On 17 September 2025, the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (hereinafter referred to as „TA CR”) announced the ninth public call in the Programme for Support of Applied Research and Innovation SIGMA – sub-objective 1, support for commercialisation of R&D&I+ (hereinafter referred to as “SIGMA – support for commercialisation of R&D&I+”).
The announcement of the public call was published by TA CR in the Commercial Bulletin and the Information System for Research, Experimental Development, and Innovation.
SIGMA – support for commercialisation of R&D&I+ is aimed to support the commercialization of breakthrough innovative solutions (product, service, societal challenges etc.) and to support the growth and development of small enterprises and startups based in the Czech Republic.
The public call aims to verify the outputs/results of applied research in terms of their practical application and to prepare their subsequent commercial use or use for the needs of society. The projects will result in feasibility studies in English.
Applicants will be offered the possibility of a special screening of their successful projects for synergic purposes. Since the TA CR obtained the EC certification for the SIGMA programme, successful projects could apply for the 2nd round of the EIC Accelerator – once further evaluated. Projects successful in this call for proposals will be according to the possibilities of the state budget provided with support services – coaching.
The project proposal (which also includes the annexes to the project proposal) shall be submitted through the SISTA information system in English.
TA CR recommends switching the language in SISTA to English via the “EN” button in the top right corner screen after logging in.
The project proposal also includes a mandatory annex in functional link to a video with a maximum length of three minutes, presenting the uniqueness of the project proposal in the required Full HD quality (1920×1080 px, 30–60 fps). The video must be in English. The link must allow the video to be played immediately after opening it in a web browser, without any further steps (e.g., logging in or requesting access permission).
The Call Period begins on September 18, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. and ends on November 5, 2025, at the times indicated below:
- 16:29:59 – This is the latest possible time to submit a project proposal through the SISTA information system;
- 23:59:59 – This is the latest possible moment to send the documents to prove eligibility, which must be sent by each applicant separately.
Data box ID TA CR: afth9xp
The 14th Call for Proposals of the SIGMA Programme will be announced in the TA CR shared information system – SISTA. Please note that all calls for proposals will be announced in SISTA only. To submit a project proposal, applicants must meet the new technical requirements of the system. This includes registering their organization and designating an administrator. Without completing the organization registration and adding administrators, it will not be possible to submit a project proposal or receive public funds for applied research projects. In this article, we describe all the new technical requirements in detail and recommend reading it carefully.
Detailed information necessary for the preparation and submission of the project proposal, including details on the evaluation method and criteria, can be found in the Call documentation and other documents associated with the call for proposals. The SISTA information system includes help sheets to assist applicants in completing the project proposal.
TA CR further informs applicants that it will only accept such project proposals whose applicants (i.e., the main applicant and another participant):
- publish the financial statements in the public register – for entities that have this obligation for a period of three years (2021, 2022, 2023);
- do not meet the definition of a company in difficulty;
- are registered in the register of beneficial owners by the end of the call period, i.e., by November 5, 2025;
- meet the other conditions set out in the Call documentation.
ELIMINATION OF CORRUPTING INFLUENCES
In order to eliminate corrupt influences during the call process, TA CR asks all applicants to inform the company immediately of any alleged corrupt activity of which they become aware. Notification, together with a description of the relevant facts, can make it much easier for the TA CR to identify and eliminate possible corrupt efforts. Complaints concerning suspicions of corrupt practices or other unfair activities may be reported according to the procedure on the website of TA CR.
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE 14TH CALL FOR PROPOSALS
Call documentation
Zadávací dokumentace (CZ)
Call documentation (EN)
Příloha č. 1 – Hodnoticí proces (CZ)
Annex No. 1 – Evaluation process (EN)
Related documentation and forms
General Terms and Conditions v8 (EN)
Smlouva o poskytnutí podpory (CZ)
Čestné prohlášení za uchazeče / Sworn Statement of the Applicant (CZ/EN)
Výzkumná data a otevřený přístup k výstupům/výsledkům (CZ)
Research data and open access to outputs/results (EN)
Data Management plan – TA CR (EN)
Plán správy dat – Horizont Evropa (CZ/EN)
Genderová dimenze v obsahu výzkumu (CZ)
Gender dimension in research content (EN)
Additional documentation
Program SIGMA (CZ)
Karty tematických oblastí RIS3 strategie ČR (CZ)
Výklad podmínek uznatelnosti nákladů dle Všeobecných podmínek verze č. 8 ze dne 19. 9. 2024 (CZ)
Povinná publicita podpořených projektů TA ČR (CZ)
Národní priority orientovaného výzkumu, experimentálního vývoje a inovací (NPOV) (CZ)
National priorities of oriented research, experimental development and innovations (AJ)
Použití anglického jazyka v realizaci (CZ)
Handbooks
Obecná příručka pro experty (CZ)
Uživatelská příručka k definici malých a středních podniků (CZ)
User’s guide to the definition of SMEs (EN)
Podání návrhu projektu v SISTA: Návod pro uchazeče (CZ)
The public call was announced in accordance with Act No. 130/2002 Coll., on support for research, experimental development, and innovation from public funds and amendments to certain related acts, in accordance with the Framework for State Aid for Research, Development, and Innovation 2022/C 414/01 and in accordance with Commission Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014 of 17 June 2014.
17. 9. 2025