Overview
The Business Research, Development and Innovation Incentive System (R&D&I) is designed to support co-promotion operations, fostering cooperation between SMEs, small mid-caps, large companies, and Research and Innovation System Entities (ENESII).
This call aims to finance integrated investments spanning from research to production and/or the market introduction of new products, processes or services, thereby strengthening productive innovation and business competitiveness.
Beneficiaries and Geographical Scope
Projects must be implemented in mainland Portugal, within the NUTS II (regions of Norte, Centro, Lisboa, Alentejo and Algarve).
Applicable Legislation
Eligible Expenditure
R&D Activities eligible costs include:
- Personnel costs related to the beneficiary’s technical staff dedicated to R&D activities, including the operation of R&D units, as well as costs related to fellows and seconded or temporarily assigned staff whose remuneration is borne by the beneficiary;
- Costs related to the acquisition of patents from external sources or licensed by them at market prices, resulting in their effective internalisation by the beneficiary;
- Costs of raw materials and consumables;
- Costs related to the acquisition of components required for the construction of pilot, experimental or demonstration facilities and for the development of prototypes;
- Costs of acquiring services from third parties, including technical, scientific and consultancy services, as well as costs arising from the use of open innovation and crowdsourcing electronic platforms, directly linked to the operation;
- Costs related to the acquisition of instruments, technical-scientific equipment and specific softwaredemonstrably necessary for the implementation of the operation;
- Costs associated with patent applications, utility models, designs or models, including fees, professional services and other related expenses;
- Costs related to the promotion and dissemination of project results to end-user sectors or target companies, including registration and rental of spaces abroad, excluding operating expenses and costs of a commercial nature;
- Travel and accommodation costs directly attributable to the operation and demonstrably necessary for its execution, excluding travel for commercial contacts or purposes;
- Costs related to the certification process of the R&D&I management system da investigaçãoin accordance with NP 4457:2021;
- Costs related to the intervention of certified accountants or statutory auditors for the validation of expenditure in payment requests.
Productive Investment eligible costs include:
- Tangible assets, including the acquisition of machinery and equipment, costs directly attributable to placing them in the required location and operating conditions, as well as IT equipment, including the software necessary for its operation;
- Intangible assets, including technology transfer through the acquisition of national and international patent rights, licences, non-patented technical knowledge, and standard software or software developed for a specific purpose;
- Other investment-related costs (SMEs) including costs associated, with certified accountants or statutory auditors for the validation of expenditure in payment requests, engineering services, studies, diagnostics, audits, marketing plans, and architectural and engineering projects;
Nature and Aid Intensity
Support is granted in the form of a non-repayable grant.
The base financing rates within the ambit of R&D Activities are:
- Up to 50 % for Industrial Research;
- Up to 25 % for Experimental Development.
Possible uplifts include:
A. Company size: up to 10 percentage points for medium-sized companies and 20 percentage points for micro and small companies;
B. Effective collaboration and wide dissemination of results: up to 15 percentage points, where the conditions set out in the applicable legislation are met;
C. Location of the operation: up to 15 percentage points for operations located in Norte, Centro or Alentejo, and up to 5 percentage points for operations located in specific areas identified in the Regional Aid Map.
The maximum aid intensity may not exceed 80%.
ENESII entities may benefit from an aid intensity of up to 85%
The funding rate for productive investment results from the sum of the following components, up to a maximum limit of 60%:
Base rate:
– 15% for large companies and small mid-caps;
– 25% for medium-sized companies;
– 35 % for micro and small companies.
Possible uplifts include:
– Sectoral policy priorities:5 percentage points for each of the following priorities, up to a maximum of 10 percentage points:
I. Industry 4.0: operations in the field of Industry 4.0, where digital transformation enables disruptive changes in business models, products and production processes;
II. Climate Transition: operations that contribute significantly to climate transition objectives.
– Creation of qualified employment: allocated according to the number of skilled jobs created:
I. 1 to 3 qualified jobs created: +2 percentage points;
II. 4 or more qualified jobs created: +5 percentage points.
– SME Capitalisation: +5 percentage points for operations where the private component of the investment (total investment minus calculated incentive) is predominantly financed through own funds, namely share capital, shareholder loans capitalised, or supplementary capital contributions.