Eureka is a research initiative, not a funding programme. Project partners are responsible for securing the financing of their project. Financial aid may be provided by the nationally responsible body/institution. That's why, within the same project, it is possible that some partners are subsided, some partners will have to repay loans, and some partners participate on a self-financing basis. Of course, the procedures and time needed to obtain funding differs from one country to the next. Ask your National Project Coordinator for further information. For contact and national funding information please check the international Eureka Website.

There are several ways to finance your project part:

Self-financing
Public grants
the funding programme Eurostars

German project participants can apply for funding within the national funding programmes, e.g. of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology.

Self-financing

If a Eureka project partner decides to self-finance his project part he should report this to his national Eureka office. The verification of secured project financing is part of the evaluation which is mandatory for a Eureka project proposal to be considered for the Eureka label. The evaluation has to be performed by the respective Eureka offices of the project partners.

Public grants

All national funding programs in Germany are possible sources of funding for German contributions to Eureka projects. These include the funding programs of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi), and the individual federal states.

The criteria for state funding include the following:

• the project must result in technical progress
• there must be a federal interest in achievement of the research goals
• existence of high economic and technical risk

Funding programme Eurostars

Eurostars is the first European programme specifically targeting ambitious, market-driven and research-oriented SMEs. It combines the bottom-up approach of Eureka with easier and faster access to dedicated national and EU funding, harmonised across Europe. 

Eurostars in brief:

• Focus on ambitious R&D-oriented SMEs in high-technology sectors
• Stimulating market-oriented innovation in any non-military technological area
• Supporting bottom-up research through single funding points
• Offering central evaluation but local support
• Ensuring predictable procedures, short lead times and guaranteed funding

For more information please visit the Eurostars website.