Pathfinder: Research teams – consortia of at least 3 different independent legal entities established in different countries (can include UK: must include at least one legal entity in a Member State). For Pathfinder Challenges, single applicants or two-organisation consortia can also apply, including single UK applicants or consortia including UK applicants.

Transition: consortia of up to 5 legal entities which can include UK applicants, but only if you have already carried out a Horizon-funded project (see list of eligible projects here)

Advanced Innovation Challenges: single organisations, including UK applicants – can be SMEs, RTOs, or academic. See further details here.

Accelerator and Accelerator Challenges: single start-ups and SMEs, or individuals intending to launch a SME, including UK applicants. Small mid-caps can apply for equity only, but equity is not available for UK applicants.

The EIC Pathfinder is a funding programme under Horizon Europe that offers support to research teams by:

• funding research to develop the scientific basis to underpin breakthrough technologies
• supporting the earliest stages of scientific, technological or deep-tech R&D
• aiming to build on new, cutting-edge directions in science and technology to disrupt a field and a market or create new opportunities
• realising innovative technological solutions to identify, develop and scale up breakthrough technologies and disruptive innovations in Europe

Your proposal must meet all the following essential characteristics:

• Convincing long-term vision of a radically new technology that has the potential to have a transformative positive effect to solving a challenge in our economy and society
• Concrete, novel and ambitious science-towards-technology breakthrough, providing advancement towards the envisioned technology
• High-risk/high-gain research approach and methodology, with concrete and plausible objectives

Grants to support early stage development of future technologies (e.g. various activities at low TRL 1-4), up to proof of concept and booster grants for complementary activities:

• Grants – grants of up to EUR 4 million or more if duly justified
• Booster grants – grants of a fixed amount not exceeding EUR 50 000 for testing the commercialisation potential of their research outputs

UK applicants can apply as part of a 3-country consortium.

Visit the EIC Pathfinder Open site for further details. Deadline: 12 May 2026.

Challenge 1: Advanced Materials for Miniaturised Energy Harvesting Systems

To support the development of a new generation of energetically autonomous systems that enable innovative services to improve the quality of life for European citizens through applications in areas such as point-of-care diagnostics and smart, sustainable cities.

These advancements should support sustainability in both energy consumption and production, in line with the ambitions of RePowerEU and the European Green Deal. Furthermore, this challenge will enhance the overall sustainability of the Internet of Things (IoT) and energetically autonomous systems in general. Read the challenge guide here.

Challenge 2: Biotechnology for Healthy Ageing

To develop biotechnology-based or pharmaceutical interventions that prevent, delay, or reverse age-related diseases.

The Challenge will focus on advancing biotechnology for healthy ageing, promoting personalised care through molecular profiling, guiding policymakers and developers on regulatory approaches, and raising public awareness about healthy longevity. Read the challenge guide here.

Challenge 3: DeepRAP: Deep Reasoning, Abstraction & Planning towards trustworthy Cognitive AI Systems

To push scientific progress and help build a strong, collaborative community focused on practical applications of trustworthy cognitive AI.

This challenge will lay the groundwork for Europe’s future leadership in safe and human-centred AI, strengthening competitiveness and technological sovereignty, while supporting the goals of the AI Act and the European approach to Artificial Intelligence. Read the challenge guide here.

Funding amounts: same as Pathfinder Open, see above.

Eligibility: single applicants, small and larger consortia (two partners). This includes applicants from the UK as an Associated Country.

Visit the EIC Pathfinder Challenge site for further details. Deadline: 28 Oct 2026.

The EIC Transition is a funding programme under Horizon Europe targeting innovation activities that goes beyond the experimental proof of principle in laboratory. It supports both the maturation and validation of novel technologies from the lab to the relevant application environments. The EIC Transition offers support to SMEs, start-ups and organisations that:

• have identified EU-funded project result(s) with promising commercial potential that could be the basis for innovation and promising new businesses
• envision novel promising technology that is ready for the next steps towards its maturation and validation, to be further developed and validated for some specific, high potential, commercial applications
• have conducted a preliminary market research to identify potential markets for their innovation and explored potential competitors
• envisage building a motivated and entrepreneurial team with a mix of skills, including researchers, business people, marketers etc. to develop and drive the idea towards commercial success

The EIC Transition Open has no predefined thematic priorities and is open to proposals in any field of science, technology or application.

Your proposal must build on results already achieved within an eligible project that are, at least, at experimental proof of concept (TRL 3) or, ideally, technology validated in the lab level (TRL 4). Proposals building on project results at TRLs other than TRL3 or TRL4 are not eligible.

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

• EIC Pathfinder projects (including projects funded under the Horizon 2020 EIC pilot Pathfinder, FET-Open, FET-Proactive, CSA and CSA Lump sum FET Innovation Launchpad.)
• European Research Council Proof of Concept projects funded Horizon 2020 or Horizon Europe.
• Research and Innovation Actions funded under Horizon 2020 Societal challenges and Leadership in Industrial Technologies and under Horizon Europe pillar II, with an eligible TRL
• European Defence Fund (EDF), including the Preparatory Action on Defence Research, research projects, but only for proposals which are focused on civil applications (including dual use).
• Research and Innovation Actions funded under the Horizon Europe or Horizon 2020 Research Infrastructures part

Funding available:

• Grants of up to EUR 2.5 million to validate and demonstrate technology in application-relevant environment (starting at TRL 3/ 4 aiming to achieve TRL 5/ 6) and develop business and market readiness.
• Booster grants of a fixed amount not exceeding EUR 50 000 to undertake complementary activities to explore potential pathways to commercialisation or for portfolio activities

Visit the EIC Transition site for further details. Deadline: 16 Sep 2026.

The EIC Accelerator is a funding programme under Horizon Europe that offers support to start-ups and SMEs that:

• have a innovative, game changing product, service or business model that could create new markets or disrupt existing ones in Europe and even worldwide,
• have the ambition and commitment to scale up,
• are looking for substantial funding, but the risks involved are too high for private investors alone to invest

UK applicants can apply for a lump sum contribution below € 2.5 million, for innovation activities (TRL 6-8), to be completed within 24 months.

Open to UK applicants if they are:

• Single start-up or SME (including spin-outs) or
• Natural persons or legal entities willing to set up an SME

(Equity funding is not available to any UK applicants.)

Short proposals may be submitted at any time and will be batched for evaluation every first Tuesday of the month at 5pm Brussels time, with a reply 4-6 weeks later. If your short proposal receives a GO, you can submit your full proposal before any of the 2026 batching dates: 04/03/2026, 06/05/2026, 08/07/2026, 02/09/2026, or 04/11/2026.

Visit the EIC Accelerator site for further details.

The EIC Accelerator Challenges calls are open to proposals in predefined topics that have been identified in areas where breakthrough technologies or game-changing innovations developed by start-ups or SMEs can have a major impact on EU objectives.

The total budget for EIC Accelerator Challenges for 2026 is EUR 220 million. The total indicative budget per challenge varies from EUR 20 million to EUR 50 million.

List of EIC Accelerator Challenges

• Advanced Materials for Renewable Energy and Energy Storage Systems
  Scaling advanced material technologies that will enhance the EU’s strategic autonomy in energy generation and mid-long energy storage, while addressing sustainability, circularity and safety issues.
• Alternative Concepts and Key Enabling Technologies for Fusion Power Plants
  Accelerating the transition from achieving fusion energy gain to the full commercialisation of fusion energy, positioning Europe as a global leader in the field.
• Biotech for Regenerating Agricultural Soils
  Scaling deep tech solutions that will improve soil health and the sustainability, efficiency, and resilience of the European agricultural sector, which spans food, feed and biomass.
• Boosting the European Critical Raw Materials value chain
  Securing supply of sustainably produced primary and secondary critical and strategic raw materials for EU industrial value chains and strategic sectors and help strengthen the EU mining value chain.
• Deep Tech for Climate Adaptation
  Developing and commercially scaling timely solutions needed across Europe to adapt to key climate risks.

Funding and eligibility: same as for Accelerator Open above, up to €2.5m grants for UK SMEs or individual applicants.

Deadlines: same as for Accelerator Open above, monthly assessment batches for short proposals.

Visit the EIC Accelerator Challenges site for further details.

Click here for links to the EIC Info Day recordings held in November 2025.

The UK National Contact Points for Horizon Europe have also presented several relevant events, with recordings and slides available:

• EIC Pathfinder Challenges (three webinar recordings and slides)
• EIC Advanced Innovation Challenges Pilot Scheme (webinar recording and slides)
• EIC Info Day in the UK (slides only)

For support, contact the UK’s NCPs for Horizon Europe (Claire Griffin is first point of contact for most EIC enquiries) or Innovate UK Business Connect’s European team.