The European Innovation Council (EIC) launch ceremony took place today and the publication of the European Innovation Council work programme 2021 followed immediately. Compared to the 2018-2020 pilot phase there are a couple of novelties under this work programme which are summarised here:

• Besides the EIC Pathfinder and Accelerator a new scheme has been created, the EIC Transition which funds research between TRL 4 to 5/6 and is therefore situated between the Pathfinder (TRL up to 4) and Accelerator (TRL 5/6 to 8). Within the three schemes there are Open calls and Challenge driven calls. Under Open calls any topic can be submitted (thus bottom-up), under the Challenges topics are prescribed.
• The EIC Programme Managers will manage thematic and challenge portfolios of projects. The funded projects under the Open calls for Pathfinder, Transition and Accelerator can be taken up in thematic portfolios, the projects that are funded via the Challenge calls for Pathfinder, Transition and Accelerator, can be taken up in Challenge portfolios. Examples of portfolio activities can be found in annex 6 of the work programme.
• The creation of a European Innovation Council Fund which provides equity from € 0.5 million to € 15 million to companies funded by an Accelerator grant.
• Linkages are created between the three main schemes by a Fast Track Scheme for funding bodies (European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and Eureka secretariat) and schemes (Pathfinder, Transition and ERC Proof of Concept) to apply for the Accelerator (annex 4 of the work programme).  
• There are four prizes included in the work programme; three prizes are a continuation of existing prizes (the European Capital of Innovation Awards, EU Prize for Women Innovators and European Social Innovation Competition) and one is new, the European Innovation Procurement Awards. The calls for proposals for two prizes opened today and can be consulted on the funding and tender portal: the European Capital of Innovation Awards and EU Prize for Women Innovators.

The EIC information day for applicants organised by the European Commission, DG Research and Innovation, will take place tomorrow from 9:30 - 16:00 CET and will be webstreamed live

European Commission press release