D infrastructure, new fields of application, etc.).

Any partner whose cooperative R&D project is consistent with the aforesaid criteria can apply to the present announcement in accordance with the national laws, rules, regulations and procedures in effect.

The program invites technology related organizations from both countries to participate in joint R&D projects. Refer to Section 2.2 Applicant Eligibility for more information. Joint R&D Project Proposals shall be submitted according to the following procedures.

2.1 Areas of R&D Projects

Green Car and automobile parts

System semi-conduct

Embedded Software

Internet of Things

Key Enabling Technology (KETs)

Space Technologies and space Applications

2.2 Applicant Eligibility

Applicants shall take the form of a consortium consisting of R&D participants based in the Republic of Korea and R&D participants based in the Czech Republic.

Korean
An SME shall be the lead organization on the Korean side while universities or research institutes may participate as participating organizations only.

Czech
A company, regardless of the size, must be the lead organization on the Czech side. Universities or research organizations may apply for the DELTA program funding only provided that the consortium constitutes at least one Czech company.

2.3 Program Procedure and Schedule

① Joint Call for Proposals
30^th May 2017

② Submission / Requisition of R&D proposals
31^st May – 19^th July 2017

③ Proposal Evaluation (Refer to Section 2.6)
20^th July – 31^st October 2017

④ Evaluation Results Announcement
31^st October 2017

⑤ Agreement Between the Participants and the Respective Organization
since 31^st October 2017 onwards

⑥ Project Kickoff and Start of Funding (eligible costs since)
1^st November 2017

2.4 Project Duration and Funding

● Government contribution is available for two years maximum.

● KIAT and TA CR will fund the respective nationals in the selected consortia in accordance with their national funding rules. Supplementary funding may come from participant’s own resources should the total project cost exceed the government funding.

● Matching fund is the basis of the funding scheme, but flexibility in the funding ratio may be allowed depending on the roles each participant undertakes

Korean
KIAT will award its first year funding in November 2017 following the agreement.
The subsequent funding will be awarded on a yearly basis according to the annual evaluation results. No government funding will be awarded should the project is found to be disqualified; the Korean participants may proceed with their own source of fund.

KIAT to Korean participants:
KRW 500 million/ project maximum annum, up to 2 years
(appx USD 430,000^* annum)

Czech
TACR will award funding in January 2018 following the conclusion of agreement on the provision of funding with the lead applicant.
One time lump sum funding will be awarded not to exceed CZK 20 million/project for the entire duration of the project of 2 years. Should the project be found to be disqualified from the interim evaluations, TA CR may retrieve the unused government

funding.
TA CR to Czech participants:
CZK 20 million/ project maximum, one time lump sum
(appx USD 816,560^* one time lump sum)

* may vary depending on the exchange rate in effect at the time of tender

2.5 Proposal Submission

By the Call Deadline on 19th July 2017, the lead organizations from both countries shall file to the respective organization the documents as follows:

● A common proposal (attached), written in the English language
The proposal shall be signed by all participants.

● Funding documents as required by the respective organization pursuant to the rules set forth within.

Korean

● Korean participants shall upload a complete funding application at the time of the proposal submission.

● More information is available at www.pms.re.kr .

● Consultation at an early stage is highly recommended.

● Additional documents related to evaluation process will be required.

Czech

● Czech participants shall upload a complete funding application at the time of the proposal submission.

● More information is available at:
https://tacr.cz/index.php/cz/programy/program-delta.html

● Consultation at an early stage (before the call is launched/opened on 30th May 2017) is highly recommended. After 30th May 2017 only consultations via official TA CR online helpdesk (https://tacr.cz/hesk/) is available in order to secure the same access to information to all applicants.

2.6 Proposal Evaluation

All Czech and Korean applicants are subject to initial screening which examines the institution’s capability to carry out the project. Examination criteria includes, but are not limited to, bankruptcy history, disposition for tax delinquency, default history of the head of the company, debt ratio, review of the recent financial statement in terms of capital erosion, etc. Failure in any of the criteria will disqualify the applicant and the respective proposal will not proceed to the next step of proposal evaluation.

KIAT and TA CR will independently evaluate the submitted proposals in accordance with the respective national rules and regulations. Evaluation results for the top candidates will be shared and discussed between two organizations. Finally, KIAT and TA CR will jointly select the final consortia within approximately 4 months after the call deadline.

2.7 AnnualEvaluation / Progress Inspection

Korean
KIAT requires the lead organization (SME) on the Korean side to submit an annual evaluation report of the project no later than one month prior to the end of each project year. In addition to the report submission, annual evaluation may include onsite inspection, interview, etc.

In case the Korean lead organization (SME) fails to submit the report in time or the project progress is found to have failed its obligations, etc., the project may be disqualified for government funding and terminated early. The Korean participant may proceed with their own source of fund.

Czech
TA CR performs regular inspections of the supported projects, at least once during its solution. Also, TA CR may demand project reports for review and ad hoc inspections may be executed when a problem is spotted. In case the project is found to have failed its obligations, the Board of TA CR may retrieve the TA CR funding, of which the final amount to be retrieved is calculated in accordance with the national rules and regulations in effect at the time. In case the project is disqualified by the Korean side only, the case will be subject to further evaluation by the Board of TA CR to decide whether to retrieve the remaining government funding.

3. Contacts

KIAT

www.kiat.or.kr

Mr. Gitae Shim

E-mail: gtshim@kiat.or.kr
Tel.: +82-2-6009-3185
Fax: +82-2-6009-3199

Address:
Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology 5th Fl., Korea Tech Center 305 Teheranno Kangnam-gu Seoul, Republic of Korea

TACR

www.tacr.cz

Mr. Petr Matolin

E-mail: petr.matolin@tacr.cz
Tel.: +420 234 611 636

Address:
Evropska 1692/37 160 00 Prague 6 Czech Republic