Eurostars Call for Projects – March 2026

Jan 16, 2026 - Mar 19, 2026

Eurostars is part of the European Partnership on Innovative SMEs. The partnership is co-funded by the European Union through Horizon Europe.

Start Date: 16 January 2026, 12:00 AM CET

End Date: 19 March 2026, 2:00 PM CET

The National Funding Bodies from Austria, Belgium (Brussels, Flanders, Wallonia), Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy (MUR only) Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye, and the United Kingdom have allocated funding for organisations collaborating on international R&D projects.

What is Eurostars?

Eurostars is a funding instrument that supports innovative SMEs and project partners (large companies, universities, research organisations and other types of organisations) by funding international collaborative R&D and innovation projects. By participating, organisations can access public funding for international collaborative R&D projects in all fields.

To have a successful Eurostars application you must:

Define your project idea.
Collaborate internationally, sharing expertise.
Develop products, processes or services that can be easily commercialised.
You can submit your R&D and innovation project application between 16 January 2026 and 19 March 2026 at 14:00 CET using our project platform (myeurekaproject.org). Your project consortium must have an innovative SME in the leading role, but it can also include other types of organisations like large companies, universities, research organisations and more.

Please note that the European Commission co-funding is pending signature.

The amount of funding your organisation receives when you participate in a project is managed by your National Funding Body. Funding rules vary from country to country and your National Funding

Body decides:
which organisations can receive funding,
which project activities can be funded
and funding rates.

If you are from a Eurostars country, you can discover what funding is available for your organisation in our ‘Country information’ section below, and by contacting your national or regional funding body using our contact form. Your National Funding Body may have maximum funding amount per project or project partner.

Organisations from non-Eurostars countries can participate by self-funding their project costs.

Who can apply
To apply, you must meet seven international eligibility criteria:

The project consortium is led by an innovative SME from a Eurostars country.
The project consortium is composed of at least two entities that are independent of one another.
The project consortium is composed of entities from at least two Eurostars countries with at least one organisation coming from an EU or Horizon Europe Associated Country
The budget of the SMEs from the Eurostars countries (excluding any subcontracting) is 50% or more of the total project cost.
No single participant or country is responsible for more than 70% of the budget of the project.
The project duration is 36 months or less.
The project has an exclusive focus on civil applications.

You can find more information and definitions of the terms used in these criteria in the detailed Eurostars guidelines in the Resource Library via this link: https://www.eurekanetwork.org/programmes-and-calls/eurostars/eurostars-march-2026/

Important note
Please read these guidelines before submitting a project application. If you do not meet all our international eligibility criteria, your application will be rejected. Additionally, you might need to fulfil national or regional eligibility criteria. Please check with your national or regional funding body.

Canada 🇨🇦
Canadian funding body, the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP), provides eligible Canadian SMEs with advisory services and funding support for R&D costs resulting from participating in our Eurostars programme.

Important note
Your national or regional funding body may need you to complete additional steps to apply to Eurostars. If you do not provide the information required by your national or regional funding body, you may render yourself ineligible to receive public funding.

Application process

How to apply

Applying to Eurostars is designed to be quick and simple. In your application, you can tell us more about your organisation and the innovative new product, process, or service you plan to develop.

Contact your national or regional funding body using the contact form available on the Eureka website to discuss your project idea, funding in your country, legal and financial viability and eligibility.
Create an account on our project platform (myeurekaproject.org) to open a new application. The innovative SME leading your consortium must open your application and invite the other partners to collaborate on the online application form.
On the platform, complete the application form (in English) and submit it electronically. The portal allows you to save, revisit and edit your application form before you submit it, giving you time to confirm all information is correct.
Upload annexes by attaching them to your online application form. You must complete and upload:
a signed commitment and signature form,
(if you are an SME) an SME declaration.
Depending on what country you are based in, you may need to add a financial annex:
financial reports,
(if you are a start-up) a business plan,
other.
Contact your national funding body to discuss which documents you need to provide. If you are an organisation that is 100% publicly funded, you will not have to provide a financial annex. If you are not eligible to receive public funding or do not request public funding, you must add:
a self-funding declaration.
You can also include annexes to support your project application:
a technical annex (related to the project),
a Gantt chart.
Submit your completed application form before the deadline.
For detailed information about applying to our Eurostars programme, read our guidelines.
Please note: Your national or regional funding body may need you to complete additional steps to apply to Eurostars. If you do not provide the information required by your national or regional funding body, you may render yourself ineligible to receive public funding.
How applications will be evaluated
Eurostars has a centralised and transparent evaluation for selecting projects to receive funding.