Innovation Support in Consumer Protection
Grant for innovative research and development projects in consumer protection in law and economics. Duration up to 36 months, maximum €500,000 per project. Applications via call or individual case procedure through easy-Online.
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Grant criteria
Funding objective
Systematic strengthening of scientifically based knowledge, developments, and innovations in the field of consumer protection in law and economics. Funding is provided for studies, concept developments, experimental developments, and agile participation formats that contribute to the improvement of consumer policy and consumer communication.
Eligible expenses
- Personnel costs
- Costs for instruments and equipment
- Other operating costs (travel, materials)
- Costs for contract research and consulting
- Overhead costs
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Non-eligible expenses
- Acquisition of land and buildings
- Acquisition costs for passenger cars and office equipment
- Loan procurement costs, leasing and rentals
- Heritable building rights interest, real estate transfer tax and value-added tax
- Replacement acquisitions and fully depreciated assets
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Eligible to apply
- Companies
- Educational Institutions
- Individuals
- Interest Groups and Other Associations
- Foundations
Funding requirements
- Applicants must be a research institution, company, or legal entity
- Place of business or branch in Germany at the time of disbursement
- Sufficient personnel and material capacity and necessary qualifications
- Compliance with the guidelines for ensuring good scientific practice and open-access publication
- Project must be predominantly carried out in Germany
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Documents required for application
- Project description
- Financing plan
- Curricula vitae of project participants
- Project outline (for individual case procedures)
- Submission via easy-Online
Evaluation criteria
- Compatibility with the objectives of the funding guideline
- Eligibility of the requested funds
- Relevance to consumer policy and consumer protection
- Focus on consumer needs
- Innovation potential
- Quality of project design and methods
- Expertise and performance capability of the applicants
- Quality of project management and collaboration
- Cost-effectiveness of resource planning
- Quality of the exploitation and transfer plan
Description
Innovation Promotion in Consumer Protection strengthens nationwide research projects that advance evidence-based approaches and technological, economic, as well as social innovations to improve consumer protection in law and business. Funded are systematic investigations, concept developments, experimental prototypes, and agile participation formats that empower consumers, reduce information asymmetries, and optimize consumer policy measures. The initiative targets university and non-university research institutions, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), legal and natural persons, as well as associations, federations, and foundations with an establishment in Germany. With a duration of up to 36 months and a maximum funding amount of €500,000 per project, the program offers extensive scope for interdisciplinary cooperation.
The grant model covers up to 100% of eligible expenses for research institutions and up to 80% for companies. Eligible costs include personnel expenses, investments in instruments and equipment, other operating costs (e.g., travel expenses, materials), contract research and consulting, overhead costs, as well as SME-specific patent costs. Excluded are, among others, land, buildings, passenger cars, office furnishings, project costs incurred before application submission, ongoing business operations, market research, and health-related consumer protection in nutrition and food. Essential funding requirements include sufficient personnel and material capacity, compliance with good scientific practice with open-access publications, predominant implementation in Germany, as well as a demonstrable prospect of economic utilization and job creation. Applications can be submitted flexibly via the electronic application portal easy-Online either in the call or individual case procedure and are evaluated based on alignment with the funding guidelines, relevance to consumer policy, innovation potential, methodological quality, management competence, cost-effectiveness, and utilization strategy.
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