Poland call for projects

Aim

The purpose of this call for projects is to foster the participation of Polish companies in Eureka and:

• to increase the marketability of Polish enterprises,
• to strengthen Polish participation on an international level,
• to foster R&D cooperation between Polish businesses and academia by supporting close-to-market projects where prototypes or new products, technologies or services are developed and
• to promote Polish participation in international R&D projects.

Timeframe

• 24 May 2021: Call for projects opens
• 24 September 2021 16:00 CEST: Submission deadline (date of receipt CEST)
• 30 April 2022: Eureka label given/ funding decision is made

Funding information

The following activities are eligible for funding in projects to be implemented under the Eureka programme:

• eligible for individual funding - applied (industrial) research, experimental development.
• not eligible for individual funding - activities related to the publicity, coordination, market access, intellectual property rights of the project.

Maximum funding per project is PLN 1 million, and no more than PLN 500,000 per entity within the project. The latter also refers to an individually applying SME.

Read more about maximum state aid intensity levels.

Eligibility criteria

There are no thematic restrictions to this call for projects. 

Eureka has limited eligibility criteria for organisations participating in a Network projects consortium:

• Your project idea must represent international cooperation in the form of a specific project.
• The project must be directed at researching or developing an innovative product, process or service with the goal of commercialisation.
• The project must have a civilian purpose.
• Your consortium must include at least two independent legal entities from a minimum of two Eureka countries.

This call for projects has additional criteria for organisations to be eligible to receive funding: 

• Polish support can be applied for by individual SMEs, groups of enterprises of which at least one is an SME or groups of entities of which at least one is an SME (group leader) and the other is a university or a research institute.
• Polish partners participating in the same international project must apply for Polish funding by forming a group of entities/ enterprises.
• Individual applications can be submitted by enterprises only.
• Only international projects are eligible for funding i.e. the project must be carried out by at least one Polish and one foreign enterprise.

Evaluation

Impact

• Is the market properly addressed (i.e. size, access and risks)?
• Is the value creation properly addressed (i.e. employment opportunities and environmental and societal benefits)?
• What are the competitive advantages of your project (i.e. strategic importance, enhanced capabilities and visibility)?
• Are your commercialisation plans clear and realistic (i.e. return on investment, geographical and sectoral impact)

Excellence 

• What is the degree of innovation? (i.e. is the proposed product, process or service state-of-the-art? Is there sufficient technological maturity and risk)?
• How is the new knowledge going to be used?
• Is your project scientifically and technically challenging for consortium partners?
• Is the technical achievability and risk properly addressed?

Quality and efficiency of implementation

• What is the quality of your consortium (i.e. balance of the partnership and technological, managerial and financial capabilities of each partner)?
• Is there added value through international cooperation?
• Is your project management and planning realistic and clearly defined (i.e. methodology, planning approach, milestones and deliverables)?
• Is your cost structure reasonable (i.e. costs and financial commitment for each consortium partner)?

Overall perception

Experts will list three positive and negative points to your application and finally state whether they recommend your project for public investment.

Your national funding body may carry out a further evaluation (performed by the NPC and technical experts) according to national rules before allocating funds to successful applicants.

How to apply

1. Contact your national funding body using the form below to discuss your project idea, financial viability, eligibility and national procedures.
2. Create an account on our application portal (one per consortium) and select the funding opportunity you want to apply to.
3. Using the portal, complete one application form per consortium (in English) and invite other consortium partners to fill in a partner form.
4. Upload a GANTT chart (one per consortium), a signed and completed co-signature form (which you can download from the platform) and any additional required annexes. 
5. Your application will be checked for completeness and eligibility before being reviewed using a standard evaluation procedure. If successful, your project will receive a Eureka label. 
6. Your national funding body may carry out a further evaluation (performed by your national project coordinator and technical experts) according to national rules before allocating funds to successful applicants.
7. The final step is to complete and sign a consortium agreement (CA). We recommend that you seek legal advice when drafting your CA.

Downloadables