At a glance
As of 7 July 2026, the BMWE is no longer accepting new applications for the Central Innovation Programme for SMEs (ZIM). For many R&D-driven SMEs that sounds like bad news at first. But only in part: Germany's most important R&D funding, the Forschungszulage , continues unabated and even has decisive advantages. Here is the update and what you should keep in mind now.
ZIM application freeze since 7 July 2026, 12:00 noon, for all project types and project outlines Applications already submitted and ongoing payouts are not affected Resumption in early 2027 at the earliest, depending on the federal budget Forschungszulage as the alternative: statutory entitlement, no budget cap, no application freeze What exactly was frozen at ZIM?
Since 7 July 2026, 12:00 noon, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE), the ministry responsible for ZIM, is temporarily no longer accepting new grant applications. Important: the freeze is temporary and the programme itself is not being abolished, but when application intake resumes is currently completely open. According to the official announcement, all application and project types are explicitly affected:
individual R&D projects
cooperative R&D projects
innovation networks
feasibility studies
and even plain project outlines
In addition, the deadline setting for the second phase of innovation networks is temporarily suspended. So not only do no new applications come in, the timeline for ongoing network funding also shifts.
The reason: since the fourth quarter of 2025, demand has risen sharply. With limited budget funds, the BMWE feels compelled to throttle application intake in order to steer the available funds deliberately.
You can read the official announcement directly at the BMWE ZIM portal and at the ZIM project management agency AiF Projekt GmbH .
What is not affected by the freeze?
Good news for everyone already in the process:
Applications already submitted continue to be processed and approved, provided the conditions are met and funds are available.
Ongoing payouts for already approved projects continue as normal.
Applications under international bilateral and multilateral calls are exempt from the freeze.
How long the freeze will last is open. The BMWE is aiming to resume applications in early 2027, depending on how much budget the 2027 federal budget provides. There is no firm commitment.
But there is an alternative: the Forschungszulage continues
This is exactly where the decisive point lies. The ZIM freeze is a symptom of a structural problem with classic grant programmes: they depend on a limited funding pot. Once it is empty, that's it, no matter how good your project is.
The Forschungszulage works differently. It is a statutory tax entitlement. If your project meets the criteria, you get the funding, with no competition for scarce budgets and no application freeze. There is no pot that can run dry.
And the terms in 2026 are better than ever:
25% funding rate for all companies, 35% for SMEs
assessment base of up to 12 million euros per year, which is up to €4.2 million in funding per year for SMEs
claimable retroactively for up to 4 years, including for long-running or completed projects
new from 2026: a 20% overhead flat rate on direct project costs
contract research eligible at 70%
For most R&D-driven companies, the Forschungszulage is therefore not a last resort but the better baseline funding, right now.
ZIM vs. Forschungszulage side by side
Criterion ZIM Forschungszulage Type of funding Project-based grant Tax incentive Timing of funding Ex-ante, before the project starts Ex-post, also up to 4 years retroactively Funding rate Up to 45% for young companies, 55% for cooperations 25%, 35% for SMEs Maximum funding Up to approx. €550,000 per individual project Up to €4.2 million per year (SMEs, from 2026) Approval process Competitive, limited budget Statutory entitlement, no application freeze Bureaucracy / effort High (interim reports, milestones) Moderate Eligible projects Innovative projects, often market-oriented Incremental research too Target group SMEs and start-ups with R&D experience All companies Cooperation required? Often cooperative projects In-house possible
You can find more detail in our post ZIM vs. Forschungszulage .
The biggest difference in practice: with ZIM, ongoing reporting is the pain point, and without an approved budget nothing happens anyway. With the Forschungszulage you describe retroactively what actually happened. In return, the quality of the BSFZ application becomes the decisive factor.
The first step that still secures you government funding from here on
Want to know how much Forschungszulage is in it for you? In a free initial call we look at your project and tell you honestly what is possible.
What you should do now 
