TÜBİTAK launches Eurostars and TEYDEB R&D calls for SMEs

TÜBİTAK has opened the second 2026 call of the Eurostars-3 Program to boost innovative SMEs' participation in international R&D collaborations, and is now accepting applications for TEYDEB's Industrial R&D Support and SME R&D Startup Support programs.

Scraper SystemJuly 26, 2026, 09:36 PM

TÜBİTAK launches Eurostars and TEYDEB R&D calls for SMEs

TÜBİTAK announced the second call of the European Partnership/Eurostars-3 Program for 2026 for innovative SMEs. The call aims to support innovative SMEs in enhancing their R&D and innovation capacities, developing new products, and improving existing ones.

Under the program, international R&D projects led by an SME coordinator and involving partners from at least two Eurostars member countries are expected to develop products, processes or services that can be brought to market quickly.

Eurostars-3 Call

The support envisions the formation of specialized R&D consortia led by the private sector, with participation from universities and public institutions, enabling Turkish organizations to access international technology know-how and accelerating technology transfer. The aim is to contribute to increasing exports and reducing the current account deficit through the products developed.

Companies incorporated in Türkiye, higher education institutions, public research centers and institutes, training and research hospitals, and research infrastructures may apply. If there is more than one Turkish partner in the same international project, these partners will submit a single national preliminary project and second stage application together.

The call has a total budget of 4 million euros, with each Turkish project partner limited to 600,000 euros. In a consortium application with more than one institution from Türkiye, the total project budget can be up to 850,000 euros. Non-capital institutions' budget share may not exceed 50% of the total project budget and 300,000 euros. The maximum project duration will be 36 months.

Support rates will be 60% for large-scale enterprises, 75% for SMEs; public administrations, special budget administrations, foundation universities, training and research hospitals, and public research centers and institutes may receive up to 100% support.

International applications will close on September 10, and national preliminary project applications on September 24. Projects accepted in the international evaluation will not undergo a further national peer review.

TEYDEB Support

In addition, the new cycle of applications has opened for the Industrial R&D Support and the SME R&D Startup Support programs run by TÜBİTAK Technology and Innovation Support Programs Directorate (TEYDEB).

The Industrial R&D Support Program aims to enhance SMEs' capacity to develop products for international markets, produce domestic technologies in import-dependent fields, and create products with high commercialization potential. The SME R&D Startup Support Program focuses on helping SMEs new to R&D activities gain systematic project execution competency and spreading an innovation culture in companies.

In the new period, the support rate under the Industrial R&D Support Program will be graduated according to the number of projects the company has previously been supported for. For the first 5 projects, support will be 75%, and for the 6th and subsequent projects 60%; the grant ceiling per project will be 20 million liras. The maximum project duration is 24 months; if it cannot be completed due to commercialization activities, it may be extended once by up to 50%, and the total duration may not exceed 36 months.

Only SME capital companies may apply to both programs. The evaluation will also take into account the commercialization performance of companies' previously TÜBİTAK-supported projects. Industrial R&D Support Program applications will close on October 26, and SME R&D Startup Support Program applications on November 11.

TÜBİTAK launches Eurostars and TEYDEB R&D calls for SMEs