RFCS-2026-02-RPJ Steel Research projects
RFCS-2026-02-RPJ funds steel research projects advancing TRL 1-3 to 4-5 with industrial, economic, social, and environmental benefits.
This call supports research projects in steel technology aiming to develop new knowledge and practical solutions. Projects should start at early technology readiness levels and progress towards demonstration stages. Proposals must assess expected benefits including industrial, economic, social, and environmental impacts.
Likely relevant for
- Steel industry researchers
- Materials science R&D teams
- Environmental sustainability projects in steel sector
- Industrial innovation in metallurgy
- Circular economy initiatives in steel production
Project signals
What it funds
- Research projects on steel technology aligned with RFCS objectives per Council Decision 2008/376/EC
- Investigative or experimental work to acquire knowledge for practical objectives
- Projects starting at TRL 1-3 and aiming to reach TRL 4-5
Expected outcomes
- New knowledge facilitating practical steel technology advancements
- Progression of technology readiness level in steel research
- Assessment of industrial, economic, social, and environmental benefits
Who can apply / participate
- Research organisations
- Industry participants in steel sector
- Consortia involving multiple eligible entities
- Check call document section 6 for consortium composition rules
- Eligibility of countries detailed in call document section 6
- Applicants must meet admissibility and eligibility conditions as per call document sections 5 and 6
- Specific eligibility criteria details require consultation of call document
Must check before shortlisting
- Eligibility criteria in section 6 of call document
- Admissibility conditions in section 5 of call document
- Financial and operational capacity requirements
- Consortium composition and country eligibility
Money
The total budget allocated for this call is approximately EUR 20.5 million for 2026.
- Total budget for RFCS-2026-02-RPJ — 20500000EURBudget for the year 2026
Application notes
- Single-stage submission model applies.
- Proposal page limits and layout as per section 5 of call document and Part B of Application Form
- Eligibility and admissibility conditions detailed in call document sections 5 and 6
- Financial and operational capacity requirements in section 7
- Evaluation and award procedures in sections 8 and 9
- Legal and financial setup described in section 10
- Call document and annexes available in submission system
- Prepare proposal following application form templates
- Submit proposal via Funding & Tenders Portal before deadline
- Include assessment of expected impacts as required
- Consult Online Manual and FAQs for submission guidance
- Check eligibility and admissibility criteria carefully
- Ensure compliance with page limits and formatting
- Review evaluation criteria and scoring thresholds
- Confirm consortium and country eligibility
Derived from official EU Funding portal source · updated 22 Jun 2026, 17:21 UTC. Use this as a shortlisting aid; the official call text remains authoritative.
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Official source text
Fine print from the EU source record. Expand when you need the original wording.
Topic description
Expected Impact: Each proposal must include an assessment of the expected industrial, economic, social and environmental benefits (Article 26 of Council Decision 2008/376/EC). Objective: Proposals submitted under this topic should relate to one or more of the RFCS objectives for steel as set out in Council Decision 2008/376/EC . Scope: Research projects focus on investigative or experimental work aiming to acquire knowledge to facilitate the attainment of specific practical objectives. Research project activities are expected to start at TRL 1-3 and achieve TRL 4-5 by the end of the project.
Conditions and documents
Conditions
1. Admissibility conditions: Proposal page limit and layout
described in section 5 of the call document.
Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.
2. Eligible countries
described in section 6 of the call document.
3. Other eligibility conditions
described in section 6 of the call document.
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion
described in section 7 of the call document.
5a. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes
described section 8 of the call document and the Online Manual.
5b. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds
described in section 9 of the call document.
5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement
described in section 4 of the call document.
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants
described in section 10 of the call document.
Call document and annexes:
Application form templates
Standard application form (RFCS) — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System
Model Grant Agreements (MGA)
Additional documents:
Support information
For help related to this call, please contact REA-RFCS@ec.europa.eu Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ – Submission of proposals . IT Helpdesk – Contact the IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc. Online Manual – Step-by-step online guide through the Portal processes from proposal preparation and evaluation to reporting on your ongoing project. Valid for all 2021-2027 programmes.
Raw budget overview
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