Science

Call for proposals

Smart solutions for sustainable horti- and

agricultural production

2018

The Hague/Utrecht, December 2018

Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research

1 Introduction 1 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Available budget 1 1.3 Validity of the call for proposals 1

2 Aim 2 2.1 Research challenge 1: Sensor systems 4 2.2 Research challenge 2: Data handling and analytics 5 2.3 Research challenge 3: Modelling, control and decision support 5 2.4 Research challenge 4: Actuation and robotics 6 2.5 Economic and societal relevance 7

3 Guidelines for applicants 8 3.1 Who can apply 8 3.2 Project consortium, private and public partners 8 3.3 What can be applied for 9 3.4 When can applications be submitted 12 3.5 Preparing an application 12 3.6 Conditions on granting 13 3.7 Submitting an application 15

4 Assessment procedure 16 4.1 Procedure 16 4.2 Criteria 17

5 Contact details and other information 19 5.1 Contact 19 5.2 Other information 19

6 Annexe(s) 20 6.1 Regulations governing contributions in kind 20 6.2 NWO- Framework for Public – Private Partnership 21

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Chapter 1: Introduction / Smart solutions for sustainable horti- and agricultural production

1 Introduction

1.1 Background

The Dutch government has designated nine top sectors that are of particular importance

to the international competitive position of the Netherlands. Within these top sectors,

industry, knowledge institutions and government bodies contribute finances and

expertise to jointly produce new knowledge and realize innovations. The agreements for

each top sector are recorded in so-called innovation contracts. The relevant top sectors

for this call are:

- Agri&Food (A&F) https://topsectoragrifood.nl/

- Horticulture & Starting materials (T&U) https://topsectortu.nl

- High Tech Systems and Materials (HTSM) https://www.hollandhightech.nl/

- Information and Communication Technology (ICT) https://www.dutchdigitaldelta.nl/

The NWO-proposition 2018/2019 provides an overview of the activities that NWO

realises in collaboration with these top sectors

While the above top sectors each have their own knowledge and innovation agenda’s,

they have also produced a vision document outlining possible areas for collaborative

crossover projects (High Tech to Feed the World 2.0). This call, ‘Smart solutions for

sustainable horti- and agricultural production’, implements part of that vision document

and was prepared in consultation with these sectors.

With regard to this topic, NWO wants to join forces with parties in the public and private

sectors to stimulate and organize basic, application-oriented and pre-competitive

scientific research. The content is to be directly related to the demand for knowledge

that exists within the business community and society. Given the PPP-like nature of this

call for proposals, financial contributions (i.e. co-funding contributions) are requested

from at least one private partner, complemented with one or more additional private

and/or public parties if suitable. Selection shall take place on the basis of two, equally

weighted, criteria, scientific excellence, and economic and societal impact.

This call is in line with two routes of the Dutch National Research Agenda (only in

Dutch): “Duurzame productie van gezond en veilig voedsel” (for which High-tech and IT

are a gamechanger) and “Waardecreatie door verantwoorde toegang tot en gebruik van

big data”.

1.2 Available budget

The maximum NWO funding budget available for this programme is € 4M. It is expected

that this amount will be disbursed in a single call. This budget includes a reservation of €

100.000 for bureau costs and programme activities, leaving € 3.9 M for research projects

within this call.

This call is aimed at multi- and interdisciplinary projects with 2-3 PhDs and/or postdocs.

The projects have a duration of 2 to 6 years and must be realised by knowledge

institutions in collaboration with private and/or public partners. These partners must

contribute at least 20% of the required project budget. The co-funding can consist of a

cash contribution or a combination of a cash and an in-kind contribution (see Section

3.3).

1.3 Validity of the call for proposals

This call for proposals is valid until the closing date April 9, 2019, 14:00 hours CE(S)T.

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Chapter 2: Aim / Smart solutions for sustainable horti- and agricultural production

2 Aim

This call is a cross-domain collaboration between the NWO domain Science (ENW) and

the NWO domain Applied and Engineering Sciences (TTW). The applications will be

processed by the domain Science in collaboration with the domain Applied and

Engineering Sciences.

Until a few years ago agriculture and horticulture mainly focused on increasing

production, i.e. how to produce more per area with higher efficiency including lower

costs. Higher efficiency was driven by the use of chemicals (fertilizer/pesticides),

increase of mechanization and large-scale farming. Although these developments have

been incredibly successful at producing more food at lower financial cost, they have

come with significant societal and environmental costs. Around the world soils are being

depleted, even leading to decreasing yields. Emissions from agriculture contribute

significantly to climate change and fertilizers leaching from soils negatively affect our

water resources. Highly adverse effects on biodiversity were illustrated earlier this year

when worrying reductions in insect numbers in Europe were linked to agricultural

practices, leading to fears for knock-on effects along the whole food chain.

The Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, the Dutch top sectors and

society, via the Dutch national research agenda, have all recognized these problems and

are looking for solutions that lead to sustainable and circular agricultural systems.

With this call NWO and the top sectors challenge scientists and companies to propose

new, smart solutions. Smart is not just defined as better/cheaper/more efficient in the

current system, but as solutions for reducing the hidden societal and environmental cost

by moving towards sustainable systems for agriculture, while, at the same time, securing

a healthy livelihood for farmers and agriculture-related companies.

Application of high-tech systems and materials and the new possibilities of ICT will allow

the agricultural sectors to better address the societal challenges they face.

In addition, these systems will improve the competitiveness of all top sectors involved, in

the Netherlands and abroad, and lead to opportunities for export of these new systems

for horticultural and agricultural applications.

The high-tech sectors are challenged to find solutions in this multi-disciplinary domain,

addressing challenges like non-uniformity of products, harsh and complex environments,

heterogeneity of systems and the limited economic margin for innovations.

In order to address these challenges, the ‘High Tech to Feed the World’ (HT2FtW)

program was started to stimulate intensive collaboration on the topics described in the

vision document High Tech to Feed the World 2.0.

This ‘Smart solutions for sustainable horti– and agricultural production’ call addresses a

subset of the topics described in the vision document ‘High Tech to Feed the World 2.0’.

It focuses on smart solutions for the primary production on the farm supported by input

supply (incl. seeds and breeds: starting material). This call looks at cross-cutting science

challenges across the food system. Figure 1 visualizes the areas of interest and the

connections between the agricultural and food sectors and the high-tech sector and ICT.

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Chapter 2: Aim / Smart solutions for sustainable horti- and agricultural production

Figure 1: Areas of interest for ‘Smart solutions for sustainable horti- and agricultural

production’.

Technology is a key enabler in horticulture and agriculture in order to meet societal

challenges, like moving to a circular economy and a nature-inclusive approach. Key

demands for feeding a growing world population in the coming century are “to produce

more and better food” with less resources, such as chemicals, fertilizers, water, energy

and labour, while also improving conditions for humans and the land they work on (harsh

labour conditions, erosion and soil-compaction) and to create new revenue models for

‘premium’ products for farmers.

Data are already collected and used in the entire ‘food system chain’, such as data on

products for use in primary production or on production and chain processes. These

types of data are collected for logistic optimization, improvement of sustainability,

reduction of food loss, improvement of consumer confidence, food safety, consumer

health etc. However, looking closely at the data collected, we must conclude that

available data are still little aggregated and/or integrated with external data, not or

insufficiently analysed to optimize the products and that data that allow for decision

making and precision actuation on crop or farm pixel level are not available. More

measurements and models of individual animals, plants, environment and processes

need to become available, partly through new sensor systems, robotization,

miniaturization and automation of production processes and through standardization in

production networks. This offers opportunities for precision production, flexibility, small-

scale and local production. Product flows become more diverse, thinner and focus on

individual 'premium' products with new revenue models for farmers.

The use of new sensors and robotic actuation systems, data analytics, modelling, control

and decision making algorithms could significantly contribute to all agricultural and

horticultural sectors. Primary sectors already look for novel, economically viable sensor

systems to acquire data in an automated way. These data should be enhanced by data

analytics that combined with novel control and decision algorithms provide reliable

decision support or direct management information, especially in the field of planning

and actuation. An important challenge to overcome is the integration of various

technologies and techniques into a fully integrated and working system addressing

various user and application requirements, while considering the societal acceptance by

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farmers and end-users. Cooperation between the fields of sensor systems, data

analytics, robotics, and control systems technology is important to deliver viable

solutions.

To achieve a high impact in primary farming business economy and to meet societal

challenges, this call seeks solutions in the following fields:

- Sensor systems that facilitate quantification of yield and quality of the plants, sub

fields, orchards, greenhouses, individual animals, groups and/or stables. In this

respect, sensor systems are for example envisioned that have the ability to

measure stress and are able to identify pests and diseases. These systems should

be affordable, scale up to cover large areas but also multiple sectors, reliable, and

be able to be integrated to existing machinery/processes.

- Data analytics that address handling and processing of (big) data in real-time or

at middle and longer term. Making sense of large volumes of data and extraction of

useful and relevant information from data are the tasks envisioned for data

analytics, which also provide input for modelling, decision making and actions in a

safe and reliable manner. Data analytic systems need to be scalable to

accommodate different (spatial) distributed field/plant/animal entities operating at

different time scales. Issues such as trust and transparency in sharing and access to

data as well as standardization and harmonization of various data sources are

important aspects to consider.

- Modelling, control and decision making relates to techniques and systems to

advise or act at the plant, sub-field, animal, group and user level. Heterogeneity of

climate, location and populations and variability in time should be taken into

account in an integral control and decision approach. Solutions should address day

to day farmer challenges and being driven by clear quantitative and qualitative

benefits for the farmer.

- Actuation and robotics address (autonomous) systems that can monitor and

execute relevant tasks better and more frequently than farmers are now able to do.

Ideal robotic systems are robust, hygienically designed, low weight, easy to use and

energy efficient. Autonomous systems can cope with the biodiversity of their

application and can adapt to changes in cultivar, farmer-specific production

systems, seasonal changes and changes in outside (weather) conditions. Robots can

reliably perform these tasks in complex environments and can learn from each

other and from their human trainer.

Projects are expected to address at least two of these fields in an integrated manner.

2.1 Research challenge 1: Sensor systems

Wireless sensing technologies have proven fundamental to precision agriculture,

horticulture and livestock management since their earliest days, evolving from ground-

based sensor deployments, air-born observation, to on- and in-body sensor systems to

harnessing multi-purpose satellite systems. Heterogeneous sensors can measure a broad

range of modalities and are using platforms from different manufacturers comprising

different hardware, protocols, and algorithms for data collection, storage and

management, analysis, and visualization. A sensor system can incorporate ground-

based, air-born, and animal-mounted sensors to monitor health and condition of the land

(both on and under-ground), in greenhouses and of livestock. Air-born sensing is either

done through remote sensing and satellite imagery or drones, the latter is still in its

infancy.

Despite their great potential, deploying and managing large-scale heterogeneous

wireless monitoring systems is very challenging due to their complexity, heterogeneity,

dynamics, and the harsh environment they are deployed at. Energy limitations of

wireless sensor networks are an omnipresent problem often thwarting network lifetime

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and hence availability of data. Likewise, the cost (incl. deployment, installation, and

maintenance) is always an issue in precise agriculture and farming.

This research challenge addresses aspects such as robust and reliable wireless

communication in harsh environments in the presence of mobility and interference, long

network lifetime of multi-modal wireless sensor networks, energy supply and distributed

energy management in large-scale wireless sensor networks, integration and

communication paradigms for efficient and opportunistic data collection using ground-

based, air-born and on/in body animal sensor networks.

Sensor systems that can support phenotyping in the selection of starting material of

plants, fruits, vegetables and animals in all selection stages are supported in this call,

whereas genomics are not addressed in this call.

Part of this challenge is also the development of new sensors which are capable of (non-

destructive) on-site measuring of crop or livestock physiological responses to

environmental conditions (pests, water, temperature etc.).

2.2 Research challenge 2: Data handling and analytics

Throughout the entire (primary) production chain various sorts of data are being

collected. This includes data on products for use in primary production, and data on

production and chain processes. Due to lack of standardization, however, harmonization,

transparency, trust, sufficient arrangements on data ownership, and data management

plans, these data sources are not efficiently used at the moment. An important challenge

in this regard is, therefore, to address various aspects effecting unavailability,

incomplete, and missing data required for making reliable and trustworthy decisions.

The diversity of crops, animal characteristics and behaviour and the complexity of the

environment provides fundamental challenges for big data analytics. This leads to most

analytics in agriculture, horticulture & food science to be based on deterministic and

statistical models.

Also, the data landscape in agriculture, horticulture and food systems is highly

fragmented with different sensors and a lack of standardized data streams. This is not

only a data management issue but also leads to big challenges for the development of

data analytics and specifically of artificial intelligence algorithms because the training

sets will be equally fragmented and therefore limited in size. For agriculture, food and

horticulture it is thus extremely relevant to build these algorithms and training data sets

over the different domains, addressing the variety challenge.

Another important issue is that having access to multimodal data is not sufficient. The

collected data must be processed to enable understanding of underlying causes and to

make data suitable for reliable decision making and planning activities in a highly

unpredictable and diverse environment such as farming and agriculture. To this end, this

challenge addresses big data analysis, machine learning and artificial intelligence in the

field of agriculture and farming, not only for descriptive analytics highlighting the impact

of various design decisions, but also for accurate, robust, and crucially more reusable

predictive analytics offering models to represent the future behaviour of the agricultural

sectors.

2.3 Research challenge 3: Modelling, control and decision support

This research challenge addresses questions related to validation of existing digital

models and creating most representative models for agriculture sectors. Due to lack of

precise models and in light of large environmental uncertainty, the concept of digital twin

in the agriculture and framing sectors is gaining momentum. Relevant questions relate

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then to how to use data to create and update a digital twin of the agricultural process

that allows unprecedented insight into the production/cultivation process, and enables

predicting/testing the effects of potential adjustments to farming strategies in advance.

At the heart of the farming problem are the questions: How to address complex multi-

objective farming and agriculture optimization problems? How to synthesize decision

making algorithms and control policies that ensure productivity and vitality of the sector

based on the availability of current behavioural models, current and future climate,

(partial) measurements of the current status, etc.? Essentially, it is the question of how

to close the feedback loop in agriculture to close the yield gap, which requires the design

and the maintenance of an (almost) autonomous control system driven by efficiency

optimization of the crop production. This autonomous decision making should be scalable

to realize precision framing (subfield control) and adaptable to adding/removing fields,

integration of new agents, new technologies, new types of crops, etc.

2.4 Research challenge 4: Actuation and robotics

This research challenge is addressing autonomous robotic systems that can monitor and

execute relevant tasks better and more frequently than farmers are now able to do.

Algorithms for real-time navigation and obstacle avoidance, motion control of actuators,

automated systems, robot arms and (teams of) mobile robots must effectively fuse

sensor information with a priori information from a world model (e.g. prior knowledge

about the objects to be manipulated or avoided) and with the task specifications.

Agricultural robots must be endowed with algorithms that will allow them to learn from

their own experience, from the experience of and interaction with other robots, and from

the interaction with humans. The goal is to improve the performance of robot systems

beyond the initial capabilities provided by the programmers who developed them in the

first place. A typical example is a robot refining its skill at performing a particular task,

such as safely navigation through agricultural environments (stables, fields, orchards and

greenhouses), or automate specific manual operations such as harvesting or deleafing.

Therefore, the ability to re-plan on the fly and to learn new skills as well as to learn from

experience will be essential for robots that are to operate in stables, greenhouses and in

the field. Furthermore, learning will be essential for the successful interaction with the

farm workers or operators that can provide remote assistance. The robot will

automatically search for variations of the control strategies and use visual and tactile

feedback to determine the performance (e.g., accuracy and robustness) given the

natural variation it encounters.

Learning initial skills must happen quickly and effortlessly to generate a "good enough"

solution to the given task, followed by continuous improvement in performance without

programming by an expert. Transfer Learning can allow to adapt skills from one task to

another similar task performed by the same robot or to another similar environment as

the one where learning took place. Given the complexity of a crop environment, human

skills will be needed to enhance robot performance by teaching robots. Learning from

humans and in collaboration with humans allows both agents to play to their strength.

Giving farm workers the possibility to train the robots will also lead to more successful

interactions and acceptance of the robot co-workers.

A major challenge will be an adaptive robotic system that can guarantee long-term

stability in a complex, changeable environment, dealing with noisy and potentially

corrupted data. Methods and solutions are needed for navigation in uncertain and

unstructured environments and for the coordination of multiple robots.

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2.5 Economic and societal relevance

Underlying all topics is the requirement to be societally relevant and sustainable and to

consider human interaction with (the product of) the technology and economic viability.

From society as a whole there is increased attention for aspects like animal welfare,

human and animal health, which should facilitate consumer acceptance of smart,

sustainable solutions. On the other hand, consumers may also be weary of automated

and therewith “unnatural” production methods.

Automation will mean farmers will increasingly have to rely on algorithms and robots and

less on their own experience. Together with rising concerns regarding ownership of data,

privacy and related rules and regulations (e.g. AVG), this may make the acceptance of

smart sustainable solutions by the farmer and other stakeholders in the supply chain

challenging.

The best technical solutions will not be adopted if societal concerns are not addressed

properly. All research questions formulated in the proposals need to be clearly connected

to relevant business and societal needs of stakeholders by involving stakeholders from

the start. Each proposal will have to include a clear description on how the results of the

research can be implemented, how that process is managed and how societal concerns

will be addressed.

NWO and the top sectors involved want to stimulate new collaborations and interactions

between the different disciplines involved. To that end all projects are required to be a

clear collaboration between scientists, organizations and companies from the Agro &

Food/Horticulture & Starting Materials sector and scientists, organizations and companies

from the High Tech Systems & Materials research groups (including ICT).

The aspects above will be part of the evaluation of the proposals.

2.6 More information

For more background information we refer to the innovation agendas of the topsectors

involved (see paragraph 1.1):

Agri&Food (A&F)

https://topsectoragrifood.nl/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Kennis-en-innovatieagenda-

EN.pdf

Horticulture & Starting materials (T&U)

http://topsectortu.nl/sites/topsectortu.nl/files/files/Topsector%20T%26U%20Kennis-%2

0en%20innovatieagenda%202018-2021_DEF(1).pdf

High Tech Systems and Materials (HTSM)

https://www.hollandhightech.nl/nationaal/innovatie/kennis-en-innovatie-agenda

Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

https://dutchdigitaldelta.nl/en/actionplan

more specifically, this call is intended to align with the Commit2Data programme:

https://commit2data.nl/en

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Chapter 3: Guidelines for applicants / Smart solutions for sustainable horti- and agricultural production

3 Guidelines for applicants

3.1 Who can apply

Full, associate and assistant professors and other researchers with a comparable

appointment can submit an application if they:

are employed (i.e. hold a salaried position) at one of the following organisations:

Dutch universities;

University medical centres;

NWO and KNAW institutes;

the Netherlands Cancer Institute;

the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen;

researchers from the DUBBLE Beamline at the ESRF in Grenoble;

NCB Naturalis;

Advanced Research Centre for NanoLithography (ARCNL);

Princess Máxima Center; and

Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute;

and also have an appointment period for at least the duration of the application

procedure and the entire duration of the research for which the grant is being

applied for. Personnel with a zero-hour appointment is excluded from applying.

Additional conditions1:

Each project proposal has one main applicant for whom the conditions for submission

and granting apply. In addition it is required that there is at least one, maximum 3, co-

applicant(s) for whom these conditions equally apply.

The principal applicant is to submit the application on behalf of the project consortium

and is responsible for the scientific cohesion and the results as well as for the financial

accounting. The NWO contribution that is awarded and the cash contribution(s) by third

parties are transferred to the institute of the main applicant, who is responsible for

allocating funds to the partners in accordance with the budget agreed with NWO.

In this round, a researcher may submit no more than two applications, and may only do

so once as the principal applicant. This means that he/she can act as the principal

applicant for one application and can act as co-applicant for another application, or may

act as co-applicant for two different applications.

3.2 Project consortium, private and public partners

The project consortium must consist of at least two (co)applicants from different

research groups (both with an appointment at one of the institutions defined in

paragraph 3.1) and two private and/or public partners. An interdisciplinary consortium,

with main and co-applicants from different scientific disciplines is mandatory.

There must be at least one private sector partner providing funding for the project in

addition to the NWO grant for the proposed project. The project consortium may also

consist of several private and public sector partners, acting in combination as co-

financing parties.

Enterprises are considered to be private sector partners. NWO defines an enterprise as

follows: an activity carried out by an organisation or a person that is geared towards

1 The word 'applicants' refers to both main applicants and co-applicants.

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Chapter 3: Guidelines for applicants / Smart solutions for sustainable horti- and agricultural production

participating in the economy, using labour and capital, for the purpose of making a

profit. Healthcare funds and health insurers count as private sector partners.

International private sector parties may also participate.

Public and semi-public sector partners are institutions that are not research institutes

recognised by NWO (i.e. institutions that are not permitted to submit applications to

NWO) and cannot be classified as a private sector party.

3.3 What can be applied for

Per proposal a maximum NWO grant of € 800.000 can be applied for from the funds

available for this call (see paragraph 1.2). Given the obligatory co-funding by private

and/or public partners, the NWO financing is maximally 80% of the total project costs

(including the in kind contribution).

The budget is built up using the NWO-wide standardised building blocks, the so-called

modules. These modules are described below. In the proposal budget, applicants choose

which combination of modules are needed to answer the research question and how

often each module will be deployed. The following modules are available for an

application within this round:

1. Module Personnel: a) PhD/PDEng/MD PhD; b) Postdoc; c) Non Scientific

Personnel;

The salary costs will be remunerated according to the agreements in the 'Agreement for

Funding Scientific Research' made with the Association of Universities in the Netherlands

and are based on the collective labour agreement of the Dutch universities.

The agreement and the maximum amounts for personnel costs can be found at

https://www.nwo.nl/approval-of-funding-for-scientific-research-2008 and

www.nwo.nl/en/funding/funding+process+explained/salary+tables.

In addition to salary costs, the project employee funded by NWO (module 1a or 1b only)

will receive a one-off individual bench fee (€ 5000) to encourage his or her scientific

career.

Each module can be applied for more than once. If the applicants wish to deploy

expertise for a shorter period of time, then the material credit can be used for this

(postdoc or Non-scientific personnel only).

NB: Remunerations for PhD scholarship students at a Dutch university are not eligible for

funding from NWO.

• Module 1a) PhD/PDEng/MD PhD

The guideline is that 1 fte PhD for 48 months or 0.8 fte for 60 months can be applied for.

If a different duration of appointment is desired for the realisation of the proposed

research, then the guidelines may be deviated from as long as this is well justified (e.g.

PDEng 2 years or MD PhD longer than 4 years).

• Module 1b) Postdoc

The guideline is that the appointment period of a postdoc can be between 12 and 48

months. The minimum size of the appointment is 0.5 fte for 12 months. This deployment

can be spread over a longer or shorter period, for example across the entire duration of

the project.

• Module 1c) Non-scientific personnel (only in combination with modules 1a and/or 1b)

For the appointment of non-scientific personnel, specifically needed for the research

project which funding is applied for, a maximum of € 100,000 can be requested with this

module. This can concern personnel such as student assistants, programmers, technical

assistants, analysts, et cetera.

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The minimum size of the appointment is 0.5 fte for 12 months. The minimum

appointment can be spread over a longer period of time. Salary costs are dependent on

the level and are remunerated in accordance with the most recent salary tables

(www.nwo.nl/en/funding/funding+process+explained/salary+tables).

2. Module Material credit

A maximum of € 15,000 per year per full-time scientific position (modules 1a or 1b ) can

be applied for, specified according to the three categories stated below:

Project-related goods/services

— consumables (glassware, chemicals, cryogenic fluids, etc.);

— equipment and/or software (e.g. lasers, specialist computers or computer programs,

etc.); For these small items of equipment and/or software, the amount may not amount

to more than € 160,000 per application.

— measurement and calculation time (e.g. supercomputer access, etc.);

— costs for acquiring or using data collections (e.g. from Statistics Netherlands);

— access to large national and international facilities (e.g. cleanrooms,

synchrotrons, datasets, etc.);

— work by third parties (e.g. laboratory analyses, data collection, etc.);

— personnel costs smaller in size than those offered in module 1.

Travel and accommodation costs

(for employees for which a personnel grant was requested in modules 1a and 1b)

— travel and accommodation costs (national and international);

— congress visits (max. 2 per year);

— fieldwork;

— work visits.

Implementation costs

— national symposium/conference/workshop organised by the project;

— costs of open access publishing;

— data management costs;

— recruitment costs (incl. advertisement costs);

— costs involved in applying for licences (e.g. for animal experiments).

Costs that cannot be applied for are:

— basic facilities within the institution (e.g. laptops, desks, et cetera);

— maintenance and insurance costs.

If the maximum amount of € 15,000 per year per full-time scientific position is not

sufficient for realising the research, then it may be deviated from if a clear justification is

provided in the proposal. The only exception to this is the amount for small equipment (€

160,000).

3. Module Valorisation/Impact: a) Knowledge Utilisation;

Module 3a) The aim of this module is to facilitate the use of the knowledge that emerges

from the research. The contribution requested may be no more than € 25,000 and must

be specified.

As knowledge utilisation can assume very different forms in the various scientific

disciplines, it is up to the applicant to specify which costs are needed, for example for

producing an educational package or realising a feasibility study into application

possibilities, or the costs of submitting a patent application.

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4. Module Internationalisation: b) Money follows Cooperation

• Module 4b) Money follows Cooperation (MfC)

The aim of this module is to encourage international collaboration via the principle of

Money follows Cooperation, for which the national research budget is used for cross-

border collaboration that offers the possibility to create added value for individual

research projects by deploying expertise from abroad which is not available in the

Netherlands at the desired level for the project. This concerns expertise from

organisations outside of the Netherlands that have a public task and carry out research

independently. In the proposal, the applicant must convincingly demonstrate that the

expertise concerned is not available in the Netherlands. This will be assessed in the

selection process. If the arguments are not sufficiently convincing, then the funds for this

module cannot be made available.

Furthermore, the applicant needs to state the amount to be deployed for this module in

the budget. In principle, there is no limit to the amount that can be requested.

5. Module PPP/Co-funding: 20% co-funding

In each project consortium co-funding by at least one private partner is required. In

addition, one or more additional private and/or public partners may be part of the

consortium. Co-funding by these parties can be in cash as well as in kind.

The total amount of co-financing (cash plus in kind contributions) is at least 20% and at

most 50% of the total project cost (NWO contribution plus cash co-financing plus in kind

co-financing). Cash co-financing is, at least, 10% of the required financial resources

(NWO contribution plus cash co-financing.

and can be calculated as follows:

Total project costs are defined as the required financial resources (NWO grant + cash co-

funding) + in kind co-funding. The NWO contribution cannot be more than 80% of the

total project cost, i.e. total co-funding (cash + in kind) must be at least 20%. The NWO

contribution to the required financial resources cannot be more than 90%, i.e. cash co-

funding must be at least 10% of the required financial resources (NWO grant +cash co-

funding combined).

For example:

The required financial resources (personnel, material cost, travel etc) add up to €

500.000. The maximum NWO contribution to the financial resources is 90% or €

450.000. The minimum cash co-funding required is therefore € 50.000.

At the same time the NWO contribution to the total project cost cannot be more than

80%. An NWO contribution of €450.000 therefore requires at least € 112.500 in total co-

funding of which at least € 50.000 is in cash (see above).

The budget then breaks down as follows:

NWO contribution: € 450.000

Minimum cash co-financing: € 50.000

Minimum in kind cofinancing: € 62.500

Total project cost (req. financial resources + in kind) € 562.500

The NWO grant is at least 50% of the total cost of the project, i.e. total project cost

cannot be more than M€ 1.6.

When drafting your budget, you can use an excel file provided on the webpage of this

call to calculate the amount required for co-funding. For questions, please call or mail

the programme manager for this call (see 5.1)

Several private and public partners may be involved in a project consortium.

Contributions from various partners may be added up to bring the overall co-funding

ratio of the partners’ contribution to the NWO grant to the required level. There are no

preset rules for who brings in what (type of) share of the costs.

Cash contributions are to be settled with NWO. Contributions in kind are to be accounted

for in arrears. NWO shall accept contributions in kind in the form of person hours worked

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by personnel or material contributions, such as the use of specific software and access to

facilities. This is on condition that these contributions are capitalised and form an integral

part of the project plan. In connection with this, see also Annex 6.1 (Regulations

governing contributions in kind).

The contributions of the private and public sector partners must be clearly evident from

the description of the project, the timetable and the budget presented in the application.

Project management, supervision, coordination and consulting services do not count

towards the co-funding contribution. If public sector partners, such as DLO or TNO, wish

to contribute their own financing and the associated activities as part of the co-funding

contribution, these may only be put forward as part of the contribution in kind.

Each of the contributions to be made by the co-financing partners for grant co-funding

purposes, must be confirmed in a letter by the relevant partner. This letter must written

in English and contain an explicit statement of the agreed financial or capitalised

contributions in the form of personnel or material support. The amounts stated in the

letter must correspond to the amounts stated in the budget presented in the application.

The letter must be signed by an authorised member of staff and printed on the partner’s

stationery. For each partner a separate letter is to be uploaded in Isaac when uploading

the completed application.

Grant applications are awarded on condition that the partners will set out the

arrangements concerning matters such as confidentiality and intellectual property rights

in a consortium agreement. An awarded project cannot be started until NWO has

approved the consortium agreement. This consortium agreement is to be drawn up in

accordance with the NWO Framework for PPPs (see annex 6.2). A standard consortium

agreement will be made available via the website for this call.

3.4 When can applications be submitted

The deadline for the submission of proposals is April 9, 2019, 14:00 hours CE(S)T.

When you submit your application to ISAAC you will also need to enter additional details

online. You should therefore start submitting your application at least one day before the

deadline of this call for proposals. Applications submitted after the deadline will not be

taken into consideration.

3.5 Preparing an application

Download the application form from the electronic application system ISAAC or from

NWO’s website (on the grant page for this programme).

Complete the application form.

Save the application form as a pdf file and upload it in ISAAC.

You should write your application in English using the application form provided.

References to external documents (with the exception of references to literature) should

be avoided. Do not place any bookmarks in the PDF as these will hinder the processing

of your application. To ensure a good processing of your application, the PDF documents

may not in any way be protected.

When writing your proposal please bear in mind that it will be read by expert referees as

well as a more broadly composed international assessment panel.

Furthermore, NWO kindly requests that you, as the applicant, make at least three and at

most five suggestions for foreign referees who we may be able to consult. The list with

suggestions for referees may not contain any names of people that the applicant has

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Chapter 3: Guidelines for applicants / Smart solutions for sustainable horti- and agricultural production

worked with during the past three years, is currently working with or expects to work

with. The suggested referees may not be working in the Netherlands. In addition, the

applicant may state the names of three people who may not act as referees. This is not

compulsory. You can state the non-referees and suggestions for referees in ISAAC at the

same time as you submit your application.

For every proposal submitted, NWO assumes that the applicant has informed the host

institution and that the university or institute has accepted the funding conditions of this

programme.

3.6 Conditions on granting

The NWO Grant Rules 2017 and the Agreement on the Payment of Costs for Scientific

Research apply to all applications.

Rules for public-private partnerships:

Upon request of the government NWO, KNAW, TO2, VSNU, Vereniging Hogescholen,

VNO-NCW and MKB Nederland have formulated rules for public-private partnerships in

the programming and conduction of fundamental and applied research and for

intellectual property. This programme is PPS-version 2 (specific form).

Intellectual property rights (IP) and knowledge transfer; Project Agreement (see

Annex 6.2)

NWO has adopted a framework for public-private partnerships that describes the

minimum requirements for consortium agreements. These relate to recording

arrangements on the consortium’s governance, finances, publications, intellectual

property and liability as well as disputes. The starting points used by NWO with regard to

intellectual property (IP) and the transfer of knowledge are described in this framework

document (see Framework Public-Private Partnership). With regards to IP, model 1 will

be applied in this call for proposal, which means that NWO does not claim joint

ownership of IP. Within model 1, option 1 (appropriate reflection) as well as option 2

(parties’ right to their own results) may be applied in this call.

When a researcher submits a proposal, the consortium partners need to confirm that

they have read the framework document, including NWO’s rules concerning IP and the

transfer of knowledge as described in that document. A start cannot be made on an

approved project until the consortium partners have concluded a consortium agreement

in accordance with the framework document.

Start of the project

After granting the consortium partners are required to fulfil certain conditions before the

project can actually start:

The consortium partners confirm in writing their cash contribution and payment

rhythm by means of a letter to NWO;

The partners in the project that provide a ‘cash’ contribution should transfer the

first part of the ‘cash’ contribution to NWO;

The consortium partners draw up a consortium agreement in accordance with the

NWO framework for public-private partnership (see Annex 6.2); this agreement has

to be approved by NWO before the project can start;

The PI adds the data of the person to be appointed in ISAAC.

Within half a year after award, the consortium partners must have fulfilled the first 3

conditions. Afterwards, the project must start within 3 months (so in total within 9

months after award) by appointing the first PhD or postdoc. If it is not possible to

achieve this, the awarded research grant may be withdrawn.

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Projectmanagement

The ‘Smart solutions for horti- and agricultural production’ call aligns with the knowledge

and innovation agendas of the top sectors Agri&Food, Horticulture and starting materials

and High Tech Systems and Materials and Information and Communication Technology.

Therefore during the course of the project, NWO will monitor the progress on behalf of

these top sectors.

Within NWO, the NWO domain ENW is in the lead for this call and will manage the

projects awarded, in collaboration with NWO domain TTW. NWO will supervise the

progress and results of the research funded and for this it will make use of the planning

and the expected results as described in the proposal.

To stimulate collaboration within the project NWO expects the consortium of each project

to form an active stakeholder committee that meets regularly (at least twice a year). An

NWO program manager may be present at those meetings. Projects will be required to

submit a yearly progress report.

In addition, all consortia are expected to participate in events organized for all projects

granted in this call to stimulate collaboration and exchange of ideas across the projects.

Applicants of projects that fit in the COMMIT2DATA programme (see paragraph 2.6) are

expected to contribute to additional reports, meeting and/or evaluations if so requested.

Open Access

All scientific publications resulting from research that is funded by grants derived from

this call for proposals are to be immediately (at the time of publication) freely accessible

worldwide (Open Access). There are several ways for researchers to publish Open

Access. A detailed explanation regarding Open Access can be found on

www.nwo.nl/openscience-en.

Data management

Responsible data management is part of good research. NWO wants research data that

emerge from publicly funded research to become freely and sustainably available, as

much as possible, for reuse by other researchers. Furthermore NWO wants to raise

awareness among researchers about the importance of responsible data management.

Proposals should therefore satisfy the data management protocol of NWO. This protocol

consists of two steps:

1. Data management section

The data management section is part of the research proposal. Researchers should

answer four questions about data management within their intended research project.

Therefore before the research starts the researcher will be asked to think about how the

data collected must be ordered and categorised so that it can be made freely available.

Measures will often need to be taken during the production and analysis of the data to

make their later storage and dissemination possible. Researchers can state which

research data they consider to be relevant for storage and reuse.

2. Data management plan

After a proposal has been awarded funding the researcher should elaborate the data

management section into a data management plan. The data management plan is a

concrete elaboration of the data management section. In the plan the researcher

describes whether use will be made of existing data or a new data collection and how the

data collection will be made FAIR: Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable. The

plan should be submitted to NWO via ISAAC within a maximum of 4 months after the

proposal has been awarded funding. NWO will approve the plan as quickly as possible.

Approval of the data management plan by NWO is a condition for disbursement of the

funding. The plan can be adjusted during the research.

Further information about the data management protocol of NWO can be found at

www.nwo.nl/datamanagement.

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Chapter 3: Guidelines for applicants / Smart solutions for sustainable horti- and agricultural production

Nagoya Protocol

The Nagoya Protocol became effective on 12 October 2014 and ensures an honest and

reasonable distribution of benefits emerging from the use of genetic resources (Access

and Benefit Sharing; ABS). Researchers who make use of genetic sources from the

Netherlands or abroad for their research should familiarise themselves with the Nagoya

Protocol (www.absfocalpoint.nl). NWO assumes that researchers will take all necessary

actions with respect to the Nagoya Protocol.

3.7 Submitting an application

An application can only be submitted to NWO via the online application system ISAAC.

Applications not submitted via ISAAC or submitted after the deadline will not be taken

into consideration.

A principal applicant must submit his/her application via his/her own ISAAC account. If

the principal applicant does not have an ISAAC account yet, then this should be created

at least one day before the application is submitted to ensure that any registration

problems can be resolved on time. If the principal applicant already has an NWO-

account, then he/she does not need to create a new account to submit an application.

For technical questions please contact the ISAAC helpdesk, see Section 5.1.2..

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Chapter 4: Assessment procedure / Smart solutions for sustainable horti- and agricultural production

4 Assessment procedure

4.1 Procedure

Eligibility

The first step in the assessment procedure is to test whether an application is eligible.

On behalf of the NWO Domain Science Board, the NWO Domain Science office will assess

the appropriateness and completeness of the proposal. Only those proposals that satisfy

the criteria stated in Chapter 3 and fit within the aims of this call (Chapter 2) are eligible

and will be taken into consideration.

If applications are incorrect or incomplete, the applicant will be given an opportunity to

adjust the application within 48 hours. If the application is not corrected within that time

it will be declared non-eligible. Applications that have been corrected and subsequently

approved will be taken in to consideration.

Pre-selection of full proposals

If at least four times more proposals are submitted than can be funded, NWO domain

ENW retains the right to perform a preselection.

Evaluation of proposals

Referees and rebuttal

As soon as a full proposal is declared eligible, NWO will submit this for advice to external

referees. These independent advisers are experts in the field of the proposal. For each

proposal NWO tries to consult four to five referees but at least three referees will assess

each proposal. The referees will assess the proposal against the assessment criteria as

detailed in Section 4.2 and will not give a graded assessment. The referees' reports will

be made anonymous and will be sent to the applicant for a written rebuttal.

Evaluation committee

The evaluation committee will consist of a balanced mix of experts from fields involved in

this call. The committee members will receive all full proposals, review reports and

rebuttals. During a meeting and based on the assessment criteria the evaluation

committee will reach a single prioritisation of the full proposals.

The task of evaluation committees is to make their own independent consideration based

on the proposal, the referees' reports and the rebuttal. The referees' reports will to a

large extent ‘guide’ the final assessment but will not be blindly accepted by the

committees without question. The committees will consider and compare the referees'

arguments (also among each other) and examine whether the rebuttal contains a well-

formulated response to the critical comments from the referees' reports. Furthermore

the committees, unlike the referees, can see the quality of the other proposals and

rebuttals submitted. The committees can therefore reach a different assessment from

the referees.

The evaluation committee will issue an advice to the NWO Domain Science Board about

the evaluation and ranking of the project proposals. During the realisation of this advice,

policy considerations can play a role, such as realising a balance on the content of the

programme or a reasonable spread of the projects across the research fields covered by

the programme, in the case of project proposals that have the same qualification.

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Chapter 4: Assessment procedure / Smart solutions for sustainable horti- and agricultural production

Decision

The NWO Domain Science Board takes a decision about granting based on the advice of

the evaluation committee. The Board has the right not to use the entire budget available,

depending on the number and quality of the applications.

General

Code of Conduct on Conflicts of Interest

The NWO Code of Conduct on Conflicts of Interest applies to all persons and NWO staff

involved in the assessment and/or decision-making process. See also:

www.nwo.nl/en/documents/nwo/legal/nwo-code-of-conduct-on-conflicts-of-interest.

Data management

The data management section in the application is not evaluated and therefore not

included in the decision about whether to award funding. However, both the referees and

the committee can issue advice with respect to the data management section. After a

proposal has been awarded funding, the researcher should elaborate the data

management section into a data management plan. Applicants can use the advice from

the referees and the committee when writing the data management plan. A project

awarded funding can only start after NWO has approved the consortium agreement.

Qualification

NWO will award a qualification to all full proposals and will make this known to the

researcher with the decision about whether or not the application has been awarded

funding.

Only applications that receive the qualification "excellent" or "very good" for originality

and scientific quality of the proposal (crit. A), as well as for economic and societal

potential (crit. B) will be eligible for funding. For more information about the

qualifications please see

www.nwo.nl/en/funding/funding+process+explained/nwo+qualification+system.

Tentative timeline

February 2019 Matchmaking

09 April 2019 Submission deadline full proposals

May-June 2019 Referees are consulted

Beginning July 2019 Applicants can submit a rebuttal

September 2019 Selection committee meeting

October 2019 Decision ENW Board

November 2019 NWO informs applicant about the decision

4.2 Criteria

Applications are to be assessed on the basis of the following criteria:

A. Scientific quality;

B. Potential for societal and economic application.

The two criteria are given equal weight in the assessment procedure and prioritization.

NWO makes use of scores on a scale from 1 (excellent) to 9 (unsatisfactory). A separate

score is provided for each criterion. To be eligible for funding, the scientific quality of the

proposal (crit. A) as well as the potential for societal and economic application (crit. B)

should be at least “very good”.

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Chapter 4: Assessment procedure / Smart solutions for sustainable horti- and agricultural production

A. Scientific quality

- Ground-breaking and innovative nature of the research, potential for excellent,

precompetitive, and interdisciplinary scientific contributions; possible contribution

to system innovation; development of new knowledge and/or concepts, or ground-

breaking methods and technologies;

- Scientific quality of proposal: objectives, approach and methods, fitness for

purpose and feasibility;

- Scientific quality of the consortium: national and international embedding,

publications, expertise, access to required equipment and facilities and

multi- and interdisciplinary scientific collaboration (i.e. scientists from the Agro &

Food/Horticulture & Starting Materials sector and scientists from the High Tech

Systems & Materials research groups (including ICT), due to the particular nature

of this call).

B. Potential for societal and economic application

- Potential for societal and economic added value. In this call, with 20% private

contribution, the focus will be on societal value as described in the aim of the call

and the underlying themes. Furthermore, there is an economic value for the

private consortium partners;

- Potential for practical application of the envisaged research results. This explicitly

concerns potential for application on short as well as long term.

Each proposal will have to include a clear description on how the results of the

research can be implemented, what time horizon (short or long term) and how

that process is managed. What societal concerns are envisaged (also see 2.5) and

how they will be addressed;

- Added value of the public-private partnership: interaction and collaboration

between researchers and private and public sector partners in the consortium.

Specific attention will be paid to the level of multi-/interdisciplinarity of the

consortium (i.e. the mix of scientists, organizations and companies from the Agro

& Food/Horticulture & Starting Materials sector and scientists, organizations and

companies from the High Tech Systems & Materials research groups (including

ICT));

- Extent to which the application is in keeping with the aim and themes of this call

for proposals (see chapter 2 and annex 6.1 and 6.2), including the level of

connection between the disciplines.

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Chapter 5: Contact details and other information / Smart solutions for sustainable horti- and agricultural

production

5 Contact details and other information

5.1 Contact

5.1.1 Specific questions

For specific questions about Smart solutions for sustainable food production and this

call for proposals please contact:

Dr. Ron Winkler

Tel: +31 70 3440722

Email: smartsolutions@nwo.nl

5.1.2 Technical questions about the electronic application system ISAAC

For technical questions about the use of ISAAC please contact the ISAAC helpdesk.

Please read the manual first before consulting the helpdesk. The ISAAC helpdesk can

be contacted from Monday to Friday between 10:00 and 17:00 hours CE(S)T on +31

(0)20 346 71 79. However, you can also submit your question by e-mail to

isaac.helpdesk@nwo.nl. You will then receive an answer within two working days.

5.2 Other information

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Chapter 6 Annexe(s) / Smart solutions for sustainable food production

6 Annexe(s) 6.1 Regulations governing contributions in kind

Stipulations 1. Possibility for co-funding parties to participate by means of in-kind contributions in

projects financed by this call In addition to cash co-funding, co-funding parties may participate by means of an in-

kind contribution. For more information on this, see Section 3.3. The following stipulations hold in addition to and to the extent that they are not included in the NWO Regulation on Granting.

In-kind contributions/efforts must be

- essential to the project - included in the NWO-approved budget for the research costs of the project proposal

in which the co-funding party participates (see Stipulation 3 for the allowable in-kind contributions) and be within one of the cost categories mentioned in Stipulation 3a through 3c.

2. Commitment

If a co-funding party will participate in the research project with a contribution that is partially in kind as defined above, that party will commit to the NWO project for the in-kind contribution concerned, plus the financial (cash) contribution, by means of a Project Agreement. The pledged financial (cash) contribution will be invoiced by NWO.

3. Allowable in-kind contributions

In a research project, co-funding parties are allowed to include as in-kind contributions the following costs that are directly attributable to the research project and made by the party concerned (see also Stipulation 1): a. Hours worked in the framework of the project:

Salary costs, assuming an hourly wage calculated on the basis of 1) the annual salary for a full-time position according to the 'wages for income tax' column of the payroll records, incremented by the surcharges owed for social security contributions as required by law and/or stemming from an individual or collective labour agreement, and 2) 1650 productive hours per year. Over and above this amount, an allowance of no more than 50% of these salary costs may be

budgeted for other, general costs. The resulting hourly rate to be attributed to the project, including the 50% allowance for general costs just mentioned, may not exceed EUR 100. The inclusion of costs for supervision or for project management will not be accepted.

b. Cost of materials and resources to be used, based on the original purchase prices. c. The use of equipment, machines and software

- The costs of the purchase and use of machines and equipment, with the understanding that depreciation costs are allocated to the project, calculated on the basis of the original purchase prices and a depreciation period of no less than five years; the costs of consumables and maintenance during the period of use.

- The costs of the purchase and use of machines and equipment purchased not solely for the project will only be considered eligible pro rata as project contributions on the basis of the above if there is an accounting for the actual use in hours for each machine or piece of equipment by means of a comprehensive time-tracking system.

4. Accounting for in-kind contributions

Co-funding parties are to provide NWO with an accounting of their in-kind contributions to NWO in the form of a list of costs contributed, within three months after the completion of the research project towards which the in-kind contribution was provided. The project leader is to submit the application for confirmation of the in-

kind contribution simultaneously with the application for finalisation regarding the amount of the grant to be paid out, accompanied by a jointly drafted final report. In case a partner's in-kind contribution that is to be accounted for exceeds EUR 125,000, an auditor's statement must be provided; in other cases, a written statement by a proxy – to the effect that the in-kind efforts contributed are in fact attributable to the project – will suffice. If the co-funding party that pledged an in-kind contribution to a research project ultimately fails to deliver part or all of that in-kind contribution or is unable to account for it, NWO will invoice that party for (that part of) the in-kind contribution such that the entire contribution as pledged is fulfilled.

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Chapter 6: Annexe(s) / Smart solutions for sustainable horti- and agricultural production

6.2 Intellectual property rights (IP) and knowledge transfer; Project

Agreement

In dealing with intellectual property (IP) this call follows NWO policy, which allows the parties involved in a project to make customised agreements, for example depending on the composition of the consortia and the extent of the (financial) contribution. Such agreements must be in compliance with the EU Support Framework Regulations in order that no 'prohibited state aid' will be involved. The EU state aid schemes offer two options: 1) a general block exemption regulation, which offers, under certain conditions (including its being mentioned on the State Aid website), the possibility of ‘authorised aid’ and 2) the application of the ‘Framework for State Aid for Research and Development and Innovation’, which specifies the conditions under which support is not considered to constitute state aid. The second option is applicable here.

The ‘Framework for State Aid for Research and Development and Innovation’ mentioned under Option 2 above gives two possibilities: a) making agreements in advance as to how any IP rights to the results are to be allocated, as long as such allocations ‘adequately reflect' the efforts, the contributions and the respective interests of the parties involved in the project, or b) letting the IP rights accrue to the project party that generated the results concerned; in the event that a different project party wishes to obtain exclusive rights with an eye to commercialisation (this will ordinarily be a private party), that party will need to pay a normal market compensation for that to the generating party. Prior to the start of the research project, parties involved in the project will enter into a

Project Agreement with each other and with NWO, in which they agree on IP, the transfer of knowledge and a number of other matters (see further below). Entering into a Project Agreement is just one of the conditions for receiving a grant for the project concerned. Approval from NWO is necessary before a project can start. The Model Project Agreement is to be used. This is available upon request and will be sent once a project has been granted. Project Agreement The Project Agreement contains agreements about: - (Private) funding of the project - Ownership of knowledge and IP rights: background knowledge (input, access and use)

and foreground knowledge (right to entitlement, as well as access and use) - Reporting requirements and the exchange of results - Publication - Confidentiality / secrecy - Settlement of disputes - Indemnity/liability Minimum conditions for the Project Agreement Every Project Agreement must satisfy a number of minimum conditions. (Private) funding for the project NWO pledges to provide the grant to the project concerned by means of an allocation to

the (university-based) lead applicant. In the Project Agreement, the participating private party or parties commit to the pledged co-financing to NWO and any in-kind contributions. Ownership of knowledge and IP rights Background knowledge: Input of, access to and use of this knowledge - Prior to the start of the project, parties involved in the project are to check and/or

agree with each other on which relevant background knowledge they will provide to help realise the project. During the project, supplemental background knowledge can be contributed.

- Any background knowledge thus contributed will remain the property of the project party who provided it. The knowledge may be used by the receiving project party /

parties in connection with the research project. The project party that provides the knowledge will make the necessary background knowledge available, upon a written request to that effect, at no cost to the requesting project party by means of a non-transferable and non-exclusive license for the duration of the project.

- If one project party wishes to gain access to background knowledge from another project party in order to commercially exploit the results, this project party will, insofar as this is legally possible, be granted a license by the project party that provides the background knowledge concerned, on market terms.

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Foreground knowledge: Ownership of results and intellectual property (IP) rights - Foreground knowledge (the project results) must be freely accessible to all parties

involved in the project for non-commercial use. To that end, parties involved in the project will grant each other royalty-free licenses.

- With regard to both the ownership of and the IP rights to the results, the parties involved in the project are to choose one of the following options:

Option 1: Adequate reflection The starting point for this first option is that all project parties are entitled to claim IP rights to the research results. Next, the project parties are to make agreements in the

form of a Project Agreement that determines which project parties will in fact accrue which rights. It is of importance that the Project Agreement should make it clear that the allocation of IP rights among the parties involved in the project will adequately reflect their efforts within, contributions to and respective interests in the project, in order to ensure compliance with legislation regarding state support. In connection with this allocation of IP rights, parties are also to agree on supplementary normal market compensation in the event that the desired allocation does not constitute, or not entirely, an adequate reflection, for example if substantial IP rights are allocated to a private party that made only a limited contribution to the project. Option 2: Rights to one's own results

In this second option, it is the project party (or parties) that generate the research results that is (or are) entitled to claim IP rights to the research results. The percentage categories used by NWO will apply in this case. These categories are based on the principle that the more a company contributes, the more rights it will be allocated. If a company makes a relatively large contribution (i.e. 11% to 30%), for example, it will be entitled to a right of option for exclusive commercial use (i.e. the right of first refusal). To make use of this right of option, a normal market compensation will need to be negotiated, from which the company's private contribution to the project may be deducted. If a company makes a limited contribution (10% or less), it will not automatically have any exploitation rights; if the company nevertheless desires a right of first refusal, agreements will need to be made about

that (in advance). The percentage categories are as follows:

1. A company that contributes a private contribution amounting to 0% through 10% will have no rights to the results of the research party carrying out the study. Companies are nevertheless allowed to use the results generated during the research for their own internal, non-commercial purposes, however;

2. A company that contributes a private contribution amounting to 11% through 30%

will have a right of option for an exclusive right to commercial use of the results of the research party that is carrying out the study, regardless of whether or not those have been patented. It the company exercises this right of option, it will need to pay a normal market compensation for this, minus the amount of its private contribution;

3. For private contributions amounting to 31% through 50%, companies will receive – in addition to the right of option described in the second percentage category – a non-exclusive, royalty-free commercial right of use.

Calculating the percentages of private contributions The calculation of the percentages is based on the marginal costs (i.e. the NWO contribution + cash/in-kind private contributions). NWO policy also allows for private

contributions to be counted together, such that, for example, a small or medium-sized company that contributes a relatively small amount can still fall within the second or third percentage category, albeit together with the other private parties. In such cases it is important that the company in the second category pay a normal market compensation for any right it may want to have, minus the amount of its (in this case: limited) private contribution. (Non) exclusive rights and know-how When it comes to granting rights to use the research results, there could be 1) already patented results, the rights to which are licensed, or 2) unpatented results, which the project parties agree either

a) to have patented either

i) by the party that is entitled to the rights (i.e. the party that generated the results) and which subsequently gives those rights in an exclusive or non-exclusive license to the interested party, or

ii) by the interested party (with an explicit mention of the names of the inventors), which thereby obtains the (exclusive) right of ownership of the results, or

b) not to have patented, in which case additional agreements will need to be made about a compensation and about an extended period of secrecy with regard to the results concerned; in that case there would be a license on know-how.

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Chapter 6: Annexe(s) / Smart solutions for sustainable horti- and agricultural production

Compensation for exclusive rights of use and ownership rights In negotiating about and determining the normal market compensation for the acquisition of exclusive rights of use and/or ownership, the negotiating parties can opt for one of the following: a market-based approach (market comparison); an income-based approach (what incomes are expected?); or a cost-based approach (what did it cost to achieve the research results?). The parties could also opt to use an assessment by an independent expert. The costs involved in establishing and maintaining patent rights could also play a role in this connection. The project consortium's secretary is to document the negotiation process and the determination of the normal market compensation.

Companies can receive a discount on the normal market compensation to be paid amounting to the value of their contribution to the research that led to the results. An absolute deduction will apply in this connection: the entire private contribution can be deducted from the normal market price. Reporting / exchange of results The parties involved in the project make agreements with each other about the reporting and exchange of results. This is independent of the reports required by NWO and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (with respect to PPP allowance) by virtue of their role as research funders. Publication - In principle, the results are to be published in technical/scientific journals as long as

the agreed upon publication procedure is followed during the period of secrecy and as long as the agreements made in connection with that procedure are kept.

- To ensure the patentability of the results, publications can be delayed for a maximum of six months. In the event that know-how is to be further developed, the period of secrecy can be extended (this must always be agreed explicitly in writing), with a maximum period of secrecy of five years. In no event may research results remain 'on the shelf'.

Confidentiality of information and secrecy - Foreground knowledge is strictly confidential and will only be made public after all

parties involved in the project have given express permission to that effect.

- Parties involved in the project promise each other to keep secret any information (including background knowledge) that was provided on the basis of confidentiality and to use it only within the framework of the project.

Procedure for the settlement of disputes Parties involved in the project are to agree to a scheme for settling disputes. In the event of disputes, the parties are to make an effort to seek an amicable solution. NWO is to be notified of any dispute that arises and will make a binding decision in cases that are directly connected with the research and the grant. Indemnity

NWO and the knowledge institution(s) shall be indemnified against claims by any private

party that is involved and/or third parties due to damage stemming from the use of

research results and/or IP by the latter.

Published by:

Netherlands Organisation

for Scientific Research (NWO)

Visiting address:

Location the Hague

Laan van Nieuw Oost-Indië 300

2593 CE The Hague

The Netherlands

Location Utrecht

Van Vollenhovenlaan 661

3527 JP Utrecht

The Netherlands

December 2018