SIGMA Programme

SIGMA Sub-objective 4: Bilateral cooperation — 16th

Funds Czech and partner organizations for bilateral innovation projects in strategic sectors including energy.

Eligibility · Czechia, South Korea, Germany, Taiwan

⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.

The Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TA CR) administers the SIGMA programme for applied research and innovation, and Sub-objective 4 (Bilateral Cooperation) is its dedicated bilateral-partnership track. The 16th call under SO4, announced on 22 April 2026 and published simultaneously in the Czech Commercial Bulletin and the national R&D information system (IS VaVaI), supports joint applied-research projects between Czech entities and pre-approved foreign partner organisations in the Republic of Korea (KIAT and KETEP), the Free State of Saxony in Germany (SMWA), and Taiwan (MoEA and NSTC). Czech-side total allocation is CZK 250 million plus a ring-fenced CZK 40 million for nuclear-energy cooperation projects, making this the largest SO4 call to date by budget.

Eligible Czech applicants are enterprises of any size and research organisations; individual applicants are not permitted. The maximum Czech-side award per project is CZK 20 million at a maximum funding intensity of 75%, meaning applicants must contribute at least 25% of Czech-side costs from non-public sources. Foreign partner costs are funded separately by their home agency (KIAT, KETEP, SMWA, MoEA, or NSTC). Applicants must have three years of financial statements (2022, 2023, 2024) published in the Czech public register, must not meet the EU definition of a company in difficulty, and must be registered in the beneficial-owners register by the deadline. Proposals are submitted in English through the SISTA information system; the submission window opens 23 April 2026 at 09:00 and closes 16:29:59 on 24 June 2026, with eligibility documents due by 23:59:59 the same day. Results are announced by 30 November 2026.

Prospective applicants should identify a confirmed foreign partner organisation from the approved list before drafting a proposal, because each foreign agency has its own parallel call with separate eligibility conditions detailed in Annex No. 1 to the call documentation. The bilateral evaluation process involves joint assessment by TA CR and the relevant foreign agency; proposals scoring above threshold on both sides proceed to funding. The nuclear-energy allocation is a distinct budget line and is not pooled with general SO4 funds, so energy-sector applicants should explicitly flag nuclear relevance in their application. TA CR is not running a webinar for this call and directs all technical questions to its HELPDESK portal.