The intergovernmental Eureka initiative, which was created in 1985, brings together nearly 50 members. The Eureka initiative aims to encourage European competitiveness by supporting companies that establish international projects to develop innovative products, processes or services.
Within this context, national and regional funding bodies for applied research in Austria, Belgium (Flanders and Wallonia), Chile, France, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Türkiye and Ukraine have decided to launch a themed call for proposals for international collaborative research projects in the field of 'lightweighting'.
'Lightweighting' is the main enabling technology that provides environmentally friendly solution for all industries, while also bringing added value from a commercial perspective. Collaboration beyond borders is essential in an increasingly connected world. Strong partnerships within key regions of Europe and around the work provide access to clients, technologies and best pratices for businesses from all stakeholders and research institutions.
We invite businesses from Wallonia to establish international collaborations for R&D with partners from participating countries, in order to meet the challenges in this area. The detailed list of fields and themes of interest appears in the call for proposals.
This call for proposals uses Eureka funding mechanisms: it is an easy way to access public funding and to explore major and/or emerging markets globally.
The schedule for this call for proposals is as follows:
- Opening of the call for projects: 15 May 2025
- Deadline for submitting application online: 23 Octobre 2025 at 17:00 CEST
- Eureka label and funding decision : from Decembre 2025
- Project start : from February 2026
In addition to submitting the project to Eureka, applicants must apply for funding with SPW Research via the ONTIME portal by 23 October 2025 at 17:00 CEST (Brussels time) under penalty of being deemed ineligible. This application must be drafted in French.
The types of eligible partners include businesses
The aid is granted in the form of a subsidy with a funding rate ranging from 40% to 80% of the budget of each partner in Wallonia, depending on the size of the company and the qualifications of the research (industrial research or experimental development).
The grants are intended to cover all of the costs related to conducting the research. These include:
- staffing costs for researchers, technicians, administrators and managers;
- operating costs;
- general costs;
- cost of equipment used;
- subcontracting costs.
The agreement will last for a maximum of three years.
Preferably, an information meeting will be organised between the Walloon partners in the project and the representatives responsible for the programme within SPW Research prior to the submission of any proposal.
Projects are submitted via the ONTIME platform at the same time as they are submitted via the Eureka initiative’s platform no later than the deadline for the call for projects.
Target audience – Eligibility criteria
A proposal is eligible if the following elements are all answered in the affirmative:
- The research budget for the partner(s) from a given country may not exceed 70% of the total budget of the project.
- The product or process must be innovative and the technological risk must be real. This must be true for both partners.
- The project must benefit all partners.
- The project must have a clear benefit and added value, resulting from technological cooperation between participants from different countries.
- The product or process must be innovative and have a potential impact.
- A consortium agreement must be signed before the project begins.
- In addition to submitting the project to the Eureka initiative, applicants must submit an application for funding with SPW Research via the ONTIME portal, under penalty of being deemed ineligible. This application must be written in French and submitted no later than the deadline for the call for projects..
- Walloon industrial partners must be in good financial standing.
- Walloon participants must have a business unit in Wallonia.
- The project cannot have already received public funding.
- A project cannot last for more than three years.
Assessment criteria and project selection
The assessment and selection procedure for projects comprises several stages:
- Stage 1: The proposal will be evaluated based on three criteria (quality of the proposal, technological quality and promotion) by an expert from SPW Research and, potentially, independent experts. At the same time, for foreign partners, the proposal will be evaluated by their respective funding bodies.
- Stage 2: A multilateral consensus meeting between all the participating funding bodies will select the projects to be approved, based on the ratings from the evaluators.
- Stage 3: The selected proposal will be sent to the Minister for Research.
- Stage 4: Eureka will certify the project after receiving the agreement from other funding member states.
- Stage 5: The relevant project leaders will be notified of the proposals selected for funding.
The evaluation criteria shall be as follows:
- Impact
- Excellence
- Quality and efficiency of implementation