| Deadline: | Volumen: |
|---|---|
| April 12, 2012 | EUR 2 Million |
This call is formally open for applications as of January 10, 2012, and is announced within the context of the RESEARCH (FORSCHUNG) funding program.
In order to improve the opportunities for women to take leading roles and significant roles in implementing projects involving corporate research and development, ZIT already carried out funding competitions in the years 2004, 2007 and 2009. The extensive interest generated by these calls for tenders show the necessity of carrying out specific measures in this field. Within the context of previous calls, the objective of promoting the increased participation of women in R&D projects or to increase the number of women managing such projects was attained. The participation of women exceeds the level in R&D projects funded by ZIT of 22% for women and 78% for men. The FemPower projects have had the opposite effect. The participation of women totaled 69% compared to 31% for men.
For this reason, it is appropriate to continue pursuing the current approach. In the spirit of sustainability, these successful funding measures should be continued. The Call FemPower 2012 can be considered as a further contribution towards strengthening Vienna’s position as a research location.
A further objective of the current call for entries is to support gender-relevant R&D projects. Products, processes and services whose conception already reflects the diversity of needs and expectations of both male and female customers in a gender-sensitive manner offer many advantages to companies. In this way products and services can be tailored to new requirements, undesirable developments can be avoided and new markets can be exploited. The pre-requisite for a a higher level of market acceptance is knowledge of the actual (and not stereotyped) differences (as well as similarities) between the needs of male and female customers.
The following projects can be supported within the framework of the Call FemPower 2012:
- projects managed by women and/or
- in which women play a substantial role in their implementation and/or
- in which aspects of gender mainstreaming play a central role, and in which reference is actively made to the varying needs of male and female customers.
The underlying pre-requisite is that the project
- involves a Viennese company
- carrying out its own R&D work
- and which will lead to product, service or process innovations
- with a clear orientation towards the economic realization and exploitation of the project results.
ZIT is looking for projects which will lead to a technological edge compared to products, services and processes which are already available on the marketplace. This means that the project must demonstrate a technological innovation, and thus the project results will surpass current state-of-the-art technologies.
A total of EUR 2 million is available in funding this call. Cash grants of up to EUR 500,000 are possible for the best projects. Of course, smaller projects are also eligible for funding.
The top placed application will also be given bonus prize money of EUR 15,000. The project which is ranked second receives a bonus of EUR 10,000, and the third place entry will be granted an additional EUR 5,000.
Projects demonstrably shown to be managed by a qualified woman employed by the Viennese company submitting the application are eligible to receive a bonus of EUR 10,000.
The funding is granted within the framework of a competitive tender process. An international jury of experts will evaluate all projects. The best projects will be proposed for funding.
