05.08.2011 - 31.10.2011

Announcement

by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Regulations Governing Funding in the Area of "Security in Air Traffic" within the Framework of the Federal Government's "Research for Civil Security" Programme

of 25 July 2011

Safe air transport of passengers, baggage, mail and cargo is important in modern mobile societies and globalized commodity flows. As an export nation and hub of international trade and transport, Germany is part of the complex infrastructure of international air traffic.

With the call "Security in Air Traffic" under the Federal Government's "Research for Civil Security" Programme, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) aims to promote innovative solutions to further improve the security in air traffic and adapt to new threats.

The call addresses in particular the topics of advanced detection and screening technologies (cargo, baggage, mail, passengers), safe supply chains in air cargo, and increasing resilience of airport infrastructures.
Proposals are expected for collaborative projects which pursue a practice-related approach in keeping with societal challenges with the aim of developing security concepts that include embedded technologies, strategies for action and forms of organization and consider relevant cost factors. Major criteria for funding are the innovativeness, holistic character and large-scale effectiveness of the chosen approaches, which are to take account of the technology's societal interactions and involve relevant players, as well as the significance of the approaches' contribution to increasing public security.

1 Funding purpose and legal basis

1.1 Funding purpose

The aim of the "Research for Civil Security" programme (http://www.sicherheitsforschungsprogramm.de) is to improve people's protection against threats resulting inter alia from terrorism, natural disasters, organized crime or major technical accidents. The funding is expected to lead to research solutions that help improve civil security and open up international markets for German security products and processes. The proposals should make basic technological knowledge available for security research and develop innovative technological systems using existing basic technologies. The natural and engineering sciences are expected to cooperate with the humanities and social sciences in developing joint security solutions which meet practical and societal needs. The projects must take account of ethical, cultural and legal issues.

The call is aimed at companies that develop innovative security solutions and at research institutions, public authorities and organizations working in the security sector that cooperate with companies and users. The involvement of partners along the entire innovation chain from research to industry to end users will support the practical relevance of the developed solutions. End users within the meaning of the Security Research Programme include public authorities, emergency and rescue services (police, customs, Technical Relief and other aid organizations) and the operators of critical infrastructures, particularly airports, transport and logistics companies.

1.2 Legal framework

Project grants will be awarded in accordance with the BMBF's standard terms and conditions for grants on an expenditure or cost basis and the administrative regulations under section 44 of the Federal Budget Code (BHO). There is no legal entitlement to funding. A decision on the award of funding will be made after due assessment of the circumstances and within the limits of the available budget funds. The European Commission has approved the programme.

2 Object of funding

Funding will be provided for collaborative projects whose innovative solutions will contribute to increasing the security in air traffic. The focus is on scenarios in which the security in air traffic is threatened or affected by terrorist attacks, major accidents, natural disasters or criminal acts. Activities should start by analyzing existing or emerging threats including possible subsequent effects. Research should consider all relevant parameters ranging from the danger situation and its causes to technology, logistics and management to the training of staff and the passengers and include them in accordance with their priority. The emphasis on the description of a complete security scenario is to ensure that suitable system innovations are developed rather than isolated, individual solutions.

Possible aspects of research in the collaborative projects include:

• Innovative technologies and concepts for the improved detection of hazardous substances and explosives in checks on passengers and in baggage, airmail and air cargo screening
• Concepts and measures for airport operators, security services and health authorities for the management of biological hazards
• Method for analysing dissemination features and traces of explosives
• Improved 3D image processing in checks on passengers and particularly in X-ray baggage screening
• Intelligent and low-cost monitoring and sealing systems for manipulation-proof supply chains in air transport
• Forward-looking measures to improve air cargo security by means of networking the entire logistics chain
• Improved methods for efficient and safe checks on passengers that protect people's health and privacy
• Alternative models for checks on passengers that take ethical, cultural, legal and security-specific aspects into account
• Increasing resilience in the case of failure of critical airport infrastructures and air surveillance systems
• Increasing air security when using pilotless aircraft, e.g. in disaster control
• Vulnerability surveys concerning the impact of hazardous substances and explosives on airport infrastructures and technical structures
• Concepts for protecting critical information and communication infrastructures against systematic third-party interference
• Smart sensor networks to support the safe management of airport infrastructures, air vehicles and passengers
• Technical systems for improved security in take-off and landing manoeuvres
• Protection against optical and electromagnetic interferences
• Training and further training for security staff
• Models for quality checks to ensure compliance with security standards

The above topics are examples; the list should not be regarded as exclusive. On the basis of current priorities, the project consortiums' proposals should list the sub-aspects that are to be addressed in a comprehensive security scenario.

The proposals for collaborative projects must include the following key features:

• Consistent use of the latest findings of science and research
• Description of the security scenario taking all relevant parameters into account
• Presentation of a robust analysis of threats and/or requirements for the selected scenario
• Proof of significant improvement over current security standards
• Clearly formulated project goal to ensure the envisaged increase in security, efficiency and acceptance

Socially relevant issues should preferably be addressed as an integral part of the collaborative projects. Societal issues that deal with security in air traffic as an interdisciplinary topic and are not suitable for integration into collaborative research can be supported as individual projects. The research projects may e.g. deal with issues and means of technology and measure acceptance, threat and causes analysis, risk analysis and risk management systems, cost-benefit analysis, innovation and internationalization strategies as well as ethical, cultural and legal aspects. As a rule, the duration of the collaborative projects will be three years.

3 Funding recipients

Research proposals may be submitted by commercial companies headquartered and mainly exploiting their results in Germany. Applications for funding may also be filed by universities, research and science institutions, public authorities and their research establishments and similar institutions. As a rule, however, universities and research and science institutions should be involved via R&D (research and development) subcontracts awarded by commercial companies as part of a collaborative project. Research institutions which receive their basic funding from both the Federal Government and the Länder can be awarded project funding under certain conditions only. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are expressly invited to participate; their involvement will be taken into account in the evaluation of the proposed projects.

The BMBF aims to increase the share of universities of applied sciences in research funding. Universities of applied sciences are therefore particularly invited to participate in the collaborative projects - preferably within the framework of R&D subcontracts awarded by commercial companies (see also para 7.3 below).

4 Prerequisites for funding

Cooperation between the partners in a collaborative project must be laid down in a cooperation agreement. Before a funding decision is taken, the cooperation partners must prove that they have reached basic agreement on certain criteria stipulated by the BMBF. For further details please refer to BMBF form 0110 (which can be found online at http://www.kp.dlr.de/profi/easy/bmbf/pdf/0110.pdf ). As a rule, the coordinator of the collaborative project should be nominated by an industrial partner or end user.

Cooperation with European partners is desirable. Applicants should, in their own interest, familiarize themselves with the European Union's (EU's) Research Framework Programme and examine whether the envisaged project includes specific European components that would make it eligible for exclusive or additional EU funding (see, for example, http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/cooperation/security_en.html). The result of this examination should be briefly described in the application for national funding.

5 Type, scope and rates of funding

Funds will be awarded in the form of non-repayable project grants.
Grants for commercial companies are calculated on the basis of the eligible project-related costs, up to 50% of which can as a rule be covered by government grants, depending on the project's relevance to application. The BMBF's policy requires an appropriate own contribution towards the eligible costs incurred - as a rule of at least 50%.

The basis for calculating the grants for universities, research and science institutions and similar establishments is the eligible project-related expenditure (in the case of the Helmholtz centres and the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft (FhG), the eligible project-related costs), which can be funded up to 100% in individual cases.

The European Commission's Community Framework for State Aid for Research, Development and Innovation must be taken into account when determining the rates of funding. The Community Framework allows a differentiated bonus arrangement for collaborative projects of SMEs, which may result in a higher rate of funding. The EU's definition of SMEs applies (http://www.kp.dlr.de/profi/easy/bmbf/pdf/0119.pdf).

6 Other terms and conditions

The Nebenbestimmungen für Zuwendungen auf Kostenbasis des BMBF an Unternehmen der gewerblichen Wirtschaft für Forschungs- und Entwicklungsvorhaben (Auxiliary Terms and Conditions for Funds Provided by the BMBF to Commercial Companies for Research and Development Projects on a Cost Basis) will be part of the notification of award for grants on a cost basis.

The Allgemeine Nebenbestimmungen für Zuwendungen zur Projektförderung (General Auxiliary Conditions for Grants for the Promotion of Projects) and the Besondere Nebenbestimmungen für Zuwendungen des BMBF zur Projektförderung auf Ausgabenbasis (Special Auxiliary Terms and Conditions for Funds Provided by the BMBF for the Promotion of Projects on an Expenditure Basis) will be part of the notification of award for grants on an expenditure basis.

7 Procedure

7.1 Involvement of a project management organization

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research has entrusted the following project management organization with implementing the call for proposals:

VDI-Technologiezentrum GmbH
Projektträger Sicherheitsforschung
VDI-Platz 1
40468 Düsseldorf
Germany
The contact person is:
Dr. Markus Dicks
Phone: +49(0)211-6214-490
Fax: +49(0)211-6214-484
E-mail: dicks@vdi.de

All project outlines must be submitted using the official form, which can be downloaded from http://sicherheitsforschung.vditz.de/aktuelle-bekanntmachungen or obtained from the project management organization VDI Technologiezentrum (see above). Further information, guidelines and leaflets as well as auxiliary terms and conditions are available at http://www.kp.dlr.de/profi/easy/formular.html.

7.2 Two-phase selection procedure

The selection procedure consists of two phases.

7.2.1 Submission and selection of project outlines

In a first phase, project outlines must be submitted in written form by post and in electronic form to the project management organization VDI Technologiezentrum GmbH by 31 Oktober 2011 at the latest.

The submission deadline is not a cut-off deadline. However, it may not be possible to consider project outlines received belatedly.

The collaboration partners, represented by the coordinator, will each submit to the project management organization a project outline of a maximum 20 A4 pages (including annexes, font size 12) in a form which can be evaluated.

The project outlines must be structured as follows:

1. Objectives
   1.1 Overall objective of the project, summary of the project proposal
   1.2 Description of the security scenario, scientific and/or technical working objectives, envisaged innovations
   1.3 Project consortium: project coordinator, assignment of roles
2. State of the art and applicants' own work
   2.1 State of the art
   2.2 Patents filed (by applicants and third parties)
   2.3 Previous work of the applicants
3. Work plan
   Detailed description of the planned work of the partners in the collaboration (including sub-contractors, if appropriate, and including all scientific and technical issues relevant to the project as well as the proposed solutions).
4. Utilization plan
   Utilization plan (scientific and technical utilization as well as commercialization of the results by the partners involved). The utilization plan must include information on compatibility with relevant national and international legal provisions, regulations and standards.
5. Network plan
   Work packages, handover points, milestones and implementing decisions presented over time.
6. Funding schedule
   Estimate of overall costs and funding requirements for each individual partner in the collaboration.

Applicants are free to add further points which they consider to be significant for the evaluation of their proposal. Collaboration partners whose projects are co-financed by industrial partners or other agencies must indicate the amount of external funds expected. A legal claim to funding cannot be derived from the submission of a project outline.

The project outlines received will be evaluated in accordance with the following criteria:

• Clear relevance to the content of the call for proposals
• Contribution to the programme's goal of increasing the security of the population
• Clearly identifiable innovativeness and knowledge gain
• Holistic character and large-scale effectiveness of the approach
• Practicability and marketability of the envisaged solution and its optimized economic leverage
• Quality of the project consortium, involvement of all relevant stakeholders
• Specific involvement of end users
• Involvement of SMEs

Suitable project outlines will be selected for funding on the basis of the evaluation. The project management organization will inform the collaboration coordinator in writing of the BMBF's decision (the result of the selection procedure). The coordinator will, in turn, inform the partners involved in a collaborative project of the result of the evaluation of their project outline. The BMBF and the project management organization reserve the right to consult independent experts when evaluating the project outlines received.

7.2.2 Submission of formal applications for funding and decision-making procedure

In a second phase, applicants whose project outlines have been evaluated positively will be invited to submit a formal application for funding on which a decision will be taken following final evaluation by the BMBF.
The approval, payment and accounting for the funds as well as the proof and examination of the proper use and, if necessary, the revocation of the award and the reclaiming of the funds awarded are governed by the administrative regulations pertaining to section 44 of the Federal Budget Code (BHO) and sections 48 to 49a of the Administrative Procedure Act (VwVfG).

7.3 Special information for universities of applied sciences

Universities of applied sciences which have been successful in the selection procedure for the collaborative projects, may receive additional funding. For that purpose, they can submit a proposal for a related research project to be funded under the BMBF's ProfilNT funding line to raise their research profile in the field of new technologies. The second, separate proposal must address advanced or new R&D aspects related to the topic of the collaborative project. The work plans/research activities and staff planning of the two proposals must not overlap.

The evaluation and funding decision under the ProfilNT funding line will take place in a separate selection procedure. The BMBF has entrusted the PT-FH of the German Federation of Industrial Research Associations (AiF) with the management of the ProfilNT funding line. For further information (legal basis, prerequisites for funding, guidelines for applicants, contacts, etc.) please visit http://www.bmbf.de/de/1956.php.

8 Entry into force

These funding regulations will enter into force on the date of publication in the Federal Gazette (Bundesanzeiger) and terminate at the end of the first funding period in 2011. 

Bonn, 25 July 2011
Federal Ministry of Education and Research
Dr. Wolf Junker

Head of Security Research Division