The financial aid is available to research infrastructures:

• that is, facilities, resources and related services used by the scientific community to conduct research in their areas of expertise;
• that are established in Luxembourg; and
• that engage in economic activities.

This definition encompasses scientific equipment and research material, reference resources such as collections, archives and structured scientific information, enabling ICT-based infrastructures such as grid networks, computing infrastructure, software and communication systems, as well as any other resources required for conducting research.

Such infrastructures may be:

• located on a single site; or
• distributed across several countries in the form of an organised network of resources.

Terms and conditions

Beneficiaries of the financial aid must satisfy the general terms and conditions that apply to all types of aid for research, development and innovation.

Specific terms and conditions

Access to the infrastructure must be:

• available to multiple users; and
• granted on a transparent and non-discriminatory basis.

However, businesses that have financed at least 10% of the investment costs of an infrastructure may receive privileged access on more favourable terms. Privileged access, the terms of which are made public, is proportional to the contribution made to investment costs.

If the infrastructure engages in both economic and non-economic activities at the same time, the financing, costs and income of each type of activity are recorded separately, based on cost accounting principles applied consistently and objectively.

The price to be charged for operating or using the infrastructure must correspond to the market price.

Eligible costs

Costs associated with the following are eligible:

• investments in tangible assets;
• investments in intangible assets (patents, licences, expertise or other types of intellectual property).

The application must be submitted before the commencement of the work.

Submitting the application

You (or your representative) must submit the application for investment aid for research infrastructures using the online assistant available on MyGuichet.lu.

This is a procedure that requires authentication using a LuxTrust product or an electronic identity card (eID).

Supporting documents

Applications for aid must include the following information and documents:

• the name and description of the business;
• the size of the business in accordance with Annex I of Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014;
• the business's organisational chart;
• the annual financial statements for the last 2 financial years of the applicant business and, where applicable, of the single economic entity it belongs to;
• a description of the project, including its start and end dates;
• a description of the project's economic potential;
• if necessary, a description of:
  • how the aid-funded asset is operated;
  • what makes the project innovative;
  • the technological challenges of the project;
  • the economic valuation of the outcome of the project;
• the location of the project;
• the list of the project's eligible costs;
• the form and the amount of aid required for the project;
• the project's business plan, which:
  • lists the costs and expected revenue; and
  • supports the scenarios presented;
• a financing plan, which demonstrates that the applicant business has the necessary equity capital that corresponds to the financial scale of the project;
• for applications for more than EUR 500,000, submitted by large businesses: a description of the likely counterfactual scenario if the aid is not granted. The counterfactual scenario may consist of an alternative project or the lack of an alternative project;
• for aid amounts less than EUR 100,000: a declaration of honour regarding other de minimis aid received in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2023/2831 or Regulation (EU) 1407/2013;
• any relevant information that will allow the appropriate ministers to assess the qualities or specific features of the project or the incentive effect of the aid.

Maximum amount of financial aid

For any investment in research infrastructures, the gross amount of the aid may not be less than:

• EUR 1,000 for small and medium-sized enterprises; and
• EUR 100,000 for large businesses.

The maximum amount of aid is calculated on the basis of the eligible costs of the project, and may not exceed 50% of the eligible costs.

If at least 2 EU Member States provide public financing, or if the research infrastructure is assessed and selected at EU level, the aid intensity may be increased to up to 60% of the eligible costs.

If the research infrastructure receives public financing for its economic and non-economic activities, the beneficiary must implement a control mechanism that ensures that the applicable aid intensity will not be exceeded following an increase in the economic activities compared to the situation considered at the time the aid is granted.

Payment of the aid

The capital grant is paid after completion of the project.

However, one or more aid instalments may be requested after a portion of the costs for which the aid was granted is incurred.

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