This Practical Guide was conceived in order to help potential beneficiaries of the programmes on Research and Innovation to find their way through the Structural Funds, Research Framework Programme (FP7), the Competitive and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP), and identify the most appropriate funding scheme for them. It provides a concise description of the three funding sources, explains how they can in practice be combined and provides policy makers with advice on setting up mechanisms at the national and regional levels to foster coordinated access to them.