SMEs show high interest in R&D funding for GNSS applications
The first stage of the EU’s latest FP7 call for proposals for satellite navigation applications targeted at SMEs and research and development organisations closed on 5 October with a record number of proposals submitted.
The European Commission received a total of 73 proposals covering all GNSS domains. This is an almost three-fold increase relative to the two previous comparable calls, despite less advantageous funding levels.
“The result shows the continued high interest in GNSS application development among SMEs and the success of the new two-stage application process,” said Boris Kennes, R&D and Market Monitoring Officer at the European GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA).
This procedure ¬– introduced for the first time in this call – reduces the administrative burden as potential project coordinators only need to submit a brief concept proposal.
All participants will receive feedback before the end of the month and successful participants will be invited to submit a full proposal by 13 January 2011.