European Innovation Council (EIC)

European Innovation Council (EIC)

The European Innovation Council (EIC) promotes breakthrough innovation with scale-up potential at the global level.

It focuses mainly on breakthrough, deeptech and disruptive innovation, targeting especially market-creating innovation.

The EIC also supports strategic technology and innovation challenges which will take into account the priorities of the Horizon Europe strategic plan.

Areas for funding:

  • Pathfinder funding: for advanced research, supporting early stage development of future and emerging breakthrough, market-creating and/or deep tech technologies
  • Transition funding: to help researchers and innovators develop the pathway to commercial development for promising research results
  • Accelerator funding: to support individual SMEs, startups and small mid-caps to bridge the financing gap between late stages of research activities and market take-up, to effectively deploy breakthrough, market-creating innovation and scale-up companies where the market does not provide viable financing
  • Additional activities such as prizes and fellowships, and business added-value services

More information on the EIC is available here.

EIC Projects

CATART - Reaction robot with intimate photocatalytic and separation functions in a 3-D network driven by artificial intelligence

Specific programme: HORIZON EIC Grants
UPV/EHU Partner Status: Coordinator
UPV/EHU PI: Iker Agirrezabal

Project start: 01/09/2022
Project end: 31/08/2026

Brief description: Mimicking the chemical production of nature is a well pursued dream in the scientific community. Scientific progress is limited by the lack of efficient synergies among complex functions and by a much smaller research library than nature. CATART will explore new synergies in reaction robots that mimic nature in a much faster way. This will be achieved using H2O and CO2 as model substrates. We propose systems containing 3-D quantum dot networks with the ability to simultaneously harvest sun-light by luminescence, photocatalyze substrates and separate products. These phenomena will be managed by artificial intelligence, leading to reaction robots that autonomously learn and instantly maximize productivity. The envisioned system will revolutionize the way chemicals are produced. The combination of expertise in photonics, machine learning, catalysis, organic chemistry and engineering from 5 academic, 1 research center, 1 SME and 1 industrial partner will enable a successful pathway into feasible reaction robots. CATART will contribute to a game-changing chemical technology, placing EU industry and society in a privileged situation to face future economic and environmental constraints.