Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
The Euratom Research and Training programme has the following specific objectives:
- improve and support nuclear safety, security, safeguards, radiation protection, safe spent fuel and radioactive waste management and decommissioning, including the safe and secure use of nuclear power and of non-power applications of ionising radiation
maintain and further develop expertise and competence in the nuclear field within the community - foster the development of fusion energy as a potential future energy source for electricity production and contribute to the implementation of the European fusion roadmap
- support the policy of the EU and its members on continuous improvement of nuclear safety, safeguards and security
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
Fusion research encompasses innovation in the domains of physics and technology over a wide range of specialisations.
Fusion researchers are constantly challenging the scientific state-of-the-art and improving the technology thereby creating the conditions for innovation, much of which can be exploited in other science and industrial sectors for the benefit of society.
The fundamental basis of the Euratom Programme is the drive and support for innovation across the product development chain from research to market. In this context the researcher plays a critical role.
Detailed Call Description
The SOFT Innovation Prize[1] is being offered to highlight and reward excellence in innovation that can be found in fusion research as well as the quality of the researchers and industries involved. Following the success of 2022 and 2024 editions of the SOFT Innovation Prize, the European Commission is holding the contest again in association with the next Symposium on Fusion Technology (SOFT) in 2026.
There are no specific categories for this prize. Contestants are free to submit an application concerning any physics or technology innovation that has been developed in magnetic confinement fusion research and that has market potential or has been taken up (or recognised) by industry to be further developed for the market.
The specific rules of the contest will be published in 2025 by the European Commission[2], which will launch and manage the contest and award the prize based on the judgement of independent experts.
The complete application for the ‘SOFT Innovation Prize’ should include:
- a technical description of the innovation
- a state-of-the-art assessment of the innovation
- an account, in general terms, of the market potential for the exploitation of the innovation
For the Model Rules of Contest for Prizes please see the Funding and Tenders Portal.
Call Total Budget
Thematic Categories
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
Eligibility for Participation
- Legal Entities
- Natual person / Citizen / Individual
- Other Beneficiaries
- Private Bodies
- Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
- State-owned Enterprises
Eligibility For Participation Notes
- The contest is open to researchers, research teams, or industrial participants eligible for funding under the Euratom Research and Training Programme 2021-2025, to researchers or research teams working for a national programme in an ITER partner country or in any third country that has a bilateral fusion cooperation agreement with Euratom in force and to industrial participants participating in the ITER[4]. Example of proof: the Commission may request substantiating document such as contracts, etc.
- The researcher, research team or industrial participant must obtain permission from the owner of the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) to submit an application and provide supporting documentation.
Eligible participants (eligible countries)
In order to be eligible, the applicants must:
− be legal entities (natural persons, public or private bodies);
− be researchers, research teams or industrial participants eligible for funding under the Euratom Research and Training Programme 2021-2025, or
− be researchers or research teams working (or having worked) for a national programme in an ITER partner country , or
− be researchers or research teams working (or having worked) in any third country that has a bilateral fusion cooperation agreement with Euratom in force, or
− be industrial participants10 in the ITER project;
− Obtain permission from the owner of the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) to submit an application and provide supporting documentation.
Please refer to the General Annex B of the Euratom Programme for the exclusion of legal entities established in Russia, Belarus, or in non-government controlled territories of Ukraine.
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
EU Contact Point
Euratom Research and Training Programme:
Please contact: RTD-FUSION@ec.europa.eu