Scope
Finland and Israel are jointly announcing the eighth Call for Proposals - FIT8 - for joint R&D projects, focusing on developing innovative products and applications in different technology areas. Special focus will be given in this call to Mobile Solutions. This call is announced within the framework of the MoU signed between the two countries for cooperation in the field of industrial research and development.

The main objective of this Call is to launch projects with joint participation from the two countries and provide R&D funding to qualifying participants through the national programs managed by respective: the Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS) in Israel and Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation in Finland. The FIT program is managed in cooperation and in line with the Eureka-Eurostars innovation platform (http://www.eurekanetwork.org and www.eurostars-eureka.eu).

Call Launch and Structure
The Call is launched on July 1, 2010. The call invites partners to present joint proposals for R&D projects and the first phase of the call will close on 4th October, 2010. Projects starts are foreseen at the first quarter of 2011.

The submission and the approval procedures will be of two phases.
1. A short project outlines should be submitted by 4th October to Matimop and Tekes. The outlines will be screened and evaluated by the joint appraisal committee. Results will be notified to the companies at the latest November 1, 2010. The forms will be soon published on the web sites of Matimop (www.matimop.org.il) and Tekes (www.tekes.fi).
2. Partners with approved outlines will be invited to submit their funding applications. Matimop and Tekes will provide the submission guidelines and timetable to the project partners.

Project content and evaluation
Expected project results will have to contribute to the development of commercial products, applications and or services. The proposals should comply with the following guidelines:
• The partners should include at least one Israeli and one Finnish commercial company (though participation of research institutes/universities is welcome as additional participants or subcontractors according to each country's funding regulations).
• Companies from other countries may also participate, but they will be funded neither by OCS nor by Tekes.
• The project should have an obvious advantage and added value resulting from the cooperation between the participants from the two countries (e.g. increased knowledge base, commercial leads, access to R&D infrastructure etc.).
• The project should demonstrate the contribution of the participants from both countries

Submission and evaluation procedures
Phase 1 outlines should be submitted using the EUREKA Application form.
An electronic copy of the signed proposal should be e-mailed to the appraisal committee (for e-mail addresses, please see end of this document). Signatures can also be sent by fax. Partners with outlines approved for phase 2 will be instructed how to complete submission of their funding applications.

Financing
Applying the EUREKA structure, FIT project participants will finance their costs from own funds, capital market or the applicable national, regional or international funding schemes. Both countries have agreed to earmark a budget of up to 5 MEuro each for the Call; however, each country may decide to exceed this level of financing.