CIIIC Kern Launches €5 Million Funding Scheme for Immersive Experience Research

CIIIC Kern, a funding scheme administered by Regieorgaan SIA, offers a total of €5 million in funding for demand-driven research focused on testing and validating methods for IX applications. Consortia consisting of SMEs, public organisations and research institutions can collaborate on projects with a duration of 1.5 to 2 years, with a maximum grant of €300,000 per project. Funding applications may only be submitted by researchers affiliated with a higher education institution. The deadline for the first funding round is 21 April 2026.

CIIIC Kern is intended for researchers at universities of applied sciences and research universities who wish to conduct practice-oriented research into IX applications, immersive creators who want to underpin their working methods and approaches with research and public organisations (such as healthcare, education, culture and municipalities) that aim to deploy IX and are in need of validated approaches. 

Difference between CIIIC Start and CIIIC Kern

While CIIIC Start focuses on short-term, exploratory research (1 year, max. €50,000), CIIIC Kern is suitable for more in-depth projects with a larger budget and a longer duration. For Kern projects, partners are required to provide 50% co-funding of the total project costs, compared to 25% for Start.

Heleen Rouw, Programme Director CIIIC - "Research into immersive content methodologies is essential to enable scaling and to open up new application areas for IX, creating more meaningful impact on society and the economy."

 

Part of the CIIIC Programme

CIIIC Kern is part of the National Growth Fund programme Creative Industries Immersive Impact Coalition (CIIIC). The programme aims to strengthen the Dutch IX sector and position it internationally, with a strong focus on public values such as privacy and accessibility.

Information session

On 2 February 2026, CIIIC will organise an online information session together with Regieorgaan SIA about the CIIIC Kern scheme. This session is intended for everyone interested in participating in a CIIIC Kern project: researchers planning to submit an application, as well as SMEs, IX creators and public organisations wishing to join a consortium as partners. During this session they will explain the funding scheme and conditions, answer questions and provide space to pitch project ideas.

Date: 2 February 2026
Time: 14:30 – 16:00
Location: Online (Microsoft Teams)

Click here to register for the information session on 2 February