Canada-Israel Energy S&T Fund Extends Deadline
July 24th, 2013
In response to the strong expression of interest and requests from companies in both countries, the Canada-Israel Industrial R&D Foundation (CIIRDF) is pleased to extend the application deadline for the first Call for Proposals (CFP) for the Canada-Israel Energy S&T Fund (CIEST Fund).
• New Deadline for Expressions of Interest: September 5, 2013
• New Deadline for Full Proposals (By Invitation Only): October 11, 2013
The CIEST Fund invites Canadian and Israeli companies and academic researchers to cooperate on the research, development and commercialization of innovative energy technologies and processes. This extension will provide prospective applicants with additional time to establish bilateral partnership agreements and prepare high quality CFP submissions.
Important Updates to the CIEST Fund Application and Funding Process
• Expression of Interest: As the first step of the application process, proponents must submit an Expression of Interest or EOI: the Eureka Project Form. An EOI is required to receive an invitation to submit a full proposal. CIIRDF will review EOIs within a week of receipt, and provide feedback and next steps to applicants. Please click here to download the EOI Form.
• The Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS) in Israel will provide funding for selected Israeli companies on CIEST Fund projects through the EUREKA Program. EUREKA is an international network for market-driven industrial R&D that includes more than 40 countries from the European Union, Europe, Israel, South Korea and Canada. MATIMOP, the Israeli Industry Center for R&D, serves as Israel’s national representative in the program.
• Selected CIEST Fund projects will have an opportunity to apply for status as a EUREKA-endorsed project, and receive the prestigious EUREKA ‘label’. Research has shown that EUREKA endorsement enhances the visibility of a project, and assures other private investors that a project has passed EUREKA’s rigorous assessment. Canada’s associate membership in EUREKA is led and managed by the National Research Council Canada (NRC).
Overview of the CIEST Fund: Objectives
With a strong focus on key challenges in the unconventional oil and gas sector, the CIEST Fund will support high-quality, industry-led R&D partnerships between Canada and Israel. These collaborations will spur the development of innovative energy technologies and processes to enable the responsible development of unconventional oil and gas resources, including applications to address environmental challenges. The fund also encourages initiatives on other critical energy sources, such as renewable energy, of interest to both countries.
Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) is committing $5 million to the CIEST Fund over the next three years with matching funds to be allocated by the Government of Israel on a project-by-project basis.
Funding: Canada
• Canadian companies are eligible to receive up to a maximum of 50 percent of the total R&D project value, ranging from a minimum of CDN $300,000 to a maximum of $500,000 per R&D project. This award could be increased up to a maximum of CDN $1 million for high quality consortium-led projects with at least two Canadian industrial and two academic partners.
• Canadian academic partners from universities and colleges: Leveraging a partnership with CIIRDF, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) will fund eligible academic components of selected CIEST Fund projects. NSERC will award funding directly to collaborating Canadian university and college researchers as a non-repayable grant if the project has an integrated CRD (Collaborative R&D) or ARD (Applied R&D) component.
Funding: Israel
• For Israeli companies, funding will be provided by the Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS) through the EUREKA Program. Regular OCS rules apply to this CFP. In addition to regular one year funding, applicants may pursue additional support for an International Project. Funding will be determined by the R&D Review Committee of the OCS up to a maximum of 50 percent of the Israeli company’s project budget. Please click here for complete OCS funding guidelines (Hebrew only).
• Israeli university researchers can participate in CIEST Fund projects as collaborators under contract with Israeli lead applicants.
Do you have a project idea for the CIEST Fund? Please click here to download CFP documents.
For additional information about this CFP, the CIEST Fund or CIIRDF, please contact:
• Tomoko Nishino, Program Manager of CIIRDF (Canada): tomoko@ciirdf.ca.
• Les Abelson, Operations Manager, CIIRDF (Israel): lesabelson@ciirdf.ca