The EIC Pathfinder Open supports early-stage, high-risk/high-gain research aimed at developing radically new technologies with transformative potential. The program funds projects that establish the scientific basis for breakthrough technologies, validate proof of principle, and explore future pathways to market or societal impact, including intellectual property protection, exploitation planning, and consideration of regulation and standardization.

Projects should pursue ambitious, non-incremental science-to-technology advances, ideally through interdisciplinary teams that may include early-career researchers, promising SMEs, and start-ups, with an emphasis on empowering female researchers and achieving gender balance among team leaders. While immediate societal or market impacts are not expected during the project, applicants should demonstrate a plausible route to realizing their long-term vision, with concrete objectives and a high-risk, high-reward methodology.

EIC Pathfinder Open is open to projects in any field of science or technology without predefined thematic priorities, aiming to generate new scientific directions, open up entirely new research areas, and lay the foundations for future technologies that could create new markets, address societal needs, or solve global challenges.