The Research and Innovation Foundation (RIF; in Greek, Ίδρυμα Έρευνας και Καινοτομίας, abbreviated ΙδΕΚ) is Cyprus’s national authority for supporting and promoting research, technological development, and innovation (RTDI). For research administrators outside Cyprus, RIF is the single most important funder to understand when scoping a Cypriot partner, a bilateral collaboration, or a researcher’s move to a Cypriot institution — it channels the great majority of national (non-Horizon Europe) public R&I funding on the island. This guide explains what RIF is, clarifies the naming history behind the term ‘RESTART’ that still shows up in search results and older documents, describes the funding framework currently open, and sets out practical steps for an international researcher or research office engaging with RIF.
What RIF is and how it is structured
RIF operates as Cyprus’s national funding and policy-implementation body for RTDI, functioning broadly in the role that a national science foundation or research council plays in other European systems (compare CASRAI’s guides to Portugal’s FCT, Spain’s AEI, and the Irish Research Council). It is governed by a Board of Directors and organised into departments covering research support, innovation services, programme management/monitoring, and European and international programme coordination. RIF’s predecessor organisation operated under the name Research Promotion Foundation (RPF) before being restructured and renamed to reflect a broader innovation mandate alongside its original research-funding role.
Applications, evaluation, and project monitoring for RIF-funded activity run through IRIS, RIF’s electronic submission and management portal — described by RIF itself as the Foundation’s principal operational tool. Any researcher or institution planning to apply needs an IRIS account well before a call deadline, since registration and profile verification can take longer than expected for organisations without an existing Cypriot legal presence.
RESTART: what the name actually refers to
‘RESTART’ is the branded name RIF used for its national RTDI funding framework covering the 2016–2020 period. It was structured around several interlocking programme pillars (research excellence, business innovation, infrastructure and human capital, among others) and issued calls across that five-year cycle, funded through the relevant EU Structural and Investment Funds programming period alongside national co-financing.
That cycle is closed. It matters for international researchers to know this because ‘RESTART’ still surfaces heavily in search results, older call documents, and academic CVs referencing RESTART-funded grants — but it is not the name of RIF’s current funding programme. Citing it as an open, active scheme (as some secondary sources and outdated summaries do) is a factual error worth correcting: RIF has not branded its current framework ‘RESTART,’ and no live call operates under that name.
The current framework: RIF’s Research and Innovation Funding Programmes 2021–2027
RIF’s active national funding framework is the Research and Innovation Funding Programmes (2021–2027). It is co-financed through Cyprus’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (‘Cyprus – Tomorrow’) and the Operational Programme ‘ΘΑΛΕΙΑ’ (THALIA), Cyprus’s programming vehicle for EU cohesion funds in this period. Calls under individual programmes are announced on a rolling basis across the 2021–2027 period rather than opening all at once, so the practical entry point for any applicant is RIF’s live calls listing on IRIS/research.org.cy, not a single fixed programme catalogue.
The framework is organised around five strategic pillars:
- Internationalisation — strengthening the extroversion of Cyprus’s R&I ecosystem and its integration into European and international networks (this is the pillar most directly relevant to inbound international collaboration and researcher mobility).
- Research — building research excellence and knowledge production, including individual and team research-excellence awards.
- Cooperation and Knowledge Transfer — facilitating collaboration between academia, research organisations, and industry, and the commercial exploitation of research results.
- Innovation — supporting entrepreneurship, startups, and innovative enterprises, including pre-seed and startup-development funding.
- Strengthening of Infrastructures and Skills — developing research capacity, equipment, and workforce/skills development.
Individual named calls sit under these pillars and change over time; examples that have run recently include research-excellence awards (funding in the tens of thousands of euros per award), pre-seed and startup-development calls, and knowledge-transfer/technology-services support. RIF has also run BRIDGE2HORIZON, a programme specifically designed to strengthen the capacity of Cypriot R&I entities and align national thematic priorities with Horizon Europe, which functions as a practical bridge between RIF’s national funding and EU-level programmes such as Horizon Europe. Because specific call names, budgets, and deadlines change frequently within this multi-year framework, treat any individual call’s parameters as current only as of the date you check research.org.cy directly — do not rely on a cached summary, including this one, for exact figures or deadlines.
Practical guidance for international researchers and research offices
- Confirm eligibility per call, not per framework. RIF does not publish a single blanket eligibility policy for foreign researchers across all programmes — eligibility (whether a call requires a Cyprus-based legal entity as lead applicant, permits a foreign co-applicant, or is open to individual mobility/collaboration grants) is set at the level of each individual call document on IRIS. Read the call’s own eligibility section before assuming a Horizon Europe-style consortium model applies.
- Use the Internationalisation pillar as your starting filter. If your interest is specifically in cross-border collaboration or bringing a project to a Cypriot partner, calls under this pillar are the most likely entry point, though Research and Cooperation/Knowledge Transfer pillar calls can also permit international partners depending on the specific call.
- Register in IRIS early. Institutional and researcher-profile verification in RIF’s portal is not instantaneous, particularly for organisations without a prior Cypriot funding history — build this into your proposal timeline rather than starting registration close to a deadline.
- Treat Horizon Europe as the complementary, not competing, route. RIF explicitly positions programmes like BRIDGE2HORIZON as preparation for EU-level funding — a Cypriot institution’s RIF-funded activity is often a stepping stone toward, or co-runs alongside, Horizon Europe participation rather than a substitute for it.
- Verify the current programme name before citing it in a proposal or partner-search document. Given how persistently ‘RESTART’ still appears in indexed content, double-check with a prospective Cypriot partner or directly on research.org.cy that you are referencing the 2021–2027 framework and its current pillar names, not the closed 2016–2020 cycle.
Frequently asked questions
Is RESTART still RIF’s active funding programme?
No. RESTART was the name of RIF’s national RTDI funding framework for 2016–2020. That cycle has closed. RIF’s current framework (as of 2026) is the Research and Innovation Funding Programmes 2021–2027, organised around five pillars and co-financed by Cyprus’s Recovery and Resilience Plan and the THALIA Operational Programme.
What does RIF stand for, and is it the same as the Research Promotion Foundation?
RIF stands for the Research and Innovation Foundation (ΙδΕΚ in Greek). It is the successor to, and renamed continuation of, the organisation formerly known as the Research Promotion Foundation (RPF) — the same national body, restructured to reflect an expanded remit spanning both research funding and innovation support.
Can a researcher based outside Cyprus apply directly to RIF?
It depends entirely on the specific call. Some RIF calls require a Cyprus-registered legal entity as lead applicant with foreign partners in a supporting role; others, particularly under the Internationalisation pillar, are designed around cross-border collaboration. There is no single foundation-wide rule — check the eligibility section of the specific call on IRIS.
How does RIF funding relate to Horizon Europe funding for a Cypriot partner?
RIF runs national programmes funded through Cyprus’s own budget and EU cohesion instruments (the Recovery and Resilience Plan and THALIA), which is a separate funding stream from Horizon Europe’s centrally managed EU budget. RIF programmes such as BRIDGE2HORIZON are explicitly designed to build Cypriot institutions’ capacity to compete for Horizon Europe funding, so the two streams are complementary rather than overlapping.
Where do I find current open calls and deadlines?
Directly on RIF’s own site, research.org.cy, and through the IRIS portal (iris.research.org.cy), which lists live and upcoming calls under each of the five current pillars. Because calls open on a rolling basis across the 2021–2027 period, there is no single fixed annual catalogue to consult once.
Related CASRAI guides
For comparison with how other national research funders in Europe structure their programmes, see: FCT Portugal: Funding Overview, AEI Spain: Funding Overview, Irish Research Council (IRC) Funding, APVV (Slovak Research and Development Agency): Funding Overview, GAČR (Czech Science Foundation): Funding Overview, and for the EU-level programme these national schemes often feed into or complement, Horizon Europe and EU Research Funding: An Overview.
