Funding scheme for innovative projects by voluntary organisations in the community launched for the second year running

Following the success of last year, the Ministry for Equality, Research and Innovation is launching a funding scheme for the second year running to promote innovation and the use of science in the community through knowledge dissemination and its usage in our towns and villages. This scheme aims to sustain non-governmental organisations and registered voluntary organisations financially to carry out innovative projects in the community.

During the launch of the scheme for the year 2022, Minister Owen Bonnici said that this effort aims to continue raising awareness on the need for innovation, research and scientific topics even at the local level, through the sterling work of non-governmental organisations and voluntary organisations.  

Minister Bonnici stated that, “The government must continue to bring the Maltese communities closer to the sciences, and continue to educate society on how these affect us in our daily lives and help us move forward and achieve our goals. We need to change mentalities and keep attracting students and young people to STEM and STEAM subjects. The reality is that research and innovation have always been crucial to the well-being of society and the creation of progress according to the needs of society and we have to emphasise their importance.”

A total of €150,000 have been allocated to the scheme which will be administered by the Ministry for Equality, Research and Innovation. Each organisation can benefit from a maximum of €10,000.

In order for the organisations to benefit from this fund, they are required to put forward proposals for innovative projects. Proposals with an approach emphasising science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM) as access points to guide learning processes, dialogue and critical thinking to combine theory and practice are also eligible.

Alistair Borg, Director for Strategy and Support within the office of the Permanent Secretary of the same Ministry, said that; “This scheme was created with the aim to further open hearts and minds in favour of the need for more awareness on the importance of research and innovation in Maltese society.”

All eligible applications will be evaluated by a board of evaluators according to the established and published guidelines, which can be found on the Ministry’s website mfer.gov.mt.

All applications need to be submitted online by not later than the 1^st of March 2022 at noon.

For more information or help, one can send an email on innovationschemes@gov.mt.