HORIZON-EIC-2027-PATHFINDEROPEN-two-stage

General conditions 1. Admissibility and eligibility conditions EIC Pathfinder Open funds collaborative research. Your proposal must be submitted by the coordinator, on behalf of a consortium including as beneficiaries, at least three legal entities, independent from each other and each established in a different country as follows: at least one legal entity established in a Member State; and at least two other independent legal entities, each established in different Member States or Associated Countries. The legal entities may for example be universities, research organisations, SMEs, startups, industrial partners or natural persons. The standard admissibility and eligibility conditions and the eligibility of applicants from third countries are detailed in Annex 2 of EIC Work Programme 2027. The eligibility of associated countries and third countries is also detailed in Annex 2. Stage 1: You are requested to submit, separately from your proposal, a letter of commitment from each organisation you plan to include in the consortium, confirming that the organisation is aware of its participation in the proposal and willing to take part in the project if successful. Proposals not accompanied by the required letters of commitment will be considered incomplete and will therefore be ineligible. They will not be disclosed to evaluators. Stage 2: The composition of the consortium is expected to be the same as the one provided by the commitment letters for Stage 1. However, applicants may make some changes in the consortia if these are duly justified but must remain exceptional and must not substantially alter the proposal as evaluated at stage 1. Research proposals within the scope of Annex I to the Euratom Treaty, namely those directed towards nuclear energy applications, must be submitted to relevant calls under the Euratom Research and Training Programme. Applications with elements that concern the evolution of European communication networks (5G, post-5G and other technologies linked to the evolution of European communication networks) will be subject to restriction for the protection of European communication networks (see Annex II – Section B1) Proposal page limits and layout: Described in Part B of the Application Forms available in the Submission System. Stage 1: Sections 1 and 2 of the part B of your proposal, corresponding respectively to the award criteria Excellence and Impact, must consist of a maximum of 10 format A4 pages. Stage 2: Sections 1 to 3 of the part B of your proposal, corresponding respectively to the award criteria Excellence, Impact, and Quality and Efficiency of the Implementation, must consist in total of a maximum of 23 format A4 pages. In both stages, excess pages will be automatically made invisible, and will not be taken into consideration by the evaluators. Please also consult Annex 2 of the EIC Work Programme 2027. 2. Eligible countries Described in Annex 2 of EIC Work Programme 2027. 3. Other Eligibility Conditions Described in Annex 2 of EIC Work Programme 2027. 4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion Described in Annex 2 of EIC Work Programme 2027. 5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds Described in Section II of EIC Work Programme 2027. 5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes Described in Section II of EIC Work Programme 2027. and the Online Manual. 5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement Described in Section II of EIC Work Programme 2027. 6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants Please refer to the Lump Sum Model Grant Agreement (Lump Sum MGA) used for Lump Sum EIC actions under Horizon Europe. Specific conditions Described in EIC Work Programme 2027.