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 between January 16, 2026, and March 19, 2026, by 2:00 p.m. Central European Time, using the Eurostars project platform - https://myeurekaproject.org/ 

Your project consortium must have an innovative SME in a leading role, but may also include other types of organizations such as large companies, universities, research organizations, and others.

More information on Eurostars 3 – Call 10 can be found on the program website:  https://www.eurekanetwork.org/programmes-and-calls/eurostars/eurostars-march-2026/

Available Funding:

Please note that co-funding from the European Commission is currently in the process of being finalized.

The amount of funding your organization receives when participating in a project is managed by your national funding agency. Funding rules vary by country, and your national funding agency decides:

-which organizations are eligible for funding,

-which project activities can be funded,

-funding rates.

If you are from a country participating in Eurostars, you can find out what funding is available for your organization in the “Country Information” section of the Eurostars website and by contacting your national or regional funding body using the contact form on the website. Each national funding body has a maximum funding amount per project or project partner. Organizations from countries not participating in Eurostars may participate by self-funding their project costs.

Member States that will not allocate a budget for Call 10: Cyprus, Greece, Italy (MIMIT), Israel, and Hungary. Organizations from these countries will be able to participate in Eurostars projects on the basis of full self-financing of their contribution.

Following a positive international evaluation under Eurostars-3, Bulgarian participants in approved project proposals proceed to the national funding stage. Applications for 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.