FP7 is open to all types and sizes of business including start-ups, spin-offs, small, medium and large companies.

Small and medium-sized enterprises SMEs are especially welcome as project partners. In Switzerland as elsewhere in Europe, such enterprises are an essential part of the economic fabric providing most of the jobs and an important contribution to growth. The well-being of our society is largely dependant on SMEs remaining competitive commercially, environmentally as well as socially.

It is crucial, therefore, that these enterprises access the results of research in order to translate the latter into products, processes and services. This transfer of knowledge to companies happens predominantly within trans-sectoral research projects.