Now Open: IraSME Call for International Collaborative R&D with SME and RTO Participation
The current call offers support for projects between partners from Brazil, Germany, Luxembourg, Turkey and the Belgian regions of Flanders and Wallonia.
IraSME (International Research Activities by SMEs) was initiated in 2005 as an ERA-NET with funding from the European Commission FP6 and FP7 programmes. In 2011, IraSME became a self-sustained network of several national funding agencies coordinated by the German project management agency AiF Projekt GmbH with financial support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK).
IraSME is a network of ministries and funding agencies for transnational cooperative R&D projects between Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Research and Technology Organisations (RTOs) from at least two participating countries. IraSME supports SMEs in their transnational innovation activities, helps them to acquire technological know-how, extend their networks, get insights into new regions and develop innovative products, processes and technical services.
IraSME generally organises two calls a year with cut off dates towards the end of March and September. The participating countries change on a call-by-call basis. The calls are intended for joint research projects between SMEs and RTOs involving the development of innovative products, processes or technical services. Research topics are not pre-defined and can be chosen by applicants, although projects should be based on R&D activities with significant technical risks to realise new or improve significantly existing products, processes or technical services with demonstrable market opportunities.
The following countries participate in the 32nd call:
- Brazil
- Flanders (Belgium)
- Germany
- Luxembourg
- Turkey
- Wallonia (Belgium)
Research consortia should consist of at least two small and medium sized enterprises (SME) from two different participating countries/regions. RTOs can participate if at least one SME from their country / region is part of the consortium. They may be funded directly or treated as subcontractors depending on the applicable national / regional rules. Partners from not participating countries can also participate in the project if they can finance their part on their own or manage to get funded in another way.
Funding varies for every participating country. In general, applicants are supported in setting up and realising joint R&D projects with foreign partners. The duration of the project should be between 12 and 36 months.
The application deadline for the 32nd call is 27 September 2023.
(This report was the subject of a RESEARCHconnect Newsflash.)