What is the EIC Pathfinder?
The EIC Pathfinder is a funding programme under Horizon Europe that offers support to research teams by:
- funding research to develop the scientific basis to underpin breakthrough technologies
- supporting the earliest stages of scientific, technological or deep-tech R&D
- aiming to build on new, cutting-edge directions in science and technology to disrupt a field and a market or create new opportunities
- realising innovative technological solutions to identify, develop and scale up breakthrough technologies and disruptive innovations in Europe
Types of projects
Grants of up to EUR 4 million to support early-stage development of future technologies (e.g. various activities at low TRL 1-3), up to proof of concept.
1. Pathfinder Challenges - grants of up to EUR 4 million or more if duly justified. Collaborative or individual research.
The EIC 2025 challenges:
- Biotech for Climate Resilient Crops and Plant-Based Biomanufacturing
- Generative-AI based Agents to Revolutionize Medical Diagnosis and Treatment of Cancer
- Towards autonomous robot collectives delivering collaborative tasks in dynamic unstructured construction environment
- Waste-to-value devices: Circular production of renewable fuels, chemicals and materials
For more information on the specific challenges please consult the EIC Work Programmme 2025.
2. Pathfinder Open- grants of up to EUR 3 million or more if duly justified for projects in any field of science, technology or application without predefined thematic priorities. Collaborative projects with at least three legal entities independent from each other and each established in a different country.
2025 Deadlines
- EIC Pathfinder Open: 21 May 2025
- EIC Pathfinder Challenges: 29 October 2025
