Overall Description

The 38th IraSME call supports market-oriented, transnational research and development projects undertaken by small and medium-sized enterprises from at least two participating countries or regions.

Projects must develop new or substantially improved products, processes or technical services that exceed the international state of the art. They should involve significant technological risks and lead toward commercially exploitable results. The programme is technology-neutral and follows a bottom-up approach.

For Czech participation, funding is provided through the Czech OP TAK Application – International Cooperation programme. German participants apply through the Central Innovation Programme for SMEs (ZIM).

Funding Amount

Funding is granted separately by the relevant national or regional agencies.

Czech participants

• Minimum Czech grant: CZK 3 million per project.
• Maximum Czech grant: CZK 50 million per project.
• Funding rate: Generally 25%–80%, depending on company size, activity and cooperation arrangements.
• Research organisations: Up to 85% of eligible costs.
• Funding instrument: Non-repayable grant.
• Eligible costs: Personnel, depreciation of equipment, contractual research, R&D consultancy, materials, components, supplies and applicable indirect costs.

German participants

• Maximum eligible costs per company: €560,000.
• Maximum eligible costs per German research organisation: €280,000.
• Maximum ZIM grant for the complete cooperation project: €3 million.
• Company funding rate: Generally 40%–60%, depending on company size, age and location.
• Research organisations: Up to 100% of eligible project costs.
• Funding instrument: Non-repayable ZIM grant.

No unified total budget for the entire 38th IraSME call is specified.

Submission Deadlines

• Call opening: 1 June 2026.
• Application deadline: 30 November 2026.
• Indicative eligibility notification: 4 November 2026.
• Expected national funding decisions: February 2027.
• Recommended project start: Approximately five months after the deadline.

Late applications are not accepted. German applicants may submit an optional ZIM project outline for preliminary assessment up to approximately six weeks before the deadline.

Submission Conditions

• The consortium must include at least two companies from two participating countries or regions.
• At least one SME must participate from each represented country or region.
• A German–Czech project can therefore consist of one eligible German SME and one eligible Czech SME.
• The common IraSME application must be completed in English and signed by all partners.
• The international project coordinator submits the joint application to info@ira-sme.net.
• The submission must include:
  • The IraSME application form.
  • An unsigned draft consortium agreement.
  • A project Gantt chart.
• Every participant must simultaneously submit a complete national or regional funding application:
  • German partners apply under ZIM through AiF Projekt GmbH.
  • Czech partners apply under OP TAK Application – International Cooperation.
• Each participant must undertake a separate, technically necessary and non-duplicative R&D subproject.
• Every company must face a meaningful technological risk and benefit economically from the results.
• Where research organisations participate, companies must undertake at least 50% of the total project work.
• A signed consortium agreement covering intellectual property, exploitation, confidentiality, contributions and responsibilities is required before national grant agreements are concluded.
• The project is funded only if every responsible national or regional agency approves its participating applicants.
• Project duration: Normally 12–36 months.
• Czech activities must be physically completed no later than 30 June 2029.
• National eligibility and State aid rules apply independently to each participant.
• Projects already started before approval are not eligible.
• Routine development, standard adaptation, pure investment projects and projects without significant technological risk are excluded.

Eligible Types of Businesses and Organisations

Czech Republic

Eligible Czech participants include:

• Small and medium-sized enterprises.
• Mid-cap and small mid-cap companies.
• Large companies with more than 3,000 employees, but only under prescribed effective-cooperation conditions with SMEs and, where applicable, research organisations.
• Research organisations participating as project partners.

Czech projects may generally contain no more than five funded Czech consortium members: one lead applicant and up to four Czech partners.

Germany

Eligible German participants include:

• SMEs with a German establishment or branch.
• Companies with fewer than 500 employees.
• Companies with 500–999 employees when cooperating with at least one funded SME meeting the EU SME definition.
• German universities and research or technology organisations participating as cooperation partners.

Eligible Countries

The 38th IraSME call includes:

• Austria
• Brazil
• Czech Republic
• Germany
• Belgium – Flanders
• Luxembourg
• Türkiye
• Belgium – Wallonia

A consortium must include eligible companies from at least two participating countries or regions. Partners from other countries may participate on a self-funded basis where permitted, but they do not satisfy the minimum funded-consortium requirement.

Czech project activities must be implemented in the Czech Republic outside the NUTS 2 Prague region.