ELIAS - European Lighthouse of AI for Sustainability - 2nd Open Call

Description

ELIAS is looking for projects based on AI applications that engage with the network in the categories “Methodology”, “Software/Tools”, “Benchmarks” relevant but not limited to the use cases of ELIAS (see list below) in the scope of AI for Sustainability. ELIAS is focused on 3 research spheres but applications are not limited to them as long as the proposals will address high-impact societal and economic challenges using machine learning. Use Cases: - AI for Building Optimization - AI for Monitoring the Virtual Infrastructure - Responsible, User-centric Advertising - Mitigating misinformed migrant perception in EU - AI for Forecasting of Vegetation State - Materials Discovery - Personalized co-piloting systems Your project will be evaluated within the following awarding criteria: EXCELLENCE: Ambition: Proposal goes beyond the state-of-the-art and leverages the results and expertise of ELIAS. Innovation: Level of innovation within the market. Technical soundness and feasibility: Is the overall approach appropriate, technically correct? IMPACT and SCOPE: Scope: How is the proposal addressing challenges that hamper deployment of sustainable AI? Market opportunity & competition: How is the proposal increasing the competitiveness of the company, also in comparison to the competition? IMPLEMENTATION: Team: Capability of the application and its team to manage, perform and succeed with the project. Resources: Sufficient resources (requested and owned) to perform the project.

Beneficiary & submission

ELIAS will select 4 SMEs/start-ups that will enter a 6-month program and receive up to € 60.000 (lump sum) to develop novel AI-based applications in one of ELIAS focus areas The Open Call under the ELIAS project will be open from February 27th, 2026 at 08:00 CET (Brussels Time), with a deadline on May, 31st 2026 at 23:59 CET. ELIAS will evaluate only proposals submitted in English through the online form available at https://www.f6s.com/elias-second-open-call/apply within the deadline, May 31st, 2026 midnight (Brussels Time). Upon receipt of each proposal, the system will send you a confirmation of your submission.

Further information

We are looking for SMEs, startups and NGO’s. Applicants, at the moment of applying, must be officially registered legal entities established in: Member States (MS) of the European Union (EU), including their overseas departments, or in The Horizon Europe Associated Countries. The EU Associated Countries participate in Horizon Europe under the same conditions as the EU Member States. A list with all eligible associated Countries can be found here. Legal entities established in any other country or region cannot receive funding in this open Call. The ELIAS partners, or their affiliates or employees, are NOT considered as eligible applicants and can NOT apply for funding. All the information regarding the call is available on our website: https://elias-ai.eu/opportunities/elias-2nd-open-call/ .