EUREKA

Is your company interested in new product development in collaboration with companies in other countries?

EUREKA is a close-to-market R&D programme involving 37 European countries. Its principal objective is to strengthen the productivity and worldwide competitiveness of European companies.

In EUREKA you and your collaborating partners decide for yourselves on the subject-matter, scale and duration of your R&D project. Involvement in R&D projects with the internationally-recognised EUREKA "Label" or Seal of Quality often leads to deeper international collaboration in further areas of a company's business.

By participating in international EUREKA workshops and brokerage events you can avail of the opportunity to meet potential partners for future R&D collaboration while keeping up-to-date with recent technological developments. We can provide companies with up to 50% financial support towards the cost of participating in such events.

Visit EUREKA's website for information on the Eureka project database and details of over 1,800 projects.

Products and processes newly developed as a result of successful EUREKA projects generally gain a competitive edge in European markets, via the continuing promotional activities of the EUREKA national offices in the 37 member countries.

Requirements for EUREKA Projects

innovative R&D with a strong industrial, market, and exploitation orientation
co-operation with at least one partner in another EUREKA member country
secured project funding
non-military, and environmentally friendly.

Funding of EUREKA Projects

Each participant in a EUREKA project seeks financial support for its own costs from the national industrial R&D funding scheme in its own country. In Ireland this is the R&D Fund. The R&D Fund encourages firms to collaborate with research institutions and other firms, especially internationally via EUREKA.

The International Research Fund IRF is designed to facilitate Irish third level research performing organisations (RPO) to participate effectively in international collaborative consortia with an industrial partner based in Ireland and in a project which is addressing a close-to-market opportunity. A key characteristic of a successful proposal will be one which has a focus to enhance the wealth creation ability of the economy. Applicants will need to clearly demonstrate their potential to meet the demanding criteria relating to economic added value.

Eureka Contact:

Dr. Terence O'Donnell, Eureka National Contact Point
Cork
Tel: + 353 (0)21 4800236/ +353 87 9488998

EUREKA CLUSTERS

The EUREKA Clusters are longer-term, strategically significant industrial initiatives. They usually have a large number of participants and aim to develop generic technologies of key importance for European competitiveness, primarily in ICT.

The EUREKA Clusters are:

CELTIC is an industrial R&D programme dedicated to communication techniques, systems and services. It encompasses pre-development and experimentation of broadband and multimedia services, applications and equipment, including their control, operation, administration and management.

ITEA 2 is an industry-driven cooperative R&D programme for maintaining European leadership in software-intensive systems in which software represents a significant segment in system functionality, system development cost and risk, system development time.

EURIPIDES aims to develop new products based on miniaturisation, autonomy, reliability, high speed and low energy, using micro and nanotechnologies by addressing heterogeneous technologies for Ambient Intelligent Vision.

CATRENE this cluster for Application and Technology Research on NanoElectronics will replace MEDEA+ in 2008.

Eureka Clusters Contact

Rita Ward
Tel: +353 1 7272767

EUROSTARS

The Eurostars Programme aims to provide funding for market-oriented research and development with the active participation specifically of R&D-performing small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Eurostars will stimulate SMEs to lead international collaborative research and innovation projects by easing access to support and funding.
A Eurostars project must be carried out by a consortium involving partners from two Eurostars participating countries.
The project life cycle must be short (max. three years) and no more than two years after project completion, the product of the research should be ready for the market.
A typical Eurostars project has a total value of 1.5 million Euro and may involve SME participants, a larger company and perhaps a research institute or university.
Eurostars is a joint programme between EUREKA and the EU Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7).

Eurostars contact:

Dr. Terence O'Donnell NPC
Enterprise Ireland
Cork
Tel: + 353 21 4800236/ +353 87 9488998

Irish EUREKA Secretariat

Rowena Elliott

Last updated 12/11/2009