Eurostars is an EU research fund available to SME’s in the Eurostars participating countries, of which Ireland is one. In Ireland the funding is provided through Enterprise Ireland who will fund up to 50% of total project costs, which typically have a total value of 1.5 million Euro.
The research project must satisfy certain criteria, some of which are:
- The research must be collaborative which means that there must be at least two participants in the research project, from at least two different Eurostars participating countries (most EU member states plus some others).
- The main (or lead) participant must be a “research-performing SME”, that is, invest 10% or more of full-time equivalent or annual turnover in research activities.
- 50% of the research conducted by the project consortia must be conducted by SMEs (the remainder, for example, could be conducted by a research centre with a 3rd level educational institute, a larger organisation, a university, or indeed other SME’s).
- The research must be aimed at the development of a new product, process or service.
- The research project must have a maximum duration of three years, and within two years of project completion, the product of the research should be ready for launch onto the market
The next deadline for electronic submission of applications is Friday 21 November 2008 at 1700 CET. You can find out more information from Enterprise Irelands web site.
