RIANA

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SME User Access

The SME Call for Proposals is Now Open. 

The application is open throughout the project and implemented as a rolling call.

If you want to apply for RIANA – TNA, access page is available here.

Access Guidelines - SME

Proposal Submission

Prior to proposal submission it is strongly recommended that the company consults with the industrial contact points of the facilities. An updated list of the contact details can be found here.

The service access to RIANA-SME facilities will be based on the submission of a proposal by the company and its partners through the single-entry portal created by RIANA. The application is open throughout the project and implemented as a rolling call. The RIANA-SME proposals must contain the information requested. This comprises, in particular, the Project Description, the type and number of samples, the innovation potential, and the expected impact of the project.

Registration, Submission & Review

 

1 This step does not replace the creation of User accounts at selected facilities, which might be needed after a proposal is accepted by RIANA in order to be scheduled.

  • Before completing the form itself, the team should complete the Word template of the Project Description as main proposal document that should then be uploaded to the online form.
  • In the portal, the User will first be requested to select one or more option(s) from the list of techniques (“services”). After the technique selection, the User is requested to select a preferred infrastructure (“service host”). The preference will be considered, but RIANA reserves the right to appoint a different infrastructure.
  • All team members should then be added to the proposal. Once they have created accounts, their names can be found through the search field.
  • If the SMEs are seeking contractual commitment of intermediary companies as knowledge providers who will carry out and accompany the access, this should be filled out in the online form together with a budget to be considered for financial support, see Financial support.
  • The online Proposal Form should be completed in the portal. Word and PDF versions are available to prepare and review content in advance. The online form can be saved as a draft and returned to later.
  • The User will then be asked to have read and accepted the Terms of Use, this User Guide, the eligibility criteria, and the privacy policy.
  • After submission of the form, the User and all team members receive a confirmation by email.
  • All proposals will be checked by the RIANA Transnational Access (TNA) Coordinator. For each proposal, the selected infrastructures will either be confirmed by the TNA Coordinator or different infrastructures will be assigned. This may happen due to scientific considerations or available instrument time.
  • If the assigned infrastructures are different from the chosen ones, this amendment will be done in the proposal directly by the Project Administrator, and the User will be notified.
  • The technical feasibility of each proposal will be assessed by scientists at the assigned infrastructures.
  • All proposals will be assigned three Reviewers from the RIANA Proposal Review Panel and given an overall grade. The main criteria for evaluation are:
    • Scientific/technological excellence (10/30)
    • Methods (10/30)
    • Impact (5/30)
    • Level of cross-disciplinarity (5/30)

         Details of the evaluation criteria are given in the Guidelines for Reviewers.

  • In case of projects at equal ranking by Reviewers, preference will be given to:
    • Users who have not previously used RIANA infrastructures
    • Users who are working in countries where no equivalent research infrastructure exists
    • Proposals of greatest benefit to Europe (proportion of EU scientists, collaboration within Europe, EU company benefiting from the research, participation of widening countries)
    • Users with a fair balance of female/male team members.
  • An email will be sent to notify the Users of the outcome of their submission:
    • Accepted – the proposal has been granted TNA access.
    • Rejected – the proposal has not been granted TNA access. Comments explaining the reasons for rejection are provided.
  • After proposal acceptance, the infrastructures will contact the Users to clarify details of access,2 including infrastructure-specific aspects such as safety, availability of resources, and local contact.
  • Access should be completed within a maximum of 18 months after acceptance.

 

2 The RIANA proposal submission and review replaces the scientific review at the infrastructure level. However, further technical details may need to be provided to the infrastructure prior to access.

  • After the visits have taken place, the User will be required to complete the User Feedback Form to provide feedback on the visit and the RIANA project in general.
  • The submission of an Experiment Report is required as well, based on a template on the RIANA documents page. The Experiment Report can be submitted via the User Feedback Form.

RIANA makes every effort to respect timelines with the active collaboration of Users.

Eligibility Criteria

Only companies considered as SMEs according to the EU definition can request access to the facilities participating in RIANA-SME.

Proposals that are supported by RIANA need to address a topic in the fields of nanoscience and nanotechnology. This criterion is checked by the Chairs of the Proposal Review Panel as follows:

RIANA refers to “nanoobjects” whenever the structures of an object that determine its key properties are smaller than 100 nm in at least one dimension. Consequently, “nanoscience” is the science of nanoobjects, and “nanotechnology” is the technology exploiting nanoobjects.

Within the proprietary access route, industry users can apply for subsidised access through the central access point at any time.  RIANA covers a fraction of the cost, the same as for the standard access, and the company will cover the difference to the actual cost for the provided service. Moreover, a contribution is given for travel and subsistence expenditures. TNA is provided in two types:

  • Physical access with users visiting the infrastructure in person, receiving the service “hands-on”
  • Remote access that may include, e.g., the analysis of mail-in samples, remote access to a high-performance computing infrastructure, without users physically visiting the infrastructure.

 

To be eligible for TNA, the following criteria must be fulfilled:

  • The SME must be located in a country other than the country where the infrastructure is located.
  • The User Feedback Form has been completed and submitted for any previous project of the Users.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)

With DEI, we mean:

Diversity: mutual enrichment through differences

Equity: fairness to satisfy the needs of every individual

Inclusion: embracing everybody without imposing criteria whatsoever

RIANA promotes the EU Gender Equity Strategy towards a gender-equal Europe and specifically encourages applications from women. The prerequisite to scientific and societal prosperity is the creation of an atmosphere of acceptance and trust, embracing all differences stemming from personal ways of life or personal living situations, ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, ideologies, biographies, religion, beliefs, disability, age, appearance, and many other aspects.

Site Access and Financial Support

The infrastructure (typically the User Office or Industry Office of the host) is responsible for contacting the user group concerning site access, accommodation, insurance/medical conditions, shipping of samples, safety, and all other information related to the visit. Users are highly encouraged to book accommodation and travel as soon as a visit is scheduled to avoid extra costs due to late booking. In particular, Users are asked to contact the host contact as early as possible to check for the availability of rooms in a guesthouse.

Travel support

EU funding will be allocated to travel and subsistence support to user groups who fit the eligibility criteria. A maximum of two researchers per experiment/visit are entitled up to a maximum of 600 EUR reimbursement each, based on a calculated reimbursement of:

  • Up to 300 EUR per user for travel costs
  • Up to 50 EUR per night and per user for accommodation up to a maximum of 6 nights

 

Additional support for SMEs

To ease the burden on SMEs, SMEs will receive a flat fee of 1 000 € for covering the access costs when the project is accepted for funding. They can also use this to commission an external knowledge provider to submit the application via a performance-based contract.

Proprietary users, like scientific users, will be provided with access time and services from the project; however, with the restriction that proprietary users will have to pay a contribution equal to the difference between the full access costs of the Research Infrastructure (RI) and the costs reimbursed by the project, depending on each RIANA partner’s legal requirement.

SMEs can receive support of a maximum of 10,000 € for the contractual commitment of intermediary companies as knowledge providers who will carry out and accompany the measurements / the experiment.

As a general rule, expenses of the access provider must comply with the following requirements:

  • They must be verifiable.
  • They must be incurred by one of the project applicants included in the proposal submission.
  • They must be reasonable and for the intended purpose of carrying out the project.
  • Taxes such as VAT are not considered eligible costs.
  1. A maximum of two researchers per experiment/visit are entitled up to a maximum of 600 EUR reimbursement each, based on a calculated reimbursement of:
  • up to 300 EUR per user for travel costs.
  • up to 50 EUR per night/per user for accommodation up to a maximum of 6 nights.

The overall duration of a stay must be consistent with the experiment days scheduled for the respective user experiment. If no justification for an extended stay is provided, the maximum number of supported days equals the number of experiment days plus two.

  1. Travel: Economy class for air fares, second class for train tickets. The costs of using taxis may not be reimbursed unless the necessity is explained and justified.
  2. Subsistence: Flat rate daily allowance according to the German public service travel cost regulations, 20% reduction for breakfast included in hotel invoice. Separate receipts for meals are not needed.
  3. Accommodation: RIANA reimburses for the single occupancy cost of a standard room. Travellers should always select a hotel that is the most economical.

 

All tickets and receipts (hotels, flights, trains) must be made out in the name and, if an address is indicated, the private address of the person that claims reimbursement. Please keep all your original receipts, including boarding pass and any other relevant documentation such as train tickets, hotel bill, etc. To receive reimbursement, Users should fill out the reimbursement form and send a signed version in PDF format, together with invoices and receipts of travel and accommodation expenses to reimbursement@riana-project.eu.

To be eligible for reimbursement, the User feedback form in the ARIA portal has to be completed, usually by the PI of your proposal.

If you have any further questions, please contact reimbursement@riana-project.eu.

Dissemination of Results

The experiment results obtained at the facility (or facilities) under the present RIANA service access shall be owned by the SME, and no publication of the results is required.

However, as the works performed are supported by the RIANA project, which is funded by the European Union, the companies shall grant RIANA and the service-providing facility (or facilities) the right to disseminate their company name, a short background of the company (agreed on with the company) and a non-confidential summary on their website, social media or other platforms deemed appropriate to the facility.

Should the SME choose to publish, the company is obliged to acknowledge support from RIANA by the following text string that needs to be literally included in the publication:

“Funded by the European Union as part of the Horizon Europe call HORIZON-INFRA-2023-SERV-01 under grant agreement number 101130652. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union and the European Union cannot be held responsible for them.”

Open access publication should strongly be favoured. In addition, it is encouraged to also acknowledge the infrastructures and local support staff.

Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

The Terms of Use for SMEs and the Privacy Policy of RIANA are available on our website.

Contact

  • For questions regarding proposal submission and general scientific support, contact industry@riana-project.eu.
  • For technical issues regarding proposal submission in the access portal, contact the administrator via the portal messaging system or send an email to admin@riana-project.eu.
  • For questions related to the assignment of facilities, contact admin@riana-project.eu.
  • For questions related to site visits, contact the User or Industry Office for that infrastructure.