HORIZON-EIC-2026-TRANSITIONOPEN

EIC Transition Open

Status
open for submission
Programme
Horizon Europe (HORIZON)
Action type
HORIZON EIC Grants
Opens
22 Apr 2026
Deadline
16 Sep 2026
Fetched
15 Jul 2026, 07:18 UTC
Plain-language summary

EIC Transition Open funds technology maturation from TRL 3 to TRL 5-6 and market readiness for commercialisation.

This call supports projects that develop and validate innovative technologies beyond proof of concept. It helps mature technologies from lab results to viable demonstrators and prepares business plans for market entry. Applicants must build on previous projects at TRL 3 and aim to reach TRL 5-6 by project end.

Likely relevant for

  • Technology developers advancing TRL 3 innovations
  • Startups and SMEs preparing for market entry
  • Projects needing support for business model development
  • Entities focusing on technology validation and prototyping

Project signals

Technology readiness level 3 completedFocus on technology maturation and market readinessBalanced technology and business development activities

What it funds

  • Technology maturation from TRL 3 to TRL 5-6
  • Validation of technology in relevant application environments
  • Development of sustainable business plans and models
  • Market research and customer/user feedback integration
  • Intellectual property protection and regulatory aspects

Expected outcomes

  • Viable technology demonstrators in intended application fields
  • Validated business models and refined value propositions
  • Increased market readiness and investment readiness
  • Improved chances for commercial success and deployment

Who can apply / participate

  • Single legal entities established in Member States or Associated Countries
  • Small consortia of two independent legal entities from different Member States or Associated Countries
  • Consortia of 3 to 5 independent legal entities with at least one from a Member State and others from different Member States or Associated Countries
  • Mono-beneficiary, small consortium, or multi-beneficiary options available
  • Consortia must follow standard rules with geographic diversity
  • Applicants must be established in EU Member States or Associated Countries
  • Eligibility of third country applicants detailed in EIC Work Programme 2026
  • Proposals must build on results from eligible projects at TRL 3 completed
  • Proposals beyond TRL 4 are not eligible
  • Standard admissibility and eligibility conditions apply as per EIC Work Programme 2026
  • Specific eligibility of third country participants must be checked

Must check before shortlisting

  • Eligibility of prior project results at TRL 3
  • Consortium composition rules
  • Specific admissibility conditions in EIC Work Programme 2026

Money

Total budget of €100 million for 2026 with grants ranging from €0.5 million to €2.5 million. Expected around 40 grants awarded.

  • Total budget for 2026 — 100000000EUR
  • Minimum grant per project — 500000EUR
  • Maximum grant per project — 2500000EUR

Application notes

  • Single-stage submission model.
  • Proposals must not exceed 22 A4 pages for sections 1 to 3 and cover page.
  • Proposals must build on eligible prior projects at TRL 3.
  • Standard admissibility and eligibility conditions apply as per EIC Work Programme 2026.
  • Use the application form available in the submission system; do not use previous years' templates.
  • Prepare proposal based on previous project results at TRL 3.
  • Follow page limits and layout as per application form instructions.
  • Submit proposal via the Funding & Tenders Portal before deadline.
  • Consult EIC Work Programme 2026 and online manuals for guidance.
  • Proposals beyond TRL 4 are not eligible.
  • Eligibility of applicants and projects must be verified against EIC Work Programme 2026.
  • Excess pages in proposal will be ignored by evaluators.
  • Use only current application templates to avoid incomplete submissions.

Derived from official EU Funding portal source · updated 22 Jun 2026, 16:11 UTC. Use this as a shortlisting aid; the official call text remains authoritative.

Related calls

These funding calls are closely related and may be worth considering as part of the same funding landscape.

Official source text

Fine print from the EU source record. Expand when you need the original wording.

Topic description

Objective: EIC Transition funds innovation activities that go beyond the experimental proof of principle in laboratory (applications must have completed all elements of Technology Readiness Level 3). It supports both the maturation and validation of your novel technology from the lab to the relevant application environments (by making use of prototyping, formulation, models, user testing or other validation tests) as well as explorations and development of a sustainable business plan and business model towards commercialisation into high potential markets. Your proposed activities must include further technology development on the results achieved in a previous project and follow user-centric methodologies to increase chances of the innovation’s future commercial success in the market. EIC Transition projects should address, in a balanced way, both technology and market/business development, possibly including iterative learning processes based on early customer or user feedback. These activities should include, subject to the level of maturity of the technology, a suitable mix of technology development and validation activities to increase the maturity of the technology beyond proof of concept to viable demonstrators of the technology in the intended field of application (i.e., applications must have completed all elements of Technology Readiness Level 3 up to TRL 5 to 6 at the end of the project). The activities must in all cases address improving market readiness towards commercialisation and deployment (market research, value proposition, refine incipient business plan63 and validate incipient business model, intellectual property protection, etc.) and aspects of regulation, certification and standardisation (if relevant), aimed at getting both the technology and the business idea investment ready. More information can be found in the European Innovation Council Work Programme 2026.

Conditions and documents

General conditions

1. Admissibility conditions: Proposal page limit and layout

Proposals must build on results already achieved within an eligible project that are, at least, at experimental proof of concept (applications must have completed all elements of Technology Readiness Level 3) and should not be beyond TRL4, i.e. that all elements of TRL4 have already been completed. Proposals building on project results at other TRLs level are not eligible.

For more information on eligible projects, please consult the EIC Work Programme 2026 and the EIC Transition website.

You can apply for EIC Transition either as:

- A single legal entity established in a Member State or an Associated Country (‘mono-beneficiary’)

- A small consortium of two independent legal entities from two different Member States or Associated Countries or

- A consortium of minimum three and maximum five independent legal entities (‘multi-beneficiary’) following standard rules i.e. must include at least one legal entity established in a Member State and at least two other independent legal entities, each established in different Member States or Associated Countries.

The standard admissibility and eligibility conditions as well as the eligibility of applicants from third countries are detailed in Annex 2 of the EIC Work Programme 2026.

Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.

Sections 1 to 3 and the cover page (that includes the information about the related project on which the current EIC Transition proposal is built on) of the part B of your proposal, corresponding respectively to the evaluation criteria Excellence, Impact, and Quality and Efficiency of the Implementation, must consist of a maximum of 22 A4 pages.

Excess pages will be automatically made invisible, and will not be taken into consideration by the evaluators. Please also consult Annex 2 of the EIC Work Programme 2026.

2. Eligible countries

described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.

A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

The eligibility of applicants from third countries is explained Annex 2 of the EIC Work Programme 2026.

3. Other Eligibility Conditions

The EIC Transition is restricted to proposals based on results generated by the eligible projects described in the EIC Work Programme 2026.

4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion

Described in Annex 2 of the EIC Work Programme 2026.

5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds

Described in section III of the EIC Work Programme 2026.

5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes

Described in section III of the EIC Work Programme 2026 and the Online Manual.

5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement

Described in section III of the EIC Work Programme 2026.

6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants

Please refer to the Model Grant Agreement (MGA) used for EIC actions under Horizon Europe.

Specific conditions

Described in the EIC Work Programme 2026.

EIC Work Programme 2026

EIC Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Standard application form (will be made available in the submission workflow).

Do not use previous years' template versions as this may lead to incomplete applications.

Standard evaluation form (HE EIC TRANSITION)

Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA):



Application form templates

Standard application form (will be made available in the submission workflow).

Do not use previous years' template versions as this may lead to incomplete applications.

Standard evaluation form (HE EIC TRANSITION)

Please use the application form that you will find in the Submission System. You can find examples of standard application forms in the Reference Documents page.

Guidance

HE Programme Guide

Model Grant Agreements (MGA)

Lump Sum MGA

Call-specific instructions

Detailed budget table (HE LS)

Information on clinical studies (HE)

Guidance: "Lump sums - what do I need to know?"

Additional documents:

Support information

EIC TRANSITION FAQs Online Manual is your guide on the procedures from proposal submission to managing your grant. Horizon Europe Programme Guide contains the detailed guidance to the structure, budget and political priorities of Horizon Europe. Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ – find the answers to most frequently asked questions on submission of proposals, evaluation and grant management. Research Enquiry Service – ask questions about any aspect of European research in general and the EU Research Framework Programmes in particular. National Contact Points (NCPs) – get guidance, practical information and assistance on participation in Horizon Europe. There are also NCPs in many non-EU and non-associated countries (‘third-countries’). Enterprise Europe Network – contact your EEN national contact for advice to businesses with special focus on SMEs. The support includes guidance on the EU research funding. IT Helpdesk – contact the Funding & Tenders Portal IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc. European IPR Helpdesk assists you on intellectual property issues. CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk – the European Standards Organisations advise you how to tackle standardisation in your project proposal. The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment – consult the general principles and requirements specifying the roles, responsibilities and entitlements of researchers, employers and funders of researchers. Partner Search help you find a partner organisation for your proposal.

Raw budget overview
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