AILEEN Applied Research Projects enable CoVEs partners to drive innovation across borders, focusing on real-world technological challenges and practical solutions. The process is simple and structured through the Applied Research Project Kit, which sets the foundation for each project through an Applied Research Agreement, Research Proposal and Workplan, regular supervision meetings, and a final technical report.
A total of four Applied Research Project pilots were implemented from the United Kingdom, Portugal, and Türkiye between May 2025 and July 2026. Here are the details:
| Leading Partner | Country | Technical Domain | Applied Research Project |
|---|---|---|---|
| UBRUN | United Kingdom | Additive Manufacturing | Additive Manufacturing of Elastomeric Diaphragms for Gas Valves Using Vat Photopolymerisation |
| MTC | United Kingdom | Laser Welding | An Investigation into the Effect of Core-Ring Beam Shaping on Laser Welding of Titanium-6Al-4V |
| ISQ | Portugal | Additive Manufacturing / Quality Assurance | Quality & Certification Framework for Additive Manufacturing in Aerospace Maintenance |
| METU | Türkiye | WAAM and Non-Destructive Testing | Fabrication and NDT Inspection of Steel-Copper Functionally Graded Materials via WAAM |
Scope: Advanced manufacturing (Welding, Brazing, Additive Manufacturing, Inspection, Digital technologies and Green); Aerospace and/or Defence.
VLAIO Development Projects & Research Projects
Managing Body: VLAIO (Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship)
Target: companies (SMEs and large enterprises).
Description: Deep applied research addressing advanced manufacturing transitions (e.g., automated inspection, complex welding, cobots). Projects require an industrial pilot or a path to digital transformation within factories.
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Innovation Mandates (Postdoctoral Industrial Fellowships)
Managing Body: VLAIO (Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship)
Target: Postdoctoral researchers (PhD holders) partnering with a Flemish company or establishing a spin-off.
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Strategic Basic Research (SBO)
Managing Body: FWO (Research Foundation - Flanders)
Target: Research institutions (universities, university colleges, strategic research centres).
Description: Ideal for high-risk applied engineering. If your advanced manufacturing project is too early for a direct commercial partner but has immense structural potential for aerospace or defense, SBO bridges this gap.
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Win4Expert & Win2Wal Programmes
Managing Body: SPW Recherche (Wallonia Region)
Target: universities, research centres, and SMEs/large enterprises in collaborative consortia.
Description: targets applied research collaborations between Walloon universities and aerospace/manufacturing SMEs, heavily backing smart tooling and sustainable materials.
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Grand Solutions 2026 (Green Transition & Digitalization)
Managing Body: Innovation Fund Denmark (Innovationsfonden)
Target: SME's as well as research center, however a danish actor must be involved.
Description: Explicitly targets applied manufacturing technologies.this fund prioritizes high-TRL projects bringing automation or advanced materials into clean production.
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European Comission
Managing Body: European Comission
Target: All researchers and institutions across EU/Associated Countries.
Description: Open portal with Reserach opportunities by country.
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MSCA Doctoral Networks 2026 (incl. Industrial Doctorates)
Managing Body: European Research Executive Agency (REA)
Target: Doctoral candidates (PhD-track); consortia of 3+ organisations incl. universities, RTOs, and industry.
Description: Funds international doctoral training programmes; Industrial Doctorates place candidates jointly between academia and industry, closely mirroring the ARP industry-embedded model but at PhD level. Living allowance: EUR 4,250/person-month.
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Germany-Sweden Joint Applied R&D Call (ZIM & Vinnova)
Managing Body: ZIM (Central Innovation Programme for SMEs)
Target: German SMEs partnered with at least one Swedish entity (joint German-Swedish consortium).
Description: Developing commercial products or advanced production processes. Consortia must feature at least one German SME and one Swedish partner.
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Germany-Canada Joint Innovation Call (ZIM & NRC)
Managing Body: ZIM (Central Innovation Programme for SMEs)
Target: German SMEs partnered with at least one Canadian entity (joint German-Canadian consortium).
Description: Transitioning advanced tech-based services and manufacturing techniques into viable market assets. German applicants receive an extra 10% bonus funding bump for entering this transnational agreement.
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M-ERA.NET 3 Joint Transnational Call 2026
Managing Body: BMBF (Federal Ministry of Education and Research)
Target: Universities, RTOs, and industry across M-ERA.NET partner countries.
Description: Advanced materials and processing. It features specific funding pillars for Materials for Additive Manufacturing, functional surfaces, and high-performance composites—the absolute bedrock of advanced aerospace manufacturing.
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Chips Joint Undertaking (Chips JU) ECS 2026 Calls
Managing Body: FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia)
Target: Non-business R&I entities (RTOs/universities) and companies.
Description: Done in partnership with the European Union, FCT co-funds Portuguese institutions engaging in Electronic Components and Systems embedded within advanced manufacturing frameworks.
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Advanced Computing Projects (6th Edition)
Managing Body: FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia)
Target: Researchers/research institutions in Portugal.
Description: Grants access to national supercomputing infrastructure to run heavy simulation models for digital twins, additive manufacturing toolpaths, and structural aerospace modeling. Deadline: Active windows throughout May/June 2026.
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Misiones Ciencia e Innovación & Transnational Eurostars
Managing Body: CDTI (Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial)
Target: Manufacturing centres, research consortia.
Description: CDTI consistently funds applied research consortia involving Spanish manufacturing centers. They provide large-scale grants for aerospace composites and smart production lines.
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Programa Jovellanos y Doctorados Industriales 2026
Managing Body: SEKUENS (Agencia de Ciencia, Competitividad Empresarial e Innovación Asturiana) with FICYT
Target: Asturian companies hiring researchers; doctoral candidates pursuing an industrial PhD at Universidad de Oviedo linked to a company R&D project.
Description: hiring research/technology staff into Asturian companies, placing a PhD candidate inside a company for a thesis tied to a real R&D project at Universidad de Oviedo.
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Elkartek 2026 (collaborative applied research) and Hazitek 2026 (business R&D&I)
Managing Body: Tknika (Basque VET Applied Research Centre) / SPRI Group / Basque Government
Target: Entities within the Basque Science, Technology and Innovation Network (incl. Tknika) for Elkartek; Basque companies for Hazitek.
Description: Elkartek (EUR 47M for 2026) funds collaborative applied research among Basque R&D network members. Hazitek (EUR 119M) funds business R&D&I.
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TÜBİTAK 1501 / 1507 Industrial R&D Grant Programmes
Managing Body: TÜBİTAK (Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey)
Target: SMEs.
Description: Aimed squarely at applied research and product creation. Turkey’s aerospace ecosystem relies on these mechanisms to fund academic-industrial tech transfers in manufacturing.
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TÜBİTAK 1001 / 1005 R&D Grant Programmes
Managing Body: TÜBİTAK (Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey)
Target: Research Centers, Universities.
Description: The purpose of this programme is to support projects under the scope of the calls specified to improve Research & Development potential of universities.
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Smart Grants & Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) Programme
Managing Body: Innovate UK (IUK)
Target: SMEs and RTOs/Catapults; collaborative R&D requires at least one UK SME.
Description: Innovate UK provides rolling applied R&D funding. The ATI program specifically covers advanced manufacturing methods for the future of aerospace (e.g., lightweighting, complex welding, net-zero manufacturing).
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Doctoral/Postgraduate Studentships via University Doctoral Training Partnerships (linked to Innovate UK/Catapult industry placements)
Managing Body: UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)
Target: UK-based postgraduate/doctoral students.
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Advanced materials -
Managing Body: EPSRC funding
Target: UK acadmic organisations and RTOs.
Description: Advanced materials processing and in-situ metrology on critical minerals.
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DIANA - Defence accelerator 2027
Managing Body: NATO defence accelerator
Target: UK businesses in variety of high value manufacturing.
Description: High value manufacturing relevant to defence challenges - covers AM, joining and metrology.
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Overview: CoVE partners across Germany, Turkey and the UK taking part in the Applied Research Project (ARP), together with the specific opportunities they currently make available.
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (incl. Fraunhofer FIT)
Opportunity: Fraunhofer ATTRACT and Fraunhofer PhD Programme
Target: Early-career and senior researchers proposing applied research projects to be hosted at a Fraunhofer institute; PhD candidates for the PhD Programme.
Description: ATTRACT funds excellent researchers to set up an independent research group at a Fraunhofer institute, bridging fundamental and applied research. The Fraunhofer PhD Programme funds doctoral candidates conducting applied research within a Fraunhofer institute, mirroring the ARP industry-embedded model at doctoral level.
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Turkish Aerospace (TUSAS / TAI)
Opportunity: LIFT UP / LIFT UP+ / LIFT UP++ (Industry-Oriented Undergraduate, Master's/PhD, and Doctoral Research Programmes) and Student Project Teams Support Program
Target: LIFT UP: senior undergraduates (graduation project); LIFT UP+: Master's/PhD candidates; LIFT UP++: doctoral candidates (Turkish nationals, engineering disciplines incl. Manufacturing, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering); Student Project Teams: university student societies.
Description: LIFT UP funds undergraduate graduation projects conducted at Turkish Aerospace; LIFT UP+ funds Master's/PhD thesis research across TAI's fields of activity; LIFT UP++ is an "Industry-Focused Doctoral Research Program" providing grants (for PhD research on TAI-defined topics.
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MTC (Manufacturing Technology Centre)
Opportunity: Future Leaders Fellowship (supporting the application)
Target: Early career.
Description: The Future Leaders Fellowships scheme supports researchers and innovators who are ready to lead their own programme and become leaders in their field. Provides four years of funding has to have research and innovation remit.
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MTC (Manufacturing Technology Centre) - MTC Training
Opportunity: MTC Training Engineering Apprenticeships (Level 2-4) and Opportunity Scholarships (via founding universities, e.g. Loughborough)
Target: Young people/students entering engineering and advanced manufacturing, recruited directly by MTC or via founding university partners (Loughborough, Birmingham, Nottingham).
Description: Multi-year apprenticeship programme , combining theory with hands-on work on live MTC research projects.
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