Advanced Materials for Miniaturised Energy Harvesting Systems

This grant aims to foster the development of advanced materials for miniaturised energy harvesting modules, targeting the creation of energetically autonomous systems with significant improvements over the current state of the art. The anticipated impacts include new autonomous systems and services, enhanced sustainability of IoT and energy consumption in Europe, and a reduction in the reliance on Critical Raw Materials (CRMs). Funded projects should demonstrate their innovation in material design, implementation in miniaturised modules, integration within autonomous systems, and benchmarking in relevant environments.

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Agency	HORIZON (EU)
Region	EU
Country	N/A
Legal form	Company, NGO, Government organization, Private person, Other
Start date	22 Jul 2026
End date	28 Oct 2026
Max funding	Up to 4,000,000 EUR per grant
Budget	96,000,000 EUR (for all three EIC Pathfinder Challenges in 2026)
Coverage	Collaborative or single beneficiary (except mid-caps and larger companies for single beneficiaries); lump sum funding under Horizon Europe.

Grant application conditions

Applicant Type	Consortia (collaborative research) or single legal entities (individual research or innovation). Consortia must fulfil: two entities from two different Member States or Associated Countries (for two-member consortia); for three or more, at least three independent legal entities each from a different country with at least one from a Member State and at least two from different Member States or Associated Countries.
Eligible Legal Entities	Universities, research organisations, SMEs, start-ups, natural persons, and other entities. For single-beneficiary projects, mid-caps and larger companies are not eligible.
Geographic Eligibility	Legal entities from EU Member States and Associated Countries (as per Horizon Europe eligibility).
Project Scope	Proposals must develop innovative advanced materials for energy harvesting harnessing new physical or chemical phenomena, aiming at radical improvements in performance and reduction of dependence on Critical Raw Materials (CRMs). Implementation in miniaturised energy harvesting modules (e.g., solar cells, thermoelectric, piezoelectric). Integration of modules in energetically autonomous systems (e.g., wireless integrated sensors) and benchmarking at TRL 4 in a laboratory environment, demonstrating efficiency improvements.
Use of Digital Tools	Applicants are encouraged to leverage digital tools such as AI to accelerate the process of material identification, design, fabrication, and characterisation.
Market Impact	All proposals must identify potential markets and impacts of their innovation.
Application Format	Submission via the official portal. Part B of the proposal (sections 1–3: Excellence, Impact, Implementation) is limited to 30 pages. Excess pages are not considered.
Other Requirements	Standard Horizon Europe eligibility, financial and operational capacity requirements, and exclusion criteria apply.
Documentation	https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/HORIZON-EIC-PATHFINDERCHALLENGES-01-01

Eligible expenses

Evaluation criteria

Business exclusions

Reporting

Application process

Application requirements