EIC Pathfinder Challenges - Call 2025

Research

Funding organisation:

Europese Commissie

What?

The EIC was established to identify, develop and scale up breakthrough technologies and companies, which are critical for EU policies to achieve the green and digital transition and help ensure future open strategic autonomy in critical technologies. EIC Grants focus on game-changing innovations which are high risk and with a high potential for impact and to scale up internationally and become market leaders.

The funding and support available in 2025 is organised into four main funding schemes:
1. Pathfinder: advanced research to develop the scientific basis to underpin breakthrough technologies
2. Transition: to validate technologies and develop business plans for specific applications
3. Accelerator: to support SMEs and start-ups to bring their innovations to market and scale them up
4. STEP Scale Up: further upscaling support to promising companies in critical and strategic technology sectors

Pathfinder, Transition and Accelerator provide for ‘Open’ for projects in any field without any predefined priority areas. Additionally, Pathfinder and Accelerator also fund ‘Challenges’ which target specific technologies and innovations of strategic interest for the Union.

Pathfinder Challenge projects aim to achieve the proof of principle and validate the scientific basis of breakthrough technologies (starting from early TRLs aiming at achieving TRL 3 or 4). In general, the maximum grant amount is 4 million EUR, but higher amounts are possible if duly justified.

The four Pathfinder Challenges of the 2025 call are:
- Biotech for Climate Resilient Crops and Plant-Based Biomanufacturing
- Generative-AI based Agents to Revolutionize Medical Diagnosis and Treatment of Cancer
- Towards autonomous robot collectives delivering collaborative tasks in dynamic unstructured construction environments
- Waste-to-value devices - circular production of renewable fuels, chemicals and materials

EIC takes a proactive approach of project and programme management, performed by EIC Programme Managers, to identify, develop and implement such technology visions and to nurture potential market-creating innovations. Pathfinder Challenge projects will work together with Programme Managers and pursue together as a portfolio a common roadmap for the Challenge. This roadmap is prepared under the guidance of the EIC programme Manager and sets out collective activities, objectives and milestones.

Project progress will be periodically reviewed by independent experts, via the milestones as defined by the proposal. Following these reviews, the EIC support may be continued, amended, suspended or terminated. Projects can be terminated if all economic or technological relevance is lost. Reviews may also involve an assessment to submit a proposal to the EIC Accelerator or to submit a proposal for additional Booster grants.

Awardees will be given access to the EIC Business Acceleration Services (BAS) and to the EIC’s pan-European network of top-level innovators. EIC aims to push results to higher TRL, but awardees will bear no obligation regarding the development of innovations beyond the evaluated proposal. The EIC will encourage and stimulate further maturation of preliminary findings and results by providing guidance as well as additional and continuous support, including financial one.

Who?

EIC targets innovative researchers, start-ups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), scale up companies, and funders and other organisations and individuals interested in innovation.

The standard Horizon Europe admissibility and eligibility conditions apply. Applications can be submitted by smaller consortia (at least two eligible entities) or single applicants as well as by larger consortia. Consortia of two entities must be comprised of independent legal entities from two different Member States or Associated Countries. Consortia of three or more entities must include as beneficiaries at least three legal entities, independent from each other and each established in a different country as follows:
- at least one legal entity established in a Member State; and
- at least two other independent legal entities, each established in different Member States or Associated Countries.

Application?

Projects must aim to deliver the expected outcomes defined in the respective Challenge. Their results should also include top-level scientific publications, adequate formal protection of the generated intellectual property as well as an assessment of relevant aspects related to regulation, certification and standardisation.

Evaluation follows a two-step peer review method where proposals are evaluated, scored and ranked by experts based on weighted criteria and thresholds. The EIC evaluation committee will consider all proposals passing the first step together in order to assess the best portfolio of projects to achieve the specific objectives of the Challenge (so called portfolio considerations). The evaluation committee will be composed of EIC expert evaluators and EIC Programme Managers.

The funding rate of this grant will be 100% of the eligible costs. Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum and the amount will be determined during the evaluation process. EIC considers proposals with an EU contribution of up to 4 million EUR, but larger amounts can be granted if duly justified.

The call deadline for submitting your proposal is 29/10/2025 at 17h00.

More information?

Call 2025 - Info Day
EIC work programme 2025

Deadline intern

13.10.2025, 29.10.2025

Contact Hasselt University?

E-mail ward.ceunen@uhasselt.be

Tel. +3211268945