With support from European Union funds, the Ministry of Education and Science of Latvia will increase the funding available for applied-oriented research at Latvian scientific institutions by EUR 14.2 million, prioritising projects in the fields of internal and external security. As a result, the total funding available in the second call of the EU funds programme for applied-oriented research will reach EUR 29.3 million. This is stipulated in the amendments to Cabinet of Ministers regulations approved by the government today, 3 March 2026.
The strong interest in the first project call demonstrated that the available funding was insufficient — 100 high-quality project applications were not supported solely due to the lack of available funding.
Currently, national internal and external security is one of the government’s priorities. Therefore, the second call for projects will place particular emphasis on dual-use research, supporting the development of technologies relevant for the security and defence sectors, while excluding purely military solutions, which are financed through other funding sources.
“Latvian science is an investment in the future of our country — both in economic growth and security,” emphasises Lana Frančeska Dreimane, Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Science for Higher Education, Science and State Language Policy. “The first call for proposals demonstrated strong interest in implementing a wide range of initiatives. Today, the government has supported our vision of enabling more high-quality scientific research that will contribute to the country’s sustainable development,” Dreimane states.
By increasing funding by EUR 14.2 million, it will be possible to support several dozen new research projects, enabling the implementation of studies that have already received high evaluations in terms of scientific quality. The additional funding will help focus research on national security, dual-use technologies and other areas of strategic importance for society.
Considering the scale of the programme and the available funding, it is expected that several hundred researchers will be involved in the projects, including scientists, early-career researchers, doctoral students and technical specialists. Research teams from scientific institutions will implement the projects in cooperation with companies and/or other research institutions as partners.
The amendments also aim to reduce administrative burden and provide greater flexibility in project implementation, for example in the recruitment of personnel. The volume of mandatory cooperation documentation (contracts, CVs, etc.) has also been reduced. In addition, the monitoring period has been shortened from five to two years, reducing administrative burden both for funding beneficiaries and administering institutions.
The additional funding has been identified within EU funds programmes, using the remaining funding from the first call, flexibility funding, as well as financial surpluses from other EU funds programmes.
The draft amendments to the regulations — “Amendments to Cabinet Regulation No. 407 of 25 June 2024 ‘Implementation rules of Measure 1.1.1.3 “Applied Research” under Specific Objective 1.1.1 “Strengthening research and innovation capacities and introducing advanced technologies into the common R&D system” of the European Union Cohesion Policy Programme 2021–2027’” and “Amendments to Cabinet Regulation No. 82 of 4 February 2025 ‘Implementation rules of Measure 1.1.1.7 “Innovation Grants for Students” under Specific Objective 1.1.1 “Strengthening research and innovation capacities and introducing advanced technologies into the common R&D system” of the European Union Cohesion Policy Programme 2021–2027’” are available on the Public Portal for Draft Legal Acts.
