Eurostars - R&D projects

Eurostars is a new European innovation programme and part of Eureka. Eureka is a pan-European network supporting companies wishing to cooperate internationally in market focused research and development projects. The European Commission and 27 out of the 37 Eureka countries have made money available to support projects initiated by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It concerns high-tech companies that allocate at least 10% of their turnover or FTE’s to R&D. The aim is to finance market led R&D projects, in which the SMEs play an important role.

Criteria:
A Eurostars project is a European R&D project led by a high-tech SME. A high-tech SME allocates at least 10% of its turnover or FTE’s to R&D. Eurostars is not restricted to certain themes, but welcomes technologically innovative projects from all areas of specialisation. The projects are judged by an international evaluation panel on the following three criteria: technological innovation, economic prospect and project management.

The agreement is open to Dutch participants of Eurostars projects, for which applies:

  • The representative is an SME from a Eurostars participating country.
  • The representative is a ’high-tech SME’ (10% from turnover or FTE’s is allocated to R&D).
  • Cooperation with at least one other party from a Eurostars participating country.
  • The participating high-tech SMEs account for at least 50% of the project costs.
  • Project duration is 3 years maximum.
  • A market introduction (of a new technology) is foreseen within two years of project completion.
  • There is a balanced composition to the cooperation between participants with a maximum allowable ratio of 75:25.

 

Amount of the grant:
The grant funding share is 50% for research activities and 25% for development activities. For SMEs, these percentages are raised by 10%. Maximum grant is Euro 0.5 million for the shared costs of the Dutch participants. The Dutch Government has reserved Euro 2 million for 2008.

Which countries qualify?
So far 27 countries participate in Eurostars: Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Turkey, Sweden, and Switzerland.

 

Please contact us for a free assessment to find out whether your business plan may qualify for Eurostars grant-funding.
Grants