Pre-proposal – submission, evaluation and recommendation

Requirements for submitting a pre-proposal

Note: the submission of a pre-proposal is a mandatory requirement for the submission of a proposal!

To submit a pre-proposal, Flagship partners must meet the following requirements:

As a company or a private or public institution (so-called implementation partner), you must:

• Operate in Switzerland and engage in value-creating activities.
• Cover the costs incurred within your company for the Flagship, which must at least correspond to 40 to 60% of the overall project cost.
• Contribute at least 5% of the total project costs to your research partners’ expenses (cash contribution).
• Have Swiss research partners who are willing to implement a Flagship with you.

As researchers, you must:

• Work at a Swiss research centre, and have companies who want to realize a Flagship with you as research partners.
• Belong to one of the eligible categories of research institutions as follows:
  • Higher education research centres as per Art. 4, Letter c of the RIPA
  • Non-commercial research centres outside the higher education sector in accordance with Art. 5 of the RIPA
  • Government bodies as per Art. 16 (3) of the RIPA which carry out their own research projects for the purpose of fulfilling their mandates
  • Federal research institutes in accordance with Art. 17 of the RIPA

Criteria for the evaluation of your pre-proposal

The members of the Innovation Council and Experts will review your application and rate it based on these criteria:

• Innovation degree: Your Flagship project should demonstrate novelty in both, the scientific and the economic/societal domains. It should be a breakthrough that creates new value and opportunities. Your scientific and economic/societal approach should contribute to change a system in the long term.
• Value creation and sustainability in Switzerland: The implementation of the research results should enhance the market competitiveness of your implementation partners and contribute to the social and economic well-being of the country by demonstrably reducing (social) costs and/or creating economic benefits (e.g. reducing poverty, increasing quality of life, improving quality of education, reducing inequity or increasing biodiversity).
• Flagship setup:
  • Methodological quality: Your project structure demonstrates the goals and milestones, the roles and responsibilities, and the communication and collaboration mechanisms among the project partners.
  • Expertise of the flagship partners: Your Flagship consortium have the necessary expertise for the execution and the intended implementation on the market, and is structured transdisciplinary.
  • Cost-benefit ratio of the Flagship: Your Flagship project presents a quantitative analysis of the costs and benefits of your project.

Calculating tool

Here is a calculation template for the financial plan (XLSX, 294 kB, 19.07.2024). Please note that the calculation template does not have to be submitted and only serves as a tool for calculating the project costs.

Evaluation and recommendation

First, the Innosuisse Secretariat checks your application for formal requirements, such as completeness and eligibility. If your application fulfils the formal requirements, it will be evaluated by a panel of experts from various disciplines and sectors who will assess the content of your application based on the evaluation criteria. Based on the expert assessment and recommendations, the Innovation Council of Innosuisse decides on whether or not to recommend the submission of a full proposal.

Recommendation for the submission of a proposal

Innosuisse will inform you by e-mail whether it recommends the submission of a full proposal or not. However, applicants are not bound by this recommendation.