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Opening of the new EUREKA Eurostars 3 call 7 – Novelties and tips for your application


18th July 2024 at 10:17 am



The much-anticipated second call for Eurostars-3 in 2024 (cut-off 7) has been launched! As of 12 July, 2024, the EUREKA Project Management Platform is officially open. This is your chance to secure public funding for your innovative project for which you have two months to register and submit your grant application until the deadline on 12 September 2024 (14:00 PM CEST). Eurostars-3 is an initiative created under the Horizon Europe / European Innovation Ecosystems (EIE) programme as a European Partnership on Innovative SMEs with the cooperation of the Eureka Secretariat and 37 member countries. Within the programme’s scope, the call supports collaborative R&D projects with international partners. The goal is to develop market-oriented, cutting-edge products, processes, or services. But going solo will not work here – collaboration is key. To be eligible, your project consortium must include at least two partner organisations from two different Eurostars member countries, with an innovative SME leading the project. This blog post will guide you through the key features of this call, highlight any important changes from previous rounds and offer some practical tips to help you strengthen your application.

Novelties and key criteria for success

This second Eurostars-3 call for 2024 brings good news – if you participated in the March submission deadline earlier this year there are no changes to the application process or structure compared to the previous round. Eligibility criteria also remain consistent. However, it is important to note that there are also country-specific eligibility requirements and funding rates that the National Funding Bodies (NFB) define. For an overview on this, read our previous blog post where we concisely summarised the general and country-specific eligibility requirements for the current call or check out our quick and handy online Eurostars eChecker tool!

Continuing the format of previous calls, applications will be structured around three key sections: “Impact,” “Excellence” and “Quality and Efficiency of Implementation”. The maximum word count for each question within the online application forms also remains unchanged. These sections will be evaluated by three independent reviewers using a set of pre-defined criteria and sub-criteria, all carrying equal weight: 

For a detailed description of what the remote external experts look for in your application, we recommend that you check out the document “How we assess and rank applications” and read the “Guidelines for the external experts”. Both are available for download on the Eurostars website.

Gearing up for your application: required documents and resubmission tips

All applicants will need to submit a complete application through the EUREKA Project Management Platform which includes a couple of mandatory legal documents which need to be signed. Important note for the ones handing in a resubmission; as it is not possible to reopen a previous unsuccessful application, you will need to register a new proposal, meaning that all fields will need to be completed manually again. A new proposal registration results in a new project ID, which means that the mandatory documents listed below will also need to be updated and resigned. Here is the good news, though: you can leverage the valuable feedback provided by reviewers in your previous submission to make the necessary improvements and strengthen your resubmission. Here is a list of the required documents to be signed and uploaded on the application platform. You can find the templates in EUREKA’s documents library.

1. SME Declaration form

      The SME declaration is a reference document that provides information relating to the qualification of an enterprise as an SME and will be checked by your NFB. Please note that the SME declaration must be signed by an authorised legal representative of your organisation.

      2. Commitment and signature form

        This “Commitment and Signature Form” is a legal document required to be signed by an authorised legal representative of your organisation for Eurostars project applications. It ensures applicants are authorised to participate, have the resources, and haven’t received duplicate funding for the project. All consortium members planning to participate need to upload this on the EUREKA Project Management Platform, irrespective of the organisation type.

        3. Self-funding declaration form

        For applicants who do not seek or are ineligible for funding from their NFB but still wish to participate in a Eurostars project, a self-funding declaration needs to be completed and signed.

        Make your proposal stand out!

        Next to the mandatory forms, two optional files to include in the appendix of your application:

        1. GANTT chart: This bar chart is a time plan or project schedule that visually maps out the project’s tasks and duration and potential dependencies between them during your project’s lifetime. This helps project managers to track progress and identify any potential bottlenecks and helps reviewers to quickly grasp the project timeline.
        2. Technical Annex: This attachment is a complementary and separate document to the application form, which should be used to elaborate and provide additional details on aspects not yet fully addressed in one of the three main sections. The technical annex should also be used to provide visual content (e.g. figures, tables and diagrams) that facilitates the general understanding of the project and its impact (please note that it should not be longer than 10 pages).

        It is well worth the additional effort to submit the complementary annexes mentioned above to further increase your chances of having a favourable outcome from the reviewers. Here is thus the chance to make your proposal stand out from the rest!

        Are you still unsure if Eurostars is suitable for your project idea? Watch the video below and hear from our CEO, Jeanette Müller, addressing some common concerns about the EUREKA funding scheme and accelopment’s experience with it, and find answers to the questions you may have.

        Support for Eurostars applicants by accelopment

        Are you planning on (re)submitting a Eurostars proposal but feeling unsure about your application’s strength? We offer expert proposal review services to help you craft a winning bid. Don’t miss out – leverage our team’s extensive experience from previous successful applications, such as AirToxMonitor, MiniLib and RETwood, to boost your chances of success.

        Dr. Jeanette Müller
        CEO

        Robin Vanneste
        Business & Finance Associate