Complete call information on www.aal-europe.eu/aal-2009-2

Basic information on Call AAL-2009-2 (taken from the call publication text)

• Date of publication: 11 February 2009
• Closure date: 5 May 2009, at 17:00, Central European Time (CET)
• Indicative total funding: 60.9 Mio. € (this amount includes a contribution of up to 23 M€ by the European Commission.)
• Consortia submit one common project proposal, with one partner acting as coordinator.
• Project proposals will be evaluated centrally by independent European experts.
• Selection of proposals will be based on the evaluation and other criteria (see further information in the relevant chapter)
• Approval of proposal list selected for funding by the AAL General Assembly in mid 2009
• Funding of individual project partners will be done according to the respective national rules
• Funding decisions by national funding institutions: Expected around November 2009

Characteristics of AAL collaborative projects:

• Time-to-market perspective of 2 to 3 years after the project end
• Project total budget: 1 - 7 M€
• Maximum funding from the AAL Joint Programme: 3 M€.
• Significant involvement of industry and other business partners, particularly SMEs (i.e.: the budget/effort associated with these partners should be in balance with those of other partners)
• Realistic trial set-up at the end of the project
• Proactive end-user involvement throughout the life of the project
• Defined market segment(s), use cases and target group(s) and address the wishes and needs of these specific group(s).

Eligibility criteria – collaborative projects

• Submission of a complete proposal through the AAL electronic submission system before the deadline
• English as the language of the proposal
• Consortium composition of at least 3 independent eligible organizations (legal entities), from at least 3 different AAL Partner States participating in the Call for Proposals
• Consortium must include at least one eligible business partner
• Consortium must include at least one eligible SME partner (click here for the definition) which can be the business partner
• Consortium must include at least one eligible end-user organization (see definition at the bottom of this webpage)
• Size of the consortium: 3 – 10 partners
• Duration of the project: 12 – 36 months
• Adherence to the specifications for structure and technical details (e.g. page count) of the proposal submission.

Eligible for funding are only organisations that are explicitly included in the national eligibility criteria. It is highly recommended to consult with the AAL National Contact Point (NCP) prior to submission of a proposal.

In addition, the project may eventually include organizations not requesting for funding or organizations that are not eligible for funding according to national eligibility rules or organizations not residing in any AAL Partner State. Such organizations may be associated to the project without funding from the AAL Joint Programme but they cannot be crucial for the project’s implementation and they will not be taken into consideration when assessing the project proposal against the eligibility criteria and project characteristics stated above. 

The participation of organisations residing outside an AAL Partner State is restricted to organisations residing in a Member State of the European Union that currently does not participate in the AAL Joint Programme, i.e. Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta and Slovak Republic.

Definition of end-users in the AAL Joint Programme:

• Primary end-user is the person who actually is using an AAL product or service, a single individual, "the well-being person". This group directly benefits from AAL by increased quality of life.
• Secondary end-users are persons or organisations directly being in contact with a primary end-user, such as formal and informal care persons, family members, friends, neighbours, care organisations and their representatives. This group benefits from AAL directly when using AAL products and services (at a primary end-user’s home or remote) and indirectly when the care needs of primary end-users are reduced.
• Tertiary end-users are such institutions and private or public organisations that are not directly in contact with AAL products and services, but who somehow contribute in organizing, paying or enabling them. This group includes the public sector service organizers, social security systems, insurance companies. Common to these is that their benefit from AAL comes from increased efficiency and effectiveness which result in saving expenses or by not having to increase expenses in the mid and long term.