• 1. Competitions as a promotional tool
• 2. Current competitions
• 3. Completed competitions
• 4. Results

The state government of North Rhine-Westphalia has made competitions its main method of selecting high-quality, innovative projects for support. With these competitions, the best ideas and concepts in the state are to be helped to achieve a breakthrough on the basis of a fair and transparent procedure with clear and unambiguous competition rules. Competitions are held in particular for the 16 NRW clusters, for regional cluster potentials and for specific cross-sectional themes.

Excluded from the competition procedure, in particular, are company-specific financing and consulting assistance.

The programme offers further promotional opportunities for structurally disadvantaged regions and urban districts. In addition to calls for projects on specific themes, supplementary measures for the improvement of location qualities are planned for these regions.

Competitions are a fixed component of the Objective 2 programme. They are the main tools used for selecting high-quality, innovative project plans. Competitions are held for the 16 NRW clusters, for regional cluster potentials and with cross-sectional themes.

Most of the competitions in Competition Offensive 2007 - 2008 have already been completed.

• Competitions 2007 - 2008

In 2009, building on the successes of the first competition round and the associated mobilisation of science, industry and administration in the state, the programme will be continued.

Current competitions in the second competition round are:

• CheK.NRW
• http://www.ziel2-nrw.de/2_Wettbewerbe_und_weitere_Foerdermoeglichkeiten/1_Wettbewerbe_2009/CheK_NRW_2/index.phpElectromobile.NRW
• Energy.NRW
• InnoMeT.NRWnocl/noth/projekte/ausschreibungen/view/data/31/backpid/19/
• Resource.NRW

Since the summer of 2007, the state government has launched numerous competitions as part of its implementation of the Objective 2 programme. Here you can find information on the current status of selection procedures and on the winners of competitions which have already been completed:

• Automotive.NRW
• Bio.NRW
• CheK.NRW
• Create.NRW
• Energy.NRW
• EnergyResearch.NRW
• Sensation.NRW
• Nutrition.NRW
• familie@unternehmen.NRW
• Start-up.NRW_2
• Start-up.NRW
• HighTech.NRW
• ICT.NRW
• Logistics.NRW
• Media.NRW
• Med in.NRW
• Nano/Micro+Materials.NRW
• Production.NRW
• RegioCluster.NRW
• CityCentreLocation.NRW
• Transfer.NRW
• KnowledgeSector.NRW

On these pages, we keep you informed of the results of the programme and, especially, about interesting and innovative projects and best practices from the current support period.

You will also find the so-called Directory of Beneficiaries here. The preparation and publication of this directory is an additional European Commission requirement for all member states in the support period 2007 - 2013. It contains a list of beneficiaries, the project designation, the year of approval and the amount of the grant concerned.

• Directory of Beneficiaries, Status 31.12.2007

The NRW-EU Objective 2 programme for the support period 2000 - 2006 provided around two billion euros in financial support for structural change in the Ruhr District and other selected districts. More on the contents and results of past support periods at

• Objective 2 Programme 2000-2006