The Ministry of Investment and European Projects has approved the applicant's guide for Action 1.1 of POCIDIF (Programul Operațional Creștere Inteligentă, Digitalizare și Instrumente Financiare - Smart Growth, Digitalization and Financial Instruments Operational Programme), and submissions opened the following day. It is the only major grant call from national programs currently open for companies.
The guide was approved by MIPE Order no. 772 of May 28, 2026, following a public consultation held in March. The submission in MySMIS2021 opened on May 29, 2026, at 10:00 AM, and closes on August 31, 2026, at 5:00 PM.
The total budget is 53.17 million euros, divided into two calls depending on the region's level of development. Call 1, for more developed regions, including Bucharest-Ilfov, has 12.86 million euros. Call 2, for less developed regions, has 40.31 million euros available.
The eligibility structure is what defines the call. SMEs and micro-enterprises, research centers and institutes, public research bodies, as well as partnerships between them, can apply. The declared logic of the action is public-private collaboration in research.
The condition that matters most for a company is the obligation to combine research with production. SMEs must include in the project both initial investments for putting research results into production and at least one innovation activity. It is not a call for research for the sake of research.
Eligible activities cover industrial research, experimental development, and product or process innovation. With the August 31, 2026 deadline drawing closer, companies that have not already started building their application file have very little room for maneuver.
The obligation of partnership or, at least, collaboration with the research environment is the element that discourages many companies. In practice, this means identifying an institute or a university willing to contribute technically and assume contractual responsibilities, not just sign a letter of intent. Technical universities in Bucharest, Cluj, Iași, and Timișoara have departments dedicated to this type of collaboration.
It is also worth mentioning a second POCIDIF call signaled in the summer of 2026, with grants between 200,000 and 3 million euros for artificial intelligence, robotics, and cutting-edge technology projects, with estimated submission between June 30 and September 30, 2026. The information could not be fully confirmed from official sources, so direct verification on the ministry's portal is mandatory before building an application on this basis.
What you need to know
- Budget: 53.17 million EUR, of which 12.86 million for developed regions and 40.31 million for the rest
- Eligible: SMEs, micro-enterprises, research institutes, public research bodies, and partnerships
- Condition for SMEs: initial investments for introduction into production plus at least one innovation activity
- Submission: May 29 - August 31, 2026, 5:00 PM, in MySMIS2021. OPEN
Source: