EIC Pathfinder Open 2021

1. Admissibility and eligibility conditions: This call is open for collaborative research. Your proposal must be submitted by the coordinator, on behalf of a consortium that includes at least three independent legal entities, each one established in a different Member State or Associated Country and with at least one of them established in a Member State. The legal entities may for example be universities, research organisations, SMEs, start-ups, industrial partners or natural persons. The standard admissibility and eligibility conditions are detailed in Annex 2, and the eligibility of applicants from third countries in Annex 3 of the EIC Work Programme 2021.

2. Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System

Sections 1 to 3 of the part B of your proposal, corresponding respectively to the evaluation criteria Excellence, Impact, and Quality and Efficiency of the Implementation, must consist of a maximum of 17 A4 pages. Excess pages will be automatically made invisible, and will not be taken into consideration by the evaluators. Please also consult Annex 2 of the EIC Work Programme 2021.

3. Financial and operational capacity :described in Annex 2 of the EIC Work Programme 2021.

4. Evaluation and award:

• Submission and evaluation processes: described in Section II.1 of the EIC Work Programme 2021 and the Online Manual.  

This call will take part of a pilot with the aim to test a ‘right-to-react’ (or rebuttal) evaluation process. About 2-2.5 months after the call deadline participants will receive via the Funding & Tenders Portal the evaluators’ comments and will have the chance to reply to them within 7 working days with a strict page limit (maximum two A4 pages). The participants’ replies cannot be used to alter or add to the content of the proposals, but must strictly focus on providing clarifications and/or on responding to potential misunderstandings or errors by the evaluators. These replies will be made available to the evaluation committee who will decide on the final score on the basis of the individual scores and the outcome of its consensus discussions, taking into consideration the comments from the right-to-react procedure.·

• Award criteria, scoring and thresholds: described in Section II.1 of the EIC Work Programme 2021.
• Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement: described in Section II.1 of the EIC Work Programme 2021.    

You will be informed about the outcome of the evaluation within 5 months from the call deadline (indicative), and, if your proposal is accepted for funding, your grant agreement will be signed by 8 months after call deadline (indicative).

ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/essential-information-for-clinical-studies_horizon_en.pdf 5. Legal and financial set-up of the grants: Please refer to the Model Grant Agreement (MGA) used for EIC actions under Horizon Europe

Call document and annexes:

EIC Work Programme 2021

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

List of Pathfinder Open Descriptors

Model Grant Agreement (MGA) used for EIC actions under Horizon Europe

Additional documents:

EU Financial Regulation 2018/1046 

Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment

Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual

Funding & Tenders Portal Terms & Conditions

Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement

Template for essential information to be provided for proposals including clinical studies

Online Manual is your guide on the procedures from proposal submission to managing your grant.

Horizon Europe Programme Guide contains the detailed guidance to the structure, budget and political priorities of Horizon Europe.

Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ – find the answers to most frequently asked questions on submission of proposals, evaluation and grant management.

Research Enquiry Service – ask questions about any aspect of European research in general and the EU Research Framework Programmes in particular.

Enterprise Europe Network – contact your EEN national contact for advice to businesses with special focus on SMEs. The support includes guidance on the EU research funding.

IT Helpdesk – contact the Funding & Tenders Portal IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc.

European IPR Helpdesk assists you on intellectual property issues.

CEN and CENELEC, the European Standards Organisations advise you how to tackle standardisation in your project proposal. Contact CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk at [email protected].

The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment – consult the general principles and requirements specifying the roles, responsibilities and entitlements of researchers, employers and funders of researchers.

Partner Search Services help you find a partner organisation for your proposal.