European Partnership on Innovative SMEs / Eurostars Programme

Overview

EUREKA is the world’s biggest public network for international cooperation in R&D and innovation. Eureka is open to SMEs, large companies, universities, and research performing organisations (RPOs). EUREKA offers opportunities to combine expertise, exchange knowledge and enhance resources.

EUREKA projects focus on the R&D of close-to-market products, processes or services.

European Partnership on Innovative SMEs / Eurostars

Eurostars is part of the European Partnership on Innovative SMEs. The partnership is co-funded by the European Union through Horizon Europe. Eurostars is EUREKA’s flagship international programme for SMEs wishing to collaborate on R&D projects that create innovative products, processes or services for commercialisation. Each consortium must be led by an ‘Innovative SME’.

EUREKA does not fund projects but evaluates the collaborative project plan and labels it as EUREKA approved project. Project consortium members can self-fund from own resources or, if eligible, can apply for funding from national agencies.

  • Enterprise Ireland client companies are funded through the Agile Fund/RD&I Fund.
  • Universities and research organisations are funded through the International Research Fund (IRF Guidelines .doc).
  • Clients of other national agencies such as IDA or Údarás can be funded via relevant agency programmes.

Participants based in Ireland should always verify eligibility for national funding support in advance of any proposal submission.

EUREKA participating member countries

Albania | Argentina | Austria | Belgium | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Bulgaria | Canada | Croatia | Cyprus | Czech Republic | Denmark | Estonia | Finland | France | Germany | Greece | Hungary | Iceland | Ireland | Israel | Italy | Latvia | Lithuania | Luxembourg | Malta | Monaco | Montenegro | North Macedonia | The Netherlands | Norway | Poland | Portugal | Romania | San Marino | Serbia | Singapore | Slovakia | Slovenia | South Africa | South Korea | Spain | Sweden | Switzerland | Turkey | Ukraine | United Kingdom

Am I eligible?

Requirements for European Partnership on Innovative SMEs/Eurostars Projects:

For Companies:

  • A European Partnership on Innovative SMEs/Eurostars project must be carried out by a consortium involving at least two partners from two participating countries and must be led by an ‘Innovative SME’.
  • The project must be built around innovative R&D with a strong industrial, market, and exploitation orientation.
  • The project life cycle must be short (max. 3 years) and the product of the research should be ready for the market within two years of the project’s completion.
  • A typical project has a total value of Eur1.5 million and may involve SME participants, a larger company and perhaps a research institute or university.
  • You must be able to self-fund your part of the project from company resources OR
  • You must be eligible to access national funding as a client of an agency such as Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland or Údarás.
  • The project must be non-military, and environmentally friendly.

Always check with your national agency contact to confirm eligibility before you make an application to EUREKA.

For Research Performing Organisations:

  • Researchers in RPOs only become eligible for funding if there is an Irish company also participating in the consortium.

National funding

For Companies:

  • Eligible companies can apply for funding from a national agency such as Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland or Údarás. Check with your national agency contact before making an application to confirm what rules and rates apply.
  • Enterprise Ireland client companies are funded through the Agile Fund/RD&I Fund.
  • Universities and research organisations are funded through the International Research Fund (IRF Guidelines .doc).
  • Clients of other national agencies such as IDA or Údarás can be funded via relevant agency programmes.

For Research Performing Organisations:

  • Researchers in RPOs can access 100% funding up to a maximum of €250,000 to cover project research costs.

How to apply

  • Applications to the European Partnership on Innovative SMEs/Eurostars must be made through the EUREKA on-line portal.
  • Projects will be evaluated centrally. Projects reaching the required threshold will be labelled and ranked.

For Companies:

  • Eligible companies can apply for funding through the relevant national agency, such as Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland or Údarás, once a project is labelled.

For Research Performing Organisations:

  • Researchers in RPOs can apply for funding through the International Research Fund (IRF Guidelines .doc) once a project is labelled.

More information

More info - EUREKA

More info - Eurostars

Key contact

David Flood
National Project Co-ordinator
Eureka Programmes

+353 1 727 2487

David Flood

EU Partnership