Biotech call – September 2026

The Biotech Call for Network Projects is dedicated to foster biotech-related cooperation between the listed countries. Partners from countries that are not listed are welcome to join consortia if they organise their own national funding or self-finance their project work.

The call complements Eureka’s Eurostars and Cluster calls published on Eureka Network’s website. Its unique characteristics are:

• thematic focus on biotech
• small projects with clear implementation plan
• mutual benefit

Each participating country evaluates and finances its own partners. To be successful, consortia applying for funding must be well-balanced, i.e. partners in each country provide relevant and innovative project contributions and added value for the international consortium.

The Swiss Eureka Chair is organising the Global Innovation Summit on May 6, 2026, in Basel, back-to-back with the Swiss Biotech Day. Corporates, SMEs, startups, research institutions and universities from the entire Eureka Network and interested countries are invited to establish collaborations. The events will support participants in finding partners for the Biotech Call for Network Projects.

Project applications with a clear innovation content and implementation plans in biotech areas like medicine, bioinformatics, pharmaceutical products and services, life sciences, digitalisation, or (bio)process technology (non-exhaustive list of cooperation areas) are welcome.

Advanced Biomanufacturing and Ecosystem Enablers:

• Scale-up and manufacturing of complex therapies
• Micro-factories for decentralised biomanufacturing
• Sustainable and green biomanufacturing
• Supply chain resilience and traceability
• Technology transfer optimisation
• Technological integration and cross-sectoral transfer

Next-generation therapeutics and modalities:

• Innovative cancer treatment modalities
• Targeted radiopharmaceuticals
• mRNA-based vaccines
• Microbiome-based therapies and diagnostics
• Exosome-based therapies and delivery systems
• Innovative antibiotics (new mechanisms of action, antimicrobial peptides, phage therapy, and alternatives to traditional antibiotics)
• Neuroscience-focused modalities

Agricultural and veterinary innovations:

• Agricultural biotechnology
• Development of new vet therapies
• Integration of omics data (Metagenomics, Transcriptomics, Proteomics) into agronomic decision-making

Advanced diagnostics and data technologies:

• Advanced bioinformatics and artificial intelligence for biotechnology
• On-site molecular diagnostics
• In-situ biosensors for monitoring soil, pathogens, and water stress

• 31 March 2026: Call for projects opens
• 25 September 2026: Call for projects deadline
• By Q1 2027: National funding procedures
• Q2 2027: Projects can start

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 Call participating countries. Please note, that organisations from non-participating countries are welcome to join if (public or self-) funding is secured by the call deadline.
• No single organisation or country can be responsible for more than 70% of the project budget.

Under this call, for projects in areas like pharmaceutical products or services, commercialisation may be achieved in the medium or long term, as long as the project clearly contributes to the development and has a reasonable market potential.

1. Contact your national funding body to discuss your project idea, financial viability, eligibility and national procedures.
2. Create an account on our application portal https://eureka.smartsimple.ie/ (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 the NPC 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.

For detailed information on national rules and application procedures, please see Section “Funding conditions and rules per NFB”.

We will review your R&D project application according to our evaluation criteria.

1. 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, geographic and sectoral impact)?

2. 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 would you use new knowledge?
• Is your project scientifically and technically challenging for consortium partners?
• Is the technical achievability and risk properly addressed?

3. 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)?

4. Overall perception

• Experts will list three positive and negative points about your application and state whether they recommend your project for public funding.

Your ministry or funding agency may carry out another evaluation according to national or regional rules before allocating funding to organisations.