Apply for funding from the ESF Plus "Future Centers" program

Source: BUS Rheinland-Pfalz

The Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (BMAS) supports companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their employees, in coping with digital, demographic and ecological change. With the ESF Plus program "Future Centers", SMEs receive concrete consulting and qualification offers based on a tailor-made analysis. The aim is to redesign work and learning processes. The introduction of digital technologies and human-centered artificial intelligence (AI) systems is also supported.

(Solo) self-employed persons are also to be supported in the establishment of interest groups and the promotion of self-regulating processes.

The following 3 fields of action will be supported:

Regional Future Centers (RZ)
a Coordinating Future Center
a House of the Self-Employed (HdS)

The aim is to achieve nationwide coverage with the future centers. Companies, especially SMEs and their employees, should also be able to be reached easily in rural areas through different forms of offer.

Type and scope:

The funding is granted in the form of pro rata financing with grants. The maximum grant amount is 90 percent of the total expenditure in all three priority areas.

Applications are approved by Deutsche Rentenversicherung Knappschaft-Bahn-See (DRV KBS). The DRV KBS has the following tasks

informing the applicants and providing advice on funding,
examine applications,
approve and pay out grants and
review projects.

The duration of an individual project is usually 48 months. An extension of the project duration remains unaffected, subject to the availability of funds. The earliest possible start date for projects is January 1, 2023.

The funding procedure for the ESF Plus funding guideline "Future Centers" is a two-stage process. In the 1st step, you submit an expression of interest. In the 2nd step, the selected project sponsors are invited to submit an application.

Step 1:

The expression of interest procedure has already been completed.

Step 2:

If your project has been positively assessed, then you have been invited to submit a formal, written funding application via the Z-EU-S funding portal.

If the project is approved, the usual regulations for grants apply, supplemented by special regulations for federal funding from the European Social Fund 2021-2027.

Applications can be submitted by

legal entities under private or public law
associations of persons with legal capacity
associations of such persons who can prove their proximity to joint interest groups of self-employed persons, consulting experience, network connections and their professional and administrative suitability.

The following are excluded from funding:

Eligible applicants over whose assets insolvency, composition, sequestration or bankruptcy proceedings have been applied for or opened
Eligible applicants who have submitted or are obliged to submit a statement of assets in accordance with the provisions of the German Code of Civil Procedure or the German Fiscal Code.

You can replace the written form with the electronic form of the qualified electronic signature (qeS) or electronic proof of identity (eID) approved in the Z-EU-S funding portal.

Please give preference to the electronic form.

Only in exceptional cases can you apply to the granting authority to submit the signature by post.

In such exceptional cases, you must download the electronically recorded forms submitted in Z-EU-S after electronic submission. You must then sign the forms by hand and submit them by post. Please note the applicable deadlines.

Apply for funding from the ESF Plus "Future Centers" program

Process flow

Requirements

Which documents are required?

What are the fees?

What deadlines do I have to pay attention to?

Processing duration

Legal basis

Applications / forms

Appeal

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