Applications are done via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. The prerequisites to apply for funding differ between the funding lines (Pathfinder, Transition, Accelerator). If you are interested in applying for an EIC project, please contact us at an early stage.
The EIC is part of Pilar III ‘Innovative Europe’ of Horizon Europe. It offers different lines of funding, directed at different technology readiness levels (TRL).
- EIC Pathfinder: Taking forward research and deep tech projects with high degree of scientific ambition and risk (TRL 1-4). Consortia of at least 3 partners from 3 different European Member States or Associated Countries. Single applicants for EIC Pathfinder Challenges only. Grants of up to 3 to 4 million euro. Deadline for EIC Pathfinder Open is annually in spring and for Challenges annually in autumn. The funding rate is 100% of the requested EU contribution, which includes an overhead of 25% of the requested direct costs.
- EIC Transition: Technology validation and spin-out. A bridge between research and application development (TRL 3-6). Single entities or consortia with 2 to 5 partners can apply, including 3 partners from different Member States or Associated Countries. The proposal must build on results already achieved within an eligible project (check the list). Grants up to 2.5 million euro to achieve higher TRL and develop business and market readiness. Deadline annually around September. Two-stage application; proposal and face to face interview. The funding rate is 100% of the requested EU contribution, which includes an overhead of 25% of the requested direct costs.
- EIC Accelerator: Supporting start-ups and SMEs to develop and scale up innovations with the potential to create new markets or disrupt existing ones. For single SMEs and Start-up established in EU Member States, particularly welcome the ones with female CEOs. You can apply for EIC Accelerator Challenges or Open modality. Grant funding (TRL 5-8) and direct investment (TRL 9) are possible and in addition extensive support and business acceleration services. Three-stage application; short proposal, full proposal, face to face interview. Cut-off dates around March and October yearly. The maximum funding rate for Grant funding is 70%.
The EIC work programmes are central documents for the planning of an application and are published on a yearly basis. Drafts of the forthcoming work programme is available from a certain point in time and can be requested from us.
Calls for proposals are made annually. Submission deadlines and other details on the calls can be found in the EIC work programme. After publication, the calls can be found on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal, where you can also submit your proposal.
We provide you with general information about the funding line and help you answer specific questions. Additionally, the National Contact Points have a specific branch for EIC and provide free and independent advice.
We organize information events on the structure of Horizon Europe and on how to use the EU Funding & Tenders Portal.
Our services also include a monthly newsletter EU INFO to keep you updated on forthcoming calls, information events and important news regarding EU funding. To receive EU INFO you have to subscribe via this Link.
In addition, we offer you the opportunity to participate in the Crowdhelix platform. It is a partner and opportunities search tool based on the structure of Horizon Europe. EIC specific communities and services can also be found on the platform. Register with your corporate e-mail and enjoy their services, including events, personalized round tables and more.
We also encourage you to collaborate with the TU Darmstadt strategic partners. In case of participating with Unite!, note the following links Unite! Notice Board and Unite! Seed Fund.
Submission is done by you via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal where all relevant documents (proposal templates, guiding documents, work programmes) are provided. The needed PIC number of TU Darmstadt is 999986581.
We supply assistance with initial steps in the EU Funding & Tenders Portal, if necessary. To provide a better service, we always encourage you to include euforyou@tu-darmstadt.de as a Participant Contact on the proposal in the Portal. Individual discussion and contact with successful EIC grantees, if desired, can also be provided.
We recommend consulting the work programmes well in advance to form a strong consortium that includes the most suitable partners for each field of expertise required. For Work Programmes that have not yet been published on the official channels, please contact us. We might be able to share some information or drafts.
Participation in EIC Transition is restricted. Your proposal must build on results already achieved within an eligible project. You can check the list of eligible Projects in the following link.
If you are the coordinator, we can refer you to specific services such as proofreading, presentation preview or interview preparation, carried out from TU Darmstadt itself or by our colleagues at KoWi and NCP EIC.
During the proposal preparation we provide administrative support and guidance. For cross-cutting issues we can give you the input or name of the appropriate contact person at TU Darmstadt, for instance regarding Data Management, Open Acces and Ethics. Also for an insight on the free-of-charge dissemination and exploitation services and tools from the EU follow the previous link.
When it comes to budget planning, please contact us to ensure that both EU and the University guidelines are being followed. We can also provide you with a template to facilitate the calculations.
If you have any questions about innovation potential or IPR strategy, we will be happy to put you in touch with our colleagues from HIGHEST (Innovation- & Start-up Consulting).
EIC Pathfinder:
Excellence (threshold 4/5, weight 60%), Impact (threshold 3.5/5, weight 20%), Quality and efficiency of the implementation (threshold 3/5 weight 20%)
- Open: Individual assessment by at least 4 EIC expert evaluators. The overall score will be the weighted sum of the three median scores from the three award criteria. An evaluation committee will decide on the final score based on the individual evaluation and the outcome of its consensus discussion. First tiebreaker will be the Excellence score.
- Challenges: Individual assessment by at least 3 EIC expert evaluators. Agreement on comments and scores after a consensus between the evaluators. An evaluation committee will check consistency and finalise the scores and comments.
- The EIC evaluation Committee, composed of EIC expert evaluators and EIC Programme Managers, will assess the best portfolio of projects to achieve the specific objectives of the Challenge from among all proposals passing the first step.
EIC Transition Open:
Excellence (threshold 4/5), Impact (threshold 4/5), Quality and efficiency of the implementation (threshold 3/5)
Individual assessment by at least 3 EIC expert evaluators. The overall score will be the sum of the average scores from the three evaluation criteria. The second step, for the higher-ranking proposals, is an interview with an EIC Jury, composed of 4-6 members. After your pitch and Q&A session, the jury will recommend your proposal for funding or not.
EIC Accelerator:
Excellence, Impact, Level of risk, implementation and need for Union support
Short proposals will be evaluated by 4 EIC expert evaluators. Each will assess if the proposal meets each evaluation criteria and give a GO/NO GO. You will be invited to prepare a full proposal if at least 3 of the 4 evaluators give the GO. The full proposal will be assessed by 3 other EIC expert evaluators who will give the GO/NO GO to each evaluation criteria. With 3 GOs you will be invited for an interview. An EIC Jury, based on your interview and their overall assessment will recommend your proposal for funding or not.
To pass the first admissibility/eligibility check, please use the templates provided for the specific call and be sure to follow the instructions regarding form and content. It is important to address all aspects to reach the individual threshold in all criteria.
Information to all applicants of the outcome of the evaluation of their application since the submission deadline is maximum 5 months. To sign the grant agreement the maximum are 8 months since the submission deadline.
The European Innovation Council rewards Europe’s leading innovators who take the challenge and compete for an EIC Prize.
Specially interesting are the European Prize for Women Innovators, a prize to celebrate the women entrepreneurs behind Europe’s game-changing innovations, and the European Social Innovation Competition, that acts as a beacon for social innovators across Europe, incentivising and rewarding early-stage ideas, shaping our society for the better.
process in the Funding & Tenders Portal. The Grant Agreement will include the proposal as an annex to be used as a reference for the progress of the project. A funded project can start around 8 months after the submission deadline, on the first day of the month following the signature of the Grant Agreement.
The preparation of the consortium agreement takes place in parallel to this process and is led by the coordinator. The European Commission provides a model (DESCA) but is not involved in this process. It is negotiated internally between the organizations belonging to the consortium
Regarding Open Access, the EC provides an open access publishing platform for scientific publications originating from Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe actions on a voluntary level. You can also consult the services TU Darmstadt offers on Open Access here. For the digital research data management our colleagues of TUdata can offer you support on this matter and the use of the tool TUdmo to create your Data Management Plan (DMP).
In order to exploit the results of the projects the EC offers the Horizon Results Platform. To go beyond the Dissemination and Exploitation obligations, the EC also offers free consulting services through the Horizon Results Booster.
