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

Watch our webinar for applicants

Guidelines for applicants:

• Eligibility criteria guidelines
• How we assess and rank applications
• Legal and financial viability check
• Official self-funding declaration template
• Application platform guidelines
• How to complete an application
• Application form in Word format
• How to complete your ethics self-assessment
• Ethics appraisal process
• Ethics table
• SME declaration form
• Guidelines on SME declaration
• Commitment and signature form
• Guidelines on commitment and signature form
• Guidelines for requesting redress

Guidelines for participants:

• Guidelines for participating in a Eurostars project
• How to complete a Consortium Agreement
• Guidelines for requesting changes
• Guidelines for project progress reports

Guidelines for remote experts:

• Remote experts guidelines

• Eligibility guidelines
• Redress procedure
• Guidelines for participants
• Request for changes and request for changes form (two documents)
• Guidelines for the online submission of project progress reports and final reports (Nov 2020)
• Project progress report and final report (after 2016)
• Ethics guidelines for participants
• Consortium agreement skeleton

We’ve answered questions about our Eurostars programme for projects submitted after 2021. These are questions that have been submitted to the helpdesk and/or asked during webinars.

I have questions about my Eurostars project application. Who should I contact and how?

If you have questions about national funding rules, contact your national funding body using our contact form.

If you have questions about Eurostars eligibility criteria, your consortium, or the Eureka Project Management Platform, contact the Eureka Secretariat by emailing: applications@eurostars-eureka.eu or fill in the contact form in the platform itself. Please state your project number if you have already submitted or started drafting your application.

Where can I find information about my national funding body, funding rules and national eligibility criteria?

Your national funding rules are updated regularly on the Eurostars funding rules tab, and your national eligibility criteria can be found on the Eurostars eligibility criteria tab. Select the country your organisation is based in. For more detailed information, please contact your national funding body using our contact form.

Please note that funding in Eurostars is decentralized; organizations of approved projects receive public funding from national funding bodies according to national rules and procedures, which may vary from country to country. The National Project Coordinators are available to discuss the rules regarding organisations that can be funded, the types of costs and activities that can be funded, as well as the funding rates and thresholds. They can also explain the national procedures and requirements that organisations need to fulfill.

Are all Eurostars eligibility criteria equally important?

Yes, all Eurostars eligibility criteria are equally important and need to be fulfilled for your project application to be eligible.

Which countries are Eurostars countries?

There are 37 Eurostars countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and the United Kingdom.

Can I participate in a Eurostars project if I am not based in a Eurostars country?

Yes. You can participate in a project whether you are based in a Eurostars country or not.

However, your consortium must meet the Eurostars eligibility criteria. Carefully read the Eligibility criteria guidelines before applying.

Moreover, only organisations based in Eurostars countries may receive Eurostars funding; organisations based elsewhere must entirely self-fund their project costs. A self-funding declaration must be uploaded at the time of submission. You can find an official self-funding declaration template on the Eureka website to use for this purpose.

Can a startup participate in a Eurostars project?

Yes, startups can participate in a Eurostars project. Contact your national funding body using our contact form to find out if you are eligible to receive national funding, as there could be specific national rules for startups.

Can a university participate in a Eurostars project?

Yes, a university can be a member of the consortium. Contact your national funding body using our contact form to find out if you are eligible to receive national funding, as there could be specific national rules for universities.

Does an SME need to be registered for R&D activities in their country to be eligible?

In Eurostars, we consider as innovative any SME with the ambition to collaborate on R&D and innovation with international partners, to develop new products, processes, and services for European and global markets. To be innovative, SMEs do not need proven track record of R&D activities. As the funding is decentralised and rules vary country to country, please check with your National Project Coordinator which are the eligibility requirements at national level to be eligible for funding.

What is the expected TRL level for a Eurostars project? Does it have an impact on eligibility?

Eurostars does not have strict rules regarding the initial and final TRL of a project and it is not binding for the eligibility purposes. However, Eurostars funds close-to-market research and organisations must be able to rapidly start commercialisation or – in case of biotechnology, biomedical and medical projects – clinical trials after the project’s completion. As a result, Eurostars projects usually start around TRL 4 and they end around TRL 6-7. Applicants need to describe precisely what the expected outcomes of the project are and define the degree of innovation it will bring. Moreover, since funding in Eurostars is decentralized, it is important to check with your national funding body which activities, levels of R&D etc. are covered by the funding.

What is the expected time for commercialisation?

In the application form, you are asked to give a timeline and describe the steps for the commercialisation of your project results. You need to state how many months after the project’s completion you expect the project results to be on the market. When it comes to the commercialisation time, there is not a binding rule, in terms of year. A good time to market depends on many factors and on the type of product/process/service you are implementing. However, Eurostars funds close-to-market research and participants must be able to rapidly start commercialisation or – in case of biotechnology, biomedical and medical projects – clinical trials after the project’s completion.

What are the rules on subcontracting?

Subcontracting amongst project partners is not allowed. Project partners are not allowed to make payments to each other for the performance of project’s activities.  This rule is valid for all project partners, irrespective of the type of organisation. The subcontracting costs also have an impact on the following eligibility criteria:

• The budget of the SME(s) from a Eurostars country, excluding subcontracting, is 50% or more of the total project cost.
• No single entity or country is responsible for more than 70% of the project budget (including subcontracting).

Is there a maximum budget for Eurostars projects? What is the average budget?

There are no limits for your total project budget, but there could be national funding limits for each participant. Contact your national funding body using our contact form for further information. The average budget for Eurostars projects is 1.5 million euro.

Can I already look at the questions in the application form to help me prepare my Eurostars project application?

Yes, you can find an application form in word format here and in our Eurostars library. However, please be reminded that you must complete and submit your project application online via the Eureka Project Management Platform. Please also use the platform at an early stage in the application process to familiarise yourself (and all project partners) with it. It is important not to wait until the last few days to start your online application to allow time in case you experience any technical difficulties.

I applied to Eurostars before, but my project was not approved or funded. Can I submit the same application again?

Yes, you can submit your application again as long as it meets all Eurostars eligibility criteria.

You will have to start a new application, fill in the application and upload all annexes once more (including commitment and signature forms with the new application ID number and SME declarations). Please indicate that it is a resubmission under the relevant question in the application form. In case of resubmission, you can use the same acronym and title, but your application will receive a new application ID number for the current call.

Do I need to submit two applications: a Eurostars and national application?

You and your project partners must submit a (collaborative) Eurostars application via our Eureka Project Management Platform. You may have to submit another (individual) application to your national funding body. Please check this with your national funding bodies.

Can I participate in multiple Eurostars projects at one time? Can I submit more than one Eurostars application under a call? Can the innovative SME be the main partner in multiple Eurostars projects at a time?

Yes, you can participate and be the main partner in multiple Eurostars projects simultaneously, and you can submit more than one application in the same call for projects. Contact your national funding body using our contact form before you consider participating in or leading multiple projects at a time.

There are some important notes to take into consideration:

• The organisation must demonstrate sufficient private financial means to undertake their role in all of the submitted projects. The organisation will be assessed as if it will take part to all projects at the same time. Therefore, the national funding body will assess the financial viability of the organisation as if all projects will eventually be approved for funding;
• To avoid the risk of double funding. This means that the same activities for a similar project outcome cannot be publicly supported twice. The different proposals must be different and the tasks eligible for funding need to be diverse from one project to another.
• Eurostars adopts a decentralised funding methodology. All funding to approved projects is managed by the national funding bodies according to its national funding rules and procedures.

How do I start my Eurostars application?

The innovative SME leading your project must register on our Eureka Project Management Platform and open a new application by creating an account and choosing the Eurostars call for projects.

Can the whole Eurostars application be completed by the main partner?

No, the main partner can complete most questions alone, but not the questions in the section titled “Your organisation”, which is a partner-specific section, and each partner needs to complete it individually. 

Does every organisation need to upload a Commitment and Signature form?

The Commitment and Signature form must be submitted by every organisation in the consortium. The SME declaration, however, must only be uploaded by the SMEs in the consortium.

What is the “self-funding declaration”?

Organisations can also participate in the Eurostars programme on a self-funding basis. This means that they are willing and able to self-finance their participation in the project without receiving any Eurostars public funding. This is declared by providing a completed self-funding declaration, signed by an authorised legal representative within the organisation. You can find an official self-funding declaration template on the Eureka website to use for this purpose.

Which financial information do I need to provide in my application? How is it going to be assessed?

The legal and financial viability check is performed at national level. If you have questions about what kind of financial/legal information is needed in your country, please contact your national funding body. It is up to the national funding body to decide the information they feel is necessary to perform this check.

According to our Guidelines for completing an application and the Legal and financial viability check guidelines:

“Every organisation applying to Eurostars must contact their National Project Coordinator to find out which financial documents they need to submit as part of the application form.

Every participant may be asked to submit up to two financial reports:

• an annual financial report from the last full accounting year (even if it has not been submitted to your national authorities yet),
• an annual financial report from the financial year preceding the last full accounting year.

If you are unable to provide a financial report (e.g., if you are a start-up), a business plan may be submitted instead.

Make sure you contact your National Project Coordinator to discuss your current financial situation and know exactly what documents you need to submit.

If you do not submit the information your National Project Coordinator recommends:

•  you might not fulfil national requirements,
•  you might be considered high risk and
•  you might be ineligible to receive public funding.”

How do I make changes to my Eurostars application?

You can edit your application any time before you submit it. However, you cannot edit your submitted application and we cannot reopen it for you. If you want to make changes to an already submitted application, you can submit a new application, but this must be done before the application deadline. If you decide to do that you need to take the necessary steps:

1) Inform us via email (applications@eurostars-eureka.eu) about the application that you wish to withdraw, providing its number and application title;

2) After informing us, submit the new application.

Note that you will have to manually copy-paste all information from the old application to the new one. You will have to start a new application, fill in the application and upload all annexes once more (including commitment and signature forms with the new application ID number and SME declarations).

I have submitted my Eurostars application. When can we start? Can we change the project’s start date later on?

Your project must start after you receive your evaluation results. Declare your project’s start date in your application. You can change your proposed start date when your application has been declared as approved and you have submitted your final consortium agreement signed by all project partners.

If the project is approved, how are the payments made? How is the financial settlement at the end of the project?

This depends on the national funding rules of your country. Each organisation receives funds from their own national funding body who have independent rules and procedures. For this information, please contact your national funding body using our contact form.

What happens if my Eurostars project has received a positive evaluation, but one country does not have funding available for one of our project partners? Can our Eurostars project still continue?

Yes, your Eurostars project can continue if the project partner that cannot receive funding can self-finance their entire contribution to the project. The organisation must submit a self-funding declaration. You can find an official self-funding declaration template on the Eureka website to use for this purpose.

Are there specific R&D sectors which are preferred in this call?

No, the Eurostars programme has a bottom-up approach. The calls are not thematic, all technology and market areas are welcome.

What percentage of Eurostars applications receive public funding?

Approximately 25% of Eurostars applications receive funding.

How frequent are Eurostars calls for projects?

We aim to organise two Eurostars calls for projects each year. We announce calls for projects on our Eureka website, in our newsletter and on our social media channels.

What is the definition of a procedural grounds? Are there any examples?

“Procedural grounds” refers to a failing in the way the eligibility check, the Legal and Financial Viability check or the evaluation process were conducted. Applicants can raise procedural irregularities, factual errors, manifest errors of assessment or abuse of powers.

Is there a list of funded projects and examples of successful projects?

Successful projects, in terms of consortium members, topic of the project awarded, and amount are information publicly available on our Eureka website: https://www.eurekanetwork.org/about-us/eureka-data.

How can we find project partners?

There is a matchmaking tool to look for potential partners supported by Enterprise Europe Network.

You can also contact your National Project Coordinator using our contact form.

How can I access my Eurostars project information?

Log into our project management platform using the email address and password you used during your project application.

If you have forgotten your password, first click on “sign in with Eureka”   and then select “forgot your password?”. In this section you can also request a new password.

What reports do I need to complete for my Eurostars project and when?

Every consortium must complete project progress reports every six months and a final report at the end of your project. These reports are completed on our project management platform.

Our project management platform automatically generates project progress reports every six months whilst your project is running. All partners will be notified by email when you must complete a project progress report.

Individual final reports will be generated for your project once the main partner indicates that one or all partners have finished their work on the project.

You may also have to report information to your national funding body.

How do I know if I have a task I need to complete for my Eurostars project?

When you have a new task to complete, you will receive an email notification with a link to access the task. Either click on that link or log into our project management platform and access e.g., your project progress report. The report you need to complete will appear as “to be completed”.

I received an email about a project progress report task. What should I do?

Log into our project management platform to access your project progress report. Complete all the questions under all tabs and mark the sections as complete.

When you receive the email with your task, you will have four weeks to complete your project progress report.

Do I have to fill in the report in a specific order?

No, you can complete the report in any order, just make sure to save as you go and mark fields as complete when you have finished filling them in.

Who should complete the partner section in our project progress report?

If you are the main partner in your project, you must complete part one of the project progress report and assign partner sections to your project partners (and to yourself to complete) in part two.

The partner section and your project partners’ tasks will only be visible and accessible to them once you have assigned the section.

If you are a project partner, you must complete the partner section in part two of your project progress report once it has been assigned to you on our project management platform. The main partner can also complete your partner section on your behalf.

Who should submit our project progress reports? All project partners or only the main partner?

Once all fields and sections (including all partner sections) of your project progress report have been filled in and marked as complete, the main partner needs to log into our project management platform to submit the report on behalf of the consortium.

I have completed my project progress report. What do I do next?

After completing both your partner section and your whole project progress report, click on “submit”. Do not confuse this with the “save and return” button.

Once you have submitted your project progress report, the status of your report will change from “to be completed” to “pending”.

Why can’t I submit my project progress report?

If you cannot submit your project progress report, you may have left a question or a partner section unanswered. Check that all the fields in the form are filled in and marked as complete. If you cannot answer a question, you must still write N/A in the text box. When you have completed the report, you will be able to click on “submit”.

I submitted my project progress report, but I received an email saying I must redo the task. Why am I receiving this email?

Your project progress report has been reviewed and contains mistakes or inconsistencies. You will receive a notification by email with feedback from us. Please log into our project management platform to make the revisions we have requested and click on “submit”.

If I am asked to resubmit my report, where can I find feedback of what I need to improve?

You will receive an email with comments about the content in your report.

My Eurostars project has finished. Where can I find the final report?

A final report will be generated for your project once the main partner indicates that one or all partners have finished their work on the project.

Individual final report(s) will be generated for the partner(s) that have completed all activities in your project.

Who should submit a final report? Every participant or only the main partner?

All project participants must fill in a final report individually. You must submit your report even if you self-funded your project costs. When you have completed your final report, click on “submit”.

Can I keep copies of my reports?

Yes, you can download a pdf file of your project progress report when you submit it, and you can download a copy of your final report in pdf format once it has been approved.

Can I change my organisation’s contact for my Eurostars project?

Yes. To change your contact details, go to “project team” on our project management platform and modify your contact details.

I need to change an aspect of my Eurostars project. How do I do this?

To make a change to your Eurostars project, access your project on our project management platform and click on “request for change”. You will be able to request to make a change to your project. Soon after, we will review your request and approve or decline it.

If you have more questions, please contact projects@eurostars-eureka.eu.

Where can I find guidelines about completing and submitting reports or requesting changes?

You can find all our Eurostars programme guidelines here.