Questions and Answers

A priori, and particularly regarding call 10.2024, there will be no allocation of the earmarked project resources among the three different themes/roadmaps. However, in future calls it may be possible that priorities are assigned depending on which part of a roadmap is already covered by ongoing projects.

No, there is no allocation of available MateriNex project resources between project types.

Feasibility studies can be submitted at any time as they take up a small portion of the budget.

We will make every effort to fund eligible projects, even if the total exceeds our restricted funds.

MateriNex will work with VLAIO to determine if and how eligible projects can be supported.

For projects partially overlapping with spearhead clusters, MateriNex may collaborate with these spearhead clusters. In such a case, the most relevant spearhead cluster will take the lead.

Yes, MateriNex will launch a project call each year for its approved innovation themes and roadmaps.

Preference will be given to ICON projects as they are more business-oriented and closer to market needs.

MateriNex will monitor overall progress and support dissemination. VLAIO oversees approved projects, to ensure compliance, primarily through mandatory in-depth progress and financial reports.

cSBO projects can be submitted to MateriNex, but the pre-application must demonstrate industrial relevance and valorisation perspectives in Flanders. This means the pre-application must be accompanied by letters of intent signed by companies. See the SBO pre-application template for more information.

For more information about the open call projects and the different project types, please visit the 'project calls' page on the MateriNex website , where you will also find the applicable pre-application templates.  Please refer to the VLAIO website for project modalities and the correspondimanuals for cSBO, ICON and feasibility studies: https://www.vlaio.be/nl/media/2218 (cSBO); https://www.vlaio.be/nl/media/2174 (ICON); https://www.vlaio.be/nl/media/668 (feasibility studies).

Please note that for ICON projects (and for feasibility studies), the consortium of the business part consists of a collaboration between at least 3 unaffiliated companies, none of these companies representing more than 70% of the eligible costs and at least two of them participating with VLAIO financial support.

The pre-application process is clear and straightforward. The steps to follow are clearly outlined in  Project Call 10. 2024, which you can use as a reference for future projects.

If you have any questions, please contact us at this email address: info [at] materinex.be

Neither the ICON nor the cSBO project type is a regular innovation instrument at VLAIO, rather, they serve as the exclusive project instruments of spearhead clusters and thematic initiatives, such as MateriNex. This explains why they cannot be submitted directly to VLAIO.

Research organizations involved in a cSBO and the SBO component of an ICON will receive full funding from VLAIO.

MateriNex will help you manage and facilitate your application by providing expert advice, sound guidance and help you find the suitable project partners.

The Expert Group is composed as follows:

• Independent international scientific experts assess the project idea for its scientific/technical quality and its relevance to the valorization objectives.
• Independent Flemish experts assess the relevance and economic potential for Flanders.
• Preliminary submissions of feasibility studies will only be evaluated by independent Flemish experts.
• For all project types, the MateriNex team checks the fit with its roadmaps and the complementarity to the innovation roadmaps of the spearhead clusters.

MateriNex, in consultation with VLAIO, will appoint the independent experts to the Expert Group.

Please note that MateriNex and VLAIO will always ensure that there is no conflict of interest in the evaluation procedure. Company experts from direct competitors of the submitting consortia are excluded from participating in the Expert Group. Applicants may submit a list of experts to be avoided.

MateriNex will not disclose the names of the experts to the consortia.

Yes, the advice of the Expert Group is binding.

In the event of a negative advice (NO GO), the submitting consortium can rework the project design and resubmit the pre-application, but only in a subsequent call for projects.

Only the pre-applied project ideas that receive a GO from MateriNex (based on the advice of the Expert Group) can be further developed into a full project proposal.

The Expert Group can give a conditional GO, which means that the submitting consortium may develop and submit a full project proposal, in which the comments of the Expert Group must be addressed.

Should external factors (e.g., changes in the market) arise between the Expert Group's GO and the submission of the full project proposal, it is best to contact MateriNex to discuss how to deal with these and how they should be addressed in the full project proposal.

Representatives of relevant spearhead clusters will also be involved by MateriNex as observers in the evaluation process of the Expert Group to signal possible overlaps of pre-applications with their roadmaps.

In case of (suspected) overlaps, a decision will be taken in consultation with VLAIO.

VLAIO and MateriNex do their upmost to keep the evaluation process as short as possible.

However, ensuring a qualitative evaluation process takes time, mainly because the financial VLAIO experts and external subject experts need sufficient time to carry out their evaluation.

A two-stage submission and assessment process is used to avoid the development of a full project proposal that does not meet the scope and valorisation expectations of VLAIO/FIO and MateriNex, and that is not sufficiently innovative.

Companies outside Flanders (and Belgium) with their own valorisation rationale can participate as project partners, provided they can bring a clear and significant added value to the project and the consortium.

Such companies will not receive financial support from MateriNex/VLAIO but may be eligible for support from their regional innovation agency.

If this is the case, please contact MateriNex and VLAIO prior to submission.

MateriNex (together with VLAIO) is exploring inter-regional cooperation (Flanders/Wallonia/Brussels), with the aim of connecting MateriNex and CIG participants with relevant projects/organisations in these regions.

Yes, the business part of the budget must amount to at least 50% of the total budget.

However, the preferred target for the balance at project level is 40% of the budget for the research part and 60% of the budget for the business part.

If a project starts with a 50/50 (business/research) ratio for the total budget and, for some reason, a company cannot carry out all the tasks initially foreseen until the end of the project, VLAIO will reduce the total funding of the research part accordingly to reach a 50/50 ratio again. 

VLAIO therefore advises that a margin be left and that a 60/40 (business/research) ratio be requested (as was the case until a few years ago). 

MateriNex can provide tips on how to organize your project budget.

For project call 10.2024 (budget 2025), the roadmaps as they currently stand will be used as the reference framework for initiating and assessing submitted MateriNex project proposals.

Yes, MateriNex is establishing in collaboration with the chairs and vice-chairs of the Common Interest Groups a process to evaluate and update the roadmaps in consultation with the participants of the Common Interest Groups.

More information on the process will be shared with CIG participants as soon as possible and it is the intention to implement the process at the next CIG meeting in Q1-2025.

A CIG is a forum for involving as many stakeholders as possible in a MateriNex innovation theme.

Its primary purpose is to foster collaboration among stakeholders.

Participants in a CIG share state-of-the-art knowledge, present project results, and ensure that the roadmap for the innovation theme of interest is kept up to date.

Participants may propose new roadmap application areas and/or focus areas within an application area and associated ambitions and targets.

The CIGs are an ideal forum for generating innovative project ideas and helping to develop projects to receive funding from MateriNex’s dedicated project funding resources.

Yes, as the CIG is also intended to be a networking group where you can share ideas or find relevant project partners.

MateriNex will assist in finding the right project partners, both industrial and research partners.

To this end, MateriNex can assist by distributing selected information to its network and conducting a targeted ‘request-for-partner’.

MateriNex will also organise matchmaking events where you can present your expertise and discuss your idea to find the right project partners.

MateriNex can help you turn your innovative ideas into concepts and projects.

MateriNex can also provide you with useful tips and tricks to consider when setting up and writing your project proposal.

No, a CIG cannot prioritize project ideas.

Yes, information on relevant European project calls can be shared within the CIGs.

MateriNex is primarily looking to the knowledge partners to share this information with other CIG participants.

For certain project ideas, we will indeed need end-users who are not currently involved in the CIGs.

MateriNex can assess which end users are needed for each project idea and possibly contact them in collaboration with the industry associations and spearhead clusters that typically have such companies as members.

All MateriNex events are open to the public and end users are warmly welcomed.