Top Grants | GrantSpider

Eurostars is a funding instrument that supports innovative SMEs and project partners (large companies, universities, research organisations and other types of organisations) by funding international collaborative R&D and innovation projects. By participating, organisations can access public funding for international collaborative R&D projects in all fields.

To have a successful Eurostars application you must:

Define your project idea.
Collaborate internationally, sharing expertise.
Develop products, processes or services that can be easily commercialised.
You can submit your R&D and innovation project application between 16 January 2026 and 19 March 2026 at 14:00 CET using our project platform (myeurekaproject.org). Your project consortium must have an innovative SME in the leading role, but it can also include other types of organisations like large companies, universities, research organisations and more.

SME? success rate > 30%

EUROSTARS-2026-03-19

Deadline:

18 mar 2026

Budget:

€0.5-2M

International R&D collaboration for SMEs and partners to develop commercialisable products, processes, or services through cross-border consortia in diverse innovation fields.

Engineering, Environmental Science, Agricultural and Biological Sciences, Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, Chemical Engineering, Computer Science, Energy, Materials Science, Medicine

Expected Outcome:
Contributing to European digital sovereignty and open strategic autonomy in the domain of virtual worlds;
Contributing to development of innovative and interoperable virtual worlds solutions;
Contributing to the creation and promotion of EU regulatory sandboxes for virtual worlds.
Objective:
The main objective is to increase productivity and innovation capacity through state-of-the-art virtual worlds technologies. The Virtual worlds test beds will support testing, experimentation and integration of Virtual Worlds, immersive and extended reality technologies in specific sectors, targeting both industrial and societal applications.

The virtual worlds test beds will focus on testing and integrating mature technologies and solutions that have already been tested in the labs with the objective to be validated in real-world environments. They will also cover the aspects of interoperability and transferability between Virtual Worlds.

The Virtual worlds testbeds will seek to maximise the uptake of virtual worlds solutions in industrial and societal applications and boost competitiveness of the sectors they are applied.

Scope:
For this action, support to two world-class sectorial testbeds through two projects is envisaged: one for industrial applications (such as manufacturing, construction or industrial design) and one for societal applications (such as education and training, cultural heritage and other cultural experiences, public administration or healthcare). Each testbed should create a network of facilities with critical mass across at least three different Member States or associated countries.

Proposals are expected to focus on either industrial or societal applications. The area should be clearly identified within the proposal.

The test beds will provide all necessary expertise and infrastructure for the design and implementation of the testing methodologies, combining physical world and virtual worlds facilities.

DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-VIRTUAL-TESTBEDS-STEP

Deadline:

2 mar 2026

Budget:

€8M

Advances European digital autonomy by developing and validating interoperable virtual world solutions for industrial or societal applications across multiple EU countries.

Business, Management and Accounting, Computer Science, Engineering, Psychology

Expected Outcome:
The action is expected to contribute to the following outcomes:

Improved and professionalised NCP services across Europe, leading to:
Effective and efficient access to Digital Europe Programme calls.
Adapted services to the different Specific Objectives of the programme, including matchmaking activities, online and in-situ meetings as appropriate, and dissemination of information regarding security and ownership control rules in the Digital Europe Programme.
Better participation of new applicants in the programme.
Raising the average quality of proposals submitted. Dissemination and exploitation of results, promotion of the use of the digital capacities and services emerging from the programme, and creation of synergies with complementary dissemination and communication initiatives (including from other programmes).
Optimal trans-national co-operation and exchange of best practices amongst NCPs of the programme.
Possibility for DEP NCPs (one per participating country) to take part in annual meetings among the network and with the European Commission, organised as hybrid events with importance given to physical presence, and supported by a dedicated budget for travel and organisation.
Strengthened outreach through improved tools, platforms, or communication channels as needed to support the visibility of the programme and engagement of stakeholders.
Objective:
Support the coordination and capacity-building of National Contact Points (NCPs) for the Digital Europe Programme, the preparation and execution of actions that maximise awareness of funding opportunities that can boost the implementation of EU digital policies, the visibility and impact of the programme, and the long-term dissemination and exploitation of results.

The action should strengthen the capacity of all NCPs to deliver on their mandate, enhance peer learning and knowledge-sharing, and foster the development of an interactive and cohesive community of practice. Particular relevance will be placed on ensuring inclusiveness and comprehensive geographical coverage in relation to membership of the network. The action will thus reinforce the transnational character of network activities, with the aim of further encouraging collaboration among NCPs and potential applicants. Finally, the action will provide support to NCPs in amplifying awareness of the Digital Europe Programme and EU digital policies within their respective domains of competence.

The selected project will provide support for all specific objectives of Digital Europe Programme.

Scope:
Proposals will contribute to the NCPs network for the Digital Europe Programme.

Proposals should facilitate transnational cooperation amongst NCPs, encouraging cross-border activities, sharing good practices and raising the general standard of support to programme applicants.

The consortium should provide a framework that will support participation in and will maximize overall awareness of the Programme, also facilitating the participation of new applicants. It will provide tailored activities supporting Digital Europe Programme communication (including the organisation of info days for stakeholders), dissemination and exploitation activities, and related material.

Special attention should be placed on enhancing the competence of NCPs, including helping less experienced NCPs rapidly acquire the know-how built up in other countries. Where relevant, synergies should be sought with existing networks.

DIGITAL-2026-SUPPORT-09-NCP-NETWORK

Deadline:

2 mar 2026

Budget:

€1M

Coordination and capacity-building for National Contact Points to enhance Digital Europe Programme access, awareness, collaboration, and support across Europe.

Engineering, Social Sciences

Expected Outcome:
Contribution to the replication and scalability of piloted GenAI solutions across public administrations and Member States, demonstrated through the ability to adapt them to new users, administrative levels or service areas. This contribution will be supported through concrete tools such as starter kits, a repository of replicability assessments as well as tailored guidance, documentation and outreach.
Targeted support to national procurement processes, where relevant, possibly by a helpdesk.
Pooling of demand for European GenAI solutions by public administrations in the form of among others technical benchmarks.
Bringing together public administration and start-ups based on common needs and capabilities as defined in technical benchmarks etc.
To complement the outreach strategy of the pilot projects, support to outreach and awareness-raising activities by public administrations, including communication materials.
Strengthened integration of public administrations into the broader European AI ecosystem, through synergies with the AI-on-Demand Platform, EDIHs, the AI Factories and other relevant initiatives as well as ensured synergies with Commission-led initiatives that support AI adoption in public sector.
Objective:
Broadly speaking, the objective of this action is to coordinate and support the pilot projects delivering Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) solutions fully integrated into the operational workflows and IT systems of participating public administrations.

First, this action should prioritise to enhance the scalability and replication of successful GenAI pilot solutions. This includes the projects' capabilities to be duplicated by other public administrations and to adjust efficiently to a growing number of users, public administrations, or application areas.

Second, it will identify common needs from public administrations for GenAI solutions “Made in Europe”, facilitating the pooling of demand at EU level for European start-ups.

As a result of these efforts, the action will deepen collaboration among public administrations across Member States, laying the foundation of a sustainable GenAI community. Through the dissemination of knowledge, tools, and mutual learning experiences, this community will help accelerate adoption and reinforce trust in European GenAI solutions.

Scope:
The selected consortium will be responsible for enhancing the scalability and replication of successful European GenAI pilot solutions, through activities that foster knowledge sharing, community building, and capacity development. Such activities could consist, for example, in implementing software documentation best practices, facilitating peer-to-peer knowledge sharing and experience exchange, deploying targeted training and support programs, and establishing a community of practice. A helpdesk can be set up to support pilot projects and other interested public administrations on technical, organisational and legal – such as procurement – matters.

Importantly, the CSA will seek to identify common needs with the overarching goal of pooling demand from public administrations for GenAI solutions “Made in Europe”. Towards that end, the CSA will define benchmarks and minimum requirements at the technical level. It will work closely with and contribute to the innovation procurement hubs initiative[1], in particular to public procurement of innovation (PPI) and pre-commercial public procurement work strands. Furthermore, the CSA will raise awareness among European start-ups for its demand-pooling exercise through outreach activities targeted to start-up communities in Europe, conducting where relevant matchmaking exercises between public administrations and European start-ups.

The CSA will play an important role in ensuring the pilot projects have a European dimension. This will be done by supporting the pilot projects with scalability and replicability. They will complement their planned actions with additional measures to maximise the reach and impact. Moreover, the European dimension will also be ensured by reporting on the pilot project’s activities, aggregating their KPIs and relevant figures to provide an overview on the use of GenAI by public administrations in Europe.

DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-GENAI-PA

Deadline:

2 mar 2026

Budget:

€1M

Pilots and scales GenAI solutions in European public administrations, fostering knowledge sharing, community building, and collaboration to accelerate adoption and trust in GenAI.

Business, Management and Accounting, Decision Sciences, Medicine, Social Sciences

Expected Outcome:
Deliverables

The awarded proposals are expected to deliver:

Solutions that allow the collection of large, high-quality data from real industrial environments, from different manufacturing systems/sectors.
Solutions that allow access to these large datasets to train Generative AI models that respond to real-world industrial needs and challenges, preferably relying on trusted third parties hosting data and training compute on behalf of authorized AI developers.
Agreements with specific AI factories providing information on the data sets available and the conditions for using them for training AI models.
Interoperability and governance framework of manufacturing data spaces including from national industrial data spaces to ensure that mechanisms to aggregate data for training AI could be taken up at EU level.
Objective:
Aligned with the previous WP, this action aims to support the continued uptake and further expansion of the data space for manufacturing. The primary objective is to develop legal, technical and business solutions to pool sufficient data and enable authorized AI developers to have direct or indirect data access to train generative AI models specifically for the manufacturing sector. This initiative seeks to reinforce the role of the data space for manufacturing as a major productivity enhancement and collaboration mechanism within the EU.

Scope:
This initiative will support up to three data-collection projects, with around EUR 3 million co-funding from Digital Europe each, focused on manufacturing use cases to unlock advanced AI models, for example, predictive maintenance, process automation, supply chain management, product design and development and sustainability in production, and increase productivity in industrial environments such as purchases, logistics, resource planning and production halls. These projects aim to collect massive, high-quality data from real industrial environments, ensuring proper labelling where relevant, that could be used to train or finetune generative AI models for the manufacturing sector. The data collection has to be relevant for developing AI applications that can significantly benefit major EU manufacturing sectors (such as automotive, chemical, aeronautics and energy-intensive industries). The project proposal has to clearly identify the target sectors, the stakeholders, and have preliminary agreements about the intended data exchange.

The data-collection projects will develop both technical and business solutions to enable authorized AI developers to have direct or indirect data access and utilize these large datasets while fully respecting the data holders' control over their data.

Each data-collection project should propose clear use cases to ensure alignment with real-world needs and challenges. Ideally, the AI developers interested in using such data should be already identified in the proposal.

The proposal will also ensure technical and legal solutions to make the generated datasets available to users of AI Factories. This will also enable AI Factories to leverage these datasets for the development of AI applications. To this extent, the inclusion of AI Factories in the project will be considered an advantage.

Consortia are encouraged to use data intermediaries, as outlined in Chapter III of the Data Governance Act, or other appropriate mechanisms to manage the secure access to and processing of these datasets.

The initiative must also work in close partnership with the Data Spaces Support Centre to ensure alignment and interoperability with the broader ecosystem of data spaces implemented with the support of the Digital Europe Programme. Additionally, the action must coordinate with AI Factories to ensure that the datasets generated can be effectively used in conjunction with data already available facilitating in this way collaborative approaches for the development of advanced AI models.

Considering financial sustainability from the outset is crucial in the development of Common European Data Spaces to ensure their long-term viability and effectiveness. By establishing a sound financial model, developers can secure the resources necessary to adapt to evolving technological landscapes and user needs, ensuring that data spaces remain robust and beneficial over time.

DIGITAL-2026-DSM-AI-09-DS-MANUFACTUR-STEP

Deadline:

2 mar 2026

Budget:

€3M

Accelerates generative AI adoption in manufacturing by creating secure, interoperable data spaces, enabling collaboration, and addressing industrial challenges like automation and sustainability.

Business, Management and Accounting, Decision Sciences, Engineering

Expected Outcome:
1+MG data storage strategy.
Secure federated data storage and processing capacity for 1+MG data infrastructure.
Objective:
This action contributes to boosting the capacity of Member States to sequence human genomes through scaling up dedicated secure data storage and processing environments. Data volume is crucial in genomics analytics, and efficient storage and management of large data sets, such as genomics, is essential; to ensure efficient processing, genomic data storage solutions should be flexible and scale with needs. Genomic data, once curated, must not only be stored safely, but also be processed in secure processing environments, which is a particular challenge with the highly voluminous genomic data.

This action relates to the potential creation of a European Digital Infrastructure Consortium for genomic data (Genome EDIC) and supports the activities related to operating the 1+MG data infrastructure established with the support of Digital Europe under Work Programme 2021-2022 (GDI project), including its alignment with the requirements, technical specifications, and processes established by the EHDS Regulation to ensure a smooth functioning within the HealthData@EU infrastructure. As part of the 1+MG initiative implementation, this action builds on the outputs and results of the 1+MG implementing projects, and will establish a collaboration agreement with the Genome of Europe (GoE project, supported under Digital Europe Work Programme 2022-2023), to contribute ensuring safe storage and processing capacity for the European reference genome data within the 1+MG data infrastructure.

Scope:
This action supports the acquisition and set-up of a secure federated data storage and processing capacity for the 1+MG data infrastructure, which is expected to be operated by the relevant EDIC. It should include “hot storage” working in synergy with secure processing environments aligned with the EHDS requirements, such as compliance checks for secure processing environments and detached long-term storage for curated data made available to the 1+MG by the data providers, including the Genome of Europe dataset. The data storage capacity should be designed based on an agreed data storage optimisation strategy, and balancing between storage costs and data depth/breadth/versioning while considering the most appropriate data storage architecture, technology and legal aspects, and ensuring scalability.

DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-DS-HEALTH-STORAGE

Deadline:

2 mar 2026

Budget:

€17M

Enhances secure, scalable storage and processing for European genomic data, supporting 1+MG infrastructure integration within the European Health Data Space for research and medicine.

Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, Computer Science, Decision Sciences, Medicine

Expected Outcome:
Strategic roadmap for digital technology developments for automotive, including software, hardware, AI models and solutions and autonomous driving technologies, across different projects and initiatives;
Definition of agreement on high-level architectures and interfaces for software, hardware, AI models and solutions and autonomous driving technologies;
Nurturing of a dynamic ecosystem of contributors and participants adopting the initiative’s outcomes;
Operational digital platform(s) supporting joint developments under the initiative;
Definition and implementation of processes, agreements and roles ensuring a clear pipeline for building blocks from relevant projects funded at EU and national level towards integration by companies in series production, leveraging organisations like ECLIPSE SDV, COVESA, or alike.
Establishment of a sustainable organisational and governance structure.
Objective:
The action will help reinforce the competitiveness and innovation leadership of the European automotive sector and accelerate its digital transformation. It will contribute to the implementation of the Industrial Action Plan for the European Automotive Sector. It will support the objectives of the announced European Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Alliance (ECAVA), which focuses on the following key areas:

Developing a software platform for software-defined vehicles (SDVs);
Developing an in-vehicle computing architecture for software-defined vehicles;
Developing innovative AI solutions for the automotive industry;
Creating a large-scale distributed pilot facility;
Accelerate the transition towards autonomous driving.
The action will build on the ongoing industry-driven collaboration on a European software-defined vehicle initiative and expand into the other areas of the ECAVA, supporting concrete collaborations building on the strategic guidance and advice from the ECAVA.

The action will coordinate and steer relevant projects and initiatives in the area of software, hardware, AI and autonomous driving technologies. It will drive alignment on common standards and interfaces. It will contribute to the management of a strategic industry-driven collaboration in these areas, by incubating, orchestrating and helping maintain joint developments. It will provide a collaborative digital platform to support efficient common development and promote the broad uptake of the initiative’s outcomes. It will lay the basis for a sustainable industry-driven collaboration. The collaboration platform aims at consolidating existing coordination mechanisms in an inclusive way and expanding them by supporting the role of a maintainer for emerging open-source building blocks and software stacks as well as sustainability of the ecosystem.

Scope:
The action will implement the following activities:

Support the management and coordination of joint developments under the ECAVA by:
Steering, coordinating and supporting research, innovation and deployments projects, including EU-funded (e.g. under the Chips JU, CCAM and 2ZERO Partnerships, potential future Joint Undertakings), national-funded and industry-driven projects and initiatives (e.g. projects under the Eclipse SDV Working Group, AUTOSAR, COVESA, ...). Consolidate or orchestrate existing coordination mechanisms under FEDERATE, Eclipse SDV, Autosar, COVESA, etc..
Defining and supporting key roles and responsibilities for project management, including a high-level ambassador to ensure dialogue and exchange with senior automotive decision-makers in companies; a team of chief operations officers and a team of chief architects to ensure coherence and alignment.
Drive the alignment and consensus on common technology platforms:
Define and update a long-term strategic roadmap and vision across companies’ initiatives for joint, largely open-source, developments.
Support the alignment across companies on common high-level architectures, building blocks, standards, interfaces and tools for key digital technologies in the scope of the Alliance. This shall include software, hardware, and interfaces with cloud infrastructure.
Help identify and define non-differentiating areas for beneficial collaborations regarding automotive AI development, including approaches for data sharing and pooling to support joint AI development.
Follow and contribute where relevant to standardisation activities including at international level.
Support the incubation of joint developments, notably by:
Supporting the rollout of the common strategic roadmap, providing a drumbeat to ensure speedy implementation, and an efficient transfer of outcomes from relevant projects, aiming towards rapid integration in series production.
Setting up certification and labeling processes for the outcomes of joint developments under the initiative.
Disseminating outcomes and help to build a dynamic ecosystem, based on an open-source plan and leveraging existing communities.
Support the integration and maintenance of core joint developments based on a collaborative digital platform:
Supporting the operation of a repository and developer platform for jointly developed building blocks, interfaces, tools, models, etc. and of a digital platform for collaboration, building as far as possible on existing mechanisms, which support Europe’s strategic autonomy.
Supporting, where relevant, the maintenance of common stacks by relevant organisations(s), such as ECLIPSE SDV, for instance through reference implementation and pre-integrations.

DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-AUTOMOTIVE

Deadline:

2 mar 2026

Budget:

€3M

Accelerates digital transformation of Europe’s automotive sector through strategic roadmaps, joint developments, and open-source platforms for connected and autonomous vehicle technologies.

Business, Management and Accounting, Computer Science, Engineering

Expected Outcome:
Tools to perform automated data and metadata curation / inclusion / minimisation by data providers, foster data quality assurance and enable compliance checks and risk/security management developed, tested and deployed in the 1+MG data infrastructure in alignment with agreed 1+MG requirements and related standards and procedures, as well as with the legislative and technical framework of the European Health Data Space and European Digital Identity Framework.
Tools, APIs and interfaces developed, tested and deployed in the GDI, covering well documented needs of users from research, healthcare and public health policy, in alignment with the European Health Data Space.
Citizens’ portal, allowing at least management of GDPR rights of citizens and citizens’ engagement, to be established and operational at month 12 at the latest.
Objective:
This action aims to enhance the European genomic data infrastructure by supporting the deployment of advanced tools for data curation and use and its alignment with the European Health Data Space (EHDS). Data quality and volume are key success factors for health data infrastructures supported under the Digital Europe Programme, such as the one developed by the Genomic Data Infrastructure (GDI) project implementing the 1+ Million Genomes (1+MG) initiative of the Member States. The availability of thoroughly curated genomic data and related clinical and phenotypic information is a prerequisite for accelerating the move to the next level of multi-modal data modelling and deployment as well as health sector innovation in Europe. 1+MG and the projects implementing the initiative have worked and agreed on common data standards and ontologies, data quality criteria and thresholds, data inclusion policies and the necessary standard operational procedures. On that basis, data holders will need to quality-check and curate the datasets that they will be making available to 1+MG and EHDS (HealthData@EU) to ensure their interoperability and high value for users. Wide accessibility of the data and user-friendliness of the tools and services facilitating the access to data are critical success factors of the 1+MG data infrastructure. While such functionalities for research purposes have been already largely covered in the deployment project GDI, application in other use scenarios, in particular healthcare and public health policy, requires additional tools, application programming interfaces (APIs) and interfaces to address the corresponding specific user needs and requirements. The citizen perspective must be also factored in to ensure, through appropriate IT tools, full compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules regarding citizens’ rights on personal data protection. This action relates to the potential creation of a European Digital Infrastructure Consortium for genomic data (Genome EDIC) and supports the activities related to operating the 1+MG data infrastructure established with the support of Digital Europe under Work Programme 2021-2022 (GDI project), including its alignment with the requirements, technical specifications, and processes established by the EHDS Regulation to ensure a smooth functioning within the HealthData@EU infrastructure.

Scope:
Data tools for the 1+MG data infrastructure should be based on common standards and as automated as possible, and should enable data quality check at source, benchmarking, annotation and enhancement on the data provider end and by the operator of the data infrastructure, as appropriate. This covers the whole process of data inclusion, integration and access provision, as well as compliance assessment, risk management and data security assurance on the side of data infrastructure. All steps and functionalities should be designed to support the needs and requirements of three main use scenarios, i.e. research (largely already covered by the GDI project), and clinical care and public health policymaking. They should follow and implement the standards and procedures agreed within the 1+ Million Genomes initiative (1+MG Framework) and be compliant with the EHDS Regulation. For example, data curation tools should facilitate the description of datasets using a metadata standard compatible with the one required for the EU Dataset Catalogue of the EHDS (Health DCAT-AP), including its data quality and utility label as defined in the project QUANTUM. Metadata should also cover information about legal conditions and enablers for sharing the respective dataset. Moreover, the action should leverage best practices and strategies for linking clinical and genomic data at individual level, within the framework of EHDS where appropriate, to maximise access to data while preserving the security and privacy of data subjects (e.g. sampling, anonymisation and pseudonymisation techniques, data gap filling). Data minimisation tools should support compliance with the respective GDPR rules. Moreover, this action covers piloting and the deployment of tools, APIs and interfaces to provide high quality data services to the users of the 1+MG data infrastructure for healthcare and public health policy purposes as well as addressing any remaining user needs in research not yet covered by other projects. For example, APIs and interfaces for data discovery, and federated analysis and modelling in a secure processing environment will enable users to find, access and integrate the data at the required level of data protection safeguards to serve their projects, clinical questions or policy development. Adequate data de-identification/synthetisation methods and support to multi-modal data discovery and analysis across the data infrastructures (e.g. linking up with the Cancer Image Europe and HealthData@EU infrastructures) should also be considered and implemented. The tools delivered and deployed should be user-friendly and clearly support high uptake of the data infrastructures and their services. Furthermore, the action is expected to establish a citizen portal for 1+MG enabling citizens to exercise their GDPR rights, such as obtaining information about their data inclusion / processing and their legal basis, manage the consent, requesting data access, rectification or erasure. All solutions deployed by the project should be compatible with the Simpl middleware platform, where appropriate, and ensure interoperability with the HealthData@EU infrastructure. Tools related to authentication should be eIDAS-compliant. While fully respecting the prerogative of participants within the 1+MG data infrastructure to determine who can access what data and under which conditions, suitable links to the AI Factories should be envisaged. The project should include a description of data access and usage arrangements.

DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-DS-HEALTH-TOOL

Deadline:

2 mar 2026

Budget:

€5M

Enhances European genomic data infrastructure with advanced tools for curation, compliance, security, and citizen engagement, supporting 1+MG and EHDS interoperability and standards.

Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, Computer Science, Health Professions, Medicine

Expected Outcome:
Deliverables:

Well defined, up to date and relevant challenges that will serve as the challenges for the European Advanced Digital Skills Competitions
Competitions rule book for participants and jury
Competitions implementation roadmap
Implementation and roll-out of the six competitions
Sustainability plans for the proposed competitions after the end of the project
Objective:
The European Advanced Digital Skills Competitions will serve as catalysts for engaging young European people in cutting edge digital technologies. They will support their creativity, exposing them to project-based research and training, and connect them to the wider community of research organisations and industry players. Each competition will centre around a challenge addressing a highly relevant societal or industrial challenge that has been developed by a consortium of Europe’s most prestigious research institutes and industry partners. The consortia will work in close cooperation with the respective Sectoral digital skills academies and Initiatives to ensure buy in and support from the relevant stakeholders in the ecosystem.

The competitions will take place in the EU. To launch the competitions, teams of students will compete in six digital areas, represented by the newly established Sectoral digital skills academies, the Destination Earth initiative and an additional area to be chosen by the consortium. Furthermore, it is expected that the competitions will lead to greater innovation, which will allow to measure and compare progress towards the ambitious goals set under each challenge.

Scope:
The scope of this topic is to develop six challenges for the European Digital Skills Competitions in the four digital areas corresponding to the Sectoral digital skills academies (Quantum, GenAI, Chips, Virtual Worlds), the Destination Earth Initiative (see topic 4.2 of the DEP Work Programme 2025-2027) and one additional area to be developed by the consortium.

The challenges will be designed to target three clear objectives: each will address a European societal-, technological or industrial-relevant challenge, attract a large participation of students and help them develop their skills, and raise their awareness and understanding of team and project-based work as well as applied research and innovation in the respective digital technologies. Special attention will also be given to design local and major tournaments. The consortium will also design attractive prize schemes and award for the best challenges from the six areas.

The selected project will cooperate closely with the Sectoral digital skills academies, the Destination Earth sectoral Initiative and the respective industrial communities for the design of the competitions. It will as well collaborate with the European League of Advanced Digital Skills Academies (see section 4.3 of the DEP Work Programme 2025-2027) for dissemination, communication and public relations purposes concerning these competitions. Synergies should also be sought with other relevant initiatives, e.g. the Digital Education Hackathon.

DIGITAL-2026-SKILLS-09-COMPETITIONS

Deadline:

2 mar 2026

Budget:

€7M

European student teams compete in advanced digital technology challenges, fostering innovation, skills development, and collaboration between research institutes, industry, and digital skills academies.

Computer Science, Engineering, Social Sciences

Expected Outcome:
The Secretariat of the ECAVA will support the successful operation of the ECAVA, assisting the European Commission and the ECAVA’s members in making the Alliance a sustainable stakeholder platform. It will deliver on the following outcomes:

Development and promotion of the ECAVA’s Strategic roadmap.
Organisation of the annual ECAVA General Assembly and Forum, as well as of the meetings of working group and Steering Committee, in close collaboration with the European Commission.
Promotion of the Alliance’s outcomes, including through the operation of a website and by creating and publishing relevant communication content.
Objective:
The action will help reinforce the competitiveness and innovation leadership of the European automotive sector and accelerate its digital transformation.

As part of the Industrial Action Plan for the European Automotive Sector[1], the action will support the objectives and activities of the announced European Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Alliance (ECAVA) by acting as its Secretariat. The purpose of the ECAVA is to provide a discussion and advisory forum to coordinate and accelerate technological developments and investments in software-defined, AI-powered, connected and autonomous vehicle technologies. It will bring together a critical mass of Original Equipment Manufacturers, automotive suppliers, technology and tool providers, start-ups, academia, research and technology organisations, as well as relevant industrial associations active in the sector. The Secretariat will contribute to the success of the ECAVA by allowing it to function smoothly and effectively.

Scope:
The Secretariat shall support the effective set-up, functioning and day-to-day work of the ECAVA. It should function in an agile and efficient way, with clear processes and roles and a capacity to adapt to evolving circumstances. It will work with the members and participants of the Alliance and with the European Commission. The tasks of the Secretariat will notably include:

supporting the organisation and work of its General Assembly, working groups, Steering Committee, Alliance Forum and other meetings, including by editing the documents produced.
Supporting the administrative processes of the ECAVA, notably by assisting the European Commission in the management of applications.
Disseminating outcomes of the Alliance, notably through the creation and maintenance of a website, and building a dynamic ecosystem.
Supporting the members of the Alliance in the development and update the ECAVA’s yearly roadmap.
Providing the needed expertise, for instance legal expertise on competition rules.
The Secretariat will work in close collaboration with the action on the “Collaboration Platform for the European connected and automated vehicle of the future” (see section 2.2.2.9 of the Digital Europe Work Programme). While the Secretariat will focus on facilitating the organisation and processes of the Alliance, the Collaboration Platform will focus on coordinating joint developments in the area, driving the alignment on common technology platforms, and supporting the incubation, integration and maintenance of joint developments. The Secretariat shall agree on working arrangements with the Collaboration Platform.

DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-ECAVA

Deadline:

2 mar 2026

Budget:

€1M

Secretariat manages ECAVA operations, strategic roadmap, events, communications, and legal guidance to boost Europe's connected and autonomous vehicle ecosystem and digital transformation.

Business, Management and Accounting, Engineering, Social Sciences

Expected Outcome:
Deliverables:

A seal of quality/accreditation of excellence developed and piloted by the European League of Advanced Digital Skills Academies for training modules offered by existing or upcoming sectoral academies and initiatives;
Capacity building activities such as cross-sectoral mentoring programmes;
Collaboration established with the Digital Skills and Jobs Platform and learning resources and material provided to the Digital Skills and Jobs Platform catalogue/repository by adding resources/material in the area of advanced digital skills developed by the sectoral academies/initiatives and other EU-funded projects in the area of advanced digital skills (notably the DEP-funded specialised education programmes);
A sustainable multi-stakeholder governance structure, fully aligned to the existing and upcoming sectoral academies/initiatives and other initiatives funded by the EU;
Networking activities and events to enhance stakeholder collaboration and strengthen community building by creating a community of practice in the area of advanced digital skills and by sharing best practices;
Communication, dissemination and outreach activities carried out supporting the four pillars of activities described under scope;
Detailed market analyses and impact assessments, providing further insights into the existing education and training offers and related gaps in the area of advanced digital skills (not sufficiently covered by other studies) and foresight studies provided in close collaboration with the selected proposal of the call DIGITAL-2023-SKILLS-05-SPECIAL-PROGEDU - Advanced digital skills analysis and the Digital Skills and Jobs Platform.
Objective:
The Commission has set ambitious targets in the Digital Decade Policy Programme of reaching 20 million ICT professionals employed in Europe, while promoting access of women to this field, by 2030. Effective collaboration among stakeholders in advanced digital skills is crucial for this investment to bear fruit and to reach the Digital Decade target. An umbrella action at European level, the European League of Advanced Digital Skills Academies, will spearhead this effort by federating existing sectoral initiatives (e.g. the Cybersecurity Skills Academy and the EuroHPC Virtual Training Academy), the newly created sectoral digital skills academies (see topic 4.1 of the DEP Work Programme 2025-2027) and other EU-funded projects focusing on advanced digital skills (notably the DIGITAL-funded higher (specialised) education programmes), fostering synergies with related initiatives like the Digital Largescale Partnership under the New Pact for Skills and the European Digital Education Hub. It will leverage platforms such as the Digital Skills and Jobs Platform to create a cohesive ecosystem. ELEVATE’s vision is to empower stakeholders through coordination, capacity building, communication, and market analysis, driving collective achievement in advanced digital skills.

A special emphasis of the League will be on the development and piloting of a mechanism to provide a seal of quality/accreditation of excellence for training modules offered by existing or upcoming sectoral academies and initiatives.

Scope:
Initiatives such as the Cybersecurity Skills Academy and the four academies (see topic 4.1 of the DEP work Programme 2025-2027) tackle the shortage of ICT specialists in a specific area, highlighting critical issues. The League aims to enhance coordination and collaboration among sectoral initiatives and projects, fostering synergies and a collective approach to minimize fragmentation risks.

The European League of Advanced Digital Skills Academies will be structured around four pillars:

Coordination and collaboration among sectoral academies, sectoral initiatives and individual projects in advanced digital skills aimed at pooling resources and expertise. Using the Digital Skills and Jobs Platform, this effort will lead to (a) improved sharing of information and best practices, facilitating mutual learning and staying updated of developments, (b) enhanced stakeholder collaboration, including seeking partnerships and advocating for policy changes, (c) unified advocacy for systemic improvements, such as the provision of European joint degrees and micro-credentials in advanced digital skills and (d) strengthened networking and community building, fostering a sense of shared identity among initiatives.
Capacity building activities will complement the training offer of the sectoral academies and sectoral initiatives, for example through implementing cross-sectoral mentoring programmes. Furthermore, the League will help developing a framework for a certification mechanism of modular learning credentials for advanced digital skills and support the sectoral academies/initiatives in implementing it. The certification of other existing trainings at European level through the League will be explored, closely with Member States, in line with the 2022 Council Recommendation on a European approach to micro-credentials1. The League is expected to leverage the Digital Skills and Jobs Platform to offer access to diverse learning materials and courses from various training institutions as well as the newly developed modules. It will also support the Digital Skills and Jobs Platform's matchmaking tool, facilitating collaboration between industry representatives and education and training providers. Additionally, the League will collaborate with the Data Space for Skills, promoting community engagement and uptake and facilitating the implementation of use cases.
Communication and awareness efforts aimed at boosting visibility and credibility of career paths in ICT. The League will also support the promotion of the European advanced digital skills competitions (see topic 4.4 of the DEP work Programme 2025-2027). In addition, the League will seek collaboration with Member States and industry to explore further initiatives to boost the engagement of the public with advanced digital skills in innovative manners.
Market analysis and impact assessment by leveraging the League’s broad networking activities and existing data/information, including produced by past or recent EU funded coordination and support actions in the field of digital skills and education, to provide more insights into the existing education and training offers in the area of advanced digital skills and to what extent the current offers match the needs of the current and future labour market.
1 Council Recommendation of 16 June 2022 on a European approach to micro-credentials for lifelong learning and employability 2022/C 243/02

DIGITAL-2026-SKILLS-09-LEAGUE-OF-ACADEMIES

Deadline:

2 mar 2026

Budget:

€7M

Federates and coordinates digital skills academies across Europe, develops accreditation for training, fosters collaboration, and aligns education with labor market needs.

Computer Science, Social Sciences

Specific Challenge:
Fusion research encompasses innovation in the domains of physics and technology over a wide range of specialisations. Fusion researchers are constantly challenging the scientific state-of-the-art and improving the technology thereby creating the conditions for innovation, much of which can be exploited in other science and industrial sectors for the benefit of society. The fundamental basis of the Euratom Programme is the drive and support for innovation across the product development chain from research to market. In this context the researcher plays a critical role.

The SOFT Innovation Prize[1] is being offered to highlight and reward excellence in innovation that can be found in fusion research as well as the quality of the researchers and industries involved. Following the success of 2022 and 2024 editions of the SOFT Innovation Prize, the European Commission is holding the contest again in association with the next Symposium on Fusion Technology (SOFT) in 2026.

There are no specific categories for this prize. Contestants are free to submit an application concerning any physics or technology innovation that has been developed in magnetic confinement fusion research and that has market potential or has been taken up (or recognised) by industry to be further developed for the market.

The specific rules of the contest will be published in 2025 by the European Commission[2], which will launch and manage the contest and award the prize based on the judgement of independent experts.

The complete application for the 'SOFT Innovation Prize' should include:

a technical description of the innovation
a state-of-the-art assessment of the innovation
an account, in general terms, of the market potential for the exploitation of the innovation
For the Model Rules of Contest for Prizes please see the Funding and Tenders Portal.

Essential award criteria: The prize will be awarded, after closure of the contest, to the applicant(s) who in the opinion of the jury best addresses the following cumulative criteria[3]:

Originality and replicability: The extent to which the idea is innovative, original and a first-of-a-kind use of the technology in industry or in the domain of application. The description should be clear, logically presented and well-illustrated.
Technical excellence: The extent to which the innovation is demonstrably state-of-the-art and based on excellent science and engineering.
Economic impact and exploitation of the innovation: The extent to which the submission demonstrates understanding and awareness of the relevant innovation aspects, including market potential, needs and business opportunities.
Eligibility criteria:

1. The contest is open to researchers, research teams, or industrial participants eligible for funding under the Euratom Research and Training Programme 2021-2025, to researchers or research teams working for a national programme in an ITER partner country[4] or in any third country that has a bilateral fusion cooperation agreement with Euratom in force and to industrial participants participating in the ITER[4]. Example of proof: the Commission may request substantiating document such as contracts, etc.

2. The researcher, research team or industrial participant must obtain permission from the owner of the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) to submit an application and provide supporting documentation.

Expected results:

By awarding the ‘SOFT Innovation Prize’, the Commission will showcase innovations in fusion research sector giving visibility to the most dynamic, forward-looking and innovative researchers, research teams or industrial contestants. This visibility will provide greater potential for valorisation of the fusion research. Furthermore, the contest will stimulate the EU and international partners to develop a stronger innovation and entrepreneurial culture in fusion research.

The Commission applies an equal opportunities policy. With a view to promoting gender balance in nuclear field, the Commission would particularly welcome applications from women.

Prize amounts: 1st Prize: EUR 50 000, 2nd Prize: 30 000, 3rd Prize: EUR 20 000.

[1] The Prize is named after the biennial Symposium on Fusion Technology (SOFT) during which the

recipients of the prize are presented

[2] On the Funding & Tenders Portal (https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/programmes/horizon) but also actively publicised elsewhere to maximise participation.

[3] Further clarification of these criteria might be published in the Rules of Contest.

[4] Except for Russia, see exceptions indicated in the General Annex B.

[5] Except for Russia, see exceptions indicated in the General Annex B.

EURATOM-2026-SOFT-PRIZE

Deadline:

2 mar 2026

Budget:

€50K

Recognizes outstanding innovations in magnetic confinement fusion research, rewarding technological and scientific advancements with market potential or industrial interest through monetary prizes.

Materials Science, Physics and Astronomy, Social Sciences

Expected Outcome:
Deliverables

EDMO will continue to maintain and further support a platform for joint activities to analyse and respond to the phenomenon of disinformation. EDMO will be carrying out and coordinating various activities in this field, including investigations, targeted research, monitoring as well as media literacy and communication activities throughout Europe and across the national/multinational research hubs.

Objective:
The EU supports the capacity of a multidisciplinary community to understand, monitor and counter disinformation.

The objective of this topic is to maintain and further develop a platform supporting the operations of the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO), as well as deepening the language coverage and operational capacity of fact-checking in Europe.

In particular, the topic will support the operational cooperation between fact-checkers, researchers and media literacy practitioners across the EU through EDMO and support fact-checkers, with the aim to contribute to the fight against disinformation, to gain further insight on disinformation, monitoring of the disinformation space, debunking disinformation through the network of fact-checkers, and increasing the resilience of media professionals and citizens to disinformation.

Scope:
The funding will support further consolidation of EDMO’s role as a key player in the fight against disinformation in Europe, in particular:

operation of a platform composed of a set of tools and services responding to the needs of the EDMO community composed of researchers, fact-checkers, media literacy practitioners and other relevant stakeholders, including services and actions to support and protect these communities when carrying out their work;
fostering and coordinating research activities and open-source investigations on disinformation at European level focused on detecting and analysing, in an agile and practice-oriented way emerging and prominent issues related to the disinformation landscape;
carrying out activities for monitoring disinformation trends and narratives across the EU, including through pre- and debunking;
investigating and fostering the development and use of novel tools such as Artificial Intelligence and Generative AI to respond to addressing current challenges in the disinformation landscape, including AI-generated disinformation and deepfakes, and in this respect also collaborate with ongoing Horizon Europe projects working on AI-tools to fight disinformation;
monitoring and reacting to disinformation threats related to crisis situations and elections – including by pre- and debunking - as well as to emerging disinformation waves, including giving assistance to neighbourhood countries through dedicated actions, targeted communication and awareness raising campaigns;
supporting targeted activities to facilitate access to data for researchers to allow conducting research activities on disinformation;
supporting activities related to the implementation of the 2022 Code of Practice on Disinformation;
coordinating and carrying out tailor-made media literacy activities and campaigns at European level, targeting both the general public and vulnerable groups;
carrying out proactive communication and outreach activities through various channels (including by traditional and online media, podcasts, social media etc.) to a broad audience, including the general public, to increase societal resilience to disinformation;
conducting targeted communication campaigns about EDMO’s activities.

DIGITAL-2026-BESTUSE-TECH-EDMO-09-HUBS

Deadline:

2 mar 2026

Budget:

€750K

Strengthens European fight against disinformation by supporting EDMO Hubs in research, fact-checking, media literacy, and AI tool development across multiple countries.

Computer Science, Social Sciences

Expected Outcome:
The new EDIHs will support the digital transformation of SMEs, mid-caps, and public sector organizations within its geographical area and area of expertise, while also aiming to extend its impact beyond its immediate region. An EDIH can select to focus on specific group(s) of clients (e.g. mainly SMEs or mainly public sector).

The performance of the hub will be evaluated based on their key performance indicators (KPIs); proposals should define their indicators as well as the targets related to each of them:

Number of entities which have used the European Digital Innovation Hubs’ services, by user category (businesses of different sizes, public sector entities, etc.), sector, location, by technology and type of service received. Specific sub-indicators must be proposed when the services are related to develop and uptake AI solutions, and will include a description of which European AI Innovation Infrastructures have been used (such as the AI-on-Demand platform) or referred to (such as the AI Factories).
Number of entity referral to European AI Innovation Infrastructures
For access to finance: amount of additional investments successfully triggered (e.g. through venture capital, bank loan, etc.).
Number of collaborations foreseen with other EDIHs and stakeholders outside the region at EU level, and description of jointly shared infrastructures / joint investments with other EDIHs.
A set of additional impact indicators will be collected and analysed with the support of the Digital Transformation Accelerator:

Increase in digital maturity of organizations that have used the services of the EDIH network. Digital maturity will be defined based on a questionnaire assessing the categories of digital strategy and readiness, intelligence and automation, data and connectedness, sustainable and human-centric digitalisation. EDIHs will administer the questionnaire at the start of the engagement with a client, and later after having delivered services, and report without delay the results to the DTA repository.
Increase in number of companies benefiting from the use of European AI technology.
Cross-border trans-national hubs are possible with several countries jointly proposing and co-funding cross-border trans-national hubs, serving neighbouring regions in different countries, tackling shared challenges identified in the border regions and exploiting the untapped growth potential in border areas. In this case, only the share of the funding of each country involved in the cross-border trans-national will be considered for the total amount of funding for that country.

Objective:
The objective is to complete the existing network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) with entities from countries associated to the Digital Europe Programme that have not yet participated in any previous EDIH call. These entities will provide the complete set of services of an EDIH, including the necessary infrastructure, focusing primarily on a specific geographical area and covering the digital transformation needs of the local SMEs, mid-caps and/or public sector organisations with a reinforced AI focus for EDIH operations.

The completion of the EDIHs network will be pivotal in supporting the widespread deployment and uptake of European AI technologies, solutions and tool, while also promoting the adoption of other crucial digital technologies, all in alignment with EU values and a human-centric approach.

Furthermore, the network will harness the potential of green digital technologies, contributing to Europe’s collective climate and environmental goals. This approach will not only enhance the resilience of European industry but also strengthen its strategic autonomy. With an enhanced presence in countries associated with Digital Europe, the EDIH network will help bridge technology gaps, and support competitiveness and economic convergence.

EDIHs will collaborate with EU AI Innovation infrastructures, serving as central hubs for companies and the public sector. They will ensure a flexible and seamless digital journey, referring stakeholders to relevant services provided by these AI innovation infrastructures when appropriate. However, this collaboration does NOT mean that EDIHs need to integrate a representative of each EU AI infrastructures in their own consortium. It means that EDIHs must map out these infrastructures, establish contacts with them and help their customers towards benefiting from available services within a structured client journey. These collaborations will not only accelerate the deployment of AI technologies but also ensure their effective and ethical application. EDIHs will play a pivotal role in bridging the gap between AI research and real-world applications, driving economic growth and improving public services across Europe.

The EDIHs will act as a multiplier and widely promote and facilitate the use of all the digital capacities built up under the different specific objectives of the Digital Europe Programme, including the effective use of key digital standards. Where possible, EDIHs should leverage AI solutions from European start-ups and SMEs, as well as those provided and stemming from EU-funded projects, including the AI-on-Demand Platform.

Highlighting the vital importance to strengthen the value chains of critical digital technologies, the EDIHs should closely collaborate with AI Factories and High-Performance Computing competence centres. Where relevant, EDIHs will facilitate access for their customers to the EuroHPC AI-optimised supercomputers. They will also help SMEs fine-tune available AI solutions to their business needs and use cases by providing access to AI training when necessary.

Duplication of actions between EDIHs and other AI innovation infrastructures should be avoided. Therefore, working arrangements will be agreed among them, where the focus of the EDIHs will be on their role as multiplier, extending their geographical reach in the EU and the associated countries. Proposals will describe the planned delivery of AI services and referral mechanisms.

Scope:
Each new EDIH will provide services based on a specific focus/expertise, which will support the local private and public sector with their digital transformation and the integration of AI technologies. This specialisation can be strengthened over time and should make use of existing local competencies in this area.

The EDIH network is dedicated to promoting and facilitating the digital transformation of SMEs and public services through four types of services:

Test before invest: providing access to technical expertise and experimentation, in particular to AI-related services.
Training and skill development: offering training sessions to SMEs and public services for upskilling and reskilling of the workforce.
Support to identify and get access to potential financing sources to support digital transformation.
Foster an innovation ecosystem and networking opportunities, including building links to AI factories and TEFs where relevant for associated countries.
Each EDIH is expected to provide all four types of services. They can however have different weights in the overall services portfolio. The services will be provided on an open, transparent and non-discriminatory basis and will be targeted mainly to (1) SMEs and midcaps and/or (2) public sector organisations conducting non-economic activities.

Each EDIH will act as an access point to the European network of EDIHs, helping local companies and/or public actors to get support from other EDIHs in case the needed competences fall outside their competence, ensuring that every stakeholder gets the needed support wherever it is available in Europe. Reversely, each EDIH will support the companies and public actors from other regions and countries presented by other EDIHs that need their expertise.

The EDIHs will also serve as contact point for the AI innovation infrastructures as described above, notably the AI factories, the AI-on-demand platform and TEFs. They will provide a first-line AI help desk for businesses and public sector organisations, offering basic information on compliance with the AI Act and relevant sources for further guidance. This will help ensure the broad adoption of strategic technologies, supporting the development of an AI continent.

Each EDIH will make available the relevant experimentation facilities and demonstrators related to its specialisation. SMEs, mid-caps and the public sector will be able to test the technologies proposed, including where relevant their environmental impact, and the feasibility of applying these technologies to their business before investing in them Likewise, EDIHs will leverage green digital technologies to advance Europe’s collective climate and environmental goals.

EDIHs will also provide access to finance services, including information on and facilitation of access to public and private funding sources, as well as connections to public and private investors.

The EDIHs will actively network with other hubs, share best practices and specialist knowledge, connect companies within their value chain, and seek synergies with innovators and early adopters who test solutions in novel experiments. These efforts will foster the adoption of digital technologies, particularly AI, in work and business environments in a more human-centric manner. Additionally, EDIHs will serve as brokers between public administration and companies providing e-government technologies.

In all the networking activities, EDIHs will be supported by the Digital Transformation Accelerator (DTA). Therefore, it is compulsory that EDIHs participate actively in the relevant support activities of the DTA, such as matchmaking, training and capacity building events.

The DTA, in cooperation with the Commission, will also host tools such as the Digital Maturity Assessment Tool and will centralise the overall Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of the network. As a result, each EDIH must report the necessary information to the DTA. While EDIHs are encouraged to make use of the digital tools provided, they are also free to use their own tools. However, interoperability with the EDIH network tools is a requirement, to ensure a seamless experience for users.

DTA will organize events and activities for the network of EDIH, to share information and experiences, train, build cohesion. EDIHs should foresee active participation in those events and activities.

The EDIHs should closely collaborate with the AI Factories as well as with the High-Performance Computing competence centres, the Cybersecurity centres, the AI-on-demand platform, AI Testing and Experimentation Facilities and other EDIHs seeking complementarities in view of supporting companies and public sector organisations with their digital transformation.

Where relevant, the EDIHs will facilitate access for their customers to the EuroHPC AI-optimised supercomputers. They will also help SMEs fine-tune available AI solutions to their business needs and use cases by providing, wherever needed, also access to AI training.

EDIHs will maintain structured long-term relationships with the relevant local actors like regional authorities, industrial clusters, SME associations, business development agencies, incubators, accelerators, chambers of commerce, and partners of the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) and Startup Europe by offering joint investor-related events, organising common trainings, workshops or info days, directing SMEs from EEN to EDIHs and from EDIHs to EEN as needed. It is expected that local actors planning mutual support with a local EDIH will sign a Memorandum of Understanding for a proper governance of their collaboration.

Finally, EDIHs will serve as an interface for the European Commission to support the implementation of specific sectorial policies, SME policies and eGovernment policies. This will imply that EDIHs specialised in a specific sector could be consulted on policies related to their sector of competence and could participate in specific actions.

EDIHs will design their operations to ensure sustainability beyond the implementation phase. They will indicate how they plan to build local capacity, foster community ownership, and integrate the initiative into their ecosystems.

The total public funding for this action is 100% of eligible costs (50% coming from the Digital Europe Programme and up to 50% coming from the Member States). In line with Appendix 6 on State Aid, the countries must ensure that State aid is granted in line with the applicable State aid rules, such as de minimis or GBER (ensuring compliance with GBER compatibility, including on aid intensities and notification thresholds set out in Article 4 GBER) or whatever the state aid rules stipulate in the associated country.

DIGITAL-2026-EDIH-AC-09-COMPLETION-STEP

Deadline:

2 mar 2026

Budget:

€2M

Integration of new European Digital Innovation Hubs to deliver AI and green digital services to SMEs, mid-caps, and public sector organizations in eligible countries.

Business, Management and Accounting, Economics, Econometrics and Finance, Engineering, Social Sciences

Expected Outcome:
Each EDIH will support the digital transformation of SMEs, mid-caps, and public sector organizations within its geographical area and area of expertise, while also aiming to extend its impact beyond its immediate region. An EDIH can select to focus on specific group(s) of clients (e.g. mainly SMEs or mainly public sector).

Each selected project will provide the four core types of services (testing before investing, training and skills development, support to find investments, networking and access to innovation ecosystems) covering a wide range of digitalisation needs, from mainstream technologies and AI capacities to specialised technologies. The services will be provided seamlessly, through proxies when required, maintaining consistency and accessibility for stakeholders. EDIHs complement and build synergies with existing regional and national initiatives, collaborate with the EU AI Innovation infrastructures and will become a central point for companies and public sector ensuring a flexible and seamless digital journey and referring them to the services provided by these AI innovation infrastructures where appropriate.

All together, EDIHs will contribute to consolidation of a balanced network of EDIHs, ensuring the broadest coverage of regions in Europe, addressing the needs of public and private sectors across all economic sectors, fostering cross-regional collaboration and resource sharing and offering a wide range of digitalisation services, from mainstream to specialised technologies.

Each EDIH will carry out Digital Maturity Assessments for their clients, using the tools provided by the Commission and DTA, and deliver services leading to greater digitalisation of their clients as well as to their adoption of AI. While not all services need to be preceded by a Digital Maturity Assessment, EDIHs are encouraged to use it as often as practically possible.

Objective:
The objective of this call is the consolidation of the network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) aiming to cover all regions of the European Union and Associated Countries by strengthening its performance and capacity to meet local, regional, national and European digitalisation needs.

With increased experience and capacities, the EDIHs will continue providing the complete set of services of an EDIH, including the necessary infrastructure, focusing primarily on specific geographical areas and covering the digital transformation needs of local SMEs, mid-caps and/or public sector organisations. Considering the transformation potential of AI technologies, these will be a reinforced focus of EDIHs’ operations under this call.

The consolidation of the EDIHs network will be pivotal in supporting the wide deployment and uptake of European AI technologies, solutions and tools and in promoting the adoption of other crucial digital technologies, while upholding Union values and human-centric perspective.

Furthermore, the network will harness the potential of green digital technologies, advancing Europe’s collective climate and environmental goals. This approach not only enhances the resilience of Europe’s industry but also boosts its strategic autonomy. With its enhanced presence in countries associated to Digital Europe, the EDIH network will help bridge technology gaps, and support competitiveness and economic convergence.

Scope:
Each EDIH will provide services based on a specific focus and expertise, which will support the local private and public sector with their digital transformation with particular focus on support to development, training deployment and uptake of European AI. This specialisation can be strengthened over time and should make use of existing local competencies in this area.

The EDIH network is dedicated to promoting and facilitating the digital transformation of SMEs and public services through four types of services:

Test before invest: providing access to technical expertise and experimentation facilities, in particular to AI-related services.
Training and skill development: offering training sessions to SMEs and public services for upskilling and reskilling of the workforce, including on the adoption and use of AI technologies.
Support to identify and facilitate access to potential financing sources to support digital transformation.
Foster an innovation ecosystem and networking opportunities
Each EDIH is expected to provide all four types of services. They can however have different weights in the overall services portfolio. The services will be provided on an open, transparent and non-discriminatory basis and will be targeted mainly to (1) SMEs and mid-caps and/or (2) public sector organisations conducting non-economic activities.

Each EDIH will act as an access point to the European network of EDIHs, helping local companies and/or public actors to get support from other EDIHs in case the needed competences fall outside their remit, ensuring that every stakeholder gets the needed support wherever it is available in Europe. Reversely, each EDIH will support the companies and public actors from other regions and countries presented by other EDIHs that need their expertise. The EDIHs will also serve as contact point for the AI innovation infrastructures as described above, notably the AI factories, AI-on-demand platform and TEFs, and offer a first-line AI help desk to businesses and public sector organisations, including basic information on compliance with the AI Act as well relevant sources of further information and ensuring a broad adoption of strategic technologies supporting the development of an AI continent and implementing the Apply AI strategy. These helpdesks by EDIHs shall further coordinate with the DTA on replies and new questions on the AI Act.

Each EDIH will make available the relevant experimentation facilities and demonstrators related to its specialisation. SMEs, mid-caps and the public sector will be able to demonstrate, prototype and test the technologies proposed, including where relevant their environmental impact, and the feasibility of applying these technologies to their business before further investing in it. Likewise, EDIHs will harness the potential of green digital technologies, advancing Europe’s collective climate and environmental goals.

EDIHs will also provide access to finance services including providing information and facilitating access to public and private funding sources as well as to public and private investors.

DIGITAL-2026-EDIH-EU-EEA-09-CONSOLIDATION-STEP

Deadline:

2 mar 2026

Budget:

€917K

Consolidates European Digital Innovation Hubs to accelerate AI-driven digital transformation for SMEs, mid-caps, and public sector, supporting innovation, skills, and green technologies.

Business, Management and Accounting, Economics, Econometrics and Finance, Engineering, Social Sciences

Expected Outcome:
New data services and user tools for the Cancer Image Europe platform covering data curation / inclusion by data providers, data quality assurance and compliance checks, and risk/security management in alignment with agreed standards, procedures and requirements, including the framework of the European Health Data Space.
Multi-centre validation of AI-driven solutions in the field of medical imaging, including also evidence generation for clinical utility and cost efficiency.
Deployment of multi-modal, cutting-edge AI-driven solutions in the field of medical imaging in healthcare and research settings, leveraging different types of data (at least one imaging modality and one other data type e.g. genomics, other omics, laboratory results, real-world data etc.) and building on the achievements of the Cancer Image Europe platform.
Training and upskilling of medical imaging personnel and/or healthcare professionals for the deployed technology and further use.
Objective:
Accelerate the uptake of EU AI-driven solutions that are ready to be deployed in healthcare settings for patient care and for research purposes. This will facilitate the paradigm shift in the digital transformation of healthcare towards personalised medical solutions;
Facilitate the deployment of EU cutting-edge AI-driven solutions in medical imaging, combined with other health data, for increased efficiency and better patient outcomes, leveraging the Cancer Image Europe platform;
Further develop the data, testing and validation services and user tools of Cancer Image Europe platform in alignment with the legal and technical framework of the European Health Data Space, also towards supporting the development and uptake of EU cutting-edge multi-modal AI-based solutions in medical imaging (including Deep learning and Generative AI solutions) for healthcare;
Ensure alignment and inter-operability of the Cancer Image Europe platform with the HealthData@EU infrastructure of the EHDS;
Conduct multi-centre validation studies of promising medical imaging-based and multi-modal AI solutions for screening, early detection, diagnosis and care, generating evidence for clinical utility and cost effectiveness of tested solutions.
Scope:
By building on, extending and leveraging the Cancer Image Europe platform, this action is expected to facilitate the uptake of EU AI-driven solutions in medical imaging (including Machine Learning and Generative AI), towards their deployment in clinical settings. It should also include upskilling of healthcare professionals and evidence generation to evaluate the performance of the deployed AI-driven solutions and engage patients.

The action should also contribute to upgrading and enhancing the uptake of the Cancer Image Europe platform through deployment of tools, application programming interfaces (APIs) and interfaces enabling high-quality data services for the users of the Cancer Image Europe platform. The solutions should cover, at least, data quality assessment, including security, data access and analysis, as well as services for AI developers supporting their regulatory compliance pathway, including the EHDS Regulation, if applicable. Moreover, data services will cover comprehensive data quality assessment—including security, data access, and analysis. Specifically, tools will be deployed to ensure that datasets federated in Cancer Image Europe are fully compliant with EHDS, utilizing Health DCAT-AP for metadata descriptions and adhering to the data quality and utility label standards set by the EHDS Regulation.

Moreover, the action should consider synergies and cross-fertilisation of tools with other relevant health data infrastructures: HealthData@EU, 1+Million Genomes (1+MG), Intensive Care Unit data infrastructure, the European Virtual Human Twins Initiative, and UNCAN.eu platform to further facilitate the integration and processing of different types of health data. Also, the outcomes of EU-funded projects dealing with other imaging modalities, such as digital pathology (e.g. BigPicture project), should be considered. Finally, synergies with the ongoing AI related activities of the Health Data Access Bodies (HDABs) in the EHDS, the SHAIPED project and the TEF-Health project should be leveraged.

DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-SOLUTIONS-CANCER-STEP

Deadline:

2 mar 2026

Budget:

€14M

Accelerates AI-driven medical imaging solutions by integrating multi-modal data, enhancing clinical utility, and supporting healthcare professional training across EU health data platforms.

Computer Science, Medicine

Objective:
European Universities’ main objectives are to further develop institutionalised cooperation, making it systemic, structural and sustainable and to increase quality, performance and international competitiveness of European higher education institutions. In line with the vision for a European Education Area, these alliances intend to achieve the following aims: As such, European Universities aim at achieving the following main objectives:

Promote common European values as enshrined in article 2 of the Treaty on European Union and a strengthened European identity by bringing together a new generation of Europeans who are able to cooperate and work within different European and global cultures, in different languages, and across borders, sectors and academic disciplines.
Reach a substantial leap in quality, performance, attractiveness and international competitiveness and enable deep institutional transformation of involved European higher education institutions and contribute to the European knowledge economy, employment, creativity, culture and welfare by making best use of innovative pedagogies and striving to make the knowledge square a reality. European Universities will be key drivers to boost the quality of higher education and where possible to strengthen its links to the research and innovation landscape in Europe and its outreach towards the society and economy.
Paving the way for a new dimension in European higher education, the successful European Universities need a sustainable financial perspective to deliver on the ambition for continued transformation and to inspire the wider higher education sector. In this context, support under this call will be open for already existing deep institutional transnational cooperation alliances of higher education institutions including – but not limited to – the European Universities alliances selected under the 2022 Erasmus+ call for proposals.

The Erasmus+ funding period for the alliances selected under this call will be of 2 years.

ERASMUS-EDU-2026-EUR-UNIV

Deadline:

3 mar 2026

Budget:

€145M

European Universities initiative funds alliances of higher education institutions for deep, transnational cooperation, fostering innovation, quality, and competitiveness in European higher education.

Business, Management and Accounting, Computer Science, Decision Sciences, Social Sciences

Scope:
Capacity Building projects are international cooperation projects based on multilateral partnerships between organisations active in the field of sport in Programme and third countries not associated to the Programme in Region 1 (Western Balkans) and Region 2 (Neighbourhood East). They aim to support sport activities and policies in third countries not associated to the Programme as a vehicle to promote values as well as an educational tool to promote the personal and social development of individuals and build more cohesive communities.

OBJECTIVES OF THE ACTION

The action will aim at:

raising the capacity of grassroots sport organisations;
encouraging the practice of sport and physical activity in third countries not associated to the Programme;
promoting social inclusion through sport;
promoting positive values through sport (such as fair play, tolerance, team spirit);
fostering cooperation across different regions of the world through joint initiatives.
THEMATIC AREAS / SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

Proposals should focus on certain thematic areas defined at programming stage. Examples of particularly relevant areas are:

promotion of common values, non-discrimination and gender equality through sport;
development of skills (through sport) needed to improve the social involvement of disadvantaged groups (e.g. independence, leadership etc.);
integration of migrants;
post-conflict reconciliation.

ERASMUS-SPORT-2026-CB

Deadline:

4 mar 2026

Budget:

€2M

Strengthens grassroots sport organizations in Western Balkans and Neighbourhood East, promoting social inclusion, cooperation, and positive values through multilateral partnerships and targeted initiatives.

Health Professions, Psychology, Social Sciences

Scope:
The primary goal of Cooperation Partnerships is to allow organisations to increase the quality and relevance of their activities, to develop and reinforce their networks of partners, to increase their capacity to operate jointly at transnational level, boosting internationalisation of their activities and through exchanging or developing new practices and methods as well as sharing and confronting ideas.

They aim to support the development, transfer and/or implementation of innovative practices as well as the implementation of joint initiatives promoting cooperation, peer learning and exchanges of experience at European level. Results should be re-usable, transferable, upscalable and, if possible, have a strong transdisciplinary dimension.

Selected projects will be expected to share the results of their activities at local, regional, national level and transnational level.

Cooperation Partnerships are anchored to the priorities and policy frameworks of each Erasmus+ sector, both at European and national level, while aiming at producing incentives for cross-sectoral and horizontal cooperation in thematic areas.

Cooperation Partnerships in the field of education and training submitted by European NGOs are managed by the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). The applicant coordinator must be a European NGO active in the field of education and training. The European body/secretariat of the European NGO applies on behalf of the European NGO.

ERASMUS-EDU-2026-PCOOP-ENGO

Deadline:

4 mar 2026

Budget:

€5M

European NGOs collaborate on innovative, transnational education projects to enhance organisational capacity, share best practices, and scale impactful results across Europe.

Business, Management and Accounting, Computer Science, Social Sciences

Scope:
This Action aims to support the organisation of sport events with a European dimension in the following fields:

volunteering in sport;
social inclusion through sport;
fight against discrimination in sport, including gender equality;
encouraging healthy lifestyles for all: projects under this priority will mainly focus on:
the implementation of the three pillars of the HealthyLifestyle4All initiative;
the implementation of the Council Recommendation on health-enhancing physical activity and the EU Physical Activity Guidelines;
the support to the implementation of the European Week of Sport;
the promotion of sport and physical activity as a tool for health;
the promotion of all activities encouraging the practice of sport and physical activity;
promotion of traditional sport and games.

ERASMUS-SPORT-2026-SNCESE

Deadline:

4 mar 2026

Budget:

€9M

Organizes not-for-profit European sport events addressing societal challenges, promoting inclusion, gender equality, healthy lifestyles, and preserving traditional sports and games.

Health Professions, Medicine, Social Sciences

ERASMUS-SPORT-2026-SCP

Deadline:

4 mar 2026

Budget:

€38M

Cooperation Partnerships foster transnational collaboration, innovation, and peer learning among organizations in education, training, youth, and sport across Europe.

Health Professions, Social Sciences

Scope:
Small-scale Partnerships are designed to widen access to the programme to small-scale actors and individuals who are hard to reach in the fields of school education, adult education, vocational education and training, youth and sport. With lower grant amounts awarded to organisations, shorter duration and simpler administrative requirements compared to the Cooperation Partnerships, this action aims at reaching out to grassroots organisations, less experienced organisations and newcomers to the Programme, reducing entry barriers to the programme for organisations with smaller organisational capacity. This action will also support flexible formats – mixing activities with transnational and national character although with a European dimension – allowing organisations to have more means to reach out to people with fewer opportunities. Small-scale Partnerships can also contribute to the creation and development of transnational networks and to fostering synergies with, and between, local, regional, national and international policies.

OBJECTIVES OF THE ACTION

Attract and widen access for newcomers, less experienced organisations and small-scale actors to the programme. These partnerships should act as a first step for organisations into cooperation at European level.
Support the inclusion of target groups with fewer opportunities
Support active European citizenship and bring the European dimension to the local level

ERASMUS-SPORT-2026-SSCP

Deadline:

4 mar 2026

Budget:

€10M

Small-scale grants for grassroots and less experienced organizations to promote inclusion, citizenship, and European cooperation in education, youth, and sport sectors.

Health Professions, Psychology, Social Sciences

Expected Impact:
The call will result in:

creating or scaling up cross-border collaborations to deliver projects that implement best practices across national, cultural and linguistic borders;
developing and deploying media literacy tools and initiatives, taking into account the needs of specific target groups, including but not limited to groups with limited media literacy skills or access;
assisting media literacy professionals in adapting their practices to rapidly evolving media formats and changing media consumption patterns.
Objective:
The call will support innovative cross-border media literacy projects and practices across Europe among various population segments, addressing the challenges of a continuously changing digital media landscape.

Scope:
Support is foreseen for collaborative projects with clearly defined objectives to advance media literacy, addressing the following priorities:

Provide solutions that enable citizens to develop a critical approach to the media, and to recognise and appropriately react to disinformation, information manipulation techniques, and other challenges in the online media environment.
Build on and scale up best practices from innovative media literacy projects that take into account a changing media ecosystem, crossing cultural, national or linguistic borders, and strengthening collaboration between different regions of Europe. Innovative approaches may include novel or original ideas, methods, tools, or modes of implementation, whether online or offline.
Consider the role of media literacy for citizen inclusiveness, civic engagement and societal resilience, including resilience against attempts to interfere with citizens’ free choice and participation in democratic processes.

CREA-CROSS-2026-MEDIALITERACY

Deadline:

10 mar 2026

Budget:

€3M

Innovative cross-border projects develop and implement media literacy tools, fostering critical engagement, inclusiveness, and resilience against disinformation across diverse European populations.

Arts and Humanities, Computer Science, Health Professions, Social Sciences

Expected Impact:
This topic aims at financing CB-RES projects contributing to the cost-effective achievement of the goals and objectives of the Clean Industrial Deal, as well as the Paris Agreement and the Union’s 2030 climate and energy targets and the objective for climate neutrality, in accordance with recitals 5 and 30 of the CEF Regulation and in line with the Multi-annual Work Programme. Cross-border RES projects are an integral element of the enabling framework for regional and cross-border cooperation on renewables and facilitate cross border cooperation in the field of energy (as referred to in Article 3 of the CEF Regulation).

Objective:
Based on the provisions of Article 7 and Annex Part IV of CEF Regulation, CB RES projects shall promote cross-border cooperation between Member States, or between Member States and third countries, in the field of planning, development and the cost-effective exploitation of renewable energy sources, as well as facilitate their integration through energy storage facilities and with the aim of contributing to the Union’s long term decarbonisation strategy, completing the internal energy market and enhancing the security of supply.

Scope:
This topic refers to works projects contributing to the implementation of a CB RES project. Works in the meaning of CEF Energy include the purchase, supply and deployment of components, systems and services including software, the development, construction and installation activities relating to a CB RES project, the acceptance of installations and the launching of a CB RES project.

Applications related to construction works must comply with the specific conditions laid down in the CEF regulation for this project category. In particular, specific conditions relate to, inter alia, the existence of significant cost savings and/or benefits in terms of system integration, environmental sustainability, security of supply and innovation, as well as the commercial non-viability of the envisaged investments without CEF support.

Works proposals related to project components that are covered by Article 3 of the delegated regulation are eligible.

For each of the CB RES projects, the list of components that are included in the CB RES status can be found in the above-mentioned technical documentation supporting the Delegated Regulation that establishes the CB RES list. Proposals for works can cover any of the elements of the CB RES status project contained in the technical documentation unless otherwise provided.

All other things being equal, proposals for works which relate to renewables generation components will be given priority over proposals which relate to non-RES components through the award criterion ‘Priority and urgency’.

If a proposal for works contains a non-RES component, then it has to justify the necessity of this component to the overall CB RES project implementation and prove that the component is essential for the renewable energy generation.

CEF-E-2026-CBRENEW-WORKS

Deadline:

11 mar 2026

Budget:

€150M

Finances cross-border renewable energy construction projects advancing EU climate goals, energy integration, and security through cooperation, innovation, and environmental sustainability.

Energy, Engineering, Environmental Science, Social Sciences

CEF-E-2026-CBRENEW-STUDIES

Deadline:

11 mar 2026

Budget:

€150M

Cross-border studies prepare and advance renewable energy projects, addressing technical, regulatory, and economic aspects to integrate renewables and enhance EU energy cooperation.

Energy, Engineering, Environmental Science, Social Sciences

Expected Impact:
Output

The Strand 2b outputs refer to the achievement of the call specific objectives.

Concrete output at the closure of the project (non-exhaustive list):
Tailored policy measures (in place or ready for adoption) to increase the innovation capacity of ecosystems and their ability to participate in interregional innovation projects.
Cooperation arrangements with industry associations and other key players to enable participation in international expert networks and regional alliances.
Agreements with suitable partners for cooperation with less developed regions on specific innovation topics.
Updated S3-based innovation roadmaps in the participating regions.
Membership in relevant networks and innovation thematic platforms supporting 1) innovation diffusion or 2) the development of policy measures to foster investments, open new markets, and promote value chain participation.
Tested tools for mapping demand-driven business opportunities for interregional investments and matching them supply-side competencies.
Identified I3 investment pipelines based on value chain mapping and benchmarking activities.
Identified innovative and competitive products and services relevant for interregional and European value chains.
Concrete business cases prepared to apply to I3 investment calls.
Increased innovation maturity of business cases (technology readiness, business readiness, and market readiness).
Dissemination plan for sharing best practice examples, showcasing results, and promoting uptake and replication of I3 project outcomes.
Exploitation plan for scaling up project results and leveraging further ERDF mainstream programme funding.
Long term impact (non-exhaustive list)

Committed innovation intermediaries (e.g. regional development agencies, industrial associations) to support companies engaging in innovation and interregional value chains.
Increased innovation capacity of ecosystems to participate in interregional innovation projects
Improved support measures for innovation diffusion, investment identification, interregional collaboration, and value chain participation.
Improved cooperation with interregional ecosystems to de-risk investments and leverage European innovation and market potential
Improved business climate for competitive ecosystems, including support to industries with corporate strategies in key thematic areas (such as innovation investments, internationalisation, customer orientation in EU and global markets, and personnel training through upskilling and reskilling).
Reinforced cooperation capacity of quadruple-helix ecosystems in less developed regions.
Reinforced capacity to engage with local SMEs and collaborate with other ecosystems (e.g. to address interregional investments on shared S3 priorities) and improved connections among innovation stakeholders within interregional quadruple-helix ecosystems.
Increased readiness of I3 consortia to cooperate in globally competitive EU value chains.
Derisking investments refers to the process of reducing the potential losses in a portfolio or investment strategies. This can be achieved by financing testing and validation of innovative technologies and solutions in real operational environment, before the large-scale uptake of innovation.
Expected Outcome:
The outcome of Strand 2b projects is expected to be the increased capacities of less developed regions. Regional innovation ecosystems are expected to strengthen their capacity to deliver concrete interregional innovation investments within EU value chains and the capacity to tap into other funding instruments, to cover additional funding needs (if necessary). Upon project completion, involved SMEs will possess enhanced capacity to cooperate in interregional value chains and to attract private investments or to create public- private partnerships.

Long term impact (non-exhaustive list)

Committed innovation intermediaries (e.g. regional development agencies, industrial associations) to support companies engaging in innovation and interregional value chains.
Increased innovation capacity of ecosystems to participate in interregional innovation projects
Improved support measures for innovation diffusion, investment identification, interregional collaboration, and value chain participation.
Improved cooperation with interregional ecosystems to de-risk investments and leverage European innovation and market potential
Improved business climate for competitive ecosystems, including support to industries with corporate strategies in key thematic areas (such as innovation investments, internationalisation, customer orientation in EU and global markets, and personnel training through upskilling and reskilling).
Reinforced cooperation capacity of quadruple-helix ecosystems in less developed regions.
Reinforced capacity to engage with local SMEs and collaborate with other ecosystems (e.g. to address interregional investments on shared S3 priorities) and improved connections among innovation stakeholders within interregional quadruple-helix ecosystems.
Increased readiness of I3 consortia to cooperate in globally competitive EU value chains.
Derisking investments refers to the process of reducing the potential losses in a portfolio or investment strategies. This can be achieved by financing testing and validation of innovative technologies and solutions in real operational environment, before the large-scale uptake of innovation.
Objective:
General objective

The overall objective of the I3 Strand 2b is to build capacity in less developed regions to develop and strengthen their regional innovation ecosystems and value chains through coordinated and interlinked investments in several regions.

This call for proposals aims to improve the capacity of public authorities and innovation intermediaries (e.g. clusters to support companies in the identification of investment portfolios at an interregional scale

The purpose of this activity is to build capacities for a successful participation in Strand 1 or Strand 2a calls, enhancing interregional cooperation with a view to identifying and sharing good practices, deriving actionable policy recommendations, strengthening

institutional capacities, and experimenting new approaches. This will also help public authorities and agencies to design evidence-based and targeted policy interventions in the long-term, including updates to regional Smart Specialisation Strategies and related innovation policy frameworks.

Projects can offer an added value when promoting the participation of EU outermost regions[1] and addressing their specific needs. Due consideration will be given to such added value during the evaluation of I3 project proposals. Projects can also offer an added value when supporting regions with specific challenges[1], such as difficulties in retaining and attracting talents. I3 Instrument, in particular Strand 2b, is integral part of support on the ground offered by the European Commission to cities, regions and Member States, through the Talent Booster Mechanism[1] where I3 Instrument with its capacity building component represents one of the pillars.

Specific objectives

Proposals shall:

Help create connected and well-performing regional innovation ecosystems, establishing the right framework conditions for interregional cooperation. This improved connectivity should support regions in aligning their innovation capacities and governance models to enable joint interregional innovation activities.

Contribute to the preparation of interregional innovation projects in shared smart specialisation areas. Proposals should lay the groundwork for future cooperation, in particular under Strand 2a, by focusing on areas of common interest and complementary strengths.

Facilitate the validation process of investment ideas through improved knowledge and practical skills in business and investment planning. This should include building concrete capacities by working with companies, in particular SMEs, in a specific value chain and defining a clear path towards developing I3 application(s).

Identify and address gaps and business opportunities that may hinder or enable the reinforcement of existing value chains or the creation of new ones. A clear link to smart specialisation priorities and value chain positioning is expected.

Experiment with “out-of-the-box” approaches to deliver validated solutions and tested models that can increase the capacity of regional actors to engage effectively in interregional innovation processes.

Ensure that the knowledge and capabilities gained during the project can be replicated, adapted, and embedded in the regional ecosystem. This should contribute to long-term institutional learning, inform updates to Smart Specialisation Strategies, and support policy and ecosystem development beyond the project’s lifetime.

Ensure the active involvement of companies and civil society, alongside public administrations, academia, and other quadruple-helix stakeholders.

Scope:
Strand 2b helps build the capabilities needed to participate in interregional innovation processes, paving the way for future applications under Strand 1, Strand 2a, or other complementary EU programmes.

Regions targeted by Strand 2b — including LDRs, outermost regions, and those facing specific challenges — often experience obstacles to innovation diffusion and cooperation. These may include institutional and administrative weaknesses, fragmented ecosystems, human capital constraints, and a lack of supportive policy or regulatory frameworks. In many cases, there is limited access to interregional collaboration with research and technology organisations, investors, and industry partners, which further constrains their innovation potential. Addressing these challenges requires not only building operational and technical capacities, but also reinforcing institutional and governance frameworks, fostering policy learning, and embedding successful practices into regional and national strategies.

Strand 2b supports co-creation dynamics among all participating regions, ensuring that project development takes place on an equal footing regardless of development status. The active participation of transition and more developed regions is encouraged, particularly in supporting less developed regions to strengthen their capacity and gain experience in engaging with European value chains and joint innovation investment projects.

I3-2026-CAP2B

Deadline:

18 mar 2026

Budget:

€9M

Enhances innovation capacity in less developed regions by building interconnected ecosystems, fostering cooperation, and supporting tailored policy measures within EU Smart Specialisation Strategies.

Business, Management and Accounting, Economics, Econometrics and Finance, Social Sciences

Objective:
The Films on the Move action shall encourage and support the wider distribution of recent non-national European films by encouraging sales agents and theatrical distributors in particular to invest in promotion and adequate distribution of non- national European films.

Expected Results:

Development of pan-European theatrical and/or online distribution strategies for non-national European films.
Increased investment in theatrical and/or online promotion and distribution of non-national European films in view of expanding audience reach.
Develop links between the production and distribution sector thus improving the competitive position of non-national European films on a global market
Description of the activities to be funded under the call for proposals:

The activities to be funded are campaigns for the pan-European theatrical and/or online distribution of eligible European films, coordinated by the sales agent of the film.

Applications should present adequate strategies to ensure more sustainable and more environmentally-respectful industry and to ensure gender balance, inclusion, diversity and representativeness.

CREA-MEDIA-2026-FILMOVE

Deadline:

18 mar 2026

Budget:

€21M

Fosters pan-European distribution of recent non-national European films through sales agents, emphasizing innovative, inclusive strategies and cross-border audience expansion for European cinema.

Arts and Humanities, Business, Management and Accounting, Economics, Econometrics and Finance, Social Sciences

Expected Outcome:
Deployment of Artificial Intelligence and various AI-powered technologies as enablers for Cyber Hubs, CSIRTs, NCSCs, NIS SPOCs and others.
Novel cybersecurity tools based on AI that have been developed, tested and validated in relevant conditions and made available to Cyber Hubs, CSIRTs, NCSCs, NIS SPOCs and others.
Enhanced information sharing and collaboration amongst National and Cross-Border Cyber Hubs, CSIRTs, NCSCs, NIS SPOCs and others relevant stakeholders, supported by CTI produced by AI-powered tools.
Tools for automation of cybersecurity processes such as the creation, analysis and processing of CTI, to enhance operations of the Cyber Hubs.
Original European CTI feeds or services.
Ensure that the most advanced and innovative secure AI solutions are developed and implemented for NIS sectors.
Secure AI solutions and tools, complying with EU legislation. Promote the mitigation of risks associated with the misuse of AI by malicious actors, with a focus on AI ethics and secure deployment.
Contribution to the standardisation and certification of cybersecure, trustworthy AI technologies.
Objective:
This topic addresses AI-based technologies (including GenAI) for national authorities and competent authorities, including National and Cross-Border Cyber Hubs, CSIRTs, public bodies and private entities from the NIS 2 directive, NCCs1, etc. They play a key role in providing central operational capacity to European cybersecurity ecosystems. They may also provide primary input data for AI/ML-based cybersecurity tools and solutions, which can strengthen such authorities’ capacity to analyse, detect and prevent cyber threats and incidents, and to support the production of high-quality intelligence on cyber threats. In particular, the adoption of generative AI2 could be a challenge and an opportunity for cybersecurity3 processes and applications.

These enabling technologies should allow for more effective creation and analysis of Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI), automation of large-scale processes, as well as faster and scalable processing of CTI and identification of patterns that allow for rapid detection and decision making.

The security of AI itself, especially for the systems in the learning phase, also needs to be addressed, including the misuse of AI by malicious actors. This includes carrying out risk assessments and mitigation of cybersecurity risks inherent to AI technologies, implementing supply chain security, etc., and complying with the AI Act, intellectual property legislation and the GDPR.

In addition to being secure, the AI technologies being developed should perform well, and be robust and trustworthy. In particular, having trustworthy AI solutions will help in the deployment phase, where social acceptance is essential.

1If applicable and in line with individual national strategies.

2Cybersecurity in the age of generative AI, September 2023, available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/themes/cybersecurity-in-the-age-of-generative-ai.

3The Need For AI-Powered Cybersecurity to Tackle AI-Driven Cyberattacks, April 2024, available at: https://www.isaca.org/resources/news-and-trends/isaca-now-blog/2024/the-need-for-ai-powered-cybersecurity-to-tackle-ai-driven-cyberattacks.

Scope:
Actions in this topic should develop and deploy systems and tools for cybersecurity1, based on AI technologies2, addressing aspects such as threat detection, vulnerability detection, threat mitigation, incident recovery through self-healing, data analysis and data sharing. These activities must also comply with intellectual property rights (IPR) and the GDPR, depending on the type of information handled. The AI solutions proposed should also be cybersecure.

Activities should include at least one of the following:

Continuous detection of patterns and identification of anomalies that can potentially indicate emerging threats, recognising new attack vectors and enabling advanced detection in an evolving threat landscape, including in ICT or in Operational Technology infrastructures using open technologies.
Creation of CTI based on novel threat detection capabilities.
Enhancing speed of incident response through real-time monitoring of networks to identify security incidents and generating alerts or triggering automated responses.
Mitigating malware threats by analysing code behaviour, network traffic, and file characteristics, reducing the window of opportunity for attackers to exploit malware.
Identification of vulnerabilities and support for management considering multiple sources of information.
Cybersecure tools and solutions that provide risk-reduction in the crossover between AI, IoT and smart grids or other manufacturing chains.
Support for recovery from incidents through self-healing capacities.
Reducing the chances of attacks and pre-emptively identifying weaknesses through automated vulnerability scanning and penetration testing.
Protecting business sensitive data through the analysis of access patterns and detection of abnormal behaviour.
Enabling organisations to leverage and share CTI and other actionable information for analysis and insights without compromising data security and privacy, through anonymisation.
Tools and solutions that provide product security or cybersecurity by design/default in line with CRA requirements.
Tool and service providers are welcome to apply for this topic, also when in a consortium with Cyber Hubs. Links with stakeholders in the area of High-Performance Computing should be made where appropriate, as well as activities to foster networking with such stakeholders. In well justified cases, access requests to the EuroHPC high performance computing infrastructure could be granted.
The systems, tools and services developed under this topic will be made available for licensing to National and/or Cross-Border Cyber Hubs platforms, CSIRTs, competent authorities, and other relevant authorities under favourable market conditions.
These actions aim at providing AI-powered cybersecurity capabilities for National and/or Cross-Border Cyber Hubs and for national authorities encompassing Cyber Hubs, CSIRTs, which occupy a central role in ensuring the cybersecurity of national authorities, providers of critical infrastructures and essential services. These entities are tasked with monitoring, understanding and proactively managing cybersecurity threats. In light of their crucial operative role in ensuring cybersecurity in the Union, the nature of the technologies involved as well as the sensitivity of the information handled, Cyber Hubs must be protected against possible dependencies and vulnerabilities in cybersecurity to pre-empt foreign influence and control.
Tools to protect and secure AI solutions in line with the EU legislative framework and considering integration of requirements for robustness, performance, trust and balanced AI autonomy.
Contribute to the cybersecurity certification of AI-driven cybersecurity solutions and systems. The primary objective of cybersecurity certification for AI systems within the EU is twofold: to mitigate cybersecurity risks inherent in AI technologies and to demonstrate compliance with the EU’s comprehensive legislative framework, including the AI Act. By establishing a standardised, transparent, and rigorous certification process, the EU seeks to foster trust in AI technologies among users, developers, and regulators alike.
1 Multilayer Framework for Good Cybersecurity Practices for AI, ENISA, June 2023, available at: https://www.enisa.europa.eu/publications/multilayer-framework-for-good-cybersecurity-practices-for-ai.

2Cybersecurity of AI and Standardisation, ENISA, March 2023, available at: https://www.enisa.europa.eu/publications/cybersecurity-of-ai-and-standardisation.

DIGITAL-ECCC-2025-DEPLOY-CYBER-09-CYBERAI

Deadline:

30 mar 2026

Budget:

€5M

Development and deployment of AI-powered cybersecurity tools for national and cross-border authorities, focusing on threat detection, incident response, and secure, trustworthy AI compliance.

Computer Science, Social Sciences

Expected Outcome:
The development of a cyber toolkit as a service to support SMEs managing cyber risks, defining, and implementing their cybersecurity strategy. The toolkit could include at least one of the following:

Interfaces that will connect to existing SaaS applications such as HR, invoice and financial management, CRM and accounting systems, etc., which are often used by SMEs for increasing their cybersecurity.
A functionality that enables the mapping and maintenance of an SME’s digital assets and possible vulnerabilities by interfacing with other SaaS applications that manage an asset inventory and data repositories.
A function that supports the assessment and management of an SME’s cybersecurity risks and of supply chain risk management. This function should perform a risk assessment, provide recommendations for risk mitigation, and identify options.
An interface to existing tools that support the analysis and assessment of the extent of an SME’s cyber risk based on information gathered from digital infrastructure scanning and data provided by authorised users.
A function that issues alerts on vulnerabilities and threats based on the information collected by the risk management function.
A function that connects SMEs to a CSIRT or a Cyber Hub to report an incident and assist with recovery if possible.
A mapping and one-stop window/portal to existing tools and solutions targeting cybersecurity support to SMEs.
Tools supporting detection, prevention and response in Operational Technology infrastructures using open standards or technologies.
Support and incident response capabilities to SMEs:

Non-commercial cybersecurity hotline with a standardised framework and guidelines for response times, escalation procedures, and the scope of assistance provided.
A fully operational, multilingual helpline that provides timely and accurate cybersecurity assistance to SMEs, leading to reduced successful cyber scams and improved digital hygiene.
A National Cyber Response Platform for first cyber responders to exchange their experiences, share relevant news and engage discussions regarding challenges and emerging cyber threats complementary to existing cyber crisis management structures.
Specialised training modules for first (public and private) responders’ services targeting different sectors such as healthcare, finance, energy, and transportation.
Support tools and platforms:

Control Centre and Panel on Incident Reporting and dispatching of incident responders.
SME user interface for Incident reporting associated with the cyber toolkit. Users can report an incident, get instructions on how to react and obtain information on how to receive support for the response. An AI assistant connected to a Control Centre could also be included.
Interfaces with the National Authorities and Cross-Border Platforms (CBPs) for incident notification and information sharing.
Objective:
The action aims at improving industrial and market readiness for the cybersecurity requirements for SMEs as specified in relevant EU cybersecurity legislation, for instance, as set in the Cyber Resilience Act ensuring more secure hardware and software products.

Proposals should contribute to achieving at least one of these objectives:

Availability of innovative tools and services that support SMEs in complying with the EU cybersecurity legislation.
Availability of innovative tools and services that support SMEs in reporting incidents and in assisting with recovery if possible, and in exchanging with competent authorities (i.e. cooperation with Cyber Hubs, CSIRTs (including in relation to the CSIRT Network) and/or ISACs, for e.g. highly critical and other critical sectors entities).
Improved security and notification processes and means in the EU.
Improved security of network and information systems in the EU.
Industrial and market readiness for the proposed Cyber Resilience Act.
Support for Cybersecurity certification in line with the Cybersecurity Act.
Support for supply chain partners in standardised self-assessments and certifications. Helping downstream supply chain partners in a step-by-step approach to increase cyber resilience.
Overcome the challenge of finding the technical skills required to deal with a complex technology landscape that relies heavily on extensive configurations and capabilities.
Cyber toolkit as a service to support for SMEs1 managing cyber risks, defining, and implementing their cybersecurity strategy, including several functions dedicated to risk assessment, vulnerabilities and threats detection, etc.
Support and incident response capabilities to SMEs.
1Cybersecurity guide for SMEs - 12 steps to securing your business, ENISA, 2021, available at: https://www.enisa.europa.eu/publications/cybersecurity-guide-for-smes.

Scope:
The action will focus on supporting at least one of the priorities listed under Expected Outcomes section.

Show less

DIGITAL-ECCC-2025-DEPLOY-CYBER-09-UPTAKE

Deadline:

30 mar 2026

Budget:

€3M

Enhances SME cybersecurity by funding development and deployment of innovative toolkits for risk management, compliance, incident response, and cross-border cooperation across EU sectors.

Business, Management and Accounting, Computer Science, Engineering, Social Sciences

Expected Outcome:
The Regional cable hubs will contribute to enhancing and consolidating collective situational awareness and capabilities in detection, supporting the development of an operational capacities to ensure the security and resilience of undersea cables.

The hubs should act as a central point allowing for broader pooling of data and information relevant for the security environment of the cables, enabling the dissemination of threat information and incident detection on a regional scale and among a diverse set of national actors as designated by each Member States (e.g. National Hubs, CSIRTs.)

The Hubs should allow a rapid exchange of information, even if classified among participating authorities in a given hub. To that end, the participating authorities shall set procedural arrangements on cooperation and information sharing.

Furthermore, regional cable hubs could also benefit from additional solutions for the surveillance and protection of submarine cables, and the detection of malicious activities. For instance, situational awareness performed through the collection and analysis of in-situ, sea-based sensor data as well as relevant satellite imagery or undersea drones capacities.

The Hubs could make use of existing systems which were not developed necessarily for Cable Security, such as the Integrated Maritime Systems, the Common Information Sharing Environment (CISE), the EU Copernicus Space Programme, and the Maritime Surveillance System. (MARSUR).

The Hubs should also integrate direct cooperation with private entities, especially cable operators to increase access – in a highly secured framework - to information on ongoing and future threats and voluntary incident reporting.

The Hubs should progressively also integrate the defence dimension, as any defence capacities is likely to increase the situational awareness as well as the capacity to respond fast in case of incident against these strategic critical infrastructures. To that end, Member States can integrate in the operations of the Hubs their defence capacities (e.g. navy or surveillance system) and operational command while building on international partnerships.

To support the above activities of a Regional Cable Hub, a grant will be available to cover, among others, the preparatory activities for setting up the Regional Cable Hub, its interaction and cooperation between its members and with other stakeholders, as well as the running/operating costs involved, enabling the effective operation of the Regional Cable Hub. The grant could also be used to cover the acquisition of the infrastructures, tools and services needed to build-up the Regional Cable Hub but also to equip it with the necessary capacities to enhance the security and resilience of undersea cables, such as detection capacities.

These actions aim at creating or strengthening Regional Cable Hubs, which occupy a central role in ensuring the Security and resilience of strategic and critical infrastructures, providers of essential services such as global connectivity and power supply. As previously noted, Regional Cable Hubs will have a crucial operative role in ensuring the security of undersea cables in the Union and will handle sensitive information.

Pursuant to Article 12 of Regulation (EU) 2021/694, participation to the calls funded under this topic will be therefore subject to the restrictions of Article 12(5), as specified in Appendix 3 of this Work Programme.

Objective:
As part of the EU Action Plan on Cable Security, it was announced that the Commission, together with voluntary Member States, will work on Cable Integrated Surveillance Mechanisms per sea basin (‘Regional Cable Hubs’) to enhance the detection capacity against threats to undersea cables as they are critical infrastructure.

Taking into account the fact that these cables are covered by the scope of NIS2 Directive that follows an all-hazards approach, it is crucial to protect their physical environment from events such as malicious acts, including cuts as integral part of the cable cybersecurity measures.

The objective is to support the progressive establishment of Regional Cable hubs, one per sea basins of the EU, whose role will be to concretely enhance threats detection and operational security around these strategic infrastructures.

This action is therefore aimed at supporting the set-up of processes, tools and services for detection and analysis of emerging threats, to establish a near real time situational awareness to protect the undersea cables. It includes the capacity to aggregate data and security information from all available sources (including established systems such as the Integrated Maritime System, or CISE, or National Cyber Hubs) and analyse them in an automated way. The action will support also the establishment of a reporting incident function and a procedure for information sharing between relevant national authorities.

Additionally, structured partnership with private sector to enhance the voluntary information sharing for cable security as well as the potential and progressive integration of the relevant defence dimension capacities – in a dual use approach – could be considered in the action.

Should the participating Member States so decide, the regional cable hubs could coordinate the deployment and activation of modular repair equipment across a sea basin. Finally, the scope could also cover the acquisition of additional capacities, equipment, tools, instruments or services useful for the enhancing the resilience and security of undersea cables.

DIGITAL-ECCC-2025-DEPLOY-CYBER-09-CABLEHUBS

Deadline:

30 mar 2026

Budget:

€2M

Enhances security and resilience of EU undersea cables by establishing regional hubs for data sharing, threat detection, and incident response among key stakeholders.

Engineering, Environmental Science, Social Sciences

Expected Outcome:
The types of deliverables are presented in two parts.

The first part covers:

Enhanced cooperation, preparedness and cybersecurity resilience in the EU; preparedness support services
Threat assessment and risk assessment services.
The second part covers:

Risk monitoring services
Better compliance, coordinated vulnerability disclosure and monitoring
Improved skills, via exercises and training courses, organisation of events, workshops. stakeholder consultations and white papers.
Objective:
As part of the ECCC Work Programme 2025-2027, this topic covers two actions from the Cyber Solidarity Act, dedicated to the Cybersecurity Emergency Mechanism, namely (1) coordinated preparedness testing of entities operating in sectors of high criticality across the Union and (2) other preparedness actions for entities operating in sectors of high criticality and other critical sectors.

Please note that (1) coordinated preparedness testing of entities operating in sectors of high criticality across the Union is subject to the current Call for proposals while (2) other preparedness actions will be covered only in 2026 and 2027 calls for proposals.

For more details on the action (1) covered under the current call for proposals, please consult the Call document accordingly.

These actions aim to complement and not duplicate efforts by Member States and those at Union level to increase the level of protection and resilience to cyber threats, in particular for critical industrial installations and infrastructures, by assisting Member States in their efforts to improve their preparedness for cyber threats and incidents by providing them with knowledge and expertise.

Proposals should contribute to achieving at least one of the following objectives:

(part 1) Coordinated preparedness testing of entities operating in sectors of high criticality across the Union (including penetration testing and threat assessment) considering ICT as well as Operational Technology/Industrial Control Systems.
(part 2) Other preparedness actions for entities operating in sectors of high criticality and other critical sectors (i.e. vulnerability monitoring, exercises and training courses).
Scope:
[Part 1 Coordinated preparedness testing]

The provision of preparedness support services shall include the activities listed below, for entities in the sector or sub-sector as identified by the Commission in accordance with the Cyber Solidarity Act, from the Sectors of High Criticality listed in Annex I to Directive (EU) 2022/2555 and specified in the call for proposal document for each of the calls under this topic:

Support for testing for potential vulnerabilities:

Development of penetration testing scenarios. The proposed scenarios may cover Networks, Applications, Virtualisation solutions, Cloud solutions, Industrial Control systems, and IoT.
Support for conducting testing of essential entities operating critical infrastructure for potential vulnerabilities.
Support for the deployment of digital tools and infrastructures supporting the execution of testing scenarios and for conducting exercises such as the development of standardised cyber-ranges or other testing facilities, able to mimic features of critical sectors (e.g. energy sector, transport sector, etc.) or others affected by NIS 2 to facilitate the execution of cyber-exercises, in particular within cross-border scenarios where relevant.
Evaluation and/or testing of cybersecurity capabilities of MS entities and MS sectors (including capabilities to prevent, detect and respond to incidents and stress test of the entire sectors), evaluation and compliance activities aimed at increasing maturity, e.g. on the basis of established maturity models and/or relevant evaluation and compliance schemes.
Evaluation and/or testing of cybersecurity capabilities of entities in scope (including for the evaluation and management of risks concerning the supply chain).
Consulting services, providing recommendations on how to improve infrastructure security and capabilities.
Support for threat assessment and risk assessment, such as:

Threat Assessment process implementation and life cycle
Customised risk scenarios analysis.
The support will target the competent authorities in the Member States, which play a central role in the implementation of the NIS 2 Directive, such as Computer Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRTs) and National Cybersecurity Authorities.

[Part 2 other preparedness actions]

For the second part, in addition to the services already listed for Part 1 (support for testing for potential vulnerabilities and support for threat assessment and risk management), the

provision of preparedness support services included below addresses entities operating in highly critical and other critical sectors as referred to in Annex I and II of the NIS 2 Directive.

Support for threat assessment and risk assessment:

Supply chain risk management within the risk assessment services.
Risk monitoring service:

Specific continuous risk monitoring such as attack surface monitoring, risk monitoring of assets and vulnerabilities.
Support coordinated vulnerability disclosure and management:

Promote the adoption of national CVD Policies1 and the EU Vulnerability Database.
Coordinate the disclosure of vulnerabilities and timely dissemination of security patches. Standardisation of the way information is shared between different stakeholders in the vulnerability handling process.
CVD applications that manage multiple sources of vulnerability information using open standards or technologies. (e.g. researchers, vendors, CSIRTs)
Raise awareness on the adoption of vulnerability management best practices.
Dedicated exercises and training courses:

Develop2 comprehensive training programmes and workshops, including international ones, for cybersecurity professionals that will cover the latest trends in cyber threats, attack methodologies, and best practices for pre-threat management and prevention. Maturity checks, evaluation of cybersecurity capabilities.
Encourage the development of cybersecurity continuous learning activities3 to keep up with all cybersecurity requirements driven by EU cybersecurity-related regulations and directives, including the NIS 2 Directive, CSA, CSoA, DORA, EECC, GDPR, CRA.
The support will target the competent authorities in the Member States, which play a central role in the implementation of the NIS 2 Directive, Computer Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRTs) including sectorial CSIRTs, Security Operation Centres (SOC)/Cyber Hubs, highly critical and other critical sectors, industry stakeholders (including Information Sharing and Analysis Centres- ISACs) and any other actors within the scope of the NIS 2 Directive, DORA, CSA, etc.

Support may be provided, among others, for the on boarding to the CEF Cybersecurity Core Service Platforms of public and private organisations which are working on the implementation of the NIS 2 Directive and are potential users of the CEF Cybersecurity Core Service Platforms.

The action may also support industry, with a particular focus on start-ups and SMEs, to seize the industrial and market uptake opportunities created by the Cyber Resilience Act and may support the implementation of the NIS 2 Directive.

1Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure Policies in the EU, ENISA, 2022, available at: https://www.enisa.europa.eu/publications/coordinated-vulnerability-disclosure-policies-in-the-eu

2Based on the European Cybersecurity Skills Framework (ECSF)

3Based on ECSF: https://www.enisa.europa.eu/topics/education/european-cybersecurity-skills-framework

DIGITAL-ECCC-2025-DEPLOY-CYBER-09-COORDPREP

Deadline:

30 mar 2026

Budget:

€1M

Enhances EU cybersecurity preparedness for critical sectors via coordinated testing, threat assessment, digital tools, and support services for NIS 2 Directive compliance.

Business, Management and Accounting, Computer Science, Engineering, Social Sciences

Objective:
The objective is to support European Video on Demand (VOD) networks and operators, screening a significant proportion of non-national European works, with the aim to improve their competitiveness and attractiveness.

Expected results:

Strengthen the cross-border collaboration among European Video On Demand (VOD) platforms through joint/collaborative activities to increase the online audience of European audiovisual content;
Strengthen attractiveness of eligible European Video On Demand (VOD) platforms for cross-border audiences and online consumption at a larger scale;
Improve the digital circulation and consumption of European content by boosting its visibility, discoverability and prominence;
Develop new business models and achieve cross-border economies of scope and scale.
Description of the activities to be funded under the call for proposals:

Joint/collaborative actions across borders with the aim to improve the competitiveness and attractiveness of European VOD platforms offering a significant proportion of non-national European audiovisual works as well as to increase the accessibility, visibility, discoverability and prominence of European content for a wider global audience (European and international).

Applications should present adequate strategies to ensure more sustainable and more environmentally-respectful industry and to ensure gender balance, inclusion, diversity and representativeness.

CREA-MEDIA-2026-VODNET

Deadline:

7 apr 2026

Budget:

€8M

Enhances competitiveness and cross-border collaboration of European VOD networks showcasing non-national European audiovisual works, promoting innovation, sustainability, and audience growth.

Arts and Humanities, Business, Management and Accounting, Computer Science, Engineering, Social Sciences

Scope:
In the context of this call, process-based models refer to simplified mechanistic models that estimate the environmental suitability for the growth, development, and persistence of plant pest and diseases. These models do not simulate or quantify explicitly population abundance but instead assess how favourable environmental conditions are for the establishment of the species.

Such models typically use climate-based thresholds or continuous response functions to represent the effects of temperature, moisture, or other abiotic factors on species-specific processes such as development rates, survival during adverse conditions (e.g., overwintering), or phenological development. The outputs often combine multiple suitability components to indicate overall potential for pest or pathogen presence or activity under given climatic conditions.

This lot include also the development and testing of solutions for running Species Distribution Models (SDMs) informed by process-based models and/or by indices derived from the organism’s physiology.

EUBA-EFSA-2025-PLANTS-05-02-Lot2

Deadline:

21 apr 2026

Budget:

€750K

Development and application of mechanistic models to analyze climate suitability for plant pests and diseases, focusing on environmental factors affecting pest and pathogen establishment.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences, Environmental Science

Scope:
These models simulate the biological and eco-physiological processes at the basis of population dynamics, both in space and time. They quantify the potential population abundance and geographical distribution based on the mechanistic understanding of their life history traits (e.g. development, mortality, reproduction).

EUBA-EFSA-2025-PLANTS-05-01-Lot1

Deadline:

21 apr 2026

Budget:

€750K

Development of generic physiologically-based models simulating plant pest population dynamics to inform pest management and predict distribution under varying environmental conditions.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Objective:
The projects funded under Humanitarian Aid volunteering should:

where relevant, facilitate the transition from the humanitarian response to long-term sustainable and inclusive development
contribute to strengthening the capacity and resilience of vulnerable or disaster-affected communities;
reinforce disaster preparedness and disaster risk reduction;
link relief, rehabilitation and development;
ensure a high level of safety and security for volunteers.
Additionally, to increase the quality and impact of the action on local communities, projects could include complementary activities. They should also facilitate the active involvement of local staff and volunteers from the countries and communities in which they are implemented.

Scope:
WHAT IS VOLUNTEERING IN SUPPORT OF HUMANITARIAN AID OPERATIONS?

Volunteering under the European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps (Humanitarian Aid Volunteering) takes place in third countries where there are ongoing humanitarian aid operations.

This action gives the opportunity to young people aged 18 to 35 years old to contribute to society by short-term or long-term volunteering activities aimed at improving living conditions of people in need. Volunteering is a full-time (at least 30 and not more than 38 hours per week) non-remunerated activity.

Projects must be in line with the humanitarian aid principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence, as well as with the ‘do no harm’ principle.

ESC-HUMAID-2026-VOLUN

Deadline:

22 apr 2026

Budget:

€10M

Humanitarian aid volunteering projects for young people, focusing on disaster resilience, preparedness, and sustainable development in third countries with ongoing humanitarian needs.

Social Sciences

CREA-CROSS-2026-INNOVLAB

Deadline:

22 apr 2026

Budget:

€7M

Fosters cross-sectoral projects developing innovative tools linking audiovisual with music, books, or museums, focusing on digital transformation, sustainability, and European content diversity.

Arts and Humanities, Business, Management and Accounting, Computer Science, Social Sciences

Scope:
CENTRES OF VOCATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVE) aim to be a driving force for reforms in the Vocational Education Training (VET) sector, ensuring high quality skills and competences that lead to quality employment and career-long opportunities, meeting the needs of an innovative, inclusive and sustainable economy and contributing to addressing challenges in key economic sectors.

The main objective is the establishment of transnational collaborative networks that bring together local and regional VET stakeholders (VET institutions, companies, social partners, authorities, higher education institutions, research institutes, etc.) in strong and broad partnerships, thereby creating comprehensive skills ecosystems for innovation, regional development, and social inclusion.

The initiative is based on a bottom-up approach to vocational excellence, enabling VET institutions to rapidly adapt skills provisions to evolving economic and social needs in their context as identified by the project partners. It is complementary to and works in synergy with other Pact for Skills initiatives.

Implementing vocational excellence approaches features prominently in the overall EU policy for skills and VET put forward in the Union of Skills, the European Education Area, the 2020 Council Recommendation on VET, as well as the Osnabrück Declaration and its successor, the Herning Declaration. The CoVE initiative is firmly anchored in the European Pillar of Social Rights, the European Green Deal, the new Digital Strategy, and supports the Industrial and SME Strategies, the Council Recommendation ‘Europe on the Move’ – learning mobility opportunities for everyone, the STEM Education Strategic Plan, and the Clean Industrial Deal.

The Union of Skills is an investment in people for a competitive European Union, which needs skilled people to respond to new challenges and stay competitive. It is an initiative that aims to improve the quality of education, training, and lifelong learning and the Centres of Vocational Excellence can contribute to the Union of Skills and the upcoming VET strategy, also through public-private partnerships, expand the use of micro-credentials, etc.

Further, this initiative introduces a European dimension to vocational excellence by supporting the implementation of EU VET policy and actions agreed with Member States, social partners and VET providers.

OBJECTIVES OF THE ACTION

The main objective of the CoVE initiative is the establishment and development of transnational collaborative networks that bring together local and regional VET stakeholders (VET institutions, companies and other employers, social partners, authorities, higher education institutions, research institutes, etc.) in strong and broad public-private partnerships, thereby creating comprehensive skills ecosystems for innovation, regional development, and social inclusion and supporting European competitiveness.

The Centres of Vocational Excellence aim at achieving the following objectives:

to ensure high quality skills through flexible and learner-centred VET provisions that lead to quality employment and career-long opportunities, swiftly responding to the needs of an innovative, inclusive, competitive and sustainable economy as well as to societal needs;
to support and act as drivers for local and regional development, innovation and social inclusion;
to contribute to upward convergence on VET excellence, to increase the quality of VET at system level in more and more countries;
to ensure that outputs and results are taken into use and have impact beyond the project partner organisations and beyond the project period.
SCOPE OF THE ACTION

The CoVEs are expected to develop innovative VET practices, e.g. for use of digital technologies, including AI, contribute to VET attractiveness and inclusion as well as applied research and innovation, facilitate mobility and apprenticeships and professional development of teachers and trainers, work together on joint VET provisions incl. micro-credentials, etc.

The Centres of Vocational Excellence operate at two levels:

1. At national level, involving a wide range of local stakeholders creating skills ecosystems for local innovation, regional development, and social inclusion, while working with CoVEs in other countries through international collaborative networks.

2. At transnational level, bringing together CoVEs that share a common interest in:

▪ specific sectors;

▪ innovative approaches to tackle economic and societal challenges (e.g. climate change, digitalisation, artificial intelligence, sustainable development goals [See Berlin Declaration on Education for SDG ], integration of migrants and disadvantaged groups, upskilling people with low qualification levels, etc.), or

▪ innovative approaches to increase the outreach, quality and effectiveness of existing CoVEs.

For more information, see the Erasmus + Programme Guide 2026.

ERASMUS-EDU-2026-PEX-COVE

Deadline:

2 set 2026

Budget:

€68M

Centres of Vocational Excellence build transnational networks among VET stakeholders to foster skills, innovation, social inclusion, and regional development across Europe.

Business, Management and Accounting, Psychology, Social Sciences

Expected Outcome:
The EIC STEP Scale Up call offers a total indicative budget of EUR 300 million for 2026, which is expected to rise to EUR 900 million for the period 2025-2027. Any unused amount from this budget will be allocated with priority to the EIC Accelerator Open call.

The support will be in the form of equity-only investments managed by the EIC Fund. Applicants to this call will not receive a grant component. It provides significant financial support, and applicants should apply for an investment of a minimum of EUR 10 million and maximum of EUR 30 million, to co-invest in a funding round in the range of EUR 50 to 150 million, and at least three to five times the amount of the requested EIC contribution. The specific terms of each investment are considered and negotiated on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the EIC Fund Investment Guidelines. This ensures the investment is tailored to your company's needs while aligning with EIC's objectives.

EIC STEP Scale Up is designed to fill the funding gap for companies to invest in the scale up of high-risk innovations and where the amount needed for the scale up cannot be fully financed by other investors, including InvestEU direct and indirect financial products provided by implementing partners. Applicants are encouraged to consider in particular complementarity with Venture Debt from InvestEU implementing partners in order to meet their financing needs.

When implementing investments, the EIC Fund will ensure that supported companies keep most of their value, including their IP, in the EU or in the Associated Countries in order to contribute to their economic growth and job creation. Where necessary, the EIC Fund will be requested to take appropriate safeguard measures for individual companies on a case-by-case basis in order to protect European interests as defined in the Investment Guidelines.

Beyond funding, your company will benefit from a strong support system that fosters your continued growth within Europe through Business Acceleration Services (details available in Section VII). Applicants to the EIC STEP Scale Up call who meet the evaluation thresholds will also be awarded a Sovereignty (STEP) Seal, to facilitate and provide possibility of the access to funding and support from other EU programmes and other funders and investors.

Objective:
The EIC STEP Scale Up call presents a unique opportunity for ambitious scale up companies (SMEs and small mid-caps) with game-changing innovations in Europe's critical technology areas. It offers a powerful combination of financial and strategic support designed to propel your groundbreaking solution to the forefront of these sectors.

The companies selected under the EIC STEP Scale Up call shall receive investments ranging from EUR 10 to EUR 30 million. This investment can significantly accelerate the development and market launch of your technology, product, or service. With this funding, you'll gain the power to disrupt established markets and forge new ones across Europe, potentially achieving significant global impact. Crucially, this investment is designed to catalyse major funding rounds in the range of EUR 50 to 150 million, and at least 3-5 times the EIC investment.

This call is part of the implementation of the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) which supports the development or manufacturing of critical technologies throughout the Union or safeguarding and strengthening their respective value chains. Besides, support from the EIC, the projects may be eligible for support under other EU programmes included in STEP.

In 2026 support for start-ups in semiconductor technologies and quantum technologies will be pursued in particular through the STEP Scale Up call which foresees larger investments targeting strategic technologies including in support of the Chips Act. The EIC Accelerator Open call remains available in general for startups and SMEs including for quantum and semiconductor technologies.

HORIZON-EIC-2026-STEP

Deadline:

25 nov 2026

Budget:

€30M

Accelerates growth of European scale-up SMEs and small mid-caps developing disruptive innovations in critical technologies, focusing on semiconductor and quantum sectors with equity investments.

Business, Management and Accounting, Economics, Econometrics and Finance, Engineering, Social Sciences

Scope:
Capacity Building in the Field of Vocational Education and Training (VET)

Capacity building projects are international cooperation projects based on multilateral partnerships between organisations active in the field of VET in EU Member States and third countries associated to the Programme, and third countries not associated to the Programme. They aim to support the relevance, accessibility, and responsiveness of VET institutions and systems in third countries not associated to the Programme as a driver of sustainable socio-economic development.

Through joint initiatives that foster cooperation across different regions of the world, this action intends to increase the capacity of VET providers - especially in the fields of management, governance, inclusion, quality assurance, and innovation - so that they are better equipped to engage with private sector/enterprises/business associations to explore employment opportunities and jointly develop responsive VET interventions. International partnerships should contribute to improving the quality of VET in the third countries not associated to the Programme, notably by reinforcing the capacities of VET staff and teachers as well as by strengthening the link between VET providers and the labour market.

It is envisaged that the capacity building projects VET contribute to the broader policy objectives that are being pursued between the European Commission and the third countries not associated to the Programme or region concerned, including Global Gateway investment packages and the development of Talent partnerships and the Talent pool as laid down in the Commission Communication on attracting skills and talent to the EU of April 2022.

OBJECTIVES OF THE ACTION

Specifically, the action will:

Build capacity of VET providers to strengthen cooperation between private and public stakeholders in the field of vocational education and training for demand-oriented and opportunity-driven VET interventions;
Improve the quality and responsiveness of VET to socio-economic opportunities and social developments to enhance the labour market relevance of skills provision;
Align VET provision to local, regional and national development strategies.
For more information consult the Programme guide 2026.

ERASMUS-EDU-2026-CB-VET-WB

Deadline:

26 nov 2026

Budget:

Enhances VET systems in Western Balkans through international partnerships, improving quality, labor market alignment, and cooperation between VET providers and private sector.

Economics, Econometrics and Finance, Psychology, Social Sciences

ERASMUS-EDU-2026-CB-VET-SMC

Deadline:

26 nov 2026

Budget:

€6M

Enhances vocational education and training systems in South Mediterranean countries through multilateral partnerships, improving quality, governance, and alignment with labour market needs.

Psychology, Social Sciences

Expected Outcome:
ERASMUS+ VIRTUAL EXCHANGES

Virtual exchanges projects consist of online people-to-people activities that promote intercultural dialogue and soft skills development. They make it possible for every young person to access high-quality international and cross-cultural education without physical mobility. While virtual debating or training does not fully replace the benefits of physical mobility, participants in virtual exchanges ought to reap some of the benefits of the international educational experience. Digital platforms represent a valuable tool in partially answering the global constraints on mobility caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtual exchanges also help spreading European values. Moreover, in some cases, virtual exchanges can give ideas and prepare the ground for future physical exchanges not funded under this action.

Virtual exchanges in higher education and youth take place in small groups and are always moderated by a trained facilitator. They should be easily integrated into youth (non-formal education) projects or higher education courses. Virtual exchanges can draw participants from both sectors, even if, depending on specific projects, they could involve participants from either only one of them or from both. All projects under this call will involve organisations and participants coming from both EU Member States and third countries associated to the Programme, and third countries not associated to the Programme in eligible regions.

OBJECTIVES OF THE ACTION

The action will aim to:

encourage intercultural dialogue with third countries not associated to the Programme and increase tolerance through online people-to-people interactions, building on digital, youth-friendly technologies;
promote various types of virtual exchanges as a complement to Erasmus+ physical mobility, allowing more young people to benefit from intercultural and international experience;
enhance critical thinking and media literacy, particularly in the use of internet and social media, such as to counter discrimination, indoctrination, polarization and violent radicalisation;
foster the digital and soft skills1 development of students, young people and youth workers2 , including the practice of foreign languages and teamwork, notably to enhance employability;
promote citizenship and the common values of freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination through education;
strengthen the youth dimension in the relations of the EU with third countries.
THEMATIC AREAS / SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

The virtual exchanges should be organised in one or more of the following thematic areas, which correspond to the priorities of the Erasmus+ Programme:

Inclusion and diversity;
Digital transformation;
Environment and fight against climate change;
Participation in democratic life, common values and civic engagement.
Within this broad framework, since virtual exchanges are a bottom-up initiative, participating organisations are free to choose the topics on which they will focus, but proposals must demonstrate their expected impact in relation to one or more of the objectives mentioned above (see also ‘Expected impact’ section below). Gender aspects should be taken into account as needed, depending on the projects’ scope and themes (e.g. by introducing gender sensitivity aspects in the trainings). Special attention needs to be given to the inclusion of socially and economically vulnerable people and persons unable to apply for physical mobility.

Further information can be found on the dedicated page of the Programme Guide (erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-programme-guide), please check the latest version for 2026.

1 Soft skills include the ability to think critically, be curious and creative, to take initiative, to solve problems and work collaboratively, to be able to communicate efficiently in a multicultural and interdisciplinary environment, to be able to adapt to context and to cope with stress and uncertainty. These skills are part of the key competences, as outlined in the Council Recommendation on Key Competences for Lifelong Learning (OJ C 189/1 of 4.6.2018).

2 Youth workers are professional or volunteers involved in non-formal learning who support young people in their personal socio-educational and professional development.

ERASMUS-EDU-2026-VIRT-EXCH-SSA

Deadline:

26 nov 2026

Budget:

€5M

Erasmus+ Virtual Exchanges in Sub-Saharan Africa promote intercultural dialogue, digital skills, and inclusion among youth through online educational activities and cross-cultural experiences.

Computer Science, Social Sciences

ERASMUS-EDU-2026-VIRT-EXCH-SMC

Deadline:

26 nov 2026

Budget:

€1M

Erasmus+ Virtual Exchanges foster intercultural dialogue, digital and soft skills among youth in EU and South Mediterranean via online educational activities and moderated discussions.

Computer Science, Social Sciences

ERASMUS-EDU-2026-CB-VET-NE

Deadline:

26 nov 2026

Budget:

€3M

Enhances vocational education in Neighbourhood East through multilateral partnerships, improving VET quality, governance, and alignment with labour market needs in third countries.

Psychology, Social Sciences

ERASMUS-EDU-2026-CB-VET-CA

Deadline:

26 nov 2026

Budget:

€300K

Enhances Caribbean vocational education by supporting multilateral partnerships to improve VET quality, governance, innovation, and alignment with labour market needs.

Social Sciences

Scope:
ERASMUS+ VIRTUAL EXCHANGES

Virtual exchanges projects consist of online people-to-people activities that promote intercultural dialogue and soft skills development. They make it possible for every young person to access high-quality international and cross-cultural education without physical mobility. While virtual debating or training does not fully replace the benefits of physical mobility, participants in virtual exchanges ought to reap some of the benefits of the international educational experience. Digital platforms represent a valuable tool in partially answering the global constraints on mobility caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtual exchanges also help spreading European values. Moreover, in some cases, virtual exchanges can give ideas and prepare the ground for future physical exchanges not funded under this action.

Virtual exchanges in higher education and youth take place in small groups and are always moderated by a trained facilitator. They should be easily integrated into youth (non-formal education) projects or higher education courses. Virtual exchanges can draw participants from both sectors, even if, depending on specific projects, they could involve participants from either only one of them or from both. All projects under this call will involve organisations and participants coming from both EU Member States and third countries associated to the Programme, and third countries not associated to the Programme in eligible regions.

OBJECTIVES OF THE ACTION

The action will aim to:

encourage intercultural dialogue with third countries not associated to the Programme and increase tolerance through online people-to-people interactions, building on digital, youth-friendly technologies;
promote various types of virtual exchanges as a complement to Erasmus+ physical mobility, allowing more young people to benefit from intercultural and international experience;
enhance critical thinking and media literacy, particularly in the use of internet and social media, such as to counter discrimination, indoctrination, polarization and violent radicalisation;
foster the digital and soft skills1 development of students, young people and youth workers2 , including the practice of foreign languages and teamwork, notably to enhance employability;
promote citizenship and the common values of freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination through education;
strengthen the youth dimension in the relations of the EU with third countries.
THEMATIC AREAS / SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

The virtual exchanges should be organised in one or more of the following thematic areas, which correspond to the priorities of the Erasmus+ Programme:

Inclusion and diversity;
Digital transformation;
Environment and fight against climate change;
Participation in democratic life, common values and civic engagement.
Within this broad framework, since virtual exchanges are a bottom-up initiative, participating organisations are free to choose the topics on which they will focus, but proposals must demonstrate their expected impact in relation to one or more of the objectives mentioned above. Gender aspects should be taken into account as needed, depending on the projects’ scope and themes (e.g. by introducing gender sensitivity aspects in the trainings). Special attention needs to be given to the inclusion of socially and economically vulnerable people and persons unable to apply for physical mobility.

Further information can be found on the dedicated page of the Programme Guide (erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-programme-guide), please check the latest version for 2026.

1 Soft skills include the ability to think critically, be curious and creative, to take initiative, to solve problems and work collaboratively, to be able to communicate efficiently in a multicultural and interdisciplinary environment, to be able to adapt to context and to cope with stress and uncertainty. These skills are part of the key competences, as outlined in the Council Recommendation on Key Competences for Lifelong Learning (OJ C 189/1 of 4.6.2018).

2 Youth workers are professional or volunteers involved in non-formal learning who support young people in their personal socio-educational and professional development.

ERASMUS-EDU-2026-VIRT-EXCH-WB

Deadline:

26 nov 2026

Budget:

€1M

Erasmus+ Virtual Exchanges in Western Balkans fosters intercultural dialogue, digital skills, and inclusion among youth through online educational activities and cross-cultural experiences.

Computer Science, Social Sciences

ERASMUS-EDU-2026-CB-VET-SSA

Deadline:

26 nov 2026

Budget:

€7M

Enhances vocational education in Sub-Saharan Africa through international partnerships, improving VET quality, labour market relevance, and collaboration between institutions and employers.

Social Sciences

ERASMUS-EDU-2026-CB-VET-LA

Deadline:

26 nov 2026

Budget:

€2M

Enhances vocational education in Latin America through multilateral partnerships, improving VET quality, governance, and alignment with labour market needs for sustainable development.

Psychology, Social Sciences

ERASMUS-EDU-2026-VIRT-EXCH-NE

Deadline:

26 nov 2026

Budget:

€2M

Fosters intercultural dialogue and soft skills among youth in EU and neighboring countries through online exchanges, focusing on inclusion, digital skills, and civic engagement.

Computer Science, Social Sciences

Scope:
The EIC Accelerator supports companies (principally SMEs, including start-ups) to scale up high impact innovations with the potential to create new markets or disrupt existing ones. The EIC Accelerator provides a unique combination of grant and investment funding and Business Acceleration Services (see Section VII of EIC Work Programme 2026).

The EIC Accelerator focuses in particular on innovations building on scientific discovery or technological breakthroughs (‘deep tech’) and where significant funding is needed over a long timeframe before returns can be generated (‘patient capital’). Such innovations often struggle to attract financing because the risks and time period involved are too high. Funding and support from the EIC Accelerator is designed to enable such innovators to attract the full investment amounts needed for scale up in a shorter timeframe.

The EIC Accelerator supports the later stages of technology development as well as scale up. The technology component of your innovation must therefore have been tested and validated in a laboratory and other relevant environment (e.g., at least Technology Readiness Level 5 completed). The EIC Accelerator looks to support companies where the EIC support will act as a catalyst to crowd in other investors necessary for the scale up of the innovation.

Applicants to EIC Accelerator can submit proposals through:

EIC Accelerator Open - which has no predefined thematic priorities and is open to proposals in any field of technology or application
EIC Accelerator Challenges - in predefined areas of emerging and strategic technologies.
For further information please see the EIC Work Programme 2026.

HORIZON-EIC-2026-ACCELERATOR-01

Deadline:

17 dic 2026

Budget:

€2M

Empowers SMEs and start-ups to scale deep tech innovations with grant and investment funding, targeting high-impact technologies at advanced development stages.

Business, Management and Accounting, Economics, Econometrics and Finance, Engineering

Top Grants of the Month

More grants and more powerful filters?

SME? success rate > 30%

EUROSTARS-2026-03-19

​

DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-VIRTUAL-TESTBEDS-STEP

​

DIGITAL-2026-SUPPORT-09-NCP-NETWORK

​

DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-GENAI-PA

​

DIGITAL-2026-DSM-AI-09-DS-MANUFACTUR-STEP

​

DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-DS-HEALTH-STORAGE

​

DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-AUTOMOTIVE

​

DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-DS-HEALTH-TOOL

​

DIGITAL-2026-SKILLS-09-COMPETITIONS

​

DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-ECAVA

​

DIGITAL-2026-SKILLS-09-LEAGUE-OF-ACADEMIES

​

EURATOM-2026-SOFT-PRIZE

​

DIGITAL-2026-BESTUSE-TECH-EDMO-09-HUBS

​

DIGITAL-2026-EDIH-AC-09-COMPLETION-STEP

​

DIGITAL-2026-EDIH-EU-EEA-09-CONSOLIDATION-STEP

​

DIGITAL-2026-AI-09-SOLUTIONS-CANCER-STEP

​

ERASMUS-EDU-2026-EUR-UNIV

​

ERASMUS-SPORT-2026-CB

​

ERASMUS-EDU-2026-PCOOP-ENGO

​

ERASMUS-SPORT-2026-SNCESE

​

ERASMUS-SPORT-2026-SCP

​

ERASMUS-SPORT-2026-SSCP

​

CREA-CROSS-2026-MEDIALITERACY

​

CEF-E-2026-CBRENEW-WORKS

​

CEF-E-2026-CBRENEW-STUDIES

​

I3-2026-CAP2B

​

CREA-MEDIA-2026-FILMOVE

​

DIGITAL-ECCC-2025-DEPLOY-CYBER-09-CYBERAI

​

DIGITAL-ECCC-2025-DEPLOY-CYBER-09-UPTAKE

​

DIGITAL-ECCC-2025-DEPLOY-CYBER-09-CABLEHUBS

​

DIGITAL-ECCC-2025-DEPLOY-CYBER-09-COORDPREP

​

CREA-MEDIA-2026-VODNET

​

EUBA-EFSA-2025-PLANTS-05-02-Lot2

​

EUBA-EFSA-2025-PLANTS-05-01-Lot1

​

ESC-HUMAID-2026-VOLUN

​

CREA-CROSS-2026-INNOVLAB

​

ERASMUS-EDU-2026-PEX-COVE

​

HORIZON-EIC-2026-STEP

​

ERASMUS-EDU-2026-CB-VET-WB