EIC Pathfinder Challenges
Funds European consortia developing breakthrough solutions across AI, climate, energy, materials, medical, and quantum fields.
EIC Pathfinder Challenges is the thematically directed track of the European Innovation Council's Pathfinder programme, funding breakthrough scientific research at TRL 1–4 within predefined challenge areas announced in the annual EIC Work Programme. Unlike the Open track, which accepts any scientific field, Challenges restricts proposals to specific topics the EIC has designated as high-priority. …
Breakthrough scientific research at TRL 1–4 within predefined thematic challenge areas published in the annual EIC Work Programme, funded through the EIC Pathfinder Challenges track.
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Guides for this application
All guides →Horizon Europe Grants for Startups: A Founder Guide
A practical guide to Horizon Europe grants for startups, including EIC, consortia, eligibility, Funding & Tenders, TRL, budgets, and EU strategy.
Where to applyGrants for Biotech Startups: NIH, NSF, SBIR/STTR, and Non-Dilutive Funding
A practical guide to grants for biotech startups, including NIH SBIR/STTR, NSF, translational funding, evidence, regulatory readiness, and budgets.
Start hereTRL Levels Explained for Deeptech Founders
Learn what TRL levels mean, how to estimate technology readiness, and how TRL affects grants, EIC Accelerator, SBIR/STTR, funding stage, and application evidence.
DocumentsGrant Work Plan Template: Work Packages, Gantt, Milestones, and Risks
Use this grant work plan template to structure work packages, tasks, owners, deliverables, Gantt timing, dependencies, and risk registers.
More from EIC
All grants from this funder →EIC Pathfinder Challenge: Advanced Materials for Miniaturised Energy Harvesting Systems
🇪🇺EIC · European Union
Supports developing advanced materials for miniaturised energy harvesters to power IoT and sensor networks autonomously.
EIC Pathfinder Challenge: Biotechnology for Healthy Ageing
🇪🇺EIC · European Union
Supports translating decades of ageing biology into biotech or pharma proofs-of-concept that prevent, delay or revert age-related disease.
EIC Pathfinder Challenge: DeepRAP — Deep Reasoning, Abstraction and Planning towards trustworthy Cognitive AI
🇪🇺EIC · European Union
Supports cognitive AI development focused on trustworthy deep reasoning, abstraction, and planning capabilities.
EIC Pathfinder Challenges 2026
🇪🇺EIC · European Union
Funds deep-tech research consortia with EIC Pathfinder grants up to €4 million.
EIC Accelerator Challenge: Advanced Materials for Renewable Energy and Energy Storage Systems
🇪🇺EIC · European Union
Supports scaling advanced materials for EU strategic autonomy in energy generation and storage.
EIC Accelerator Challenge: Alternative Concepts and Key Enabling Technologies for Fusion Power Plants
🇪🇺EIC · European Union
Supports European startups developing enabling technologies for alternative fusion power plant concepts.
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