ATHENA Grant & Support Office

NEWS

GRAPPAOpen Call

This Innovation Call includes financial support for projects focusing on the development, adoption, and commercialisation of innovative upcycled ingredients for food and non-food applications, products, business processes, and technologies (including digital) that...

New Call for Proposals : Agri-food Biotech Scaling-up (SMP-COSME-2026-BIOAGRIFOOD)

This is a call for proposals in the field of sustainability of the agri-food industrial ecosystem under the Competitiveness of Enterprises and SMEs strand of the Single Market Programme (SMP COSME). The call will fund projects in the agri-food sector, focusing on...

EU, Morocco extend PRIMA deal

The European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco have signed an agreement extending Morocco’s participation in PRIMA, the Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area, for the 2025–2027 phase, with Morocco contributing €6.6 million over this period....

EIB Group powers up flagship investment instruments to boost Europe’s tech leadership and defence capabilities

Expanded European Tech Champions Initiative offers growth finance for European innovators and new platform for private sector participation. Powered up Defence Equity Facility to nurture Europe’s security and defence venture capital ecosystem. EIB and EIF Boards also...

ERC white paper calls for measures to boost success rates in Widening countries

The European Research Council (ERC) has issued a white paper urging stronger, coordinated action to close Europe’s persistent research performance gap. The report focuses on 'Widening Countries'. Although these countries account for about 25% of the EU’s population,...

EC invites applications for EU TalentOn 

As part of the European project 'Science Comes to Town', the third edition of EU TalentOn under the WIDERA programme part of Horizon Europe is being prepared by the European Commission. During this five-day scientific contest, a group of selected young...

Open access publishing platform Open Research Europe is entering a new phase of operation

Open Research Europe (ORE) is the European Commission’s open access publishing platform for research funded by all EU programmes. Launched in 2021 to promote innovative, no-fee open access publishing, the platform is now preparing to enter a new phase....

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 Europe 2021-2027

Call/TopicOpenDeadline
EIC STEP Scale Up

HORIZON-EIC-2026-STEP

06 Nov 202525 Nov 2026

Open for SMEs-Innovators-Students

Call/TopicOpenDeadline
EIC Accelerator 2026 – Short proposal

HORIZON-EIC-2026-ACCELERATOR-01

06 Nov 202517 Dec 2026

EVENTS

Info session – Centres of Vocational Excellence 2026: Presentation and recording are now available

On 19 March 2026, the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) organised an online Info Session to present the Centres of Vocational Excellence 2026 call for proposals.  The presentations and recording of the info session are now...

Horizon Europe info days – Cluster 2 Culture, creativity and inclusive society

https://research-innovation-community.ec.europa.eu/events/sAkccFozu9ewhdngHMM5P/live-sessions

OECD Digital Education Outlook 2026 Conference

After the launch of the OECD Digital Education Outlook 2026: Exploring Effective Uses of Generative AI in Education, the OECD “Smart Data and Digital Technology in Education” project team organises a two-day international conference that will bring together leading...

Information and Networking webinar to support cooperation with Eastern Partnership (EaP) Partner countries in Research and Innovation

The Information and Networking Webinar on 19 March 2026 aiming to boost participation of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) partner countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine - in Horizon Europe, the EU Funding Programme for Research and...

Energy Poverty Advisory Hub Annual Conference

The Energy Poverty Advisory Hub annual conference will take place on 17 and 18 March 2026 in Athens, Greece. Hosted by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Energy, in collaboration with the City of Athens and EPAH, and...

Horizon Europe info days – Cluster 2 Culture, creativity and inclusive society: Presentations available

2026 Topic video presentations Please watch the pre-recorded presentations of the call topics linked below. Destination 1: Democracy Video | Presentation slides Destination 2: Cultural Heritage Video | Presentation slides Destination 3: Transformations Video |...

STOA high-level conference – Academic Freedom in Support of Democracy

STOA high-level conference - Academic Freedom in Support of Democracy Academic freedom is widely recognised as a key condition for functioning of open and democratic societies that adhere to the rule of law. Similarly, full realisation of academic freedom is unlikely...