TITAN PROJECT

1) Can a company from the UK apply to this grant?

According to the Section 3 of TITAN's Guidelines for applicants/Eligible countries, UK is eligible but this is provided that the UK signs the association agreement before the signature of the sub-grant agreement.

2) Can a prototyping tech entity not related to food or food production apply as the first applicant as long as we have formed a consortium with a food related partner? Could we submit a standalone application as well, only as a tech applicant?

Dear applicant,

Thank you for your question.

In order to get selected for funding, the solution of the applying pilot must fall into the activities of the three TITAN Pilot Groups (in addition to fulfilling the other eligibility criteria as explained in the TITAN Open Call documentation - available at https://titanproject.eu/open-call/), regardless of whether the pilot chooses to apply as a single entity or as a member of a small consortium of up to three members.

Best regards,

TITAN Open Call team

3) Are the internal pilots subject to be proposed by the applicants? Do the applicants have to propose their own pilots?

Dear applicant,

Thank you for your question.

Internal pilots are composed of TITAN Consortium partners and they are not eligible to apply for the TITAN Open Call. Applicants are invited to propose their own pilots, with respect to the Pilot groups, as explained in TITAN Open Call documentation available at: https://titanproject.eu/open-call/

Best regards,

TITAN Open Call team

4) Hello, If we decide to submit for the open call, will it be a work package just for our organization? Does this mean that there is no direct link or dependence for any of the other organizations that joined?

Dear applicant,

Many thanks for your question.

The TITAN Open Call accepts applications both from single applicants and from small consortia of up to three members. In case you are selected for funding in the TITAN Open Call, you will be independent in the delivery and implementation of your proposed solution (i.e. you will depend on the members of your consortium, in terms of planning the work and delivering the solution, if you opted to apply as a member of one). Interactions with other Open Call winners and TITAN internal pilots will take place mainly via the TITAN Business Support Programme.

Best regards,

TITAN Open Call team

5) Hello, I've got a couple of questions: 1)Is it right that all the IP rights stays at the organization that participates and developed the (software) solution? 2) How are all the organizations linked together in this Titan Project? Is there a common goal, do the participants need to align there aims? 3) I’ve read that there are some workshops (must do, should do, could do) to support the winning organizations that submitted – are they hosted online, or is travelling to other countries/places necessary? 4) Do I understand correctly that the evaluation part is based on a presentation of the deliverables? So that means there is no full reporting program about the direct/indirect costs or the subcontracting? If the answer is "Yes", who decides if the deliverables are good enough and how will that be done?

Dear applicant,

Many thanks for your questions - answering them in order:

1) Correct, all IP rights stay at the organization that develops the solution. In case of applying consortia, the IP rights are agreed upon by the applying consortium members, as this is not a question of the TITAN Open Call.

2) The organization (i.e. internal TITAN pilots and winners of the TITAN Open Call) will interact mostly through the TITAN Business Support Programme. The goals of the TITAN project are available at the TITAN project website (https://titanproject.eu/) as well as in Annex 1: Open Call text, available at the TITAN project website.

3) These sessions will be organized online, without the need for physical attendance.

4) Indeed, TITAN Open Call funding is deliverable-based, meaning that it is tied to the acceptance of the relevant deliverables, alongside completing the respective cycle of the TITAN Business Support Programme. This means that TITAN consortium members will not be evaluating the financial records of the Open Call winners. However, the Subgrantees are required to keep all documents relating to their sub-project contract for five years after the conclusion of the TITAN project, should the EC decide to arrange a financial audit to be carried out. For more details, see Section 7 of the Annex 2 - Guidelines for applicants – "Financial audits and controls"

Best regards,

TITAN Open Call team

6) Can a research institution (with AWU< 250, Annual turnover <250M€), together with an SME company, form a consortium and participate in the TITAN proposal?

Dear applicant,

Many thanks for your question.

The research institute you are describing indeed falls into the SME category, with respect to the Annual turnover and AWU. However, please keep in mind if the research institute in question has 25% or more of its capital or voting rights controlled by a public body, it will not be considered as an SME, and therefore will not be eligible for funding in the TITAN Open Call. For more information, please refer to the Commission's recommendation concerning the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2003:124:0036:0041:en:PDF).

Best regards,

TITAN Open Call team

7) Our company is based in Switzerland and does not classify as an SME, however we have a registered entities in countries such as Vietnam that would classify as an SME. If we apply with our Vietnamese entity are we eligible?

Dear applicant,

Many thanks for your question.

For the list of eligible countries, please refer to the latest version of "EU Grants: List of Participating Countries (HE)". For instance, Vietnam belongs to the group of participants (other third countries) from low- to middle-income countries and therefore is automatically eligible for funding under the TITAN Open Call. Please note that the evaluators might assess the potential impact each solution could have for the EU and assess scale potentials of the solutions in the European and international markets.

Also, please note that if holdings of the enterprise in question with other enterprises rise to at least 25% but not more than 50%, the enterprises in questions are treated as partner enterprises or if these holdings exceed the 50% threshold, these enterprises are considered linked enterprises. This should be reflected in Annex 5 - Declaration of Conducting Business.

Best regards,

TITAN Open Call team

8) We are a University spin-off/start-up company with expertise, research and development infrastructure and proprietary, patented IP in the field of digital and sensing technologies for food safety. Therefore, we are interested to submit a proposal in the framework of the TITAN call. However, since we have been only recently (2023) established, no turnover is yet available to report. Are we eligible to apply or not?

Dear applicant,

Many thanks for your question and your interest in the TITAN Open Call.

Indeed, in this regard, your organization is eligible to apply for the TITAN Open Call. As is stated in the Annex 5 – Declaration of Conducting Business “In the case of newly established enterprises whose accounts have not yet been approved, the data to apply shall be derived from a reliable estimate made in the course of the financial year.”

Best regards,

TITAN Open Call team

9) What type of activities should be described in the work plan? The support programme only talks about a training and mentoring via 3-cycles not about technical dev. of the solutions. Shall we embed the technical dev. activities in the logic of the 3-cycle approach?

Dear applicant,

Many thanks for your email and your interest in the TITAN Open Call.

Within the work plan, the applicants should present the activities they consider of most importance for the implementation of their subprojects, should they get selected for funding. The application template already has a section dedicated to the technical aspects of the solution (more specifically the technical milestones), but if the applicants wish to highlight the activities related to the technical development of the solution in said work plan, they are free to do so. The cycles of the TITAN Business Support Programme are given here as a timing reference – meaning that the work plan should consider the fact that the (sub)project will be implemented in three cycles and upon conclusion of each cycle, the respective payment will be made.

Best regards,

TITAN Open Call team

10) What type of activities should be described in the work plan? The support programme only talks about a training and mentoring via 3-cycles not about technical dev. of the solutions. Shall we embed the technical dev. activities in the logic of the 3-cycle approach?

No answer provided yet.

11) Can we apply as a spin-off company, that is not founded at the time of submission?

Dear applicant,

Many thanks for your email and your interest in the TITAN Open Call.

In order to be eligible for funding under the TITAN Open Call, all applicants must be legally established SMEs, with registered VAT numbers as proof of registration. Therefore, if a company is not legally established at the moment of submission, it will not be eligible for funding under the TITAN Open Call.

Best regards,

TITAN Open Call team

12) Who defines the deliverables? The proposers at submission stage within the workplan or on a later stage with mentors?

Dear applicant,

Many thanks for your message.

As indicated in Annex 2 - Guidelines for applicants, the structure of the deliverables will timely be made available to the winners of the TITAN Open Call, prior to the start of the implementation of their projects.

Best regards,

TITAN Open Call team

13) Could you please confirm that the 15-page limit, does NOT include the cover page, initial tables and table of contents? Thanks

Dear applicant,

Indeed, the 15 pages limitation refers to sections below "Application description" (starting from "General description"). The "Executive Summary" question has its own limitation (max 2,000 characters).

14) We will be applying for our project in Vietnam with our entity that is an SME, however the majority of our project team is employed by our sister company registered in Indonesia which is not an SME. Is this an issue? The parent company for both also qualifies as an SME.

Dear applicant,

Many thanks for your question and your interest in the TITAN Open Call.

As an SME based in a Horizon Europe eligible country, your entity is indeed eligible for the TITAN Open Call. How you will make the contractual arrangements with your staff members is not a question of the TITAN Open Call and will not be reviewed as condition for receiving the funds, if your application is selected for funding. Please keep in mind however that the Subgrantees are required to keep all documents relating to their sub-project contract for five years after the conclusion of the TITAN project, should the EC decide to arrange a financial audit to be carried out. For more details, see Section 7 of the Annex 2 - Guidelines for applicants – "Financial audits and controls".

Also please note that if your entity has a parent company, you will need to reflect this in Annex 5 – Declaration of Conducting Business.

Best regards,

TITAN Open Call team

15) How do I know that the files were uploaded correctly?

Dear applicant,

Many thanks for your question.

Once you upload everything you need and click on the “Submit“ button, you will receive a confirmation email.

You can also enter a section “My data“ from your account, where you will see the details of your application and the uploaded documents.  

Best regards,

TITAN Open Call team

16) how can I resubmit once submitted if errors are detected?

Dear applicant,

Kindly register with a different email address and submit a new application with the correct document. Unfortunately, we can't modify submitted documents. If the second application meets the eligibility criteria, it will be accepted, and the first one declined.

Best regards,

TITAN Open Call team

17) Pages break in the template can be removed? This would allow to save space

Dear applicant,

As the application form states, the allowed font type is “Calibri (Body)” and the minimum font size is 11 points. The applicants are not allowed to alter the paragraph spacing, line spacing, page size, and the margins in the provided Template. Applications that do not comply with these requirements will be excluded from evaluation as non-eligible.

As page breaks are not mentioned here, you are allowed to remove them in order to better use the space given.

Best regards,

TITAN Open Call team