10 Sep 2026
EIC launches first Advanced Innovation Challenges projects
The European Innovation Council's (EIC) first Advanced Innovation Challenges call had received 709 proposals from 39 countries, from which 20 projects were selected, with 10 projects addressing each of the two challenges: Accelerating Physical AI and Translating Disruptive New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) into Practice. Under this call, the EIC is testing a new, challenge-driven portfolio approach to turning breakthrough ideas into real-world impact, combining ambitious challenges, competition, early engagement with users and funding that follows demonstrated progress. Each project will receive €300,000 for up to nine months to develop and validate its solution, benchmark its performance and demonstrate its potential to address the challenge.
All projects started on 1 September 2026. Over the coming months, the selected teams will work with users and other relevant stakeholders to demonstrate the potential of their solutions. Kick-off meetings will take place shortly, bringing together the projects funded under each Challenge to identify common challenges, explore synergies and share opportunities for collaboration. Projects that successfully meet the milestones of the first stage will be able to compete for further support to develop and test their technologies in real-world settings.
The EIC will use the experience of this first cohort to assess how this new approach can help accelerate the journey from breakthrough ideas to technologies that are ready to be deployed and scaled.
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