EIC Opens Calls for Funding for Innovation & Research Institutions From March 1

The European Innovation Council (EIC) will start accepting applications for funding research organizations, universities, and partnerships in the innovation and research field from March 1.

According to a press release issued by the authority, universities will be one of the main beneficiaries of this year’s program. In addition, the work program for 2022 has two schemes that provide funding to different institutions; the EIC Pathfinder scheme offers to fund science and technology innovative research and EIC Transition, which grants funds for validating new technologies and businesses bringing those innovations to market, Erudera.com reports.

“In both cases, the majority of funding will be awarded through open calls with no predefined thematic priorities. Known as Open Funding, it is designed to enable support for any technologies and for innovations that cuts across different scientific, technological, sectoral or application fields or represent new combinations,” the press release points out.

More specifically, EIC Pathfinder Challenges this year will tackle the following issues:

1. The management and valorization of carbon dioxide and nitrogen
2. Systems-integrated energy storage for medium to long term periods
3. Cardiogenomics, which predicts risk for cardiovascular disease and look for genetic variants that can be with an increased risk of disease
4. Healthcare continuum technologies, addressing how health care will deliver over technology for a certain period
5. DNA-based digital data storage
6. Alternative quantum information processing, communication, and sensing

At least three different independent legal entities, such as research organizations, universities, small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs) located in Europe’s eligible countries, can apply for funding of their projects which can vary from grants of $3.37 million (€3 million) for individual applications and $4.5 million (€4 million) for those participating in the EIC’s Challenges.

Eligible countries which determine third countries associated with Horizon Europe includes the following countries:

Albania, Armenia, Faroe Islands, Kosovo, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Morocco, Tunisia, Norway, Serbia, and Turkey.

Moreover, eligible for funding are several other countries in the world, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Capo Verde, Dominia, Egypt, Eswatini, Sudan, Suriname, Gabon, Jamaica, Iraq, North Korea, and Zambia.

The indicative budget is set at $205.7 million (€183 million), and the call’s deadline will be on May 4, 2022. On the other hand, challenge-driven calls will open on June 15 and expire on October 19, and the budget for such projects will be $187.7 million (€167 million).

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