Library FAQ
Are EIC Awardees required to promote gender balance in projects?
Relevant EIC Awardees must take measures to promote equal opportunities and aim for gender balance at all levels of personnel assigned to the action, including supervisory and managerial levels where possible.
Can security-sensitive but unclassified results be restricted?
Yes. Security-sensitive but unclassified results may require restricted disclosure or limited dissemination for security reasons, and disclosure is subject to prior written approval by the European Commission.
Can tasks involving EU-classified information be subcontracted?
Subcontracting tasks involving EU-classified information requires prior written approval by the European Commission and is only possible to entities established in an EU Member State or in a non-EU country with a security of information agreement with the EU.
Can the granting authority object to transfers or exclusive licensing of results?
Yes. For Horizon Europe EIC actions the granting authority may object, up to 4 years after the end of the action, to a transfer of ownership or to the exclusive licensing of results.
Does the GEP eligibility requirement apply to private companies and NGOs?
No. The GEP eligibility criterion does not apply to other legal entity categories such as private for-profit organisations (including SMEs), non-governmental or civil society organisations.
Do projects need any specific facility security clearance before grant signature?
Depending on the activity, an FSC may need to be provided before grant signature. The Agency will assess the need and establish delivery dates during grant preparation; a grant cannot be signed until at least one beneficiary in the consortium has an FSC if req...
How are projects with classified or security-sensitive information handled?
Such projects undergo a Security Appraisal, may be subject to specific security rules in the grant agreement, and must follow applicable rules for EU-classified information; projects involving TRES SECRET UE/EU TOP SECRET cannot be funded.
How must personal data be managed in EIC projects?
Personal data must be managed in line with the GDPR and relevant legal frameworks and must not be made public unless explicitly agreed by the data subjects.
What are the conditions for financial support to third parties?
Where allowed, projects must publish open calls widely, follow EU standards of transparency, equal treatment, conflict of interest and confidentiality, publish calls on the Funding and Tenders Portal and beneficiaries’ websites, keep calls open at least 2 mont...
What are the minimum requirements of a Gender Equality Plan?
Minimum requirements are publication of a formal document signed by top management, dedicated resources for implementation, sex/gender-disaggregated data collection and annual monitoring, and awareness-raising/training on gender equality and unconscious bias....
What ethical standards must EIC projects follow?
Projects must comply with ethical principles and the highest standards of research integrity and applicable EU, international and national law, with attention to proportionality, privacy, data protection, physical and mental integrity, non-discrimination, envi...
What is the Do No Significant Harm (DNSH) principle for EIC?
Innovations that significantly harm the environment, social welfare or are primarily designed for military applications will not be funded, as this would contravene the DNSH principle of the EU Taxonomy Regulation.
What must applicants do for the ethics self-assessment?
Applicants must complete the Ethics issues table and Self-Assessment. Projects involving ethics issues will undergo ethics screening/assessment and may be subject to requirements, checks, reviews and audits.
What Open Science and data management rules apply to EIC Pathfinder and Transition projects?
They must provide immediate open access to scientific publications, manage research data in line with FAIR principles and produce/update a data management plan, provide access to outputs needed to validate publications, and in public emergencies provide immedi...
What requirements apply to AI-based systems in proposals?
AI-based systems must be developed safely, securely and responsibly, identify and prevent risks, comply with the AI Act, be technically and socially robust, reliable and explainable where they have significant impacts; proposals must describe how they uphold h...
What rules apply to handling EU-classified information in projects?
EU-classified information must be marked according to security instructions; generation or access to certain classification levels may only occur on premises with facility security clearance (FSC); handling may be restricted to secured areas and to individuals...
When must projects use Copernicus and Galileo/EGNOS?
Projects involving earth observation, positioning, navigation or timing data, services or technologies must make use of at least Copernicus and Galileo/EGNOS data, services and technologies.
Which activities are ineligible for EIC funding?
Projects must focus on civil applications and must not aim at human cloning for reproductive purposes; intend to modify the genetic heritage of humans in a heritable way; create human embryos solely for research or stem cell procurement; or lead to the destruc...
Which organisations must have a Gender Equality Plan (GEP) to be eligible?
Each legal entity that is a public body, a research organisation or a higher education establishment must have a GEP meeting minimum requirements; a self-declaration is requested at proposal stage and the GEP is confirmed before grant signature.
Will EIC fund projects that contradict the Green Deal?
In general no; EIC funding will not be awarded to projects contravening Green Deal objectives. Limited exceptions may exist for activities aimed at reducing GHG emissions from certain fossil fuel-based energy sources under the Complementary Climate Delegated A...
Can a beneficiary refuse requests for detailed data based on confidential preliminary findings?
Yes. A beneficiary may refuse disclosure or access to underlying detailed data based on legitimate interests such as commercial exploitation, data protection, confidentiality, trade secrets, Union competitive interests, security rules or intellectual property...
Can ad hoc grants fund research or activities already foreseen in the original project?
No. These ad hoc grants do not fund research or activities that were already foreseen in the original project.
Can national or regional funding bodies choose not to implement the Plug-in scheme?
Yes. They may decide not to implement the scheme or to introduce it at a later stage, but coordination among funding bodies at national level is required to avoid application duplication.
Can the EIC Programme Manager request preliminary findings and how will such information be treated?
Yes. At any time the EIC Programme Manager may request beneficiaries to make preliminary findings available through the EIC Market Place. If not already public or protected, that information will be earmarked as "confidential" and disseminated only to specifie...