Women Leadership Category

General conditions

1. Admissibility conditions: Proposal page limit and layout

Applications must be submitted before the call deadline (see timetable section 4).

Applications must be submitted electronically via the Funding & Tenders Portal Electronic Submission System (accessible via the Topic page in the Calls for proposals section). Paper submissions are NOT possible.

Applications (including annexes and supporting documents) must be submitted using the forms provided inside the Submission System ( NOT the documents available on the Topic page — they are only for information).

Applications must be complete and contain all the requested information and all required annexes and supporting documents:

• Application Form Part A — contains administrative information about the applicant (natural person) (to be filled in directly online)
• Application Form Part B — contains the technical description of the application (template to be downloaded from the Portal Submission System, completed, assembled and re-uploaded)
• mandatory annexes and supporting documents (templates to be downloaded from the Portal Submission System, completed, assembled and re-uploaded):
• Applicants must support their application with an inspiring video message lasting no more than 90 seconds, describing themselves and their achievements. The video cannot exceed 100MB and should be uploaded to the Submission portal as a .zip file in annex.
• Proof of age for EIC Rising Innovators category.
• Proof of link to the EIT Community for the EIT Women Leadership category.

Your application must be readable, accessible, printable (please check carefully the layout of the documents uploaded).

Applications are limited to maximum 15 pages (Part B). Evaluators will not consider any additional pages.

You may be asked at a later stage for further documents (for legal entity validation, bank account validation, ethics review, declaration of honour, etc).

2. Eligible countries

Residents in an EU Member State, including overseas countries and territories (OCTs) or a country associated to Horizon Europe;[1]

[1]https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/common/guidance/list-3rd-country-participation_horizon-euratom_en.pdf

3. Other Eligibility Conditions

In order to be eligible, the applicants must:

• be a woman[1];
• apply as a natural person[2] ;
• be legally residing[3] in an EU Member State, including overseas countries and territories (OCTs) or a country associated to Horizon Europe;[4]
• be the founder or co-founder[5] of the company or organisation;[6]
• the company or organisation must be established in an EU Member State including overseas countries and territories, (OCTs) or a country associated to Horizon Europe[7], and registered or incorporated[8] at least one year before the call year;[9]
• applicants who have already received an EU or Euratom prize cannot receive a second prize for the same activities.

Applicants to the EIC Rising Innovators category must be aged under 35 at the start of the call year.[10]

There is no age limit to apply for the EIC Women Innovators category.

Applicants to the EIT category must have a direct link to the EIT Community.[11]Applicants are expected to provide proof of eligibility upon request.

Applicants eligible for several prize categories can only apply to one. In the case of applications submitted under multiple categories, only the latest application will be considered, and all other applications will be rejected as ineligible.

Joint applications by a group of applicants are not accepted and will be rejected as ineligible. Applicants from the same organisation must apply separately.

Applicants must register in the Participant Register — before the call deadline — and will have to be validated by the Central Validation Service (REA Validation). For the validation, you will be requested to upload documents showing legal status (please make sure to select ‘natural person’) and origin.

[1] This prize celebrates women in all their diversity. The word 'woman' equates to a cis woman, or a transgender woman who is legally defined as a woman.

[2] The applicant must apply only as a natural person and not as a legal entity. They must apply with a specific PIC (participant identification code) created for them as a natural person (see section 11). Applications submitted by a legal entity (with the PIC of the legal entity) will be considered ineligible.

[3] A natural person is legally residing in a given country, if she is recognised as a resident under national law in that country, and proof of such recognition can be provided upon request.

[4]https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/common/guidance/list-3rd-country-participation_horizon-euratom_en.pdf

[5] A co-founder is somebody who has started the company (i.e. "founded" the company) with at least one other person, and proof of this can be provided upon request.

[6] Self-employment is not acceptable.

[7] See footnote 11

[8] The company or organisation is formed and registered with the appropriate statutory authority of the country as a 'company or corporation', and proof can be provided upon request.

[9] The company must be registered or incorporated before 1 January 2025.

[10] Those applying for the Rising Innovator category must be born on or after 1 January 1991.

[11] 'EIT Community’ means the EIT and the active community of individuals and legal entities which benefited or benefit from the EIT support or financial contribution (in line with Article 2(8) of the EIT Regulation), e.g. support through an innovation or business acceleration procedure of any of the EIT KICs, or successful completion of an EIT Labelled Educational Programme. For the direct link to the EIT Community, applicants are expected to provide a supporting document, such as a certificate from an EIT KIC indicating the EIT support, a signed agreement for the financial support received from an EIT KIC, or a diploma / certificate regarding the successfully completed EIT Labelled Educational Programme.

4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion

Applicants which are subject to an EU exclusion decision or in one of the following exclusion situations that bar them from receiving EU funding can NOT participate[1]:

• bankruptcy, winding up, affairs administered by the courts, arrangement with creditors, suspended business activities or other similar procedures (including procedures for persons with unlimited liability for the applicant’s debts)
• in breach of social security or tax obligations (including if done by persons with unlimited liability for the applicant’s debts)
• guilty of grave professional misconduct[2] (including if done by persons having powers of representation, decision-making or control, beneficial owners or persons who are essential for the award/implementation of the prize)
• committed fraud, corruption, links to a criminal organisation, money laundering, terrorism-related crimes (including terrorism financing), child labour or human trafficking (including if done by persons having powers of representation, decision-making or control, beneficial owners or persons who are essential for the award/implementation of the prize)
• shown significant deficiencies in complying with main obligations under an EU procurement contract, grant agreement, prize, expert contract, or similar (including if done by persons having powers of representation, decision‑making or control, beneficial owners or persons who are essential for the award/implementation of the prize)
• guilty of irregularities within the meaning of Article 1(2) of Regulation No 2988/95 (including if done by persons having powers of representation, decision‑making or control, beneficial owners or persons who are essential for the award/implementation of the prize)
• created under a different jurisdiction with the intent to circumvent fiscal, social or other legal obligations in the country of origin or created another entity with this purpose (including if done by persons having powers of representation, decision‑making or control, beneficial owners or persons who are essential for the award/implementation of the prize)
• intentionally and without proper justification resisted[3] an investigation, check or audit carried out by an EU authorising officer (or their representative or auditor), OLAF, the EPPO, or the European Court of Auditors.

Applicants will also be refused if it turns out that[4]:

• during the award procedure they misrepresented information required as a condition for participating or failed to supply that information
• they were previously involved in the preparation of the call and this entails a distortion of competition that cannot be remedied otherwise (conflict of interest).

[1] See Articles 138 and 143 EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509.

[2] ‘Professional misconduct’ includes, in particular, the following: violation of ethical standards of the profession; wrongful conduct with impact on professional credibility; breach of generally accepted professional ethical standards; false declarations/misrepresentation of information; participation in a cartel or other agreement distorting competition; violation of IPR; attempting to influence decision-making processes by taking advantage, through misrepresentation, of a conflict of interests, or to obtain confidential information from public authorities to gain an advantage; incitement to discrimination, hatred or violence or similar activities contrary to the EU values where negatively affecting or risking to affect the performance of a legal commitment.

[3] ‘Resisting an investigation, check or audit’ means carrying out actions with the goal or effect of preventing, hindering or delaying the conduct of any of the activities needed to perform the investigation, check or audit, such as refusing to grant the necessary access to its premises or any other areas used for business purposes, concealing or refusing to disclose information or providing false information.

[4] See Article 143(1) EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509.

5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds

If admissible and eligible, the applications will be evaluated and ranked against the following award criteria:

• award criterion 1: Breakthrough innovation – the company or organisation founded or cofounded by the applicant is developing a breakthrough innovation focusing, among others, on Deeptech and Science Technology Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) fields. In presenting their innovation, the applicant should demonstrate what makes this innovation breakthrough in relation to other existing solutions.
• award criterion 2: Impact – this innovation addresses a real need or challenge, with significant benefits for people and/or the planet. The applicant will demonstrate how the company’s or organisation’s current performance and growth is driving a positive socio-economic and/or environmental impact, among others, in terms of wellbeing, education, profit, or job creation.
• award criterion 3: Inspiration – the applicant is an inspiring leader, who has played a pivotal role in the success of the company or organisation and is a role model empowering other women and girls in realising their full potential. The applicant should, for example, highlight her efforts to promote gender balance within the company, organisation or beyond, and/or to advocate for innovative initiatives that have positively contributed to gender equality in, e.g., access to finance, networks, product design, education and contributes to a gender-responsive innovation.

Award criteria

Minimum pass score

Maximum score

Breakthrough innovation

6

10

Impact

6

10

Inspiration

6

10

Overall (pass) scores

18

30

Maximum points: 30 points.

Individual thresholds: 6/10 points.

Overall threshold: 18 points.

Applications must pass both the individual thresholds AND the overall threshold. The prize will be awarded to the application ranked 1st, 2nd, and 3rd with the best scores in each category. Other applications will be rejected.

The jury’s assessment will be based on Parts A and B of the application form, as well as the video submitted by the applicant.

5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes

Applications in each category will be subject to a formal evaluation by a jury.

If there are more than 500 applications in one category, there will be a pre-selection in that category to select the best 500 applications to pass to jury review. Otherwise, all eligible applications will pass directly to jury review.

The pre-selection panel and jury usually have a different composition, but jury members may participate in the pre-selection panel.

The pre-selection panel and/or the jury will evaluate each eligible application against the award criteria.

For applications with the same score, the pre-selection panel and/ or the jury will determine a priority order according to the following approach: The score for the criterion No 2 will be given a weight of 2 and the score for criterion No 3 will be given a weight of 1.5.

If two or more applications still tie for any rank or category at the pre-selection phase, those applications will be admitted to the next phase of the evaluation.

If two or more applications still tie for any rank or category at the jury review, those applications will be admitted to the hearings.

Up to six best ranked applications in each category will be invited for a hearing with the jury in Brussels. This hearing may take place remotely.

If two or more applications still tie for any rank or category, the prize amount for this rank or category will be equally divided and awarded to all applications with the same score.

On the basis of the evaluation by the jury (and after the mandatory checks: ethics review, security scrutiny, legal entity validation, non-exclusion, double funding and plagiarism, etc), the awarding authority will decide on the award of the prize.

All applications will be informed about the evaluation result (evaluation result letter). Successful applications will be awarded the prize; the not successful ones will be put on the reserve list or rejected.

5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement

Timetable and deadlines

Call opening:

02 September 2026

Deadline for submission:

01 December 2026 – 17:00 CET (Brussels)

Evaluation:

December 2026 -April 2027

Information on evaluation results/award:

April – June 2027

6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants

N/A

Specific conditions

described in the [specific topic of the Work Programme]

Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA):

Application form templates

Please use the application form that you will find in the Submission System.

Guidance

The Rules of the Contest will be published on the Prize's website - See section 'How to Apply'

Additional documents:

HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction

HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 2. Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 3. Research Infrastructures

HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 4. Health

HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 5. Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society

HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 6. Civil Security for Society

HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 7. Digital, Industry and Space

HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 8. Climate, Energy and Mobility

HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 9. Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment

HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 10. European Innovation Ecosystems (EIE)

HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 11. Widening participation and strengthening the European Research Area

HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 12. Missions

HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 13. New European Bauhaus Facility (NEB)

HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 14. Horizontal Activities

HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 15. General Annexes

EIC Work Programme 2026

ERC Work Programme 2026

HE Framework Programme and Rules for Participation Regulation 2021/695

HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764

EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509

Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme

Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment

EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement

Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual

Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions 

Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement