Germany and Israel call for projects

This project call is for R&D projects in all technological and application areas. You must develop ready-to-market solutions for products, technology-based services or methods, which have strong market potential for Germany, Israel, and Europe. If your application is successful, you will receive a Eureka label.

19 May 2025: Call opens

29 July 2025, 17:00 CEST: National submission deadline

Spring 2026: Projects can begin (expected)

Expected project results must contribute to the development of commercial products, applications and/or technology-based services. The project proposals must comply with the following guidelines:

• The German applicant must be represented by an R&D performing company in collaboration with a non-profit research institution (university, Fraunhofer institute, research centre, etc.) to facilitate technology transfer by the conclusion of project.
• The Israeli applicant must be an R&D performing company, which will be able to generate future revenue based on the developed or transferred intellectual property after the project. The industrial partner must be technologically and scientifically accompanied by an Israeli research institution (university, research centre, etc.).
• The outcome of research activities (product or service) must display clear potential for improving existing products or creating new marketable products that guarantee sale profits to the participating company.
• The Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of the proposed project should be within the range of TRL 2 to TRL 5, where TRL 5 is the highest TRL that is expected to have been reached by the end of the project. The final goal of the project must include the company’s validation of processes previously tested in the laboratory, or leveraging academic expertise to meet specific company needs.
• The project should have an obvious advantage and added value resulting from the cooperation between the participants from the two countries (e.g. increased knowledge base, commercial leads, access to R&D infrastructure, new fields of application, etc.).
• The project should demonstrate the contribution of the participants from both countries.

Any partner whose cooperative R&D project is consistent with these criteria can apply to the present call in accordance with the national laws, rules, regulations, and procedures in effect.

Germany (ZIM) funding

Participants from Germany can receive a conditional grant of up to 60% of eligible project costs.

All German companies with up to 1,000 employees (or consortia of such enterprises), which perform R&D to develop an innovative product, process or technological service – also in cooperation with a research institution/university – have the right to apply.

There are no restrictions to specific technologies or branches. The application must be in line with the ZIM regulation and must be in the German language.

Support is provided in the form of a conditional grant amounting to 60% of the project costs, with the following limits:

• Companies: up to 560,000 euro per sub-project
• Research institutions: up to 280,000 euro per sub-project

The final approval is made by the ZIM project agency. It is possible to begin a research project, at the applicant’s own risk, after receiving a confirmation of the receipt of the funding application from AiF Projekt GmbH. We recommend contacting AiF Projekt GmbH before the application to clarify open questions and to hand in a project sketch up until 6 weeks before deadline.

German research institutes/universities are accepted as additional partners according to the rules available on the ZIM website. The proposal form is available in the forms section of the ZIM website.

More information is available on the website of ZIM.

Israel (IIA) funding

Participants from Israel can receive a conditional grant of up to 60% of the eligible research and development budget, with a maximum of 5 million new Israeli shekels for the total programme. The maximum duration of the project is three years.

When a project results in sales of a product, service, or process, the financial support must be repaid to the Israel Innovation Authority according to its regulations. In general, royalties are paid at rates beginning at 3% of sales, depending on various criteria. Royalties are payable until 100% of the amount of the grant has been repaid, with interest as provided in the applicable regulations.

More information is available on the funding mechanisms of IIA on the IIA website.

Each ministry or funding agency will fund organisations according to local laws, rules, procedures and available budget.

If your ministry or funding agency does not have funding for organisations like yours, you can still join a project. Contact your ministry or funding agency for information about other funding options or self-funding.

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 one Germany-based company and one Israel-based company.
• No single organisation or country can be responsible for more than 70% of the project budget.

Germany and Israel have additional criteria for organisations to be eligible to receive funding. For details, please see the section on Funding Details.

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.

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. 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.
5. 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.
6. Your national funding body may carry out a further evaluation (performed by the NPC and technical experts) according to national rules before allocating funds to successful applicants.
7. The final step is to complete and sign a consortium agreement (CA). We recommend that you seek legal advice when drafting your CA.

The application form must be submitted by 29 July 2025 at 17:00 (CEST). The forms must be legally signed by all participating companies. The signatures must be scanned and sent electronically with your application form. The final Eureka status is only granted if the funding of all project partners has been secured.

Your project application will be screened and evaluated by the Innovation Authority in Israel and the German Eureka Office.

When you submit your Eureka application, all project partners must also submit an application according to national procedures. Contact the National Funding Body before you apply.

Germany (ZIM) has additional steps for applying:

Each German project partner must submit an individual ZIM application to AiF Projekt GmbH.

Detailed criteria for submitting applications and the ZIM application form can be found on the ZIM website (in German). you may also contact AiF Projekt GmbH directly. The application must comply with ZIM guidelines and be written in German. The proposal form is available in the forms section of the ZIM website.

Israel (IIA) has additional steps for applying:

At the same time as the Eureka application, Israeli partners will be asked to submit a short project outline of their funding applications to the Innovation Authority. The application should be submitted via the website of the Innovation Authority.

At this stage, you must also submit a provisional consortium agreement between project partners.

The deadline is 29 July at 12:00 IDT.

Each country will fund its eligible participants. Funding conditions and eligibility criteria vary between participating countries. Up-to-date information in relation to bilateral projects in education and research is available on the website of BMBF.

The Innovation Authority and BMWK (supported by the German Eureka Office in Bonn, and the ZIM project management agency, AiF Projekt GmbH) will provide all necessary assistance to project partners during the project proposal, evaluation and monitoring phases. In addition, both the Innovation Authority and the German Eureka Office will support you when you are completing your Eureka application and receive a Eureka label (if your project receives a positive evaluation) and will support the progress of your project.

Download the call for projects text