EIC Pathfinder Open – 2025 news
Reference: HORIZON-EIC-2025-PATHFINDEROPEN-01-01
Deadline: 21 May 2025
EIC Pathfinder Open 2025 - How to win the grant!
The EIC Pathfinder Open call is part of the Horizon Europe programme. The call opens each year and is organized by the European Innovation Council. Funded projects are ground-breaking and follow a high-risk/high-value approach which has the potential to revolutionize the European landscape. The call is open to all topics, which gives a lot of freedom when applying, but also leads to high competitiveness, making it vital to submit an excellent proposal.
Here, we have summarized the most important information and the “must haves” for a successful application.
EIC Pathfinder Open - who can apply?
Small consortia of minimum 3 partners from academia or industry (including SMEs) established in at least 3 different EU Member State countries. Most successful projects have between 3 and 5 project partners. This allows for a balance between diverse expertise and effective project management. Too few partners might limit the range of knowledge and skills available, while too many can complicate coordination and decision-making.
It’s important to note that the ideal consortium size can vary depending on the project’s scope, objectives, and the specific technology or innovation being developed. However, in general, a smaller, well-aligned consortium is preferred to ensure clear communication and efficient collaboration.
Available funding
The total funding for the EIC Pathfinder Open is €142M. Each project is funded with approximately € 3M and the most common duration around 3 years.
EIC Pathfinder Open projects are aimed at exploring and developing breakthrough technologies with high potential for innovation. The duration of these projects is designed to give sufficient time for research, proof of concept, and initial prototype development. While some projects may be shorter or longer depending on their scope, 3 to 4 years is the typical time frame for most successful proposals in this funding scheme.
Due to the open nature of the call, the number of submitted proposals outnumbers the funded projects by far. Last year saw a record high with 1,119 submitted proposals and a success rate below 5%. Due to the high competitiveness, it is important to strictly follow the requirements of the call.
Deadline for the EIC Pathfinder Open
This year, the deadline for the EIC Pathfinder Open will be on the 21st of May 2025. The next deadline for an EIC Pathfinder Open call is expected in spring 2026.
The winning proposal
The EIC Pathfinder Open is aiming to path-finding Europe’s technological future by presenting radically new, high-risk ideas and accelerate the development of the most promising emerging areas of science and technology. It is an open call, but the project should focus on the development of a radically new technology. It is therefore not a typical research grant that asks a scientific question, the developed ideas should pave the way to novel technological developments that can reach a well-defined market.
Have a clear vision of who the end-user will be, makes writing the proposal easier. There are 3 important aspects to be kept in mind when writing an EIC Pathfinder Open proposal:
Radical vision in EIC Pathfinder Open
EIC Pathfinder Open projects are supposed to develop technological breakthroughs that will disrupt the European market and create new possibilities. It is important to keep a long-term vision of the idea. What will be the next steps after the project? Will you apply to the EIC Transition, or look for other funding sources? And who will use the technology, once it is developed? Can you define the market sector where it will be needed? It is important to ask yourself these questions, since your project needs to convince the evaluators that it is worth being funded!
Science-towards-technology breakthrough
Since the EIC Pathfinder Open is the first instrument from the European Innovation Council to help fund innovative technology (the others being the EIC Transition and the EIC Accelerator), it is logical that it targets developments at a low TRL (Technology Readiness Level). During the course of the project, the development is supposed to reach TRL3-4, which corresponds to a proof-of-principle. The main important point is to showcase a scientific breakthrough that can directly be applied for a technological development and to explain how this will be done.
High-risk / high-gain in EIC Pathfinder Open
Developing a completely new technology starting with a scientific breakthrough implies that the project is of high risk of failure. But if the projects success means that something extremely useful will be created, it is worth funding! Keep this in mind when applying for the EIC Pathfinder – if the proposed development is not radically new, but follows previous projects and developments (incremental nature), it will most likely not be funded. On the other hand, if the proposed idea stems from a new scientific discovery it will be a good candidate!
Evaluation criteria
So, what happens after you click on the “submit” button? The proposals are evaluated by a review panel of 3-5 experts. Keep in mind that evaluators have limited time – usually around half an hour per proposal. Make sure that the text is easy to read, use bullet-points and enough space to make the reading easy and agreeable.
Use images and schematics to illustrate the concept of your EIC Pathfinder Open project, so that the reviewer can grasp the idea fast and correctly. Pay attention to the template and follow the instructions (include all headings and sub-headings) precisely. Apart from the classic evaluation criteria of Excellence, Impact and Implementation, things like consortium composition, gender balance and inclusion of low-income countries play a role.
Conclusion on the EIC Pathfinder Open
The EIC Pathfinder Open is a highly competitive call, and winning a proposal is not an easy task. Nevertheless, if your idea meets the requirements, it is worth submitting a proposal! Here at the MIC, we have extensive experience from participating in EIC Pathfinder projects as technical partner developing a microfluidic solution. If you think this could be of interest for your project, contact us!
