Funding of Projects on "START-interactive: Interactive Technologies for Health and Quality of Life"

The "START-interactive" program promotes research and development activities in the field of digitally supported health and care in Germany, the EEA, and Switzerland. It is aimed at a wide range of actors, including universities, research institutions, and companies of various sizes, especially young startups. The goal is to strengthen innovation capabilities in this important future field and bring the results to application.

The "START-interactive" program primarily funds research and development activities in the field of interactive technologies for health and quality of life. This includes both fundamental research to increase the maturity level and risky, pre-competitive development projects. The projects should aim for a broad application of the results in practice.

The "START-interactive" program offers grants to support research and development projects. The funding amount varies depending on the applicant type, with startups potentially receiving a maximum grant amount and universities up to 100 percent of expenses. Projects have a duration of 18 months to 3 years.

To receive funding under "START-interactive," applicants must meet certain legal and operational conditions. These include the utilization of project results within Germany or the EEA/Switzerland, willingness to cooperate, and consideration of ethical aspects. There are also specific conditions for the consortium composition.

The application for funding follows a two-stage procedure. First, a project outline must be submitted, followed by a formal funding application for positively evaluated outlines. Deadlines for outlines are annually on January 15th and July 15th.

The "START-interactive" funding program is based on a guideline from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) dated April 20, 2021, which has been amended several times. The current texts are published in the Federal Gazette and are available online.