Biotechnology and genetic engineering, life science; application for funding

The Free State of Bavaria supports cooperation projects in the field of life sciences, with a focus on biotechnology and genetic engineering, provided they can be assigned to industrial research or experimental development.

Description

Purpose

The funding is intended to enable companies in the commercial sector to carry out fundamental research and development work in the field of modern biotechnology and genetic engineering and to enable or accelerate the implementation of research and development results in modern biotechnology and genetic engineering in new products, new processes, new technologies and new knowledge-based services.

Object

The funding covers the following topics and issues in particular:

  • Research and development of bioprocess technologies,
  • Research and development of biotechnological production processes, e.g. for biofuels or basic materials for the chemical industry,
  • Research and development of technical enzymes and biocatalysts as well as new biomaterials,
  • Research and development of mechanisms of action,
  • Research and development of active ingredients, vaccines and diagnostics,
  • Research and development of technology platforms, particularly in the aforementioned areas.

Priority is given to research and development projects that are embedded in a growth-oriented corporate strategy.

Recipients of funding

Eligible applicants are

  • Companies based or established in the Free State of Bavaria,
  • non-university research institutions as well as state universities and institutions of state universities in Bavaria,
  • other applicants based or established in the Free State of Bavaria that have the technical qualifications and sufficient capacity to successfully complete the tasks described in the project.

The research, development and innovation (R&D&I) projects must be carried out in close cooperation between several companies from the commercial sector or between such companies and research institutions. Several partners along the value chain should cooperate. Preference will be given to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Eligible costs

The following can be funded

  • Personnel costs (lump sums),
  • Costs for instruments and equipment,
  • Costs for contract research, technical knowledge and patents acquired directly or under license from third parties as well as costs for consulting and equivalent services used exclusively for the research and development project,
  • other operating expenses (materials, consumables, etc.) incurred directly as a result of the research and development activity.

Type and scope

The grant is provided as partial funding in the form of subsidies as part of project funding.

The aid intensity is

  • up to 50% of the eligible costs of the project or the feasibility study in the case of industrial research,
  • up to 25 percent of the eligible costs of the project or feasibility study in the case of experimental development.

In the case of collaborative projects, the aid intensity is determined for each individual beneficiary; the maximum aid intensity for the collaborative project is 50 percent. In addition, up to 15 percentage points can be granted for industrial project partners if the requirements of Art. 25 (6) (b) GBER are met.

If different project activities can be assigned to both industrial research and experimental development, the funding rate will be determined on a pro rata basis.

Prerequisites

  • The implementation of the project must be associated with a considerable technical and economic risk.
  • The project must be characterized by a high degree of innovation, i.e. the technologies, products and services to be developed must go beyond the state of the art in science and technology.
  • The essential parts of the project must be carried out in Bavaria.
  • Funding will not be provided for projects that have already been started before the project management organization receives a verifiable application or that are essentially carried out on behalf of third parties not involved in the collaborative project.
  • At least one of the partners significantly involved in the project must already have specific research and development capacities and relevant technical experience at the time of application, in the case of companies also in the area of production.
  • Applicants or project participants must demonstrably use an appropriate amount of their own or external funds to finance the project, which are not financed by other public funding or subsidized.
  • Cumulation with European Union funds or other state aid is only possible under the conditions of Art. 8 of the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER).
  • Companies in difficulty pursuant to Art. 1 (4) lit. c) in conjunction with Art. 2 No. 18 GBER are not eligible for funding. This applies in particular to applicants for whom insolvency proceedings have been applied for or opened. The same applies to applicants and, if the applicant is a legal entity, to its legal representatives who have made an affidavit in accordance with Section 807 of the German Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO) or Section 284 of the German Fiscal Code (AO) or are obliged to make such an affidavit.
  • Aid may not be granted under these funding principles to a company that has not complied with a recovery order based on an earlier Commission decision declaring aid to be unlawful and incompatible with the common market.
  • The publication of the approval of projects is carried out in accordance with Art. 9 para. 1 lit. c) GBER in conjunction with Annex III GBER.

Procedure

  • Outlines and applications for grants must be submitted to the project management organization.
  • Applications must be submitted in a specific form and must be submitted electronically. The access data for this can be obtained from the project management organization. Further information is provided on the Internet platform for electronic application (ELAN) of the State Ministry for Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy (see "Online procedure").
  • The project management organization will review the outlines and applications in the name of and on behalf of the Free State of Bavaria, will make a recommendation for the funding decision, if necessary with the involvement of experts, and will process the funding, process the payment requests, review the interim reports, the proof of use and the utilization reports as well as handle the correspondence with the applicants. The project management organization is entitled to obtain explanations from the applicants regarding the applications and the processing of the funding. The project management organization is obliged to maintain confidentiality.
  • The granting authority is the Bavarian State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy. The approval authority issues the grant notification and disburses the funding. The calls for funds and the proof of use must be submitted to the project sponsor, who forwards them to the granting authority.
  • The Bavarian Supreme Audit Office is authorized to conduct additional audits of the grant recipients in accordance with Art. 91 BayHO.

Special notes

  • Calls for funding are issued.
  • Early contact with the project sponsor is recommended.
  • Funding is provided without legal entitlement within the scope of available budget funds.

Deadlines

none

Required documents

  • Project outlines and project description

    In the first stage, project outlines (in accordance with the call for proposals) must be submitted to the project management organization in full and on time. After a comparative project selection, an application including a detailed project description, including an exploitation plan and proof of funding, must be submitted for selected projects for each network participant. Projects that are not selected will not be considered further.

Online procedures

  • Elektronische Antragstellung (ELAN)

    The funding proposal can be entered electronically on the platform and released for review and further processing. The application must then be printed out, signed and sent to the named recipient. Access data is provided by Projektträger Bayern.

Legal bases

Remedy

Administrative court proceedings; information

Administrative court action

Links to more information

Related issues

Status:16.05.2025

Responsible for editing:Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Wirtschaft, Landesentwicklung und Energie

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  • Form, Bavaria-wide
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  • Prefillable Form, Bavaria-wide
  • Legal bases, Bavaria-wide
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  • Fees, Bavaria-wide
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