European Commission Research & Innovation Initiatives and Programme Opportunities

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European Innovation Council (EIC) Pathfinder

Snapshot overview

The European Innovation Council (EIC) supports innovations with breakthrough and market-creating potential. It provides funding through open calls with no defined thematic priorities or a challenge-driven approach, focusing on a specific thematic breakthrough. EIC is divided into three different schemes: EIC Pathfinder, EIC Transition and EIC Accelerator. EIC Pathfinder supports projects focusing on early-stage scientific innovation with the potential of developing scientific breakthroughs.

Under the 2024 work programme, two types of calls for proposals were planned. First, the calls under EIC Pathfinder Open, which closed in Q1 2024. Second, five calls under EIC Pathfinder Challenges for projects that match any of the predefined thematic areas of the Pathfinder Challenges, which are currently open.

Name

European Innovation Council (EIC) Pathfinder

Institution/ DG/ Agency responsible at EU-level

European Innovation Council

Work programme

EIC Work Programme 2024

Programme

EIC is a programme under Horizon Europe covering 2021-2027.

Programme budget

The total indicative budget for 2024 is EUR 256 million, including:

  • EIC Pathfinder Open: EUR 136 million
  • EIC Pathfinder Challenges: EUR 120 million
Call budget

The EIC Pathfinder Challenges budget is expected to support 30 grants.

Type of funding

Grants, no contribution required. EIC Awardees will also be provided with access to a range of externally contracted, bespoke EIC Business Acceleration Services (BAS) at any stage of development of their activities.

Target participants

The following types of applicants are eligible for funding:

  • SMEs
  • Large enterprises
  • NPOs
  • Academia
  • Individuals
  • Public sector
Programme scope

EIC Pathfinder provides support for the earliest stages of scientific, technological or deep-tech research and development. For further detail, please see below:

  • EIC Pathfinder Open: Open to support projects in any field of science, technology or application without predefined thematic priorities
  • EIC Pathfinder Challenges: Focusing on coherent portfolios of projects within predefined thematic areas: (i) carbon sink, (ii) nature inspired alternatives for food packaging and films, (iii) nanoelectronics for energy-efficient smart edge devices, and (iv) protecting EU space infrastructure
Participant criteria

Applicants based in the following geographical areas are eligible for funding:

  • European Union Member States
  • Countries associated to Horizon Europe
  • Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)

The following types of applications are accepted:

  • EIC Pathfinder Open: Only consortia are eligible for funding
  • EIC Pathfinder Challenges: Both single entities and consortia are eligible for funding
Project duration

Depending on the specific project

Average time from submission to project kick-off

Applicants will be informed about the outcome of the evaluation within 5 months from the call deadline (indicative) and, if the proposal is selected for funding, can expect the grant agreement to be signed by 8 months after the call deadline (indicative).

R&D stage

Early stages

Intellectual property

EIC Pathfinder projects are subject to provisions to ensure open access to scientific publications and to promote the uptake of research results.

Call-specific resources
  • EIC Pathfinder Challenges: Overview here, Calls for proposals here. More specifically
    • Solar-to-X devices for the decentralized prosumption of renewable fuels, chemicals and materials as climate change mitigation pathway
      • Call for proposals here
    • Strengthening the sustainability and resilience of EU space infrastructure
      • Call for proposals here
    • Towards cement and concrete as a carbon sink
      • Call for proposals here
    • Nature-inspired alternatives for food packaging and films for agriculture
      • Call for proposals here
    • Nanoelectronics for energy-efficient smart edge devices
      • Call for proposals here
Call Status

EIC Pathfinder Open: Closed

EIC Pathfinder Challenges: Open

    • Solar-to-X devices for the decentralized prosumption of renewable fuels, chemicals and materials as climate change mitigation pathway
        • Publication of the call: 20 June 2024
        • Submission deadline: 16 October 2024
    • Strengthening the sustainability and resilience of EU space infrastructure
        • Publication of the call: 20 June 2024
        • Submission deadline: 16 October 2024
    • Towards cement and concrete as a carbon sink
        • Publication of the call: 20 June 2024
        • Submission deadline: 16 October 2024
    • Nature inspired alternatives for food packaging and films for agriculture
        • Publication of the call: 20 June 2024
        • Submission deadline: 16 October 2024
    • Nanoelectronics for energy-efficient smart edge devices
        • Publication of the call: 20 June 2024
        • Submission deadline: 16 October 2024
Contact details & more information
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This tool was created by FTI Consulting for GSK and EFPIA.
For all enquiries please contact niro@fticonsulting.com
Privacy policy

This tool was created by FTI Consulting
for GSK and EFPIA.
For all enquiries please contact niro@fticonsulting.com
Privacy policy

What type of funding are you looking for?

  • Grant:
    Grants are direct financial contributions from the European Union budget awarded by way of a donation to third-party beneficiaries (usually non-profit-making organisations) engaged in activities that serve EU policies.
  • Loan:
    Loans are measures of financial support provided on a complementary basis from the budget in order to address specific policy objectives of the European Union. Such instruments are implemented in partnership with public and private institutions such as banks, venture capitalists or angel investors.

What stage of development are you seeking R&I funding for?

  • Basic science: Basic science covers the various exploratory steps even prior to discovery
  • Discovery: Drug discovery aims to find potential disease-altering targets, such as a gene or a protein in humans. Prior to testing candidate compounds for safety
  • Preclinical development: Preclinical development concerns the testing of candidate compounds for safety in specific indications or disease conditions. Introduction of candidate compound in living biological systems (animals)
  • Phase 1 clinical trials: These are the first clinical trials on humans(usually 20-80 volunteers) testing the safety, side effects, best dose, and timing of a new treatment
  • Phase 21/2b clinical trials: This is the follow-up trial with roughly 100 to 500 patients to analyse efficacy and safety
  • Phase 3 clinical trials: These trials usually involve several hundreds to many thousands patients and tests the results of earlier clinical trials on larger populations to generate robust data on safety, efficacy and benefit-risk relationships of the medicine. Comparison to placebo and/or active comparator (best standard treatment)
  • Registration & launch: This concerns post-study, prior to launch, activities related to market launch. That can include, among others, marketing authorisation, regulatory activities, post-study communication or HTA
  • Introduction & delivery: This concerns all post-launch activities

What do you want to develop?

  • Treatment or vaccine:
    Refers to a drug or vaccine
  • Diagnostic or medical device:
    Refers to diagnostics and medical devices
  • Platform:
    Refers to a digital health platform or medical app
  • Knowledge:
    Refers to conducting research to help build our understanding on a topic
  • Standards:
    Refers to creating a benchmark for a specific issue

What type of organisation are you?

  • Small & medium-sized enterprises:
    <250 employees, annual revenue <EUR 50,000,000) or balance sheet < EUR43 million. This applies to individual firms only. If part of larger group, check the User Guide: https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/42921
  • Large enterprises:
    >250 employees or annual revenue > EUR 50,000,000. Non-profit organisation (non-governmental organisations that are recognised with a non-profit status)
  • Non-profit organisations:
    Non-governmental organisations that are recognised with a non-profit status
  • Academic:
    Linked to a university or equivalent
  • Public:
    Local, regional, federal government representative

What stage of diagnostics development does your research aim to cover?

  • Development:
    Product development
  • Validation:
    Lab and clinical validation
  • Evaluation & Authorisation:
    Regulatory approvals
  • Access:
    Monitoring

What stage of medicine or vaccine development does your research aim to cover?

  • Discovery and development:
    Identification of promising compounds for development and initial experiments to gather information
  • Preclinical research:
    Laboratory and animal testing to answer basic questions about safety
  • Phase 0 (clinical):
    Testing on limited number of subjects at subtherapeutic doses
  • Phase I (clinical):
    Testing on <100 healthy subjects with the disease/condition
  • Phase II (clinical):
    Testing on up to several hundred subjects with the disease/condition
  • Phase III (clinical):
    Testing on 300 to 3,000 volunteers with the disease/condition
  • Preregistration / Phase IV (clinical):
    Testing on several thousand volunteers with the disease/condition
  • Clinical (unspecified):
    Clinical phase unknown
  • Evaluation & Authorisation:
    Activities relating to marketing authorisation
  • Access:
    Monitoring

Where are you based?

  • Africa : Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Comoros, Congo (Democratic Republic of the), Congo (Republic of the), Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
  • America (non-US & Canada) : Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela
  • Asia-Pacific : Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Brunei, Cambodia, China (including special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau), Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kiribati, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Nepal, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, North Korea, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Vietnam
  • Europe (non-EU) : Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iceland, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom
  • European Union (EU) : Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden
  • Middle East : Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen
  • United States (US) & Canada : United States, Canada

What type of organisation are you?

  • Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME):
    Staff headcount 50 < and turnover ≤ EUR 10 m or balance sheet total ≤ EUR 10 m (small); Staff headcount 250 < and turnover ≤ EUR 50 m or balance sheet total ≤ EUR 43 m (medium)
  • Large enterprise:
    Staff headcount > 250
  • Non-profit organisation:
    Association, foundation, or equivalent
  • Academic:
    University, research institute, or equivalent
  • Individual:
    Private citizen
  • Public sector:
    Local, regional, federal government representative
  • Other:
    None of the above or uncertain