Call for Projects: Eurostars Programme

Deadline: 4 September 2025

Applications are now open for Eurostars, 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.

Eligibility Criteria

To apply, you must fulfil 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 a Eurostars country, excluding 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.

Evaluation Process

Eurostars has a centralised and transparent evaluation for selecting projects to receive funding.
Independent evaluators will score your project application against three criteria and their subcriteria:
- Quality and efficiency of the implementation:
  - Quality of the consortium.
  - Added value through cooperation. Realistic and clearly defined project management and planning.
  - Reasonable cost structure.
- Impact:
  - Market size.
  - Market access and risk.
  - Competitive advantage.
  - Clear and realistic commercialisation plans.
  - Economic, environmental, and societal impact.
- Excellence:
  - Degree of innovation.
  - New applied knowledge.
  - Level of technical challenge.
  - Technical achievability and risk.
Results are communicated at each step:
- Eligibility check (within one week of 04 September 2025)
- Legal and financial viability check (mid-October 2025)
- Expert evaluation conducted by three independent experts per project (mid-October 2025)
- Independent Evaluation Panel and ranking of project applications (end of November 2025)
- Ethics review (end of November 2025)
Applications are considered for funding if:
- They are among the best 200 projects evaluated by the remote experts which progress to the Independent Evaluation Panel.
- All project partners receive a positive Legal and Financial Viability outcome.
- The Independent Evaluation Panel considered the projects to be excellent or good quality.