Canada – Germany 3+2 collaborative call for proposals on low-carbon hydrogen technologies

To be considered for funding, applicants must form a project consortium and develop a collaborative R&D project that meets the following criteria:

1. The project consortium must include a minimum of five (5) participants (three (3) Canadian and two (2) German participants)*:
   • Canadian participants
     1. One (1) incorporated Canadian small or medium-sized enterprise (SME), defined as a for-profit company with 500 or fewer full-time equivalent employees
     2. One (1) researcher from the National Research Council of Canada who will be undertaking project research activities through the NRC's Materials for Clean Fuels Challenge program or the NRC's Artificial Intelligence for Logistics Supercluster Support Program
     3. One (1) Canadian research institution (e.g., post-secondary institution, research and technology organization)
   • German participants
     1. One (1) eligible German commercial enterprise—in particular small or medium-size companies
     2. One (1) German research institution
   *The participants listed above must be unrelated parties (i.e. there must be no direct, indirect, beneficial or constructive ownership interest between these parties)
2. The project partners that form the consortium must agree on a plan addressing intellectual property rights and intent to commercialize.
3. The project must focus on co-developing, adaptation, and/or validation of an innovative product, process, or technology-based service that:
   • advances the objectives of the NRC's Materials for Clean Fuels Challenge program or the NRC's Artificial Intelligence for Logistics Supercluster Support Program
   • has substantial commercial potential and outcomes that can be realized within 3 to 3 years of completion of the project
   • has a civilian (non-military) purpose
4. The project must demonstrate:
   • an alignment to the specific objectives outlined in the Canadian and German national hydrogen strategies, and contribute to targets and measures related to improving: costs, efficiency, durability, production pathways, and/or functionality of value chains
   • a complementary technological contribution from each partner
   • an obvious advantage and added value resulting from the cooperation between the participants
   • a balanced contribution between project partners and countries (with no more than 75% of the effort contributed by any one partner or country)
   • an increase in the international competitiveness of German and Canadian partners, including the development of market potential

In addition to the above eligibility requirements, each applicant must meet their country-specific requirements, outlined below:

4.1 Canadian eligibility requirements

Canadian applicant(s) must also meet the following criteria.

Canadian SMEs

The Canadian SME applicant must:

• be an incorporated, profit-oriented small or medium-sized business in Canada
• have 500 or fewer full-time equivalent employees
• pursue growth and profit by developing and commercializing innovative, technology-driven new or improved products, services or processes in Canada
• have a differentiated and protectable technology that could become competitive in global markets
• have sufficient working capital and resources to undertake a multi-year R&D collaboration and commercialize the results
• be committed to significant growth through international market expansion

Preference may be given to SME applicants who:

• have a minimum of 15 full-time equivalent employees
• have commercialized one or more products domestically or internationally
• have greater than $500,000 CAD in annual revenue

Canadian research institutions

• eligible recipients are Canadian research institutions (e.g., post-secondary institutions, research and technology organizations)
• eligible institutions must perform collaborative research and development and/or prototype development which supports research, development, adoption and/or adaptation of innovative or technology-driven products, services or processes

NRC researchers

• NRC researchers' project-related work must support the advancement of NRC's Materials for Clean Fuels Challenge program or the NRC's Artificial Intelligence for Logistics Supercluster Support Program objectives