As a Swiss SME, would you like to carry out an innovation project with international partners?
Requirements for submitting an application
Swiss partners will need to be either registered with the Swiss Register of Commerce or recognised as a research institution. Each Swiss partner also needs to cover part of the project budget through their own contribution. Your project must meet all formal requirements.
Amount of funding for your Eurostars project
The funding covers the following project costs for Swiss partners:
| SMEs | 50% |
|---|---|
| Large companies | 25% |
| Research institutions | 50% |
The SME handles project coordination
An innovative SME will need to lead the coordination. The project leader will organise information regarding the submission deadline and coordinate the completion of the application by all participating partners in Switzerland and abroad within the given deadlines. A consortium will submit only one application for all partners from different countries.
As a first step, the project leader will need to create an account on the Eurostars website. From there, they are guided step-by-step through the application process and the formal requirements for submitting an application. The national funding organisations in the partner countries will answer questions about the application process and national funding conditions.
Once the submission deadline has passed, the Eureka Secretariat will start the evaluation process.
Frequently asked questions
Questions about Eurostars
What costs does Innosuisse help with within the framework of Eurostars?
As a project partner, what can I declare as my own contributions and what docmentation do I have to provide?
Where can I get help with preparing my Eurostars application?
What do I have to consider in the financial plan in order to be able to conclude the funding agreement?
Is there an initial partial payment at the start of the project?
At what point are eligible costs chargeable?
Eligible costs include:
- effective personnel costs up to the following maxima of the gross salary;
o Project coordinator and his/her deputy; experienced researcher: Maximum of CHF 220,500 gross per year or CHF 119 per hour;
o Research assistant, scientific collaborator: CHF 126,000 gross per year or CHF 68 francs per hour;
o Technician, programmemr: CHF 113,400 Swiss francs per year gross or CHF 61 per hour;
o PhD student and assistant: CHF 85,100 gross per year or CHF 46 per hour. - Depreciation costs of equipment and installations.
- Consumables
- Travel expenses abroad
- Subcontracts to third parties are eligible if they are not placed between the project partners
- Overhead costs of 15% on all eligible costs.
Each Swiss partner must carry a part of their project financing through their in-kind contribution. Companies must demonstrate their capacity to provide their own contributions by means of an audit report, a confirmed investment or by providing evidence of other sources of funding. Universities and research institutions may claim their own contributions in the form of resources covered by basic funding. In-kind contributions may include all eligible costs.
A small and medium-sized organisation (up to 250 full-time equivalents) can apply for support from an innovation mentor at Innosuisse.
The basis for issuing the funding agreement is the listing of all project costs in a financial plan. This budget is more detailed than the cost summary in your application and sets out the eligible costs of the Swiss partners in a binding way. It serves as a reference for the settlement of accrued project costs.
The financial plan will be negotiated between the Swiss project partners and Innosuisse until all open questions have been clarified and the financing by Innosuisse, the EU and the partners themselves has been agreed. Based on the agreed financial plan, Innosuisse will issue the funding agreement. The funding agreement will only come into force when signed by all parties and is a prerequisite for the payment of the funding contributions.
Innosuisse will conduct a first partial payment of the funding amount in the form of an advance payment as soon as the consortium agreement and the funding agreement have been signed by all project partners. Your project can start at the earliest from the start date agreed in the consortium agreement and only after all parties have signed.
The project costs will be counted as eligible costs from the start date agreed in the consortium agreement, even if no signed funding agreement has yet been received.
Last modification 31.05.2023
