EIC Accelerator Open and Challenges in 2024
Open
"EIC Accelerator Open has no predefined thematic priorities and is open to proposals in any field of technology or application. If an application falls within the scope of the Challenges topics below, grant funding is subject to eligibility in accordance with the specific conditions applicable to those topics:
- Human centric generative AI made in Europe
- Emerging quantum technology components
Furthermore, in case of an investment support for applications in the areas of AI, quantum, semiconductors and biotechnology, specific safeguards may be introduced in the investment agreement (see Introduction, section on Economic Security).
The EIC Accelerator supports the later stages of technology development as well as scale up. The technology component of your innovation must therefore have been tested and validated in a laboratory or other relevant environment (e.g.,at least Technology Readiness Level 5 or higher). The EIC Accelerator looks to support companies where the EIC support will act as a catalyst to crowd in other investors necessary for the scale up of the innovation.
The EIC Accelerator focuses on innovations building on scientific discovery or technological breakthroughs (‘deep tech’) and where significant funding is needed over a long timeframe before returns can be generated (‘patient capital’). Such innovations often struggle to attract financing because the risks and time period involved are too high. Funding and support from the EIC Accelerator is designed to enable such innovators to attract the full investment amounts needed for scale up in a shorter timeframe."
Challenges
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1. Human Centric Generative AI made in Europe
Specific objectives:
"This Challenge aims to support the development of:
- foundation language and multimodal ‘frontier’ models that reach performances at least equivalent to the most powerful state of the art large generative models, capable of meeting the needs of European user industry, scientists, public sector and citizens;
- smaller foundation models with highly promising performance competing with frontier models in specific domains. It is expected that the developed models go beyond the current state of the art in a way suitable for overcoming the current difficulties and limitations of this kind of tool.
Examples of areas in which there could be relevant technological improvements include:
- Reliable content: Generative AI models minimising fictional elements;
- Transparency and traceability: Generative AI models allowing to trace the origin of the information provided.
The targeted applicants are primarily SMEs developing models themselves, but could also include SMEs providing innovative infrastructure, development tools, and critical support to the developers of generative AI solutions, in helping the efficient use of existing models while addressing specific issues such as hallucination or limited models' knowledge.
The applicant must demonstrate a genuine commitment to developing and deploying “European-Value driven” AI. This European perspective should become a differentiating factor that will bring a competitive advantage to these companies, and an important element to de-risk future investments."
Expected outcomes and impacts:
"This Challenge is expected to reinforce the development of foundation models, which are “European-Value driven”, in line with the trustworthy and ethical principles as well as the (draft) AI Act.
The AI models developed and deployed under this Challenge are expected to comply with the EU concept for Trustworthy AI and the relevant ethical principles as well as the (draft) AI Act. In that respect, besides performance, due attention should be paid to data quality, transparency, privacy, and security.
In the mid and long term, it is expected to reduce dependencies and support European companies in leveraging the advances in generative AI to enhance their products and develop new ones.
The selected beneficiaries will receive favorable access to European supercomputing resources for the training of their large foundation models in line with the access terms and conditions of the EuroHPC regulation. In addition, they may benefit from additional actions aimed at creating strategic partnerships with major industries or attracting further capital. In addition, opportunities may be explored to provide the selected beneficiaries with access to scientific datasets through the European Open Science Cloud or to provide users of the European Open Science Cloud with access to the tools developed by the beneficiaries."
2. Enabling virtual worlds and augmented interaction in high-impact applications to support the realisation of Industry 5.0
Specific objectives:
"The specific objective of the Challenge is to support the development and deployment of advanced virtual worlds technology solutions for industry which are human centric, sustainable, and resilient in their design and/or user contexts. The introduction to the market of innovations in the following areas and their scale up in exploiting new market opportunities is encouraged:
- Artificial Intelligence, e.g., for intelligent human-centric agents that interact with users, to create and script adaptive virtual worlds and interaction scenarios, and to provide more intuitive and accessible immersive experiences in dynamic Industry 5.0 application contexts: innovation management or operations management, such as collaborative worker platforms, rapid wasteless prototyping in virtual labs, knowledge valorisation across different teams, as well as remote working in challenging environments.
- Distributed ledger technology, e.g., for enabling secure and transparent transactions and for facilitating the management of digital assets in and across virtual worlds or in relation to linked physical assets in industrial applications, for instance in order to support adoption of technology applications for multisite Industry 5.0.
- Spatial computing and location mapping, e.g., for spatially aware virtual worlds applications through accurate positioning of objects and users, realistic physics simulations, or for virtual world experiences closely tied to industrial physical locations and spaces.
- Digital twins for resilient and safer transport technologies and sustainable urban mobility systems. Digital twins can also help to optimise performance and decision-making in industrial contexts, including the development of sensors and sensor fusion analysis.
- Wearables, smart textiles and smart objects to complement and enrich users’ interactions through virtual worlds, e.g., for realistic, immersive or embodied experiences and interactions with improved ergonomics and cost-effective enabling applications contributing to Industry 5.0 goals.
- Development of AR/VR solutions for worker augmentation and learning, for remote expert assistance& development management, including for skills training or customer onboarding in industrial applications."
Expected outcomes and impacts:
"Proposals are expected to aim at a sufficient integration of high-risk innovations with state-of-the-art building blocks (proprietary or not) towards compelling in-situ demonstration of clear added-value from using virtual worlds in high-impact markets, supporting the realisation of industry 5.0, with clear up-take in the market and scale up exploitation.
Expected outcomes of the innovations include:
- enabling skills upgrades, talent attraction, employee well-being and knowledge retention; and
- cost-effectiveness and resource efficiency for industry
Interoperability between solutions is a key point for the free movement of users and tools between virtual worlds and avoids the phenomenon of gate keepers."
3. Enabling the smart edge and quantum technology components
"This Challenge contributes to the objectives of the Chips Act by supporting the development of critical technologies where start-ups and SMEs with disruptive innovations have the potential to scale up and help ensure the future open strategic autonomy of the Union."
A. Enabling the smart edge
Specific objectives
"The objective of this Challenge is to promote the development of novel semiconductor components and integrated smart systems for next-generation edge devices with significant impact. The proposals should focus on development of smart integrated devices where the competitive advantage may lie in the system approach or in one of the key components or technologies, such as the following:
- Edge Processing – involving the design and/or integration of edge processors that minimize energy consumption and enable real-time decisions: low- and ultralow-power processors, open-source processor cores, embedded System-onChip processors, programmable processors (e.g.,FPGAs), AI accelerators, and neuromorphic processors. Processors will require low-latency non-volatile memory for local data storage; some NV-RAMs allow for highly efficient inmemory computing and analog computing. Security is another critical aspect and may involve cryptographic accelerators and hardware security modules.
- Edge Sensing and Imaging - including the design and/or integration of components for data acquisition: optical sensors, Lidars, Radars, T-o-F sensing, biometric sensing, environmental sensing, chemical and gas sensing, and MEMS.
- Edge Communication - covering the design and/or integration of connectivity and communication technologies on chips for edge devices: 5G and 6G wireless communication, low-power wireless communication, optical connectivity, mesh networking, software-defined networking, and security protocols for edge and IoT applications.
- Edge Power Management - involving the design and/or integration of components to efficiently manage and utilise power, such as those based on wide bandgap materials. This includes solutions for dynamic power management, sleep mode optimization, battery optimization, and energy harvesting for sustainable and autonomous operation.
- Integrated Smart Edge Devices - referring to highly integrated customised edge devices based on System-on-Chip integration, System-in-Package integration, heterogeneous integration, and modular design of components, such as chiplets, for integration into customized edge devices through advanced packaging technologies, including 2.5D and 3D packaging, enabling improvements in device miniaturisation, performance and reliability.
Expected outcomes and impacts
"This Challenge should lead to deep-tech innovations for next-generation edge and IoT semiconductor ships devices that will have important impact for the smart edge, including:
- Industrial Automation: enabling real-time monitoring of machinery, predictive maintenance, and automated decision-making to increase productivity, reduce downtime, and improve safety in industrial settings.
- Mobility: enabling intelligent transportation systems and new mobility services and models, (e.g.,automated vehicles) significantly improving efficiency, effectiveness, safety, and sustainability.
- Smart Cities: enabling real-time monitoring of traffic, energy usage, air quality, leading to reduced congestion, improved sustainability, and enhanced quality of life for city residents.
- Health and Well-being: enable remote patient monitoring, personalized treatment plans, and real-time analysis of medical data to improve patient outcomes, reduce healthcare costs, and increase access to care.
- Agriculture: more efficient and sustainable by enabling precision farming techniques to increased crop yields, reduced water usage, and enhanced environmental sustainability.
- Environmental Monitoring: to improve resource management, early warning systems for natural disasters, and enhanced environmental sustainability."
B. Emerging quantum technology components
Specific objectives
"The objective of this Challenge is to support ground-breaking innovations that have a high potential to develop:
- Full stack fault-tolerant quantum computing with:
- improved performance
- significantly simplified QPU (Quantum Processing Units) integration with control electronics
- scalable control systems (scalable to tens of thousands of qubits, needed for meaningful practical applications)
- software development
- Quantum sensing components to function in real/harsh environment for various application areas, such as ecotoxicology, pharmaceuticals, biomedical, space, corrosion detection in power plants, gas/oil tanks, raw material detection, medical imaging, automotive and many more.
- Quantum communication devices that can be deployed in a real environment such as quantum repeaters, devices for quantum-based encryption etc."
Expected outcomes and impacts
"This Challenge is expected to support the EU in taking a leading role in the development of cutting-edge quantum computing/simulation and quantum sensing and quantum communications that can be used in real environment and deployed in various areas.
In mid and long term, this Challenge is expected to expand the quantum capabilities of Europe, underpin its economic resilience and digital sovereignty. It should pave the way for Europe to be at the cutting-edge of quantum capabilities by 2030 as envisioned by the 2030 Digital Compass: the European way for the Digital Decade Policy Programme."
4. Food from precision fermentation and algae
Specific objectives:
"In support of the EU Soil Mission, the EU Green Deal, Farm to Fork strategy, Fit for 55 and REPowerEU policy actions, the key goal of this Challenge is to support the production of sustainable and nutritious food from precision fermentation and algae.
Innovations must go beyond incremental changes to the state of the art and deliver novel production processes that must deliver energy and resource efficient, low emission foods that are integral to a healthy diet. The approaches taken must be scalable based on a range of process parameters such as, but not limited to light, temperature, and pressure to allow custom modification of the final product to a range of operating environments including those with high, or even extreme, resource constraints without compromising the potential gains from a shift to food from precision fermentation and algae. Further, innovations must also ensure a closed circle production process to prevent the release of micro-organisms or other contaminants through waste streams. All projects must therefore provide a lifecycle assessment taking into account environmental, social and economic considerations.
The specific objectives of this Challenge are the development and scaling up of interdisciplinary solutions in the areas of:
- Bacteria, yeast or fungi-based fermentation systems
- Macro-and micro-algae based novel aquaculture systems.
Proposals are expected to consider regulatory aspects alongside issues surrounding consumer acceptance and articulate suitable strategies to support market entry within and beyond the EU."
Expected outcomes and impacts:
"This Challenge aims to improve the sustainability, efficiency, and resilience of the European food supply chain through decoupling food production from the soil and minimising environmental impacts including water pollution. It looks to support radical technological innovation with possible disruptive effects on existing markets to secure additional food sources while preserving the environment and supporting biodiversity at the same time.
Viable alternatives are critical to address challenges linked to climate change and the environment including biodiversity loss and pollution. In doing so, this Challenge will foster EU technological autonomy and leadership in delivering scalable food production processes that can generate benefits to consumers in Europe and beyond.
Further, the development of novel foods and processes may also help provide consumers with healthier alternatives thereby decreasing the incidence of food related health conditions amongst the general population."
5. Monoclonal antibody-based therapeutics for new variants of emerging viruses
Specific objectives:
"In the era of pandemic preparedness and precision medicine, the overall goal of this EIC Challenge is to support the development of strategic approaches leading to broad spectrum mAbs-based therapeutics against new variants of emerging pathogens of high concern. Applicants to the Challenge can address:
- Broad-spectrum mAbs-based therapies
- More effective mAbs-based therapies (e.g., address the issue of inter-individual variability)
- Clinical administration of broad spectrum mAbs-based therapeutics to outpatients with mild symptoms in overwhelmed hospitals or in dealing with hypersensitivity to treatment
- Rapid production of mAbs-based therapies: technological innovations that can allow for the production of a mAb, including test batches during the development phase, with minimal lead time, enabling rapid availability of a product in the event of an outbreak.
- Administration of mAbs-based therapeutics: new technologies that can simplify the administration of mAbs, thereby extending the half-life of the antibody or injecting mRNA coding for a mAb."
Expected outcomes and impacts:
"This Challenge aims to enhance the EU’s response to future pandemics. It will provide solutions that can complement efforts to deliver rapid detection and analysis of virus variants, in coordination with relevant international systems and networks (such as the HERA incubator) and will ensure that the development of new antiviral treatments target the variants of highest concern. It will also help develop a platform of approaches that can ensure efficacy of future treatment in the event that new variants of high concern exhibit decreased susceptibility to current mAbs."
6. Renewable energy sources and their whole value chain including materials development and recycling of components
Specific objectives:
"This challenge aims at scaling-up different RES and their supply chain to limit the EU’s significant dependency on imports of components including CRM to ultimately increase the EU’s energy strategic autonomy in the energy sector. This challenge contributes to the objectives of both Net-zero industry and Critical raw materials acts and to the EU’s open strategic autonomy.
This challenge focuses on RES and its proposals can target one or more of the following objectives:
- Scale-up the manufacturing of RES that produce heat and electricity from renewable sources at different scales (e.g., power plants or at small scale level), location (on or offshore) and uses (from stationary to mobility).
- Scale-up of technologies for exploring, mining and or processing, synthesizing materials, excluding CRM, that are part of RES.
- Scale-up of technologies for recycling or re-use of RES components, including materials, into usable materials and/or components.
The abovementioned technologies (including materials) have to be developed without using CRM or ensuring the maximization of their recycle/reuse so ensuring a circular economy approach. As well they need to minimize the environmental footprint measured through a life-cycle analysis (including cost and social impact evaluation)."
Expected outcomes and impacts:
- "Strengthen the European value chain producing RES.
- Limit the EU’s significant dependency on imports CRM and components necessary for the renewable energy transition.
- Enable a more diversified and risk-aware configuration of the European value chain of the RES."