The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK) announced programs to support the project-based research, technology development and innovation activities of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in the 11 provinces affected by the Feb. 6 earthquakes.

Marking the "Entrepreneurship Week" celebrated March 1-7 in Türkiye, activities such as encouraging young people to engage in entrepreneurship, raising awareness, training and supporting those who want to start their own business come to the fore. TÜBİTAK, which prepares support programs in many different categories, also offers support to entrepreneurs in this context under "TEKNOÇABA," a special call for the quake zone. According to the information from TÜBİTAK officials, the efforts to address the aftermath of the twin earthquakes, described as the "disaster of the century," were launched to keep the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the region alive.

Project-based research, technology development and innovation activities of SME-scale organizations in provinces all severely affected by the disaster, will be supported. In this context, 1,501 Industry R&D support programs and 1,507 SME R&D initial support programs carried out by the Technology and Innovation Support Programs Directorate (TEYDEB) within the scope of "TEKNOÇABA" have been announced in almost all state universities.

The project offers courses, including new product design and development studies in all sectors and technology fields, improvement of existing products, product quality assessment and the development of new techniques and new production technologies with a focus on cost-reduction. While the budget limit is not set for the "2023 Earthquake Zone Special Call" programs, a maximum of TL 1.2 million ($64,000) support per project will be provided.