CU West

WE ACCOMPANY FUNDING APPLICATIONS

Composites United Leichtbau-Forschung gGmbH (CU-LF) supports companies and research institutions in the technical and administrative process as well as in the administration of innovation projects. From the idea through the various application steps to the conclusion, funding applications can be accompanied within the framework of Industrial Cooperative Research (IGF).

The funding of IGF projects aims to compensate for the structural disadvantages of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the field of research and development (R&D). Due to their small size, these companies are often unable to finance research contracts with external research institutions or to maintain their own research departments.

Under the IGF, SMEs can solve their common problems through joint research activities conducted primarily by universities and non-profit business-related research institutions. This is particularly efficient, because it allows similar research needs to be bundled in a pre-competitive manner and risks to be shared. Furthermore, this program enables SMEs to benefit from research results that each would not have been able to achieve on its own.

Eligible for funding are scientific and technical research projects that are cross-company in nature, advance new findings and further developments related to fiber composites, and can bring economic benefits to SMEs in particular. Applications for research projects must include proposals for transfer to industry, statements on feasibility and economic significance.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

In accordance with AiF statutes, the initial grant recipient is always the CU-LF. Through on-lending and bilateral agreements, it is possible to use legally independent, non-profit research institutions as final recipients, provided that

1. these research institutions grant the CU-LF the necessary rights to carry out a project in accordance with its duties,
2. these research institutions have the scientific qualifications required to work on the respective project, and
3. have the necessary administration for the intended use of the funds.

HOW TO APPLY?

The project selection procedure of the CU-LF has two stages and is not limited in time. It consists of an idea phase and an application phase. After successfully passing the application phase, the CU-LF submits the project proposal to the AiF. It is recommended to contact the contact person at CU-LF before submitting an idea paper.

Project proposals can be submitted as an idea paper to the contact person at the CU-LF via e-mail as a reviewable PDF by the dates below. Please note that due to the future management of the IGF program from 01.01.24 by the project management agency DLR, these dates may be changed again as soon as we have more information.

• 08.03.2024
• 10.05.2024
• 11.10.2024

For this purpose, the template including its sub-items under the following link should be used.

As a rule, the entire idea paper should not exceed five pages.

The received idea papers will be evaluated according to the following criteria, among others:

1. Interplay between the objective of the project and the objective of the CU-LF,
2. Relevance for directly/indirectly involved SMEs,
3. Relevance to the technology,
4. Possibility of exploitation,
5. coherence of the budget,
6. composition of the project advisory committee (PA).

The result of the evaluation is usually communicated to the applicants by e-mail within eight weeks after submission. In total, the average duration from submission of the first idea to project start is 12 months.