MIT R&D-samenwerking

What it funds

The Dutch MIT funds research and development projects run jointly by at least two small and medium enterprises: industrial research or experimental development for new or renewed products, production processes or services. It is a ranked tender: complete applications received before closing are reviewed and ordered on four criteria, and the fund goes to the highest scoring projects until it runs out. Regional desks exist beside the national one, and an official guide says where to file.

Inside the program runs a themed call on artificial intelligence, financed by the AiNed program and managed with the national AIC4NL coalition: the general rules stay the same, and on top the project must develop or use generative AI or machine learning, with a trustworthy and human-centered AI approach, and offer a new solution for at least one of the coalition's work areas. That call only goes through the national desk, and firms in difficulty are out from the start.

Requirements and what is left out

• It takes a partnership of at least two independent SMEs, balanced in costs and contributions: no single participant covers more than seven tenths of the costs, and only SME costs are eligible.
• It takes an industrial research or experimental development project: a new or renewed product, process or service, not generic digitalization.
• The program splits small and large projects at a threshold on eligible costs: the per-project and per-participant ceilings differ, with a per-participant floor in both cases.
• The project lasts two years at most.
• It takes the right desk: national and regional ones coexist, and the official guide says where to file for each project.
• Combining aid is allowed up to a ceiling: the grant plus other aid on the same project stays within the call maximum, and tax relief stays out of the count. The combining rules detail the cases.

How to apply

1. Check with the official guide which desk the application goes to.
2. Write the project plan on the RVO template and, for a large project, add the budget in the required format.
3. File the complete application before closing: the ranking only reviews those received in time.
4. After closing, wait for the outcome on the four criteria: the highest scoring projects take the grant, until the fund runs out.

The conditions in full are on the RVO page and in the Staatscourant act: the ranking awards extra points to projects on priority missions, provided they clear the minimum scores.

What this budget builds

A grant of this size buys the company a prototype that runs on real data: the link between the management system, the machines and the warehouse, a first model with the metrics to judge it, and the automation of steps somebody redoes by hand every week. I work side by side with the internal team, so the ability to carry the plan forward stays behind.

This entry is informational and is not advice: I do not handle grant applications, and before committing to a purchase it is worth reading the official source above or talking to whoever files the application.