Eurostars is a funding instrument designed to support innovative small and medium-sized enterprises and their partners—large companies, universities, research organizations, and other entities—in carrying out international collaborative research, development, and innovation projects. Through their participation, organizations gain access to public funding for international projects in various fields of research and development. The National Innovation Fund (NIF) acts as the state aid administrator in its capacity as the national funding institution.

For an applicant to have a successful Eurostars application, they must:

Define their project idea.
Collaborate internationally, sharing expertise.
Develop products, processes, or services that can be easily commercialized.

Interested applicants may submit their application for a research, development, and innovation project under Eurostars 3 Call 8 between November 17, 2025, and 2:00 p.m. Central European Time on November 27, 2025, using the Eurostars project platform (https://myeurekaproject.org/).

More information about Eurostars 3 – Call 8 can be found on the program’s website:

https://www.eurekanetwork.org/programmes-and-calls/eurostars/eurostars-call-for-projects-september-2026/

Following a positive international evaluation under Eurostars-3, Bulgarian participants in the approved project proposals proceed to the national funding stage. Documents for the provision of national financial support are submitted to the National Innovation Fund (NIF) via ISUN,

The Fund acts as the national funding institution for Bulgaria and administers the funding in accordance with applicable national rules and procedures.

The decision for approval of the ranked project proposals by the National Innovation Fund, as well as the list under the 8th competitive session of the Eurostars-3 Joint Programme within the EUREKA initiative, can be found here:

https://nif.government.bg/en/documents