ATHENA Grant & Support Office

NEWS

Competitiveness Council, 24 September 2026

Main results Chips Act 2.0 – policy debate Ministers held a policy debate on the Regulation on a European Chips Act 2.0, presented by the European Commission on 3 June 2026, which aims to strengthen Europe's semiconductor industry, reduce foreign dependencies and...

Ten countries associated to Horizon Europe present joint statement on association to future EU programmes

Ten countries associated to the current EU Research Framework Programme have presented a 'Joint Statement on association to future EU programmes. The signatories include Australia, Canada, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea,...

EIB acts to strengthen Europe’s power grids with €19 million in financing for Reactive Technologies

Reactive Technologies’ advanced monitoring technology helps grid operators improve power grid stability and lower operating costs. Technology helps to integrate more wind and solar energy and connect large power users such as data centres, while reducing the risk of...

The Guild urges investment in sustainability research as a strategic priority for the EU

The Guild stresses that the EU’s growing focus on prosperity, resilience and security must include continued investment in sustainability and climate research to address our urgent interconnected environmental, societal and economic challenges....

EUA selected to develop European University Leadership Academy

The European University Association has been selected for Erasmus+ funding to develop a comprehensive European University Leadership Academy. Building on the experience of EUA’s Leadership Development Programme, the new Academy will develop a broader European...

Commission proposes to unlock €4.2 billion in Cohesion funding for Hungary and restore full access to Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe

European Commission has proposed to the Council to lift the protective measures adopted in 2022 concerning Hungary under the Conditionality Regulation, as it considers that Hungary has addressed the rule of law breaches affecting the EU budget. Ursula von der...

Regions in Europe – 2026 edition

EU countries are often compared with each other. However, contrasting small countries such as Malta or Luxembourg with larger ones such as Germany or France can sometimes be misleading. Analysing regional data can highlight disparities both across the EU or within...

ATHENA FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES CALENDAR

Erasmus +

Call/TopicOpenDeadline
Erasmus+ Virtual Exchanges in Neighbourhood East
ERASMUS-EDU-2026-VIRT-EXCH-NE
04 Dec 202526 Nov 2026
Erasmus+ Virtual Exchanges in Western Balkans
ERASMUS-EDU-2026-VIRT-EXCH-WB
04 Dec 202526 Nov 2026

Horizon Chips 2023 JU

Call/TopicOpenDeadline
Quantum Experimental Pilot Lines for Quantum Technologies
HORIZON-JU-EUROHPC-2026-QEXP-14-01
13 Aug 202617 Nov 2026

Horizon Europe 2021-2027

Call/TopicOpenDeadline
MSCA Staff Exchanges 2027
HORIZON-MSCA-2027-SE-01-01
15 Dec 202615 Apr 2027
Pilot access schemes to Technology Infrastructures for European startups, scaleups and innovative SMEs (CSA)
HORIZON-CL4-2027-01-MAT-PROD-47
22 Sep 202602 Feb 2027
R&I Policy Support for Enlargement Countries
POLICY ENLARGE
09 Sep 202612 Nov 2026
Driving Urban Transitions (DUT) Call 2026
DUT
01 Sep 202617 Nov 2026
EIC STEP Scale Up
HORIZON-EIC-2026-STEP
06 Nov 202525 Nov 2026

Horizon Europe Cluster 5

Call/TopicOpenDeadline
Africa-EU CO-FUND action on climate
HORIZON-CL5-2027-01-D1-11
17 Nov 202604 Mar 2027

Open for SMEs-Innovators-Students

Call/TopicOpenDeadline
EIC Accelerator 2026 – Short proposal
HORIZON-EIC-2026-ACCELERATOR-01
06 Nov 202517 Dec 2026

Regional Innovation-Research-Education

Call/TopicOpenDeadline
KAVA Call 14 – RIS Innovation
EIT RM BP26-28
07 Aug 202616 Oct 2026

Transanational Cooperation

Call/TopicOpenDeadline
European Partnership on Innovative SMEs/Innowwide CALL 5
InnovativeSMEs
01 Oct 202601 Oct 2026

EVENTS

Online conference „Celebrating 30 years of MSCA: Curiosity that changes the world“

n 2026, the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) celebrate their 30th anniversary. To mark this milestone, the European Commission is organising a high-level event celebrating three decades of the programme and the remarkable community behind it. Policymakers,...

European Commission and EIB Group launch Institutional Investors Pact to boost investment in tech scale-ups

The European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group launched today the European Institutional Investors Pact (EIIP) at the TechEU Equity Summit.  The Pact is a new voluntary framework designed to channel more long-term...

EARTO Webinar on the Future EU Governance for Technology Infrastructures on 19 October 2026 – Registration Open! 

EARTO WebinarEARTO Webinar on 19 October 2026EARTO Webinar on the Future EU Governance for Technology Infrastructures REGISTRATION EARTO is pleased to invite you to its webinar on “The Future EU Governance for Technology Infrastructures”, taking place on 19...

Applying for the Joint European Degree Label. 24/09/2026

The European Commission will hold the second webinar in its series on the Joint European Degree Label on 24 September 2026. The webinar is aimed at higher education institutions interested in applying for the Joint European Degree Label for their joint programmes. The...

Improving access for industrial users to research and technology infrastructures, 22/09/2026, live stream

Join us to hear how one of the leading research and technology organisations in Europe, CEA (French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission), has built successful collaboration with start-ups and SMEs. The webinar demonstrates how cross-border access,...

TechEU Equity Summit 2026

TechEU is the EIB Group’s flagship platform for innovation financing, delivered in close partnership with the European Commission. It brings together equity, debt and advisory services into one streamlined system to support European companies at every stage—from...

CETPartnership Annual Conference 2026: Impactful RTDI for Energy Security and Resilience, 20/10/2026

Impactful RTDI for Energy Security and Resilience – this year´s focus on how transnational, coordinated RTDI can deliver on this agenda across digitalisation and AI, cybersecurity, electrification, industrial decarbonisation, and cross-sector integration. This...