Joint R&D Track

Request your free Joint Report

For one R&D project carried out with partners in another country — Eurostars and comparable joint transnational programmes. We check your eligibility against the programme's own seven criteria and come back in writing within 5 working days, including an honest "not yet" where that is the answer.

This form is in English only, because the Eurostars application itself must be submitted in English. We work entirely in writing: no calls unless you ask for one. Start with the eligibility questions — if the route does not fit, we will tell you there and you can stop.

First: does the route fit?

Eurostars has seven eligibility criteria, and failing any one of them ends the application regardless of how good the project is. These questions check them. "Not sure" is a fine answer to the budget questions — those ratios only settle while the application is being written.

Is your organisation an SME under the EU definition?

Fewer than 250 staff, and either turnover up to €50M or a balance sheet total up to €43M. If your company is part of a larger group, that group's figures count towards yours.

Do you have a committed partner in another country?

Not a supplier and not a "we have spoken about it" — someone who has agreed to be a partner in the application. This is the one requirement we cannot arrange for you: we do not broker consortia.

Planned project duration, in months

36 months is the hard limit.

Is the project exclusively for civilian applications?

Eurostars only funds civilian applications. Dual-use is not automatically excluded, but a defence purpose is.

Will at least one participant apply for public funding?

An application in which every participant self-finances cannot be approved. At least one has to be asking a national agency for money.

Is your company more than 25% owned by another company or group?

This matters because a parent group's headcount and turnover count towards your SME status. Ownership by a venture capital fund or a public investment body does not count against you.

Country where your company is legally and operationally based

Eurostars countries include all EU member states plus a number of associated countries. If you are unsure whether yours qualifies, say so and we will check.

Are you and your partner(s) independent of one another?

This decides eligibility. Independent means neither controls more than 50% of the other, and they are not under the same control. Shared venture capital or public shareholders do not count as control.

Will SMEs from Eurostars countries carry at least 50% of the project cost?

Excluding subcontracting. The figure is not rounded, so 49.9% fails. "Not sure" is fine — this settles while the budget is built.

Will any single participant or country carry more than 70% of the budget?

Also not rounded. A single participant or country at 70.1% fails. "Not sure" is fine.

Do the partners have PIC numbers?

A PIC number is required for every partner, and registration and submission are impossible without one. Getting one takes time, so it is worth starting early.

Contact

Your name *

Work email *

Legal entity name *

Your role

The project

Project title *

A working title is fine.

Project acronym

Optional. If you do not have one, we will suggest one.

Preferred start date

Roughly. Month and year is enough.

What do you want to do? *

Two or three sentences in your own words. The application asks for this in 100 words; we will do that compression.

Why do you want to do it?

What problem does it solve, and why now?

How will you make money from it?

Who pays, for what, and roughly how much?

Which products, processes or services will the project deliver?

List them separately, starting with the main one. A product, a process and a piece of software are three results, not one.

What is the technical approach, and how novel is it?

Which method or approach, and why that one? Is this a breakthrough or a step up from what you already do?

What already exists today?

What can be bought or done today, and where does it fall short?

What could go wrong technically?

The honest ones. Assessors read a risk section with no risks in it as a section that has not been thought about.

Technology readiness now, and at the end of the project

For example: "TRL 4 now, TRL 7 at the end". A rough estimate is fine.

Is this a resubmission of an earlier application?

If yes, please give the previous application number and title. A resubmission is not a disadvantage, but it changes how we write it.

Market and impact

What revenue do you expect from this, and what have you invested so far?

Rough figures are fine. The application asks for expected revenue as a result of the project and for what has been invested so far.

How many months after the project ends do you expect to be on the market?

Counted from the end of the project, not from today.

Who are the main players and competitors, and what is commercially available now?

Named competitors are more useful than market-size statistics.

Does the project contribute to any UN Sustainable Development Goals?

Which ones, and how specifically? Vague claims here score badly, so we would rather claim one goal with evidence than five without.

Could the results carry any negative social or environmental effects?

Answering "none" is allowed, but a considered answer is worth more than a blank one.

Your partners

Partner 1

Partner organisation

Country

Type

Core business and what they bring

What they do commercially, and what they contribute that you cannot do yourself.

What they will do in the project

Roughly which part of the work is theirs.

Have you worked together before?

Any previous joint project, contract or research collaboration.

What does each side gain from working across borders?

Assessors specifically look for why this has to be international, rather than something you could do at home.

Who owns what now, and how will results be owned?

Existing patents, licences or background knowledge each side brings, and any agreement on who owns the results.

What project management experience does the lead partner have?

Who will lead the project, and what have they run before?

Anything else

Does the project touch on ethics issues?

For example personal data, human participants, animals, or research with a possible dual-use dimension. The application has a separate ethics table for this.

Any deadlines or constraints we should know about?

For example a customer commitment, a patent deadline or a funding round.

Anything else

We reply in writing within 5 working days. Your answers are used only to assess this application and are never shared with third parties.

Eurostars applications are submitted on the Eureka Project Management Platform by the consortium itself, and cannot be modified after submission. We prepare the full application and hand it over for you to paste and submit, with a final check before you press send.

If the route fits and you decide to proceed, a Joint Application starts at €9,950 — fixed, agreed before we start, with no success fee. That covers a two-partner consortium; each partner above two adds €2,500. The Joint Report itself is free and carries no obligation.