Eureka (often abbreviated as E!, or Σ!) is an intergovernmental organisation for research and development funding and coordination. Eureka is an open platform for international cooperation in innovation. Organisations and companies applying through Eureka programmes can access funding and support from national and regional ministries or agencies for their international R&D projects.

Eureka
Founded17 July 1985; 39 years ago (1985-07-17)
TypeIntergovernmental organisation
FocusMarket R&D support, innovation policy, science & technology
Location
Area served
Greater Europe, World
Members
  • 43 members
  • 4 associated members
Key people
  • Portugal Ricardo Conde
    (Eureka Chairperson)
[1][2]
Websitewww.eurekanetwork.org

As of June 2022, Eureka has 43 full members, including the European Union (represented by the European Commission) and four associated members (Argentina, Chile, South Africa, and Singapore).[3][4][5] All 27 EU Member States are also members of Eureka.

Eureka is not an EU research programme, but rather an intergovernmental organisation of national ministries or agencies, of which the EU is a member. Cooperation and synergy are sought between Eureka and the research activities of the EU proper, such as with European Union's Horizon 2020 and the European Research Area.

History

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Founded in 1985 by prominent European political figures, Eureka has grown to one of the longest running European organisations dedicated to the financing of joint European R&D projects.

Foundation

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Eureka was established with the "Paris Declaration" of 17 July 1985, and its principles are based on the later Hannover Declaration, subscribed by Ministers on 5 November 1985. The two main founders were former head of states François Mitterrand (France) and Helmut Kohl (Germany). Other important personalities involved were Hubert Curien, French ex-Minister of research and former chairman of the European Space Agency and Jacques Attali, adviser to François Mitterrand.

Briefly, it is about assuring the technological independence of Europe in the key domains of the future; encouraging, wherever possible, co-operation between European businesses and researchers; mobilising the necessary financial resources; accompanying the efforts of our enterprises by creating the necessary environment and supporting the unification of our internal markets.

There are numerous obstacles. Once the initial idea of Eureka was formulated, we were able to foresee the difficulties to be faced. But we know that each time we come together — for example to address high-energy physics, research into nuclear fusion, the development of an integrated space programme or the construction of crucial scientific equipment — our successes encourage us in the idea that we can work together in R&D areas close to industrial markets, despite the problems arising from the normal and legitimate competition between firms. François Mitterrand, Paris, 17 July 1985.[6]

Structure

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Chairs

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Before 1989, Eureka chairmanship changed hands every six months. Since then, the chairmanship rotates every 1 July, for a period of one year.

Year Countries
1985, 2nd semester   France
1986, 1st semester   Germany
1986, 2nd semester   United Kingdom
1987, 1st semester   Sweden
1987, 2nd semester   Spain
1988, 1st semester   Denmark
1988, 2nd semester   Austria
1989–1990   Italy
1990–1991   Netherlands
1991–1992   Finland
1992–1993   France
1993–1994   Norway
1994–1995    Switzerland
1995–1996   Belgium
1996–1997   United Kingdom
1997–1998   Portugal
1998–1999   Turkey
1999–2000   Germany
2000–2001   Spain
2001–2002   Greece
2002–2003   Denmark
2003–2004   France
2004–2005   Netherlands
2005–2006   Czech Republic
2006–2007   Italy
2007–2008   Slovenia
2008–2009   Portugal
2009–2010   Germany
2010–2011   Israel
2011–2012   Hungary
2012–2013   Turkey
2013–2014   Norway
20142015    Switzerland
2015–2016   Sweden
2016–2017   Spain
2017–2018   Finland
2018–2019   United Kingdom
2019–2020   Netherlands
2020–2021   Austria

Membership

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Eureka organisation Map
Member country Joined Left
  Albania 1991
  Austria 1985
  Belgium 1985
  Bosnia and Herzegovina 2009
  Bulgaria 2010
  Canada 2012
  Croatia 2000
  Cyprus 2002
  Czech Republic 1995
  Denmark 1985
  Estonia 2001
  Finland 1985
  France 1985
  Germany 1985
  Greece 1985
  Hungary 1992
  Iceland 1986
  Ireland 1985
  Israel 2000
  Italy 1985
  Latvia 2000
  Lithuania 1999
  Luxembourg 1985
  Malta 2006
  Monaco 2005
  Montenegro 2012
  The Netherlands 1985
  North Macedonia 2008
  Norway 1985
  Poland 1995
  Portugal 1985
  Romania 1997
  Russia 1993 2023[7]
  San Marino 2005
  Serbia 2002
  Slovakia 2001
  Slovenia 1994
  South Korea 2009
  Spain 1985
  Sweden 1985
   Switzerland 1985
  Turkey 1985
  Ukraine 2006
  United Kingdom 1985
  European Union 1985
Associated Countries Joined
  Argentina 2019
  South Africa 2014
  Chile 2017
  Singapore 2021

Significant projects

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Eureka projects are numbered, preceded by 'E! '.

  • E! 45 helped to fund the Prometheus project for safer road vehicles, such as through autonomous driving with 745 million euros.[N 1]
  • E! 95 was a 730 million euros HDTV project, which created the HD-MAC standard for high definition television.[N 2]
  • E! 147 was a 93 million euros digital audio broadcasting project whose technologies went into Musicam, and which was used as the basis for MPEG-1 Layer II (MP2) and used in DAB (Digital Audio Broadcast), and ASPEC (Adaptive Spectral Perceptual Entropy Coding), which was used in a modified form in MP3 audio.[N 3]
  • E! 127 paid 3.8bn euros into the JESSI project (Joint European Submicron Silicon Initiative) whose goal was to regain ground lost to Asia and the US in microchips.[N 4]
  • E! 2551 cost 6.1 million euros for the integration of existing CAD/CAM programs under a common user interface, part of which was paid to Vero Software.[N 5]
  • E! 3674 is Information Technology for European Advancement (ITEA2), an industry-driven cooperative R & D programme for maintaining European leadership in software-intensive systems, with the project due to end in January 2014 having received 3.0bn euros. ITEA2 Projects notably include WellCom, OSAMI-E Open Source AMbient Intelligence) and Easy Interactions.[N 6]
  • E! 4986 AlienVault developed a security software called OSSIM (Open Source Security Information Management) that is now not only a reference in the field but also an essential component in modern cyber-wars. E! 4986 received 1.2 million euros.
  • E! 3728 OMIM (MIMO) invented a new method of medical waste disposal. MIMO is safe for the environment and treats infectious waste by applying a combination of heat and pressure. This is an alternative to incineration methods that use fossil fuels. The project was an initiative between Spain, Portugal and Morocco. E! 3728 received 0.37 million euros.

Programmes

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The Eureka annual report describes the following programmes:[8]

Eurostars

Eurostars is Eureka's flagship SME funding programme that supports R&D-performing SMEs (alongside other types of organisations) leading international project consortia. It is co-funded by 36 participating Eureka national funding bodies and the European Union Horizon 2020 framework programme.

Clusters

Clusters are long-term, strategically significant industrial initiatives. They usually have a large number of participants, and aim to develop inclusive technologies of importance for European competitiveness mainly in ICT, energy and more recently in the biotechnology and automation sectors. Eureka Clusters are known to have had a particular impact on the ability of the European microelectronics sector to compete with other continents.

Eureka Clusters are:

  • CELTIC NEXT: Telecommunications
  • EURIPIDES: Electronic packaging and smart systems
  • ITEA 3: Software-intensive systems
  • PENTA: Micro and nanoelectronics enabled systems and applications
  • EUROGIA2020: Low-carbon energy technologies
  • METALLURGY EUROPE: New metals
  • SMART: Advance manufacturing programme
Network projects

Network projects is a flexible funding programme for all organisations collaborating on international R&D projects. It is open for applications all year, but there are also country-specific calls for projects launched frequently. These are sometimes thematic and can be for bilateral or multilateral collaborations.

Globalstars

Globalstars follows the same programme model as Network projects. Calls for projects are launched between Eureka countries and one non-Eureka country. In recent years, national funding ministries/ agencies from e.g. Brazil, India, Japan and Singapore have collaborated with Eureka using this programme.

InvestHorizon

InvestHorizon is the only Eureka programme that doesn't offer funding, but rather trainings, workshops and international events. It is a European Union-funded joint investment readiness programme in collaboration with Eureka that supports deep tech SMEs seeking Series A investment.

Umbrellas

Umbrellas no longer exist as Eureka programmes. Umbrellas were thematic networks within the Eureka framework focusing on a specific technology area or business sector. The main goal of an umbrella was to facilitate the generation of Eureka projects in its own target area.

Past Eureka Umbrellas:

  • Eureka Tourism (ended 30.06.2012)
  • Eureka build 2 (2010–2013)
  • EuroAgri Foodchain (2009–2013)
  • Pro-Factory (2007–2011)
  • E! SURF (2010–2015)
  • Eniwep (ended 1.2.2010)
  • Eulasnet II (ended 31.5.2010)
  • Logchain + (ended 21.2.2011)

References

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  1. ^ "THE PORTUGUESE CHAIRMANSHIP". Eureka Portugal. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  2. ^ "Portuguese Chair 2021-2022". Eureka Network. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  3. ^ "Eureka". Enterprise Singapore. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  4. ^ "Korea becomes first Asian country to gain full membership of Eureka". The Korea Post. 25 June 2022.
  5. ^ "Canada announces full membership in the Eureka network". 22 June 2022 – via National Research Council Canada.
  6. ^ "20TH Anniversary Report – Two decades of support for European innovation". Belgium: the EUREKA Secretariat. September 2005. pp. 68 p. 12 (PDF-p. 18). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
  7. ^ "Постановление Правительства Российской Федерации от 14.03.2023 № 391 "О выходе Российской Федерации из Европейской научно-технической программы "Эврика"" (in Russian). 14 March 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  8. ^ "Eureka annual report 2019". 3 July 2020.

Notes

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