Announcement by the Saxon State Ministry of Social Affairs, Health and Social Cohesion on a call for expressions of interest in funding model projects for the Future Platform of the ESF Plus Directive SMS

Funding is provided for pilot projects that serve the temporary testing of socially innovative and public welfare-oriented concepts for solving societal and social problems in the work and areas of activity of social work. The innovation content of the project is paramount, i.e. societal and social challenges are to be addressed with new and innovative solutions and concepts. The aim of the pilot projects is to generate new findings and to be able to transfer the results obtained to other applications and thus reproduce them.

Funding is available for socially innovative prevention or support measures that have a clearly recognizable link to the development, introduction and model testing of artificial intelligence (AI) applications in the subject and work areas of social work.

The projects must be assigned to at least one of the following subject areas of social work: special life situations, integration, inclusion, children, young people, family or ageing society.

The funded pilot projects must also:

a) identify specific areas of application in which AI offers recognizable added value compared to existing procedures,

b) contribute to relieving the burden of administrative, organizational or repetitive processes and thus increase time resources for work processes in social work or improve the quality, accessibility or effectiveness of social services, for example through new forms of analysis, advice, interaction, prevention, support or case-related decision support.

The services of the Future Platform for Social Innovations of the Free State of Saxony (known as "SINN") are available as part of the implementation and preparation of the pilot projects.

The grant is awarded as part of project funding as partial financing in the form of a subsidy for up to 24 months. It amounts to up to 95 percent of the eligible expenditure.

Personnel expenses are funded in the form of a job grant or person-related lump sum.

Material and administrative costs are granted as a residual lump sum amounting to 40 percent of the direct eligible personnel costs.

The own contribution to be made can be provided by the cooperation of basic-financed personnel or "cash" from free funds (own funds).

The maximum grant amount is 300,000 euros per project. Any additional funding for the project must be provided from own or third-party funds, which must be specified in the project proposal.

For a project that is implemented by an association of sponsors, the total grant amount can be up to EUR 400,000 if the project is implemented in the NUTS II base regions of Dresden and Chemnitz.

The grant recipient must prove that both social and technical expertise is available for the development, introduction and pilot testing of the planned AI application. These requirements can be met by the recipient's own professional and technical expertise or by cooperating with suitable partners.

Participants in a pilot project must have their main place of residence in the Free State of Saxony.

The project duration must be planned or applied for from 01.01.2027. The maximum duration is 24 months.

Funding recipients are sponsors or a sponsor association. The prerequisite is that the grant recipient is organized as a legal entity under private or public law with its registered office or branch office in the Free State of Saxony. An association of sponsors exists if at least two legally independent institutions jointly implement a project.

Information event of the SMS and the SAB on 26.02.2026/ 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Please register here: Information event on the fourth call for funding "Model projects for the future platform" (ESF Plus Directive SMS) | Participation portal Saxon State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labor, Energy and Climate Protection

The presentation of the event will be linked here.

The application procedure is a two-stage process. The EPC accompanies the applicants of TU Dresden in accordance with the announcement of the Vice-Rector Research 2/2023 and must be involved in the application process as early as possible. The EPC advises on the funding conditions as well as on the application, has powers of attorney for the legally binding signature vis-à-vis the Sächsische Aufbaubank (SAB) and has central access to the SAB funding portal for the submission of project proposals by May 7, 2026 by the EPC.

We request that the applicant submit the following documents by e-mail to epc@tu-dresden.de by April 27, 2026 (internal deadline):

• Notification of third-party funding
• Project proposal with signature of coordinating Chair(project proposal structure)
• Expenditure and funding plan

Project proposals should not significantly exceed 15 pages - excluding attachments and the expenditure and funding plan. The SMS expects clear, meaningful and concrete explanations of the planned project implementation, taking into account the evaluation criteria listed below and the ESF principles. In addition, a description of the funding body or funding association should be included.

Complete project proposals submitted by the deadline for the expression of interest will be evaluated in accordance with the criteria listed below. Based on the overall assessment, up to 15 project proposals will be selected forpresentation to the SAB by the applicants. The invitation to this presentation and information on the procedure will be sent out separately. Applicants who do not attend the presentation will be excluded from the application process.

Project proposals will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria and weightings. Accordingly, project proposals must be prepared in accordance with these guidelines:

1. objectives of the project (25 percent)

a) Initial situation, addressed social and societal challenges and needs, i.e. it is described in which specific application area of social work an AI solution should create a recognizable added value; (the existing problem is described that is to be addressed by AI),

b) regional reference, significance for labor market policy

c) concrete description and formulation of the AI-related objectives and the expected improvements compared to existing procedures

d) social innovation content of the project or differentiation from existing solution concepts for the social and societal challenge addressed

e) Description of the target group and, if applicable, the participants who will benefit from AI applications and how they will be involved in the project

f) Experience and expertise of the project executing agency or agencies with the target group and in the project area

2. achievement of objectives, work steps (33 percent)

a) Description of the work packages and presentation of the individual steps for the development, introduction and testing of the AI application

b) Description of the methods and explanation of the methods/technologies used, criteria for selection and procedure for evaluating the benefits

c) Description of the response to specific requirements, description of how data protection, ethical, technical and organizational requirements of the AI application are taken into account

d) Time structure, milestone plan

e) Responsibilities and assignment of who is responsible for the technical implementation, professional embedding and AI-specific quality criteria, among other things

f) Cooperation structure, co-financing from third parties if applicable

g) Description of the technical requirements of the applicant and the personnel deployed for the implementation of the planned AI application

h) Measures for quality assurance

3. results and documentation (25 percent)

a) Specification of expected results and description of the expected AI-supported effects, e.g. relief gains, quality improvements, process optimizations

b) Documentation of the results, presentation of the documentation formats, e.g. effectiveness analysis, technical documentation, user reports

c) Planned public relations work

d) Method of transfer into work and company practice, description of how the AI solution or the knowledge gained can be made transferable to other institutions or areas of activity in social work and

e) Statements on continuation (without funding), subsequent use of results

4. total expenditure, funding amount, own funds, economic efficiency (17 percent)

a) Total expenditure/costs of the project, appropriate cost-benefit ratio, efficiency, indication of the origin of the own funds and/or third-party funds to be provided (if applicable)

b) Effectiveness of the methods used to achieve the objectives and expected results by checking the plausibility that the selected AI solution is suitable for achieving the stated objectives (e.g. expected benefits, technical feasibility)

c) If applicable, number of participants/projects. If the project is carried out with participants, a distinction must be made between open and closed projects or parts of projects. "Open" projects or parts of projects are characterized by an open come-and-go structure (e.g. informal meetings; brief consultations). "Closed" projects or parts of projects, on the other hand, are aimed at a fixed group of people and are carried out with a fixed group of people (e.g. courses). Within a project, there may be (several) open and (several) closed project parts. Details of this must be included in the project description.

In addition, statements on the principles of equality between women and men, respect for the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, equal opportunities and non-discrimination as well as environmental and resource protection/sustainable development must be included in the project proposals.

Further information can be found here

• LINK to the official announcement
  https://www.sab.sachsen.de/documents/d/guest/lesefassung_4-fb_modellvorhaben-zur-zukunftsp-_esf?download=true

• LINK to the topic of social innovations and the model projects:

  https://www.soziales.sachsen.de/modellvorhaben-zukunftsplattform.html

• LINK to the SAB page
  ESF Plus guideline of the SMS - funding of pilot projects for social innovations - sab.sachsen.de
• LINK to the guideline
  https://www.revosax.sachsen.de/vorschrift/19647-ESF-Plus-Richtlinie-SMS#romII
• LINK Rules on eligible expenditure
  https://www.sab.sachsen.de/documents/d/guest/anlage_ffak_2021-2027-vom-24-06-2025?download=true