Eurostars is a joint initiative between EUREKA and the European Commission specifically dedicated to R&D performing SMEs.
VINNOVA is the Swedish coordinator of EUREKA's Eurostars Programme. Eurostars is the first European funding and support programme to be specifically dedicated to R&D performing SMEs. The programme will stimulate them to lead international collaborative R&D projects by easing access to support and funding. Eurostars is a joint initiative between EUREKA and the EU Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7).
Eurostars has a budget of at least 400 million euro of which 100 million comes from the European Commission and the remaining balance consists of national R & D funds from the European countries which have joined the program. Together with funding from participating companies and organizations, the programme's total project budget amounts to 800 million euro.
The programme supports market-oriented R & D projects with partners from at least two member countries. The project should lead to market introduction of a product or service based on innovative technology. The Eurostars Programme will specifically enable R&D-performing SMEs to improve performance through its support of ‘in-house’ research; it will also enable companies to develop closer working relationships with the European research community. The objective of the Eurostars Programme is to bring increased value to the economy, higher growth and more job opportunities by supporting the R&D-performing SME.
Projects that apply to the Eurostars Programme are evaluated by an independent international panel of experts and is ranked both in terms of technological innovation and market potential. Compared to a typical application to the EU framework programme, Eurostars will have a faster application procedure and less administration as processes based are based on experience from the EUREKA Initiative. The evaluation process is expected to take about four months.
The programme officially opened in October 2007 and runs for 6 years, 2008-2013. Applications may be submitted continuously and applications received will be evaluated twice per year.
