We can help you analyse and evaluate your needs and define and implement the optimal solution based on the parameters of the programme.
The Deadline for Proposals Submission is June 30th 2026, 13:00.
Click, here, to book a Telephone Appointment for free assessment of your Eligibility and Needs, so as to prepare in a timely manner and/ or contact us for support for proposal preparation and submission.
The “Research in Enterprises” Programme aims at (a) enhancing the competitiveness of Cypriot enterprises thus resulting in making a contribution in the country’s economic growth, through the development of new products / services / production methods of high added value, or significantly enhanced products / services / production methods which will be commercially used, and (b) intensifying the participation of Cypriot enterprises in research activities resulting in raising the contribution of the private sector in the country’s RTDI (Research, Technological Development and Innovation) investments.
INTRODUCTION
The Research and Innovation Foundation announces the Call for Proposals for the «Research in Enterprises» Programme within the framework of the «RESTART 2016-2020» Programmes for Research, Technological Development and Innovation – Programmes for the Period 05/2022 – 12/2026 and invites potential beneficiaries to submit relevant Project Proposals (Proposals).
The present Call will be financed by the Recovery and Resilience Facility of the Next Generation EU instrument, in the frame of the action C3.212 «Innovation Funding Programmes and Funding Schemes for the Enhancement of Growth and Competitiveness of Startups, Innovative Companies and SMEs» of the Cyprus Recovery and Resilience Plan. The Action is implemented under Policy Axis 3: «Strengthening the Resilience and Competitiveness of the Economy», and specifically the Component 3.2 «Enhanced Research and Innovation».
GENERAL CALL INFORMATION
| Pillar | Ι. Smart Growth | |
| Programme | Research in Enterprises | |
| Call Identifier | ENTERPRISES/0326 | |
| Call Budget |
2.400.000 Euro of which 1.400.000 Euro will be allocated to projects involving collaboration between enterprises (Category B) and research organisations (Category A). |
|
| Maximun Funding Per Project | 150.000 Euro | |
| Publication Date | 24 March 2026 | |
| Deadline |
30 June 2026, 13:00 |
|
The English version of the Call, even though an official translation endorsed by the Research and Innovation Foundation, is provided for information purposes only. Only the Greek version of the Call is legally binding and shall prevail in case of any divergence in interpretation.
OBJECTIVES
The “Research in Enterprises” Programme aims at (a) enhancing the competitiveness of Cypriot enterprises thus resulting in making a contribution in the country’s economic growth, through the development of new products / services / production methods of high added value, or significantly enhanced products / services / production methods which will be commercially used, and (b) intensifying the participation of Cypriot enterprises in research activities resulting in raising the contribution of the private sector in the country’s RTDI (Research, Technological Development and Innovation) investments.
DESCRIPTION
«Research in Enterprises» Programme supports the involvement of Cypriot enterprises in research, technological development and innovation (RTDI) activities, for the development of new or the significant advancement of existing products / services/ production methods of high added value with market entry potential.
The Programme is expected to contribute to the enhancement of the capacity and the competitiveness of Cypriot enterprises, the increase of private investments in RTDI activities, and the country’s economy growth. Furthermore, it is expected to create new employment at participating enterprises, thus contributing positively in dealing with unemployment at national level.
The Programme covers a wide range of industrial research and experimental development activities. The experimental development activities should include the production of a prototype, demonstration, pilot operation, testing and validation of new or significantly optimised products / services / production methods in an environment representative of real-life operating conditions. Research and development activities should be relevant to the core area of activities of the beneficiaries, while project results should be of commercial value for the beneficiaries.
The Programme does not cover projects that are concerned with customary modifications or modifications that incur over time on products, production lines, services, production methods, even if these modifications are considered as improvements.
As the Programme is part of Pillar I, “Smart Growth”, the projects must be applicable in one of the Priority Sectors of the Smart Specialisation Strategy.
BENEFICIARIES
Research Organisations (A1, A2), Enterprises (B1, B2, B3) , Other Organisations (C1, C2)
SPECIFIC RESTRICTIONS AND CONDITIONS FOR PARTICIPATION
The Host Organisation (HO) of a project must be a Small, Medium or Large Sized Enterprise (B1, B2, B3) which:
- demonstrates sales and turnover of at least €150.000 from the sale of products/services/new methods already available on the market (excluding passive income such as royalties, interest, dividends, financial leases, rental income, etc., as well as subsidies, grants and funding), as evidenced by audited financial statements for 2024 or 2025 and a certification from an External Auditor confirming that the amount derives from the sale of products and services; and
- employs at least four (4) employees, as documented by the Statement of Earnings and Contributions of the Social Insurance Services for the last three months prior to the month of proposal submission, for which the employer is required to have paid social insurance contributions.
The project should be initiated by Host Organisation, which should have a direct commercial interest in achieving the project’s results. Furthermore, the core activities of the Host Organisation should be relevant to the project activities.
Participation of Large Enterprises (including Private Universities) is only permitted when an SME is also participating in the Cypriot Consortium, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2021/1058 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund.
Research Organisations, Enterprises or Other Organisations may participate as Partner Organisations. Partner Organisations shall support the Host Organisation in accomplishing the project's objectives and may have their own commercial and/or scientific interests in achieving the Project results.
Participation of Foreign Research Organisations is allowed.
Within the framework of the present Call the following specific conditions also apply:
- Each Enterprise may participate in up to two (2) proposals in total, either as a Host Organisation or as a Partner Organisation and may receive funding for only one (1) Project as a Host Organisation under the present Call. In case of participation in more than two (2) proposals, only the first two proposals in order of submission will be taken into consideration.
- The Host Organisation is required to submit a report on the impact of the project’s results, including financial data, at least twice within a five (5)-year period following the end of the Project—two (2) years and five (5) years after its completion.
- All private organisations (Host Organisation and Partner Organisations) are required to register the updated data regarding their ultimate beneficial owners in the Competent National Registry / Archive, as per «The prevention and suppression of money laundering and terrorist financing Law of 2007 (188(I)/2007)». The RIF maintains the right to proceed with the appropriate checks in the competent Registries to verify the registration. For this purpose, all private organisations should submit an official proof for the data registration during the Contract Preparation stage. Furthermore, all private organisations (Host Organisation and Partner Organisations) who request funding exceeding 150.000 Euro, during the Contract Preparation stage will be required to also submit the data (Name and Surname, ID / Passport Number and Date of Birth) of their ultimate beneficial owners through the relevant Declaration.
- Funded Projects should comply with the «Do No Significant Harm» principle, according to which they must not include or support activities that could cause significant harm to any of the six environmental objectives, as per Article 17 of Regulation (EU) No 2020/852, on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment.
- In case that it is found that the Proposal (or a similar one with minor deviations regarding the content and / or participants) has been submitted under any other Programme / Call of the RESTART 2016 - 2020 Programmes, and this has not been duly declared by the Project Coordinator at the Proposal Submission Stage (Part-A), the RIF has the right to declare the proposal ineligible and/or to consider to impose sanctions to the Host Organisation and/or the Project Coordinator.
PROJECT ACTIVITIES
The projects must necessarily include Experimental Development activities. They may also include Industrial Research activities.
Project activities should fall within Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 4-7 in compliance with the relevant definitions adopted by the EU1.
It is noted that by completion of the Project Implementation, the Host Organisation must prepare a “Commercialization Plan” which will be submitted to the RIF as a Deliverable along with the Final Report. The “Commercialization Plan” must include an assessment and analysis of the project results’ market potential, in order to support future decisions by the Host Organisation and/or the Consortium, and the planning of exploitation of results. It is noted that, activities related to the implementation of actions included in the “Commercialization Plan”, are not eligible in the frame of the funded projects.
DURATION OF PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION
12-18 Months
BUDGET
€ 2.400.000
MAXIMUM FUNDING PER PROJECT
€ 150.000
The maximum aid intensity for Enterprises and Other Private Sector Organisations cannot exceed 70%.
ELIGIBLE COSTS
Personnel costs, Instruments and Equipment Costs, Costs for External Services, Costs for Foreign Research Organisations, Costs for Travelling Abroad, Consumables, Other Specific Costs, Overheads.
The calculation of the Proposal Budget will be based on the simplified cost method “Personnel costs plus 40% on Personnel Costs for covering the rest of the Project costs”.
For proposals involving a consortium, at least 40% of the project budget must be allocated to the enterprises (Category B) participating in the Consortium.
Costs for dissemination activities are eligible only for entities falling under Category A and Category C2.
All beneficiaries that have not previously participated in the RESTART 2026-2020 Programmes, should make use of the simplified cost Method «Standard Scales of Unit Costs» for the calculation of personnel costs.
It is noted that, in projects where the simplified method ‘Personnel Costs + 40% flat rate on Personnel Costs to cover the remaining costs’ is applied, only costs under the category ‘Personnel Costs’ are declared in the Payment Request. The Simplified Cost Option and expenditure declaration “Personnel costs plus 40% on Personnel Costs for covering the rest of the Project costs” in a funded project does no revoke the obligation to follow the National Law and the Union Regulatory Framework, as described in Part 8.6 of the RESTART WorkProgramme document.
SERVICES OF THE CENTRAL KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER OFFICE (KTO)
Beneficiaries of this Programme will automatically become Beneficiaries of the services and tools for knowledge transfer offered by RIF, in the framework of the Central Knowledge Transfer Office (KTO).
Aiming at enhancing the projects’ potential for exploitation of research results, all Project Consortia funded under the present Call are obliged to contact the Central Knowledge Transfer Office (CKTO) for the preparation of a specialised Service Delivery Plan. It is noted that, the acceptance of the Service Delivery Plan by the Project Consortia and the utilization of the central CKTO services will be optional.
RESTART 2016-2020 WORK PROGRAMME
All general rules and procedures for the participation of organisations and individuals, the eligible activities and costs, as well as the specific information regarding the RESTART 2016-2020 Programmes, are included in the RESTART 2016-2020 Work Programme – Programmes for the Period 05/2022 – 12/2026, which is the main reference document and an important information source for interested parties and can be found on the Research and Innovation Foundation’s IRIS (Innovation Research Information System) Portal (https://iris.research.org.cy/#/documentlibrary).
PROJECT SELECTION
Evaluation Procedure
For the evaluation of Proposals to be submitted under the «Research in Enterprises» Programme, a Proposal Preliminary Check and a remote scientific evaluation procedure by three (3) independent evaluators (with a Consensus Report) will be followed, as described in the RESTART 2016-2020 Work Programme.
Prior to the scientific evaluation of each Proposal according to the evaluation criteria, evaluators are requested to assess the Proposal’s compatibility with the objectives of the Programme and the relevant Call for Proposals. The evaluator will not proceed with the assessment of the evaluation criteria should the Proposal fail the compatibility assessment.
Evaluation Criteria
- Excellence – Weight 20%
- Added Value and Benefit – Weight 40%
- Implementation – Weight 40%
Selection
Proposals will be selected for funding according to their ranking as follow:
- For the amount of €1.400.000:
- Priority will be given to proposals involving collaboration between enterprises (Category B) and research organisations (Category A), where the Host Organisations have not previously received funding as Host Organisations under the RESTART 2016–2020 Programmes. An exception applies to participation as Host Organisation in funded projects with a maximum requested project funding of €35.000.
- Subsequently, proposals involving collaboration between enterprises (Category B) and research organisations (Category A) will be selected based on ranking, until the total available budget of €1.400.000 is exhausted.
- For the amount of €1.000.000:
- Priority will be given to proposals with Host Organisations that have not previously received funding as Host Organisations under the RESTART 2016–2020 Programmes. An exception applies to participation as Host Organisation in funded projects with a maximum requested project funding of €35.000.
- Subsequently, proposals will be selected based on ranking, until the total available budget of €1.000.000 is exhausted
- The remaining eligible proposals will be funded according to their ranking, until the total available budget of the Call is exhausted.
We can help you analyse and evaluate your needs and define and implement the optimal solution based on the parameters of the programme.
The Deadline for Proposals Submission is June 30th 2026, 13:00.
Click, here, to book a Telephone Appointment for free assessment of your Eligibility and Needs, so as to prepare in a timely manner and/ or contact us for support for proposal preparation and submission.
1 The Technology Readiness Levels adopted by the EU are:
TRL 1- basic principles observed
TRL 2- technology concept formulated
TRL 3- experimental proof of concept
TRL 4- technology validated in lab
TRL 5- technology validated in relevant environment
TRL 6- technology demonstrated in relevant environment
TRL 7- system prototype demonstration in operational environment
TRL 8- system complete and qualified
TRL 9- actual system proven in operational environment (competitive manufacturing in the case of key enabling technologies)
RESTART-2016-2020-WORK-PROGRAMME – VERSION 17 – MAY 2022 – JUNE 2025