Hellenic Foundation for Research & Innovation

What Hellenic Foundation for Research & Innovation does

The Hellenic Foundation for Research & Innovation (H.F.R.I. / ΕΛ.ΙΔ.Ε.Κ., branded as ELIDEK) is an Athens-headquartered, state-established independent funding body created under Greek Law 4429/2016 to finance free/basic research across all scientific disciplines without thematic or geographic restrictions. Its core products are grant and fellowship programs targeting four beneficiary groups: PhD candidates (doctoral fellowships), postdoctoral researchers (research project funding), faculty members and established researchers (project funding and high-value equipment procurement), and Science & Society initiatives (public engagement and science communication). Grant decisions follow transparent, merit-based peer evaluation with active participation by the Greek scientific community — the first such mechanism in Greece. The foundation is supervised by the Ministry of Development and administratively supported by the General Secretariat for Research and Innovation; it does not charge beneficiaries for its programs and instead channels public appropriations and entrusted EU/international funds.

Operationally, HFRI runs a self-serve web portal (portal.hfri.gr) for proposal submission, evaluator registration, and project management, alongside an institutional website (elidek.gr) that hosts grant calls, results, news, and a funded-project microsite hub. Funding flows primarily from the Greek state budget and the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (Greece 2.0, NextGenerationEU), with additional entrusted-budget arrangements from partners such as the Organization for Natural Environment and Climate Change (NECCA), the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), and the U.S. National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). HFRI has also joined EU-funded consortium projects including IntelComp (2021) and SEE-ERA (2025). Governance rests on a General Assembly, a Scientific Council, and a Director appointed for a four-year term — currently Professor Georgios Karydakis (appointed 2026).

The foundation was independently evaluated in 2021–2022 by the European Investment Bank/Technopolis Group and a government-appointed committee, both concluding that HFRI covers a significant gap in Greece's research funding chain and that its continued refueling is critical. Subsequent strategic actions — the NEH bilateral (2024), SEE-ERA consortium entry (2025), Scientific Council reorganization (2025), and new Director appointment (2026) — indicate an organization consolidating its role as Greece's de facto national basic-research funding agency while expanding into international co-funding and EU policy participation.

Name

Hellenic Foundation for Research & Innovation

Legal name

Ελληνικό Ίδρυμα Έρευνας και Καινοτομίας (ΕΛ.ΙΔ.Ε.Κ.)

Website

https://elidek.gr

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Hellenic Foundation for Research & Innovation (ELIDEK) is a Greek state-established independent funding body that awards grants and fellowships for basic research across all scientific disciplines to PhD candidates, postdoctoral researchers, faculty, and Greek research institutions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Research Funding Grants

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)

SIC

Federal & Federally-Sponsored Credit Agencies (6111)

akta.pro primary industry

Research & Science Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Scholarship & Fellowship Foundations and Trusts (EDADAHAC), Research Grants, Fellowships & Stipends (International) (EDAIAOAJ), Degree-Level Scholarships (Undergrad/Masters/PhD/Postdoc) (EDAIAOAE)

Keywords

• Research grants funding
• PhD fellowships
• Postdoctoral research
• Basic research support
• Scientific evaluation

Headquarters

HQ city

Athens

HQ country

Greece

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

H.F.R.I. is an independent research funding body that provides merit-based grants and fellowships to support free, curiosity-driven research in Greece across all scientific disciplines, without thematic or geographical restrictions. It funds PhD candidate scholarships, postdoctoral research projects, faculty and researcher projects, large-scale research equipment procurement, and Science & Society public engagement actions, administered through an online submission portal.

Product overview

The Hellenic Foundation for Research & Innovation (H.F.R.I./ΕΛ.ΙΔ.Ε.Κ.) operates as an independent research funding body that offers multiple grant programs including PhD scholarships, postdoctoral research projects, faculty support, and Science & Society initiatives. The foundation also manages a web portal for proposal submission and project management. All programs fund high-quality research without thematic or geographical restrictions, supporting curiosity-driven research across all scientific disciplines.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Grant Funding Programs Financial support for research projects and fellowships distinguished by high scientific quality and excellence, awarded across all scientific disciplines without thematic or geographical restrictions.

Quantifiable outcome

• Evaluated positively by two independent committees (European Investment Bank / Technopolis Group and independent committee appointed by the Deputy Minister of Development with the contribution of the National Council for Research, Technology and Innovation) who concluded that HFRI covers a significant gap in the research funding chain in Greece, focusing on curiosity-driven (basic) research, and that its refueling is critical

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SEE-ERA Consortium (Southeastern Europe - European Research Area)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2025ELIDEK collaborates with ten partners from Greece, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Croatia, and Albania for the project 'Transforming R&I organisations and advancing the ERA through gender equality and inclusiveness in SEE (SEE-ERA)', funded under HORIZON-CSA (HORIZON-WIDERA-2024-ERA-01). The project aims to integrate the gender dimension into Research and Innovation while transforming Gender Equality Action Plans (GEAPs) of five Research Performing Organisations and two Research Funding Organisations in four Southeast European countries through tailored mentoring and training actions.
• U.S. National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2024Collaboration with the U.S. National Endowment for the Humanities for the joint funding of targeted actions in the field of Humanities and Humanities Social Sciences, aimed at implementing collaborative research projects between American and Greek researchers.
• Organization for Natural Environment and Climate Change (O.FY.PE.KA. / NECCA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2023Second Programmatic Agreement with the Organization for Natural Environment and Climate Change (O.FY.PE.KA.) for the funding of research programs and PhD candidate fellowships. Actions are funded by O.FY.PE.K.A., with H.F.R.I. serving as the implementing body. Previously, a first agreement was signed in April 2022 for funding targeted research projects (field studies) on biodiversity and environmental protection.
• IntelComp Consortium (EU-funded project)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021ELIDEK participated for the first time as a partner and end-user in an EU-funded project, joining a broad research team of major universities, research institutions, and private entities in Europe. The IntelComp project's goal was to deliver a Cloud/HPC Platform providing AI-based services for data-driven and STI policy-making to public authorities and policy makers across Europe.
• Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2018Signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation between ELIDEK and Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) for the purpose of developing beneficial collaborations to strengthen research and support Greek scientists.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG): Germany's central research funding organization, supporting projects across all disciplines and career stages. Operates a peer-review-driven, merit-based model very similar to HFRI's, making it a structural comparator.
• European Science Foundation (ESF): Pan-European association supporting research collaboration and funding. Provides a comparable cross-border grantmaking function and policy voice in European research governance.
• UK Research and Innovation (UKRI): UK's national research and innovation funding body, distributing public funds across all disciplines and career stages. Comparable in scale, scope, and the role it plays as the national counterpart to EU funding.
• Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF): Switzerland's national scientific research funding body, supporting basic research in all disciplines. Comparable governance model and emphasis on merit-based, peer-reviewed grant allocation.
• European Research Council (ERC): The ERC funds frontier basic research across all disciplines in Europe, the closest analogue to HFRI's mandate. HFRI's 'Aien Aristeuein' action is explicitly structured to capture ERC-evaluated but unfunded Greek researchers.
• Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR): France's national research funding agency operating with a similar mission of supporting project-based basic research across all scientific fields through competitive calls.

Broad incumbents

• Wellcome Trust: A large independent research-funding foundation supporting discovery research across many disciplines. Comparable as a non-state, mission-driven grantmaker though operating at significantly greater scale and endowment base.
• National Science Foundation (NSF): The US national science funding agency with a similar mission of supporting basic research across non-medical fields. Operates at much larger scale, but the closest international analogue to HFRI's role.
• Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF): A major Greek philanthropic foundation that co-funds HFRI programs (notably 'Aien Aristeuein'). Comparable in grantmaking focus on Greek research, though operating from a private endowment rather than state appropriation.

Others

• General Secretariat for Research and Innovation (GSRT): The Greek government body that supervises HFRI and administers complementary R&I programs. Overlapping mandate and policy remit make it the most directly comparable domestic peer.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ELIDEK_HFRI
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCRXAl0pOnBmx7bZOp4a5O0Q
• Facebookfacebook.com/ELIDEKgr
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/12989688

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Hellenic Foundation for Research & Innovation