Eurostars
What is Eurostars?
Eurostars is the first European funding and support programme for innovative small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) across all sectors.
The programme provides funding for market-orientated research and development produced by SMEs. The Eurostars Programme encourages international collaborative research and innovation project by helping to ease access to support and funding.
Eurostars takes a 'bottom up' approach to project generation. Projects can address any technological area and should be aimed at the development of a new product, process or service.
Eurostars eligibility
- A Eurostars project is collaborative, meaning it must involve at least two participants from two different Eurostars member countries
- The lead partner must be an R&D performing SME (10% of turnover or 10% of staff time dedicated to R&D activities)
- The consortium should be well balanced, which means that no participant or country will be required to invest more than 75% of the total project costs
- R&D performing SMEs have to undertake at least 50% of the total R&D project costs
- Project duration if 36 months or less
- Market introduction is foreseen within 2 years after the project has ended, with the exception of biomedical or medical projects where clinical trials must be started within two years of project completion
UK specific criteria
- Academics/universities and large companies are welcome to participate in a Eurostars project but must fund their own participation or use funds from other sources
- UK participants are eligible for up to 60% funding on eligible costs, with a maximum grant level per UK participant of €360,000
- Companies must be trading for over 12 months
- Eurostars is open for funding applications on a continuous basis, with an average of two application submission deadlines each year.
Eurostars is a joint programme between EUREKA and the European Commission, co-funded from the national budgets of 34 Eurostars Participataing States and Partner Countries and by the EU under Horizon 2020. In the 2014-2020 period it has a total public budget of €1.14billion.
The next deadline for submissions is 17th September 2016 20:00 Brussels time. For further information, visit https://www.eurostars-eureka.eu/ or contact Ken Gordon ken.gordon@scotent.co.uk
