EU - Horizon Europe - European Innovation Council (EIC)

INTRODUCTION AND WORK PROGRAMME

The EIC aims at identifying and supporting breakthrough technologies and game-changing innovations with the potential to scale up internationally and become market leaders.

Financial support to academia is provided through two main instruments: the ‘Pathfinder’ for advanced research on breakthrough / game-changing technologies; and the ‘Transition’ for transforming research results into innovation opportunities. All EIC funded projects and companies, as well as selected applicants, have access to a range of EIC Business Acceleration Services providing access to leading expertise, corporates, investors and ecosystem actors.

In 2026, the EIC introduces a new experimental funding instrument, the ‘Advanced Innovation Challenges’, that use a two-stage funding model with initial feasibility studies followed by significant follow-up investments for scale-up.

European Innovation Council (EIC) 2026 Work Programme

Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) provide a guide to the stage of development required in EIC calls. The following definitions of TRLs apply, recognising that there are important differences between technological fields:

  • TRL1 - basic principles observed
  • TRL2 - technology concept formulated
  • TRL3 - experimental proof of concept
  • TRL4 - technology validated in lab
  • TRL5 - technology validated in relevant environment (industrially relevant environment in the case of key enabling technologies)
  • TRL6 - technology demonstrated in relevant environment (industrially relevant environment in the case of key enabling technologies)
  • TRL7 - system prototype demonstration in operational environment
  • TRL8 - system complete and qualified
  • TRL9 - actual system proven in operational environment (competitive manufacturing in the case of key enabling technologies, or in space)

Lump sum funding: Grants will take the form of a lump sum and the amount will be determined during the evaluation process. The proposal should include an estimated budget breakdown showing the detailed costs per beneficiary and per work package. Once the project is funded, the usual financial reporting method of reporting actual costs to the agency will not apply. Instead, the lump sum shares will be claimed only for work fully accomplished as described in the grant agreement, regardless of the actual costs incurred during the project.

EIC PATHFINDER

EIC Pathfinder supports early-stage development of future technologies (TRLs 1-4), based on high-risk/high-gain science-towards-technology breakthrough research.

EIC Pathfinder Open

The Open call is open to projects in any field of science, technology or application without predefined thematic priorities (‘bottom-up’).

Who is eligible? Consortia of three or more independent legal entities. There is a minimum requirement for at least one legal entity established in a Member State, and at least two other independent legal entities, each established in a different Member State or Associated Country.

Grant budget: Requested budget of up to 4 million Euros is considered appropriate.

Project duration: No formal instructions. Previously funded projects ranged from 2 to 5 years, with a duration of 3-4 years being the most common.

EIC Pathfinder Challenges

The challenges support coherent portfolios of projects within predefined thematic areas (listed below under ‘CALLS AND DEADLINES’) with the aim of achieving specific objectives for each Challenge. These portfolios are proactively steered by EIC Programme Managers.

Who is eligible?

Unless stated otherwise in the call text of the specific challenge, proposals may be submitted by:

  • Single legal entities established in a Member State or an Associated Country (excluding mid-caps and larger companies);
  • Consortia of two independent legal entities from two different Member States or Associated Countries;
  • Consortia of three or more independent legal entities. There is a minimum requirement for at least one legal entity established in a Member State, and at least two other independent legal entities, each established in a different Member State or Associated Country.

Grant budget: Requested budget of 4 million Euros is considered appropriate. 

Project duration: No formal instructions. Previously funded projects ranged from 2 to 5 years, with a project duration of 3-4 years being the most common.

EIC TRANSITION OPEN

EIC Transition offers funding for innovation activities to support both the maturation and validation of a novel technology in the lab and in relevant application environments, and the development of a business case and business model towards the innovation’s future commercialisation.

The call is open to projects in any field of science, technology or application without predefined thematic priorities (‘bottom-up’). Proposals must be based on results generated by EU funded project, as specified below. They must have completed all elements of TRL 3 and should not be beyond TRL 4. Proposals should aim to reach TRLs 5-6 by the end of the project.

Submission is restricted to proposals based on results generated by the following eligible projects:

  • EIC Pathfinder (including FET-Open and FET-Proactive)
  • FET Flagship
  • ERC Proof of Concept
  • Research and Innovation projects funded under Horizon 2020 Societal challenges and Leadership in Industrial Technologies and under Horizon Europe pillar II.
  • Research and Innovation projects funded under Horizon 2020 or Horizon Europe Research Infrastructures (RI) part.

Projects of the types listed above are eligible subject to meeting one of the following conditions:

  • The related project is active and started at least 18 months before the call deadline, or 6 months in case of ERC PoC.
  • The related project ended within 24 months before the call deadline

Only one proposal can be submitted per eligible originating ERC PoC project. This does not affect resubmission of the same (improved) proposal in subsequent calls in case it was not selected. 

Who is eligible?

  • Single legal entities established in a Member State or an Associated Country (excluding mid-caps and larger companies);
  • Consortia of two independent legal entities from two different Member States or Associated Countries;
  • Consortia of three to five independent legal entities. There is a minimum requirement for at least one legal entity established in a Member State, and at least two other independent legal entities, each established in a different Member State or Associated Country.

Grant budget: Requested budget of 0.5-2.5 million Euros is considered appropriate. 

Project duration: Commonly 1-3 years.

Evaluation procedure: The proposal evaluation procedure includes two steps, the first of which is remote evaluation by experts. Applicants who pass this step are invited to an interview with a jury, where they should convincingly pitch the proposal and answer questions. Following the interview the jury will make its final decision.

EIC ADVANCED INNOVATION CHALLENGES - PILOT

EIC Advanced Innovation Challenges aim to support high-risk, demand-driven deep tech innovation with transformative potential especially in areas where there is extensive research but lack of commercial uptake. It uses a two-stage funding model with initial feasibility studies followed by significant follow-up investments for scale-up.

Each challenge (listed below under ‘CALLS AND DEADLINES’) is overseen by a Programme Manager who will guide and support projects throughout stage 1, foster synergies and the potential formation of consortia between selected initiatives and play a leading role in the selection process for stage 2. The Programme Manager will ensure strategic alignment, cross-project learning, and coherent portfolio development.

Stage 1 is open to single entities and offers up to 300,000 Euros for up to nine months to prepare and benchmark breakthrough solutions and explore their feasibility and viability. Start-ups, SMEs and research performing organisations established in EU Member States or Associated Countries may apply (larger companies are not eligible).

Stage 2* will take place in 2027. It is restricted to successful applicants of stage 1 and offers up to 2.5 million Euros for up to 2.5 years to further develop the most promising solution and test them in real world environments and with the involvement of users. Applications may be submitted by:

  • A single start-up, SME or research performing organisation established in EU Member State or Associated Country;
  • A small consortium of two independent legal entities from two different Member States or Associated Countries;
  • A consortium of three independent legal entities, where each is established in a different Member State or Associated Country and at least one is established in a Member State.

* The information regarding Stage 2 is tentative and subject to future adoption of the EIC 2027 Work Programme by the European Commission, expected around November 2026.

CALLS FOR PROPOSALS

Following the opening of each call, a hyperlink will be provided here to the call page in the EU portal where you could find the call information, the proposal templates and the submission service.

EIC Pathfinder Open

Planned opening date: 5 February 2026
Submission deadline: 12 May 2026

  • EIC Pathfinder Open

EIC Pathfinder Challenges

Planned opening date: 28 July 2026
Submission deadline: 28 October 2026

  • Advanced Materials for Miniaturised Energy Harvesting Systems
  • Biotechnology for Healthy Ageing
  • DeepRAP: Deep Reasoning, Abstraction & Planning towards trustworthy Cognitive AI Systems

EIC Transition Open

Planned opening date: 22 April 2026
Submission deadline: 16 September 2026

  • EIC Transition Open

EIC Advanced Innovation Challenges – Stage 1

Planned opening date: 3 December 2025
Submission deadline: 26 February 2026

  • Accelerating Physical AI: Embodied Intelligence for the Next Frontier of AI-Powered Robotics
  • Translating Disruptive New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) into Practice

SUBMISSION RELATED PROCEDURES

As per WIS management instruction, grant proposals must be submitted for evaluation by the RGP, with a budget approved by Finance, at least one week to 10 days prior to the funding agency’s deadline.

  • Give RGP access to the proposal in the submission system or, if you are a partner in the proposal, ask the coordinator to do this. The RGP contact person for this purpose is Gabi Bernstein, EU.Desk@weizmann.ac.il.
  • Budget approval: Please make sure to obtain written approval from the Projects Section of the Finance Division for the budget before submitting the online application.
  • Internal Form: A direct link to a pre-filled online Internal Form will be emailed to you for completion.
  • Ethics issues: When preparing a proposal, it is required to conduct an Ethics Self-Assessment. See the guidance document on How to complete your Ethics Self-Assessment in the proposal preparation stage.

Note: In multi-beneficiary grants, the consortium has to choose a coordinator, who will manage and coordinate the project and will represent the consortium towards the granting authority. Weizmann researchers serving as proposal coordinators are required to use the services of a consultancy company that will perform the administrative and financial management of the project on their behalf. If you intend to serve as a proposal coordinator, please contact the EU-Desk for further information and discussion.