EXPLORING RESEARCH GRANT REGULATIONS

EXPLORING RESEARCH GRANT

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 463.41

EXPLORING RESEARCH GRANT REGULATIONS

1 st March 2021

LEGAL NOTICE 166 of 2021.

The title of these regulations is Exploring Research Grant

Regulations.

In these regulations, unless the context otherwise

requires

"Act" means the Malta Enterprise Act;

"Corporation" means

the

Malta

Enterprise

Corporation

established under the Act;

"experimental development" means acquiring, combining,

shaping and using existing scientific, technological, business and other

relevant knowledge and skills with the aim of developing new or

improved products, processes or services. This may also include, for

example, activities aiming at the conceptual definition, planning and

documentation of new products, processes or services

Provided that experimental development may comprise

prototyping, demonstrating, piloting, testing and validation of new or

improved products, processes or services in environments

representative of real life operating conditions where the primary

objective is to make further technical improvements on products,

processes or services that are not substantially set. This may include

the development of a commercially usable prototype or pilot which is

necessarily the final commercial product and which is too expensive to

produce for it to be used only for demonstration and validation

purposes

Provided further that experimental development does not

include routine or periodic changes made to existing products,

production lines, manufacturing processes, services and other

operations in progress, even if those changes may represent

improvements;

"feasibility study" means the evaluation and analysis of the

potential of a project, which aims at supporting the process of

decision-making by objectively and rationally uncovering its strengths

and weaknesses, opportunities and threats, as well as identifying the

resources required to carry it through and ultimately its prospects for

success;

"guidelines" means the guidelines as may be published by the

Corporation from time to time in terms of the Act;

EXPLORING RESEARCH GRANT

"industrial research" means the planned research or critical

investigation aimed at the acquisition of new knowledge and skills for

developing new products, processes or services or for bringing about a

significant improvement in existing products, processes and services

Provided that industrial research comprises the creation

of components parts of complex systems, and may include the

construction of prototypes in a laboratory environment or in an

environment with simulated interfaces to existing systems as well as of

pilot lines, when necessary for the industrial research and notably for

generic technology validation;

"large undertaking", "medium sized undertaking" and "small

undertaking" shall have the meaning attributed to them by Annex I of

the Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014

declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market

in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty;

"undertaking" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in

the Act.

Where the Corporation is satisfied that an undertaking

requires assistance to carry out a feasibility study in preparation of

industrial research and experimental development activities, the

Corporation may provide such an undertaking with financial assistance

in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in the guidelines.

The Corporation may support an undertaking to carry out

a feasibility study with a cash grant, which shall not exceed fifty

thousand euro (€50,000) and shall be capped at

(a)

fifty per cent (50%) of eligible costs if the

undertaking is a large undertaking;

(b)

sixty per cent (60%) of eligible costs if the

undertaking is a medium-sized undertaking;

(c)

seventy per cent (70%) of eligible costs if the

undertaking is a small undertaking.

The eligible costs shall be wage costs, costs related to

contractual research, technical knowledge and patents and other

operational costs incurred specifically to carry out the study as further

prescribed in the guidelines.

Applications for assistance under these regulations shall

be accepted by the Corporation until 31st October 2023.