KIAT International Joint Technology Development Program

KIAT EUREKA Network Strategic Call — Lightweight Materials

Funds Korean-led teams and international partners on lightweight materials for transport and manufacturing.

The 2026 EUREKA Network Strategic Call on Lightweight Materials is a thematic international joint R&D call issued by the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT), Korea's National Contact Point for the EUREKA pan-European collaborative R&D network. Korea has been an associate member of EUREKA since the early 2010s, and KIAT has co-hosted annual EUREKA Day matchmaking events since 2011 to advance Korea-Europe industrial R&D linkages. The 2026 strategic call was announced on 12 May 2026 and remains open through 12 October 2026 — a five-month window reflecting the bilateral negotiation timelines typical of EUREKA strategic calls. The topic is restricted to lightweight materials, covering applications such as advanced composites, high-strength aluminium and titanium alloys, and lightweight polymer systems for sectors including electric vehicle body structures, battery casings, and aerospace components.

Korean award values fall within KIAT's standard bilateral cooperation range of KRW 200 million to KRW 3 billion per project, at TRL 4–8, with KIAT covering the Korean side and each partner's national EUREKA agency handling parallel funding commitments on the European side. At minimum, the Korean consortium must pair with at least one partner from a full EUREKA member country; SMEs, universities, and research institutions on both sides are eligible to participate, though a Korean enterprise must anchor the consortium. Strategic calls differ from open EUREKA calls in that they pre-define the technology theme, meaning applicants must connect their work explicitly to the lightweight-materials scope.

Proposals should articulate the technological novelty of the lightweighting approach, the market opportunity for the resulting components, and the cross-border value-add that makes the bilateral structure necessary. Applications are submitted through the KIAT portal, with Korean-language submission required on the Korean side.