EU Funding Pulse: September 2026 Digest

Overview

This September 2026 edition covers 169 open calls and 278 forthcoming calls across active programmes, drawn from the EU Funding & Tenders Portal on 28 September 2026. Open topics span health, digital and artificial intelligence, climate and energy, defence, civil security, culture, and food and bioeconomy, with 13 new calls added since the last edition. Deadlines are concentrated in the coming days: 88 calls close within 30 days, including a large cluster on 29 September under the European Defence Fund and further clusters on 1 October and 6 October. On the policy side, the Commission proposed a new European Innovation Act and published a mid-term assessment of the EU Missions. New multi-year cybersecurity calls under Digital Europe and the European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant 2027 have also opened for future deadlines.

News & Policy Developments

European Innovation Act proposed

The Commission proposed a new European Innovation Act to help European ideas be developed, financed and scaled within Europe. For researchers and innovation teams, this signals a cross-sectoral legal framework intended to remove barriers to bringing results to market. (ec.europa.eu)

EU Missions mid-term assessment published

A mid-term assessment found the five EU Missions in Horizon Europe are delivering results across health, climate, oceans, cities and soil. The findings matter for teams planning Mission-linked proposals, including the New European Bauhaus and Soil topics active this month. (ec.europa.eu)

Open access progress across the ERA remains uneven

A new report finds open access is advancing across the European Research Area (ERA) but progress is uneven, calling for stronger national and EU action. Grant managers should note open science expectations continue to shape reporting and dissemination planning. (research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu)

SOFT Innovation Prize 2026 for fusion research

The SOFT Innovation Prize recognised three projects combining public and private fusion research with market potential. This is relevant context for teams following Euratom fusion and nuclear research activities. (research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu)

Biodiversa+ launches call on novel ecosystems

The European Biodiversity Partnership Biodiversa+, co-funded by the EU, launched a transnational research call on novel ecosystems. Biodiversity and environmental research groups can use this alongside Cluster 6 topics. (research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu)

ERC Starting Grants 2026 announced

The ERC announced the winners of its 2026 Starting Grant competition, funding 421 early-career researchers across Europe. The next Starting Grant round is open for applications with a deadline of 14 October 2026. (erc.europa.eu)

Young research talent at EU TalentOn

The third edition of EU TalentOn closed in Brest, France, with 100 early-career researchers working on responses to cancer, climate and other challenges. The event points to the training and mobility routes available through Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) and related actions. (research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu)

Research policy outlook for late 2026

Science|Business set out what to expect in EU research policy in the second half of 2026, including debate on the proposed European Competitiveness Fund and the next framework programme. This context helps teams plan beyond the current work programme cycle.

Thematic Landscape

Health

Health topics span AI and health data, medical screening and health workforce solutions. Under Digital Europe, open topics include AI-based image screening in medical centres (DIGITAL-2026-AI-PILOTING-10-SCREENING), the European Health Data Space (DIGITAL-2026-BESTUSE-10-EHDS) and AI skills for health (DIGITAL-2026-SKILLS-10-DIGITAL-HEALTH-STEP). The Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) Joint Undertaking also runs its 13th call, with a pre-proposal deadline of 8 October 2026.

Digital & AI

Digital topics cover trustworthy AI, data services, cybersecurity, digital skills and public-sector transformation. Open Digital Europe topics include regulatory compliance through data (DIGITAL-2026-AI-DATA-10-COMPLIANCE) and the EdTech Accelerator (DIGITAL-2026-SKILLS-10-EDTECH). New multi-year cybersecurity topics for 2027 have also opened, including Regional Cable Hubs (DIGITAL-ECCC-2027-DEPLOY-CYBER-11-REGCABH). Within Horizon Europe, quantum topics are among the Joint Undertaking calls, such as Standards for Quantum Technologies (HORIZON-JU-EUROHPC-2026-STAND-05-01). Digital Europe alone has 76 open calls this month, 12 of which close within 30 days.

Climate, Energy & Mobility

Climate and energy topics under Horizon Europe address climate change mitigation, decarbonisation and energy systems, with 13 open and 48 forthcoming calls in the Climate, Energy & Mobility cluster. Energy infrastructure is supported through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), including the Projects of Common Interest/Projects of Mutual Interest (PCI/PMI) works and studies topics (CEF-E-2026-PCI-PMI-WORKS). Mission topics include energy-efficient urban public transport (HORIZON-MISS-2026-04-CIT-01). The CEF has 20 open calls, with 11 closing within 30 days.

Transport Infrastructure

Rail, inland waterways, alternative fuels and dual-use mobility are covered under the Connecting Europe Facility, including rail works (CEF-T-2026-COREGEN-RAIL-WORKS) and Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) civilian-defence dual use (CEF-T-2026-MILMOB-WORKS). These topics are for infrastructure developers and transport authorities working on the core network.

Food, Bioeconomy & Natural Resources

Cluster 6 topics under Horizon Europe cover circular economy, ecodesign, bioeconomy, biotechnology, soil health and agriculture, with 50 forthcoming calls. Food waste prevention is also addressed through the Single Market Programme, and a Mission topic supports circular economy in construction (HORIZON-MISS-2026-04-CIT-NEB-B4P-CCRI-03). The Single Market Programme itself has 38 open calls, with 1 closing within 30 days.

Defence, Security & Resilience

The European Defence Fund has 37 open topics spanning research and capability development, including dedicated small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) routes (EDF-2026-LS-DA-SME-NT). Thirty of those 37 open calls close within 30 days, making defence the single most time-sensitive cluster in this digest. The Civil Security for Society cluster in Horizon Europe covers security, crime and resilience, and the Internal Security Fund opened new digital investigations and standardisation topics (ISF-2026-TF2-AG-CYBER-DIGITAL). A further 33 European Defence Fund calls are forthcoming.

Culture, Society, Rights & Inclusion

Culture, creative industries, cultural heritage and gender equality feature in the Culture, Creativity & Inclusive Society cluster of Horizon Europe. Social themes such as gender-based violence and child protection are supported through Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values, which has 18 open calls. A youth-driven social media design topic is open under Pilot Projects and Preparatory Actions (PPPA-2026-YOUTH-SOCIAL-MEDIA-DESIGN), one of 2 open calls under that programme, both closing within 30 days.

Excellent Science & Research Careers

The ERC Consolidator Grant 2027 (ERC-2027-COG) is open with a deadline of 12 January 2027, giving teams sufficient time to develop a strong proposal. The ERC Starting Grant 2027 round carries a nearer deadline of 14 October 2026, so researchers at the early-career stage should prioritise this immediately. Widening Participation, MSCA and Research Infrastructures topics complete the science-focused activities. Horizon Europe has 5 Widening Participation calls (2 open, earliest closing 29 September), 7 MSCA calls (1 open, earliest closing 24 November) and 1 Research Infrastructures call forthcoming from 9 March 2027. Across the Excellent Science pillar, 13 new topics were added since the last edition, reflecting continued expansion of this funding area. The Joint Undertakings sub-cluster is particularly active, with 12 open calls, the earliest closing 30 September — leaving you little time to act if quantum or advanced computing topics are relevant to your work.

Closing Soon

Eighty-eight calls close within 30 days of this edition. The most concentrated clusters are on 29 September (30 calls, predominantly European Defence Fund), 30 September (7 calls) and 1 October (10 calls). A further cluster falls on 6 October. You should treat the 29 September cluster as the immediate priority: most of those 30 calls are European Defence Fund topics, and EDF submissions require eligibility checks, partner confirmation and compliance with defence-specific rules that cannot be completed at the last minute.

The Connecting Europe Facility accounts for 11 of the 88 imminent closures, covering rail, inland waterways and energy infrastructure. Digital Europe contributes 12 calls closing within 30 days, spanning AI deployment, cybersecurity and digital skills. Horizon Europe adds 27 calls closing within 30 days, distributed across Joint Undertakings (earliest 30 September), Widening Participation (earliest 29 September) and the European Innovation Council (earliest 28 October). Two EUBA calls and 2 JUST2027 calls also fall within the 30-day window.

Horizon Europe: 287 open, 586 forthcoming. 27 closing within 30 days. Focus: security, resilience, STEP-Digital/deep tech.

Digital Europe: 76 open. 12 closing within 30 days. Focus: Digital, Digital Europe, Digital Europe Programme.

European Defence Fund: 37 open, 33 forthcoming. 30 closing within 30 days. Focus: STEP-Defence, STEP-Digital/deep tech, STEP-Cleantech.

Single Market Programme: 38 open. 1 closing within 30 days. Focus: Food Waste, Food Waste prevention.

LIFE Programme: 31 open.

Connecting Europe Facility: 20 open. 11 closing within 30 days. Focus: CEF, rail, COREGEN.

Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values: 18 open. Focus: gender-based violence, harmful practices, sexual harassment.

Euratom Research and Training: 15 open, 1 forthcoming.

Creative Europe: 10 open.

I3: 6 open.

European Social Fund Plus: 4 open. 1 closing within 30 days.

JTM: 4 open.

Erasmus+: 3 open. Focus: Accreditation, Carta Erasmus, Certification.

EUBA: 2 open, 1 forthcoming. 2 closing within 30 days. Focus: asylum, caselaw, euaa.

Internal Security Fund: 3 open. Focus: Digital investigations, Digital tools, Investigative tools.

JUST2027: 3 open. 2 closing within 30 days. Focus: ECLI, European Case Law Identifier, FAL.

Social Prerogatives and Special Competences: 3 open.

EP: 2 open.

Pilot Projects and Preparatory Actions: 2 open. 2 closing within 30 days. Focus: AI, EU digital sovereignty, European Democracy Shield.

European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund: 1 open.

ESC2027: 1 open.

Innovation Fund: 1 open.

Global Europe: 1 open.

PERI: 1 open.

RENEWFM: 1 open.

Total: 570 open, 621 forthcoming, 88 closing soon across 25 programmes.

Programme Activity

Per-programme totals show counts as currently displayed by the EU Funding & Tenders Portal; the breakdown that follows lists only the calls indexed in this digest.

Per-programme totals show counts as currently displayed by the EU Funding & Tenders Portal; the breakdown that follows lists only the calls indexed in this digest.

Horizon Europe (287 open, 586 forthcoming on F&T Portal · 80 detailed below)

• Culture, Creativity & Inclusive Society: 3 calls (1 open, earliest 13 Oct)
• Civil Security for Society: 3 calls (1 open, earliest 5 Nov)
• Digital, Industry & Space: 6 calls (forthcoming, earliest 17 Nov)
• Climate, Energy & Mobility: 9 calls (2 open, earliest 8 Oct)
• Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources: 6 calls (1 open, earliest 26 Nov)
• Cross-Cluster Interdisciplinary: 1 call (forthcoming, earliest 12 Jan 2027)
• European Innovation Council: 6 calls (5 open, earliest 28 Oct)
• Research Infrastructures: 1 call (forthcoming, earliest 9 Mar 2027)
• Joint Undertakings: 12 calls (12 open, earliest 30 Sep)
• Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions: 7 calls (1 open, earliest 24 Nov)
• Other: 21 calls (6 open, earliest 8 Oct)
• Widening Participation: 5 calls (2 open, earliest 29 Sep)

Erasmus+: 3 open on F&T Portal · 1 detailed below

Digital Europe: 76 open on F&T Portal · 12 detailed below

European Defence Fund: 37 open, 33 forthcoming on F&T Portal · 15 detailed below

Connecting Europe Facility: 20 open on F&T Portal · 9 detailed below

Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values: 18 open on F&T Portal · 1 detailed below

Single Market Programme: 38 open on F&T Portal · 2 detailed below

Euratom Research and Training: 15 open, 1 forthcoming on F&T Portal · 2 detailed below

EUBA: 2 open, 1 forthcoming

European Social Fund Plus: 4 open on F&T Portal · 2 detailed below

Pilot Projects and Preparatory Actions: 2 open

I3: 6 open on F&T Portal · 2 detailed below

JUST2027: 3 open on F&T Portal · 1 detailed below

Social Prerogatives and Special Competences: 3 open on F&T Portal · 1 detailed below

Internal Security Fund: 3 open on F&T Portal · 1 detailed below

JTM: 4 open on F&T Portal · 1 detailed below

What This Means

This edition carries an unusually compressed deadline profile. With 30 European Defence Fund calls closing on 29 September alone, teams working in defence research or dual-use technology need to act now rather than plan for next month. The EDF's 33 forthcoming calls indicate the pipeline will remain active into late 2026, but the current window is closing fast.

Beyond defence, the opening of the ERC Consolidator Grant 2027 (deadline 12 January 2027) and the ERC Starting Grant 2027 (deadline 14 October 2026) together mean that individual researchers at different career stages both have live submission windows simultaneously. The practical difficulty here is resource competition within institutions: research offices supporting both a coordinator preparing an EDF submission and a principal investigator drafting an ERC proposal in the same fortnight are under genuine strain.

The Commission's proposed European Innovation Act, if adopted, would affect how results from Horizon Europe projects are treated in follow-on commercialisation phases. Teams working on technology readiness level 4-6 projects should monitor this proposal closely, as it may alter dissemination and exploitation obligations in future grant agreements. The EU Missions mid-term assessment confirms the five Missions are producing results, which strengthens the case for mission-aligned proposals in cities, soil, cancer, climate adaptation and ocean health — all of which have active topics this month.

The 13 new calls added since the last edition are spread across thematic clusters rather than concentrated in one area, which suggests the Commission is maintaining broad portfolio activity rather than consolidating around a single priority. For grant managers tracking pipeline across multiple programmes, the Digital Europe and Horizon Europe Joint Undertakings clusters deserve close attention: 12 Joint Undertaking calls are currently open, covering quantum technologies, advanced computing and key digital infrastructure, with the first deadlines arriving on 30 September.

Outlook

Looking at forthcoming openings, the European Defence Fund lists 33 forthcoming calls on the F&T Portal, beginning with EDF-EDIP-P-2026-2027-FNLC-SA on 13 October. Horizon Europe has 586 forthcoming calls on the portal, with the Digital, Industry & Space cluster opening its next batch from 17 November and a Cross-Cluster Interdisciplinary call opening from 12 January 2027. MSCA has 6 forthcoming calls, the earliest opening on 8 December. Research Infrastructures has 10 forthcoming topics opening from 9 March 2027. Digital Europe's multi-year cybersecurity pipeline for 2027 is already open for submission, giving teams a longer runway than the typical 30-day window. Euratom Research and Training has 1 forthcoming call in addition to 15 currently open. The IHI Joint Undertaking's 13th call pre-proposal deadline of 8 October marks one of the earliest forthcoming thematic closures outside the current 30-day cluster. The 6 October deadline cluster, covering calls across multiple programmes, is the next significant date after the 1 October group and should be calendared now.

Sources

Data retrieved Mon, 28 Sept 2026 from the EU Funding & Tenders Portal.