The Commission has published the next annual Work Programme for the European Innovation Council (EIC), which includes funding opportunities worth €1.2 billion.
Funding in 2024
The EIC Work Programme for 2024 provides information about the funding available under the three main EIC schemes:
- EIC Pathfinder (€256 million) for multi-disciplinary research teams to undertake visionary research with the potential to lead to technology breakthroughs (grants up to €4 million).
- EIC Transition (€94 million) to turn research results into innovation opportunities, following up on results generated by EIC Pathfinder projects, European Research Council Proof of Concept projects and open for the first time to project results from Horizon collaborative projects from Pillar 2/ societal challenges (grants up to €2.5 million).
- EIC Accelerator (€675 million) for start-ups and SMEs to develop and scale up innovations with the potential to create new markets or disrupt existing ones (grants below €2.5 million, investments from €0.5 to €15 million). €405 million is earmarked for investments to be managed by the EIC Fund, which will receive an additional €180 million to follow on investments in companies selected under previous EIC Accelerator calls.
Main changes in the 2024 Work Programme
Building on the advice of the EIC Board, the 2024 Work Programme introduces the following simplifications and improvements:
- The introduction of a lump sum cost model in most EIC main calls (except
Pathfinder Open). This will remove financial reporting requirements for
beneficiaries. - The rebuttal (right to react) pilot has been removed from the EIC Pathfinder evaluation process.
- The opening of EIC Transition funding to follow up results from Horizon collaborative projects, in addition to results from ERC Proof of Concept, EIC Pathfinder and European Defence Fund projects.
- The EIC Transition Open call has a single deadline.
- The update of specific rules on Intellectual Property to empower Technology Transfer Offices, following the recommendations of the EIC Board.
- The introduction of consensus meetings for EIC Accelerator applications to improve the robustness of the evaluation process.
- Flexibility for the EIC Fund to increase or delay investments in selected companies to better respond to their needs and market developments.
The full list of changes is available on p.9-10 of the Work Programme.
New EIC Challenges
While the majority of EIC funding under the three main schemes is open to all fields of technology, in 2024, under EIC Pathfinder and Accelerator, €420 million is earmarked for novel technologies and for SMEs and startups to tackle challenges supporting directly the European Green Deal, REPowerEU, the Chips Act, future AI Act, Net Zero Industry and other EU policies, including the New European Innovation Agenda.
The new EIC Challenges topics are as follows:
EIC Pathfinder
- Solar-to-X devices for the decentralized prosumption of renewable fuels,
chemicals and materials as climate change mitigation pathway - Towards cement and concrete as a carbon sink
- Nature inspired alternatives for food packaging and films.
- Nanoelectronics for energy-efficient smart edge devices
- Protecting EU space infrastructure
EIC Accelerator
- Human Centric Generative AI
- Virtual worlds and augmented interaction, including support to Industry 5.0
- Enabling the smart edge & quantum technology components
- Food from precision fermentation and algae
- Monoclonal antibody-based therapeutics for emerging viruses
- Renewable energy sources and their whole value chain
There are no challenge topics under the EIC Transition call.
Information days
The EIC will organise the following information days on the upcoming calls for proposals:
- Monday 15 January 2024, 08:00 – 4:15 (UK time) – Online info day dedicated to potential applicants where high-level speakers will present the new Work Programme and provide an overview of the three main EIC funding schemes.
- Tuesday 16 January 2024, 07:30 – 12:15 (UK time) – Online info day dedicated to the EIC Accelerator Challenges under the 2024 EIC Work Programme.
Further information about the EIC is included in UKRO’s dedicated factsheet, which will be updated shortly.