Türkiye opens R&D funding route for joint projects with Japan
Turkish companies can apply for support to develop new products, processes and services with Japanese partners through the Eureka Globalstars 2026 call.
9 Oct 2026
Türkiye has opened a route for companies to fund joint research and development with Japanese businesses, with international applications due on January 20, 2027. The call began on October 7 and brings together Japan and 15 partner countries, including Türkiye.
TÜBİTAK’s October 8 announcement sets out the opportunity for companies incorporated in Türkiye. A participating Turkish company must work with at least one Japanese company, while organisations from other participating countries can join the consortium.
The programme targets research that can become a commercial product, process or service. It covers fields including artificial intelligence, robotics, semiconductors, biotechnology, medical devices, advanced materials and energy. Nuclear energy, drug development and regenerative medicine products are excluded from this call.
Turkish participants receive support through TÜBİTAK’s 1509 international industrial R&D programme. For SMEs, the grant rate is 75% for their first five supported projects and 60% for subsequent projects. Large companies receive 60% for their first five and 40% thereafter. The programme counts grant agreements signed from January 1, 2020, including projects in which a company participated as a coordinator or partner.
Eligible costs include personnel, travel, equipment, software, materials, consultancy and R&D services. The programme allows a project budget of up to TRY25 million for a single Turkish partner, or TRY80 million for a collaborative project, with a maximum of TRY25 million per Turkish partner.
Applications have an international stage and a separate national funding stage. Partners submit a joint proposal through Eureka’s SmartSimple platform. Turkish applicants also follow TÜBİTAK’s preliminary application process and, if eligible, submit their national application through PRODIS. TÜBİTAK will communicate the national application dates by email.
The international call’s timetable anticipates projects starting in August 2027. Consortia must distribute the work across partners: no single organisation or country can account for more than 70% of the project budget. Projects must have a civilian purpose and focus on innovative research with commercial potential.
For companies still building a team, TÜBİTAK points to the J-GoodTech platform and JETRO’s Entrepreneur Portal as routes to finding Japanese partners. The call gives Turkish technology businesses a structured opportunity to combine their R&D capabilities with partners in Japan and develop products for international markets.