Eurostars

Tender scheme

Several calls are issued annually for Eurostars. Each call has a submission deadline. In 2026, a call is open: January 16 – March 19.

The submitted proposals are subsequently assessed on their content and ranked by an independent international jury following an expert review. Only projects assessed above the threshold are ranked. The proposals are evaluated on:

• Project planning and quality consortium
• Market and commercialization
• Innovation and R&D

The second step is the actual grant application in the home country. Only approved and ranked proposals are eligible for a grant. The national rules of the national programs apply to this. The order of the ranking list is adhered to.

The most important conditions

- The project coordinator is an R&D-intensive SME from a Eurostars country. The Eurostars countries consist of the 27 countries of the EU, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, Croatia, Israel, Turkey, and South Korea.
- At least 2 organizations from at least 2 Eurostars countries are involved.
- There is a balanced consortium: no organization or country bears more than 70% of the costs.
- The project duration is a maximum of 36 months.
- The project has a civil application.
- R&D-intensive SMEs bear at least 50% of the total project costs, excluding subcontracting.

The amount of the subsidy

The subsidy percentages of the eligible R&D project costs are a maximum of 50%. The maximum contribution per project amounts to €500,000 for all Dutch project partners combined.