Information and support for start-ups participating in Horizon 2020 projects

Switzerland has a long tradition of cooperation in research and innovation with the European Union. Researchers in Switzerland have been participating in the EU Research Framework Programmes since 1988, either as associated or third country partners. As for the newest programme generation ‘Horizon 2020’, Switzerland is currently considered as a partially associated country. National measures will be applied to fund Swiss project participations in those areas of Horizon 2020 to which Switzerland is not associated. Projects with Swiss start-ups will be in those areas.

On a new webpage, the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) provides SME and start-ups with all the details they need to submit funding requests for Switzerland’s third country participation in collaborative research projects under Horizon 2020.

Funding of Swiss partners
SERI will finance Swiss partners involved in Horizon 2020 collaborative projects, provided that they are eligible and comply with the funding conditions. Requests can be submitted here: Submission of funding requests. Guidance explaining the submission procedure and the conditions for funding is provided in the same section.

Note that this platform is intended solely for the submission of requests for the funding of Swiss partners in Horizon 2020 collaborative projects which have been approved by the EU and in which Swiss partners are participating under third country status.

Financial support for SME
SMEs participating for the first time in a Horizon 2020 proposal that has been evaluated by the European Commission can receive a contribution of CHF 8,000. This amount is foreseen to cover part of the costs for the proposal preparation.

In order to be eligible for funding, your SME needs to be an independent company established under Swiss Law and fulfill the definition of a micro-, small- or medium-sized enterprise.

More information is available in German and French.