In 2020, the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC) obtained for the second time accreditation as “Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence”, a programme from the Ministry of Science and Innovation that aims to promote excellence in scientific research in Spain.
The goal of ICMAB’s Strategic Vision for Severo Ochoa is to make a step forward as an international reference Center in the scientific and technological area of new materials, in particular in the development of “Smart FUNctional materials for a better FUTURE” (FUNFUTURE).
ICMAB 2020-2023 strategic plan tackles global grand challenges in ENERGY, ELECTRONICS and HEALTH from the materials science point of view. We target key EU objectives to cope with the following UN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS: #3 (good health and wellbeing), #7 (affordable and clean energy), #9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure) and #12 (responsible consumption and production).
Frontier Interdisciplinary Projects: a Strategic Priority Action
One of the “Strategic Priority Actions” within FUNFUTURE is to continue the “Frontier Interdisciplinary Projects” (FIPs), an internal competitive call amongst researchers in the Institute which aim is not only to develop new cutting-edge research concepts and ideas with potential for technological innovation, but also the early detection of new areas of knowledge and the study of radical new technologies that may end up in the market. FUNFUTURE will play stronger emphasis on Proof of Concept projects to rise TRL in selected cases (FIP-PoC, 12 months) while emphasizing collaboration with industry or final users. Strong returns in terms of academic, industrial and social impact are expected.
Main characteristics of the projects
The main objective of these proposals is to facilitate the development of exploratory multidisciplinary projects to develop new capabilities to compete at European and International level. The reinforcement of internal links within the Institute to increase our critical mass will be one of the aims of the projects.
The duration of the project will be minimum one year and maximum two years. The starting date will be decided by the SEB taking into account the estimated dates included in the application form and the specific financial conditions of the proposal (e.g. recruitment of personnel). The maximum budget for each proposal is 70.000 €, with a maximum of 60 % devoted to personnel costs.
The proposals under this call can be submitted through the application webpage available at ICMAB's intranet, anytime between the opening (6 September 2021) and closing dates (3 October 2021).
Categories of the FUNFUTURE-FIP projects
FUNFUTURE-FIP-2021 can be submitted under two different categories:
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CATEGORY A: “Exploration of novel ideas and methodologies”
Exploration of radical ideas that if successful can represent a paradigm in the scientific field of research. Projects have to be conducted under the following modality: a) Individual projects, with a single Principal Investigator (PI); b) Collaborative projects, which is an encouraged modality that will be positively evaluated, with two or more participating researchers from the same or different Research Units of the Institute, or from another researcher of one Severo Ochoa/María de Maeztu Institute. One of the researchers will appear in the application as Principal Investigator.
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CATEGORY B: “Proof-of-concept”
Verify the innovation potential and feasibility of excellent research outputs through a predemonstration stage to identify suitable exploitation, transfer and/or commercialization strategies as well as a willing to increase the TRL of the technology. Projects can be conducted under the following modalities: a) Individual projects, with a single Principal Investigator (PI); b) Collaborative projects, with two or more participating researchers from the Institute, one of which will appear in the application as Principal Investigator.
More information
To know the characteristics of the call, the general conditions, eligible expenses, submission process, evaluation criteria, awarding procedure, and management and reporting, please contact Severo Ochoa Project Manager Laura Cabana or Montse Salas.
You can also take a look at the short videos in our Youtube channel, in which the grantees of the last FUNFUTURE-FIP (2020) call explain the main goals and the general idea of their projects.
Previous FIP Calls
