The European Innovation Council (EIC) Pathfinder funds bold, visionary research to turn breakthrough ideas into future technologies. Supporting early-stage, high-risk R&D in science & deep tech, it empowers innovators to disrupt markets, create new opportunities, and scale transformative solutions.

Swiss-based applicants must apply to the calls as “beneficiary” (and not as “associated partner”). This is the only way to receive funding from the EC. For calls requiring participation in consortium, you must also include your budget in the total amount requested from the EC.

Projects funded through EIC Pathfinder are eligible to:
• receive EIC Booster grants (up to 3 per project) of a fixed amount of EUR 50K to explore potential pathways to commercialization or for portfolio activities
• submit an EIC Transition &/or, an EIC Accelerator proposal via Fast Track scheme.

The call funds collaborative, interdisciplinary projects, meeting the following criteria:
• convincing, long-term vision of a radically new technology
• concrete, novel & ambitious science-towards-technology breakthrough
• high-risk & high-gain research approach & methodology.
Success rate ~ 2%.

Build a strong European consortium! The call welcomes min. 3 institutions from 3 different Member State (MS) or Associated Country, with at least 1 from a MS.
With Switzerland now fully associated to HE, Swiss institutions count toward the minimum, unlocking new opportunities for collaboration.

Max. EUR 4M per project based on lump-sum scheme. Budget covers personnel & project-related costs incl. 25% OH. Co-funding is not required. There is no max. project duration.
The 2026 call expects to fund ~50 projects with ~EUR 166M in total (+24M).

• EXCELLENCE (50%): long-term vision, science-towards-technology breakthrough, interdisciplinarity
• IMPACT (30%): long-term impact, Innovation potential, communication & dissemination
• QUALITY & EFFICIENCY OF THE IMPLEMENTATION (20%): work plan, allocation of resources, quality of the consortium.

The call funds high-risk/high-gain projects, within predefined thematic areas, to develop and scale up breakthrough technological solutions. Projects will be selected to create a coherent portfolio that can achieve together the goals of each Challenge.
Success rate ~4.8%.

The call is open to consortia or single legal entities established in a MS or an AC, including CH. Consortia must involve at least 1 MS. CH candidates can apply either individually or as part of a consortium.

Three strategic challenges, each backed by a EUR 32M budget:

• Advanced Materials for Miniaturised Energy Harvesting Systems
• Biotechnology for Healthy Aging
• DeepRAP: Deep Reasoning, Abstraction & Planning towards trustworthy Cognitive AI Systems

Max. EUR 4M per project based on lump-sum scheme. The same funding rules of Open apply. Duration varies according to thematic challenge. It is advised to include a WP dedicated to portfolio activities & allocate min. 10 PM to it.
The 2026 call expects to fund ~20 projects with ~EUR 96M in total.

• EXCELLENCE (50%): objectives and relevance to the Challenge, novelty, plausibility of the methodology
• IMPACT (30%): potential impact, innovation potential, comm. & diss.
• QUALITY & EFFICIENCY OF THE IMPLEMENTATION (20%): work plan, allocation of resources, quality of the consortium (if APL)

Explore the EIC Work Programme 2026 presentations for a full overview of funding opportunities & key novelties. EUR 1.4B are available to support deep tech innovators in 2026.
Contact the USI Research Service (servizio.ricerca@usi.ch) for tailored support with your budget and proposal preparation.