Western Balkans call for projects 2024

• 14 February 2024: Call opens (12:00 Brussels time)
• 15 May 2024: Deadline for Eureka application at 17:00 Brussels time (national rules)
• End June 2024: Eligibility feedback to applicants
• October 2024: National evaluation
• October 2024: Consensus meeting of funding agencies
• November 2024: Eureka label procedure and funding decision
• End 2024 – beginning 2025: Expected project starts
• Up to 36 months: Project duration

This is a bottom up call for projects with no thematic restrictions, but applicants are invited to check the section “funding conditions and rules per national funding body” for detailed information.

The national funding bodies and Eureka Secretariat organised an information online webinar for applicants on 6 March 2024.

Watch the recording here.

National information webinars are also being planned.

Please contact your national funding body for further information.

Albania (NASRI- National Agency for Scientific Research and Innovation)

Grant of up to 50,000 euro or up to 80% of eligible project costs for SMEs, universities and research organisations and up to 65% for large companies.

Austria (FFG – Austrian Research Promotion Agency)

Grant of up to 60% of eligible project costs for small companies, up to 50% of eligible project costs for medium-sized companies or up to 40% of eligible project costs for large companies.

France (Bpifrance)

Loan or reimbursable advance up to 80% of the R&D costs for SMEs and large companies with below 2000 full-time equivalents, limited to 3 million euro.

For deeptech projects, a mix between a grant and reimbursable advance can be an alternative (Aide au Développement Deeptech). Academic partners can participate as subcontractors but are not eligible to receive direct funding from Bpifrance.

Hungary (NRDIO – National Research, Development and Innovation Office)

Grant of up to 80% of eligible project costs for micro and small companies / up to 75% of eligible project costs for medium-sized companies / up to 65% of eligible project costs for large companies / 100% of eligible project costs for universities or research organisations.

Montenegro (MESI – Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation)

Grant up to 150,000.00 euro per project for 36 months or 50,000 euro per year for both companies and research institutions as partners or project leaders.

Total budget for 36 months available to Montenegrin applicants amounts to 300,000.00 euro.

Serbia (NITRA – Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation)

Grant of maximum 50% of total project costs. Beneficiaries: universities/research organisations.

Participation of a Serbian company (of any size) in the project is a mandatory precondition for funding beneficiaries.

Türkiye (TÜBİTAK – Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye)

All companies established in accordance with Turkish law can apply for funding for their international projects. There is no budget limit for international projects and they can be funded by TÜBITAK without any restriction in project duration. Only companies participating in international projects are funded within this programme, but universities and research centers can be funded as subcontractors.

Companies can receive a certain percentage of their eligible costs as a grant. There is no maximum or minimum limit to the project budget. The percentage is 60% for large companies and 75% for SMEs.

For further information about financing of Turkish participants please contact TÜBİTAK. Detailed information can also be reached from here.

All countries

Funding will only be provided to projects that receive a positive evaluation from all relevant national funding bodies. Funding is subject to budgetary availability and national funding conditions outlined by each national funding body.

A consortium agreement must be written and signed by project partners, covering project execution, ownership and use of IPR arising from activities and commercialisation of your project’s results. Your consortium agreement must abide by the relevant laws of the countries participating in the project.

Unless otherwise specified by all national funding bodies in support of a given project, you must have signed a consortium agreement before the start of the project. See section “funding conditions and rules per national funding body” for exceptions. The consortium agreement should include (as a minimum) the ownership, use of know-how and IPR settlements.

The national funding bodies will fund selected projects. Support will be given to each project partner by their respective national funding body in accordance with national laws, rules, regulations and procedures, on a non-exchange of funds or soft loan basis, and subject to budgetary availability.

If there is no allocated budget for your organisation type in your country and you want to participate in a project consortium, contact your national funding body using the form below to see whether there are other funding opportunities available or talk to them about self-funding.

Read more.

Eureka has limited eligibility criteria for organisations participating in a Network projects consortium:

• Your project idea must represent international cooperation in the form of a specific project.
• The project must be directed at researching or developing an innovative product, process or service with the goal of commercialisation.
• The project must have a civilian purpose.
• Your consortium must include at least two independent legal entities from a minimum of two Eureka countries.
• No single organisation or country can be responsible for more than 70% of the project budget.

This call for projects has the additional criteria that:

• Project duration is up to 36 months.
• Your project consortium must include at least one partner from the participating Western Balkan countries.

Each participating national funding body may have additional eligibility criteria based on their national regulations. You are strongly advised, before submitting your application, to contact your national funding body to discuss your project idea and verify your and your project’s eligibility.

For detailed information on other national rules please see section “funding conditions and rules per national funding body”.

Your project application will be reviewed according to our Network projects evaluation methodology.

1. Impact

• Is the market properly addressed (i.e. size, access and risks)?
• Is the value creation properly addressed (i.e. employment opportunities and environmental and societal benefits)?
• What are the competitive advantages of your project (i.e. strategic importance, enhanced capabilities and visibility)?
• Are your commercialisation plans clear and realistic (i.e. return on investment, geographical and sectoral impact)?

2. Excellence

• What is the degree of innovation? (i.e. is the proposed product, process or service state-of-the-art? Is there sufficient technological maturity and risk)?
• How is the new knowledge going to be used?
• Is your project scientifically and technically challenging for consortium partners?
• Is the technical achievability and risk properly addressed?

3. Quality and efficiency of implementation

• What is the quality of your consortium (i.e. balance of the partnership and technological, managerial and financial capabilities of each partner)?
• Is there added value through international cooperation?
• Is your project management and planning realistic and clearly defined (i.e. methodology, planning approach, milestones and deliverables)?
• Is your cost structure reasonable (i.e. costs and financial commitment for each consortium partner)?

4. Overall perception

Experts will list three positive and negative points to your application and finally state whether they recommend your project for public investment.

Your national funding body may carry out a further evaluation (performed by the national project coordinator and technical experts) according to national rules before allocating funds to successful applicants (see section “funding conditions and rules per national funding body” for detailed information).

Country evaluation

Your project application will be reviewed according to the following additional national evaluation processes:

Albania: The evaluation of the Albanian project partners is carried out by internal experts at NASRI.

Austria: The evaluation of the Austrian project partners is carried out by internal experts at FFG.

France: French participants must contact Bpifrance to check their eligibility before applying. Then, the national funding application must be submitted on Bpifrance En Ligne.

The evaluation will be carried out by the International Innovation team and the company’s regional account manager (“Chargé d’Affaires Innovation”).

Hungary: The evaluation, labelling and selection of funding procedure lasts 4 months and involves independent technical and economic experts.

The application is accepted also for Eureka project proposals and not only with endorsed projects. However, the contracts will be concluded with the National Research, Development and Innovation Office as the funding agency only if the project gets the Eureka label.

In the support programme, applications from SMEs, large companies, universities and research institutions are accepted. However, publicly financed institutions need an industrial partner to be eligible.

Montenegro: The Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation will engage two independent experts from the List of Independent Experts made in accordance with the Rulebook on Criteria for Appointing Experts and the Procedure for Evaluating Innovation Programs and Projects (“Official Gazette of Montenegro”, No. 107/21).

In case the evaluations of two independent experts differ, the ministry will submit the project application to the third independent evaluator for individual evaluation.

Serbia: A formal 2-step evaluation is carried out according to the basic admin criteria and criteria published in national Act for funding of the Eureka network projects.

Türkiye: Participants must submit a formal national application (in Turkish) through TÜBİTAK TEYDEB’s website by 3 July 2024, including Eureka’s application form (in English).

For detailed information on other national rules please see section “funding conditions and rules per national funding body”.

1. Contact your national funding body using the contact form on Eureka’s website to discuss your project idea, financial viability, eligibility and national procedures.
2. Create an account on our application portal (one per consortium) and select the funding opportunity you want to apply to.
3. Using the portal, complete one application form per consortium (in English) and invite other consortium partners to fill in a partner form.
4. Your project application must be completed online by 15 May 2024 at 17:00 CET.
5. Upload a GANTT chart (one per consortium), a signed and completed co-signature form (which you can download from the platform) and any additional required annexes.
6. Your application will be checked for completeness and eligibility before being reviewed using a standard evaluation procedure. If successful, your project will receive a Eureka label.
7. If required by your national funding body, you must submit a related national funding application – taking into account all relevant national procedures and submission rules. Submission deadlines might differ between the participating national funding bodies.
8. Your national funding body may carry out a further evaluation (performed by the national contact and technical experts) according to national rules before allocating funds to successful applicants.
9. The final step is to complete and sign a consortium agreement. We recommend that you seek legal advice when drafting your consortium agreement.

For detailed information on national rules and application procedures please see section “funding conditions and rules per national funding body”.

• eureka-wbalkans-2024-final-call-text

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