A biotech SME wants to develop a new assay together with a partner company in another country that brings complementary lab-automation capability. Neither partner could deliver the combined result alone, and both want to move it toward a market across borders. The work involves real experimental development with an uncertain outcome, reproducible assays and reliable automation are not guaranteed at the outset.
Eurostars 3 co-funds transnational collaborative research and development led by research-performing SMEs. A project needs partners from at least two participating countries, must be market-oriented and is generally under three years. The funding is provided through each country's national body, so each partner is funded by its own country: German partners are funded by the federal research ministry, typically at around half of their eligible costs. The figure shown for such a case is the German partner's funded share, not the whole project budget. The route suits an SME that wants to develop something new together with a partner abroad and reach a market faster than it could alone.
The project is exactly the kind Eurostars 3 backs: an SME-led, transnational, market-oriented R&D collaboration under three years. The partners apply together to a Eurostars cut-off, and each is funded by its own national body. The German partner's eligible costs are dominated by its research and development personnel, with project-related material; at the German co-funding rate, its funded share comes to about EUR 460,000. The partner abroad is funded by its own country in parallel.
Eurostars runs on fixed cut-off dates. The consortium, led by an R&D-performing SME, with at least two partners from at least two participating countries, submits one joint application that describes the shared project, the work split and the market ambition. The application is evaluated centrally, and on success each partner is funded through its own national body under that common decision, at its own country's rate. For the German partner this means funding from the federal research ministry at around half of its eligible costs, paid out nationally even though the project and the evaluation are international. Planning the partner roles and the budget split early, so each partner's national funding fits, is part of building a strong application.
A €460k Eurostars 3 grant.
The two companies can develop the assay and the automation together, each funded at home, and aim at a cross-border market with shared risk. The German partner carries out its part with a substantial share of its costs covered, and the collaboration gives both access to capability the other lacks.
Eurostars 3 (Eureka) · national rateEurostars 3 is the route for an SME that wants to develop something new with a partner abroad. Each partner is funded by its own country, and for the German partner the programme covers a substantial share of its costs in a market-oriented, transnational project. The key is that the collaboration is genuine and the result is headed for a market.
The questions we hear most. Short answer first, detail after.
Transnational, market-oriented collaborative research and development led by an R&D-performing SME, with partners from at least two participating countries and a project duration generally under three years.
Each partner is funded by its own country's national body. The German partner is funded by the federal research ministry, typically at around half of its eligible costs, and the figure shown is the German partner's funded share.
At least two partners from at least two participating countries, led by an R&D-performing SME. The collaboration has to be genuine, with the work shared across the partners.
The partners apply jointly to a Eurostars cut-off date, and each partner is then funded through its own national body under the common evaluation.
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