EUREKA Eurostars

Eurostars is open to all projects in all technology areas and market fields. Projects must have a civilian purpose.

Each Eureka Eurostars competition will have a different set of criteria that your application will need to meet.

But there are a few general standards that all applications should adhere to:

Make sure the application does not:

• Deliberately increase word count using punctuation
• Use unprofessional, aggressive or threatening language
• Have a notable lack of content
• Have no clear innovation

The application will very likely not be successful if it:

• Is the same as, or very similar to, a project that has received public funds previously
• Is the same as, or very similar to, another application

Only SMEs performing R&D are eligible for grant funding. To qualify as a research-performing SME, you must:

• Invest 10% or more of turnover into research; or,
• Have 10% of full-time equivalent staff working on research activities; or,
• Have 5 or more full-time staff working on research activities, if your business has 100 or fewer employees; or,
• Have 10 or more full-time staff working on research activities, if your business has 100 or more employees.

In addition to qualifying as a research-performing SME, your business must be registered at Companies House and trading for 12 months at the closing date for applications. All work must be carried out in the UK and project costs must be incurred in the UK.

Academics, universities, Research and Technology Organisations, and large companies can participate in Eurostars, but they must use funds from other sources or fund their own participation.

If you are a UK-based business, you can apply for funding to:

• test the feasibility of your idea and make sure it will work
• create a new product, process, or service, or improve an existing one, through research and development
• work with other business or research organisations on collaborative projects.

Eurostars applications have a two-step evaluation process:

• Applications are assessed by three independent experts. If at least two of the three experts agree that at least two of the three main criteria (‘quality and efficiency of the implementation’, ‘impact – market and commercialisation’, and ‘excellence – innovation and R&D’) are satisfactory, the application advances to the next stage of evaluation.
• In the second stage of evaluation, the results of assessments are used by the Independent Evaluation Panel (IEP) to score and rank all eligible applications. If an application is above the quality threshold and funding is available, the project is approved for funding.

Eurostars applications are first assessed by three independent experts. These experts are matched to applications by their technological expertise, familiarity with the market applications, and SME experience.

During part 2 of evaluation, the Independent Evaluation Panel (IEP) will score and rank all eligible applications. The IEP is led by a chairperson and includes internationally recognised experts in their field.

The IEP members cover a variety of professional sectors. They are chosen based on the technical requirements and profiles of the applications at the time.

Your application is more likely to succeed if it:

• Demonstrates a clear understanding of the target market, including commercialisation and competitor information
• Offers a convincing company description explaining why your project is more likely to succeed than a competitor’s
• Shows how the project will bring in a real innovation without replicating anything that’s on the market already
• Includes a thorough, clear description of the business opportunity, not just details about the project

Project costs are only eligible if they are incurred and paid between the project start date and project end date. Claims may be subject to an independent audit.