General conditions

1. Admissibility conditions: 

Applications must be submitted before the call deadline.

Applications must be submitted electronically via the Funding & Tenders Portal Electronic Submission System (accessible via the Topic page in the Search Funding & Tenders section). Paper submissions are NOT possible.

Applications (including annexes and supporting documents) must be submitted using the forms provided inside the Submission System (NOT the documents available on the Topic page — they are only for information).

Applications must be complete and contain all the requested information and all required annexes and supporting documents:

 Application Form Part A — contains administrative information about the applicant organisations (to be filled in directly online)

 Application Form Part B — contains the technical description of the application (to be downloaded from the Portal Submission System, completed and then assembled and re-uploaded)

 Applicants must support their application with an inspiring video message lasting no more than 90 seconds, describing themselves and their achievements. The video cannot exceed 100MB and should be uploaded to the Submission portal as a .zip file in annex.

Your application must be readable, accessible, printable.

Proposal page limits and layout: 

Applications (Part B) are limited to maximum 15 pages. Evaluators will not consider any additional pages.

2. Eligible countries: applicants must be established in an EU Member State (including overseas countries and territories) or in countries associated to Horizon Europe. 

3. Other eligibility conditions: 

In order to be eligible, the applicant must be:

 a woman

 legally established in one of the following eligible countries:

a. EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories, OCTs)

b. countries associated to the Horizon Europe programme

 The applicant must be the founder or co-founder of the company or organisation

 The company or organisation must be established in an EU Member State (including overseas countries and territories, OCTs) or a country associated to Horizon Europe, and registered or incorporated at least two years before the call year

 Applicants who have already received an EU or Euratom prize cannot receive a second prize for the same activities

In addition, those applying for the EIT category must have a direct link to the EIT Community / one of the existing Knowledge and Innovation Communities.

4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion: described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes

• Award criteria, scoring and thresholds 

  • If admissible and eligible, the applications will be evaluated and ranked against the following award criteria:
• • Award criterion 1: Breakthrough innovation
  • The company or organisation founded or co-founded by the applicant is pioneering a breakthrough and disruptive innovation within the EU or countries associated to Horizon Europe. In presenting their innovation, the applicant should demonstrate what makes this product or service breakthrough and disruptive in relation to other existing solutions.
• • Award criterion 2: Impact
  • This innovation addresses a real need or challenge, with significant benefits for people and/or the planet. The applicant will demonstrate how the organisation’s current performance and growth is driving this positive impact. The applicant should support their answer with numerical data such as performance measures and indicators.
• • Award criterion 3: Inspiration
  • The applicant is an inspiring leader, who has played a pivotal role in the success of the company or organisation. The applicant is a role model who inspires and empowers other women and girls.
• • Applications must pass both the individual thresholds AND the overall threshold. The prize will be awarded to the three highest-ranked applications in the EIT category. Other applications will be rejected.
  • The jury’s assessment will be based on Parts A and B of the application form, as well as the video submitted by the applicant.

• Indicative timeline for evaluation: October 2023 - February 2024

• Indicative timing for information on evaluation results and awards: Q1 2024 - Q2 2024