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The DoRa programme is one of the support measures of the higher education and R&D policy mix, dominantly (up to 76.2% of the total budget) financed by EU Structural Funds and launched for the budgeting period of 2007-2013 of Structural Funds. The eligibility period of the programme-related expenditures is 2008-2015. The total budget is €33.5m. The main goal of the programme is to motivate higher education and research institutions to become more open and competitive. As an expected result, open and competitive universities as well as other R&D institutions support the capacity to attract highly qualified R&D specialists (including from abroad).

The objectives of the Product Development Grant (2007-2013) are to to increase sales of Estonian entrepreneurs, including export sales, and to encourage the creation of new products and services with high added value. The grant is provided for the preparation of product development or applied research. The budget of the programme amounts to €77m between 2007-2013. The programme is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund.

The general objective of the programme is the development of Estonian research potential and the diversification of international research through mobility and exchange of knowledge, by recruiting qualified research personnel. The direct beneficiaries of the programme are the individual researchers and their (future) employers - Estonian or foreign R&D institutions. The target groups of the MOBILITAS are excellent (post-doctoral) researchers who are planning to carry out a research project in Estonia or abroad.The programme runs for seven years (2008-2015), with a total budget of €20.3m, of which up to 85% stems from the European Social Fund.

The objectives of the cluster development programme are: to increase sales, exports and added value of Estonian companies; to promote cooperation between companies (both within and between sectors), and between companies and research organisations. The cluster development programme also intends to support the international competitiveness of Estonian industrial manufacturing companies. Eligible companies have to be members of a cluster-establishing consortium, including non-profit organisations or foundations with certain cluster-developing objectives. The total budget of the measure for 2007-2013 was €6.4m (awarded in the forms of grants). The programme will be continued in the 2014-2020 programming period.

The general objective of the SPINNO measure (2007-2013) was to establish knowledge and technology transfer as a strategic mission of the Estonian research and development establishments and institutions of applied higher education. The sub-objectives are: improvement of the quality and volume of intellectual property rights developed in research and development institutions with the objective of its commercialisation via effective services for knowledge and technology transfer; visible improvement of the competencies and collaboration capacities of the human resources providing knowledge and technology transfer services. The programme was implemented by Enterprise Estonia with an overall budget of €5.4m.

This programme supports Estonian SMEs, which for their further development require innovation activities. The objective of the grant is to increase the competitiveness of Estonian SMEs through transfer of knowledge and technology, expansion of cooperation with R&D institutions and increased awareness for protection of intellectual property. SMEs with no prior experience of similar projects will be given priority, as the purpose of the programme is to spread innovative competence as widely as possible. The total budget of the measure for 2009-2013 sums up to  €2.9m. Support is given in the form of grants with a maximum of €4,000 per applicant. The measure will be continued in the 2014-2020 period.