Eureka Clusters

Your company or research group is active in science-based innovation, research and development, and you rely on collaboration with partners in foreign countries for this. With Eureka Clusters, you can carry out cross-border innovation projects on specific innovation topics.

Innosuisse has been providing above-average funding for international cooperation over the past three years, through transitional measures aimed at compensating for Switzerland’s non-association with Horizon Europe. In view of the anticipated budget 2025–2028, Innosuisse intends to focus its support in this area from 2025 onwards. This means that the international cooperation areas will be retained, but that the number of calls for projects will be reduced slightly.

For this reason, Innosuisse will be restricting itself to the Eureka Cluster SMART (advanced manufacturing) in 2025. Applications for Eureka Network projects can be submitted at any time.

1. Calls for projects, conditions and evaluation

Eureka Clusters usually issue a call for projects on a specific innovation topic once a year.

As part of a Cluster project, you as a Swiss company work together with a Swiss or international research institute on cross-border innovation topics with large companies and position yourself in a value chain.

As a Swiss start-up before market entry, you can also participate in Cluster projects without a research partner if the funding rules of the partner country allow it.

Eureka Clusters usually call for projects on a specific innovation topic once a year. As part of a Cluster project, you as a Swiss company work together with a Swiss research institute on cross-border innovation topics with large companies and position yourself in a value chain.

Innosuisse publishes all current calls for proposals.

• Conditions in detail

  As with the funding of Swiss innovation projects, there is no limit to the duration of Eureka Cluster projects. As a rule, such projects last between 6 and 36 months. Provided it is sensible for your project and the cost-benefit ratio is right, there is no financial limit on applications. Innosuisse covers a maximum of 70 percent of the project costs of Swiss participants.

• Overview of contributions

  Innosuisse is able to make direct project contributions to companies in international innovation projects:

  

  *For Swiss start-ups that have not yet entered the market (the same criteria apply as for Start-up Innovation Projects) and that submit an application without any other Swiss partner and only with foreign companies (no research partner), the maximum contribution by Innosuisse to eligible project costs is 70%.

• Who is who according to Innosuisse’s funding rules?

  START-UP:

  • before market entry: the start-up does not yet have ready-developed products or services on the market
  • with scalable product or service
  • established not more than 5 years ago (in justified exceptional cases up to 10 years)
  • with less than 50 full-time equivalents (at the time of submitting the application);
    if the start-up is controlled by another company, the entire group of companies cannot employ more than 249 full-time equivalents
    

  SME:

  • fewer than 250 full-time equivalents

  LARGE COMPANY:

  • more than 250 full-time equivalents

• Find out more about the Eureka Clusters

2. Submit application

• Submit application step by step

  If the Cluster application is approved by the participating countries, please submit a funding application to Innosuisse. The process, evaluation criteria and application submission are exactly the same as for Swiss innovation projects.

  1. Submit Cluster application

  2. Submit the funding application to Innosuisse

  > To the Innosuisse submission platform
  > How do I submit an application for an innovation project?

  As additional element, applicants must submit the following to Innosuisse:

  • upload the document describing the international project as an attachment to the application.

Contact