Skip to main content
To KTH's start page

EIC Pathfinder

EIC Pathfinder is a highly competitive funding programme under the European Innovation Council (EIC). Here, you can find more information about this programme.

EIC Pathfinder each year supports a limited number of proposals with the strongest scientific excellence, vision and breakthrough potential. Its mission is to turn Europe’s excellent science base into a competitive advantage by supporting the earliest stages of development of future technologies. EIC Pathfinder projects are thus expected to open up radically new technological directions, grounded in high-risk/high-gain research and enabled through novel collaborations across science and engineering.

EIC Pathfinder supports science‑towards‑technology breakthrough research at low Technology Readiness Levels (typically TRL 1–4), with the objective of validating the scientific and technological foundations of a potential future technology.

Within EIC Pathfinder there are two main funding instruments: Pathfinder Open and Pathfinder Challenges.

1. EIC Pathfinder Open

The largest share of the EIC Pathfinder funding is allocated through the Pathfinder Open calls. These calls are fully bottom‑up, giving applicant consortia complete freedom to define the research topic, approach, and envisioned technology. The aim is to capture the unexpected and to enable radically new ideas, emerging trends, and unconventional research directions, regardless of disciplinary boundaries.

Pathfinder Open calls are entirely non‑prescriptive with respect to the nature or application of the technology. What matters is the potential to open up a new technological trajectory based on excellent science and ambitious, high‑risk research.

Eligible applicants for EIC Pathfinder Open calls must form a consortium of at least three legal entities, each independent from the others and established in a different country. Specifically, these conditions apply for the consortium:

  • At least one legal entity must be established in an EU Member State
  • At least two other independent legal entities must be established in different Member States or in Associated Countries

The legal entities may include universities, research organisations, SMEs, start-ups, industrial partners, or natural persons.

Information on the Pathfinder Open calls under the EIC Work Programme ( see the 2026 Work Programme here ), including deadlines, budget, and eligibility are published by the European Commission in the Funding & Tenders Portal:

EU Funding & Tenders Portal

Is Pathfinder Open right for your project?

Although Pathfinder Open has no predefined thematic priorities, proposals must be very well aligned with the specific objectives of the programme, which are:

  • A convincing long‑term vision for a radically new technology with the potential for a transformative positive impact on the economy and/or society
  • Concrete, novel and ambitious science‑towards‑technology breakthroughs that clearly advance the envisioned future technology
  • A high‑risk/high‑gain research approach, with well‑defined, credible and plausible objectives

Pathfinder Open does not support blue‑sky research. The research should go far beyond incremental next steps, while remaining grounded in scientific and technological plausibility. Strong multidisciplinarity is essential, typically to a greater extent than in many other Horizon Europe programmes. Proposals should clearly demonstrate synergies, mutual learning and genuine integration across disciplines and partners.

2. EIC Pathfinder Challenges

EIC Pathfinder Challenges provides funding for projects that contribute to coherent portfolios within predefined thematic areas. Each Challenge is designed to address a clearly defined objective aligned with EU priorities, including the green and digital transitions and a resilient, healthy society.

Proposals responding to a Pathfinder Challenge must explicitly address the specific objectives and expected outcomes set out in the Challenge description. The topics of the EIC Pathfinder Challenges for 2026 are:

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

In general, Pathfinder Challenges projects start at early TRLs (typically around TRL 2) and aim to reach proof of concept or validation in the laboratory (TRL 3–4).

Depending on the specific Challenge, calls may be open to:

  • Individual applicants, or
  • Consortia (with specific eligibility conditions defined in the call text)

It is therefore essential to carefully check the eligibility requirements of the relevant Challenge topic.

Information on Pathfinder Challenges under the EIC Work Programme, including Challenge topics and deadlines, are published by the European Commission:

EIC Pathfinder Challenges 2026

Information events and resources

Given the highly competitive nature of the EIC Pathfinder calls, applicants are strongly advised to consult the following resources for detailed, up-to-date and authoritative guidance before starting proposal preparation:

Contact and support at KTH

If you are considering applying to EIC Pathfinder, please contact the KTH Research Support Office at an early stage for guidance on programme fit, proposal strategy, and internal support processes: researchsupport-rso@kth.se