The European Commission has recently published the 2022 work programme for the European Innovation Council (EIC), an instrument designed to identify and support the development of innovative products, technologies and services with high risk and potential capable of creating new markets. The total budget for this year is 1.7 billion euros, the majority of which is distributed across three main instruments:

EIC Pathfinder supports advanced research projects for the development of radically new technologies. It is divided into EIC Pathfinder Open (which funds projects in any scientific or technological field, excluding military applications, based on high-risk, high-reward interdisciplinary research) and EIC Pathfinder Challenges (for this year, six challenges have been identified:Carbon dioxide & Nitrogen management and Valorisation; Mid-long term, systems-integrated energy storage; Cardiogenomics; Healthcare Continuum technologies; DNA-based digital data storage; Alternative Quantum Information Processing, Communication, and Sensing).

The total budget for 2022 is 350 million euros (183 million for the Open call and 167 for the Challenges).

For theEIC Pathfinder Open, funding applications may be submitted only by consortia formed by research centres, universities, large enterprises, SMEs, start-ups and spin-offs, while for the Challenges applications may also be submitted by individuals, with the exception of large enterprises and mid-caps.

Theopening of the call Open is scheduled for 1 March, with closing on 4 May, while for the Challenges theopening is scheduled for 15 June and the closing on 19 October.

EIC Transition - aims to support the validation of cross-sectoral technologies that involve multiple and diverse scientific and technological fields, as well as thedevelopment of business plans specific to them. It is divided into EIC Transition Open (which funds projects in any scientific or technological field, with the exception of military applications) and EIC Transition Challenges (for this year, three challengeshave been identified: Green digital devices for the future; Process and system integration of clean energy technologies; RNA-based therapies and diagnostics for complex or rare genetic diseases). Projects must be based on results derived from previous projects submitted under the EIC Pathfinder programme or theEuropean Research Council.

The total budget for 2022 is approximately 131 million euros (70.9 million for the Open call and 60.5 for the Challenges). For both calls, applications may be submitted by individual entities (SMEs, spin-offs, start-ups, research centres, universities) or consortia (from 2 to 5 partners).

For 2022, there are two identical windows for both the Open call and the Challenges: both with opening the 1 March and closing the 4 May and the 28 September.

EIC Accelerator – aims to support the scale-up phase andinternational market entry for innovative products and technologies. It is divided into EIC Accelerator Open (which funds projects in any scientific or technological field, with the exception of military applications) and EIC Accelerator Challenges (for this year, two challengeshave been identified: Technologies for Open Strategic Autonomy; Technologies for ‘Fit for 55’).

The total budget for 2022 is more than 1 billion euros (630.9 million for the Open call and 536.9 for the Challenges). For both calls, applications may only be submitted by individual entities (SMEs, start-ups and, in some cases, small mid-caps).

For both the Open call and the Challenges , it is possible to submit a short application at any time, via the dedicated platform; if the evaluation of the proposal is positive, you have the opportunity to submit a full application within 12 months from the date you received the evaluation of your initial proposal (the cut-offs scheduled for 2022 are: 23 March, 15 June and 5 October).

The next 22 February, starting at 09:30, there will be an information day, to provide all interested parties with an overview of the instrument, as well as useful guidance for submitting a successful project. The programme and connection instructions will be available shortly here.

To consult the work programme, click here.

A summary table prepared by the European Commission is available to download below.

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