Introduction

Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) activities help to create in Europe a fertile ground for responsible and dynamic multi-disciplinary collaborations on future and emerging technologies and for kick-starting new European research and innovation eco-systems around them. These will be the seeds for future industrial leadership and for tackling society's grand challenges in new ways. FET focuses on research beyond what is known, accepted or widely adopted and supports novel and visionary thinking to open promising paths towards radically new technological possibilities. In particular, FET funds interdisciplinary collaborations that seek genuine cross-fertilisation and deep synergies between the broadest range of advanced sciences (including the life sciences, social sciences and humanities) and cutting-edge engineering disciplines.

Objectives of the call

The call will fund Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) that seek for cutting-edge high-risk / high-impact interdisciplinary research with all of the following essential characteristics:

• Radical vision: address a clear and radical vision, enabled by a new technology concept that challenges current paradigms. Research to advance on the roadmap of a well-established technological paradigm, even if high-risk, will not be funded.
• Breakthrough technological target: target a novel and ambitious science-to-technology breakthrough as a first proof of concept for its vision. Blue-sky exploratory research without a clear technological objective will not be funded.
• Ambitious interdisciplinary research for achieving the technological breakthrough and that opens up new areas of investigation. Projects with only low-risk incremental research, even if interdisciplinary, will not be funded.

The inherently high risks of the research proposed shall be mitigated by a flexible methodology to deal with the considerable science-and-technology uncertainties and for choosing alternative directions and options. This topic also encourages the driving role of new actors in research and innovation, including excellent young researchers, ambitious high-tech SMEs and first-time participants to FET.

Partnership criteria

A project must involve at least three legal entities established in 3 EU Member States or countries associated to Horizon 2020.

Funding

A project should have an indicative budget of 3 million euro. The grant covers 100% of the projects’ costs.

Deadlines

The call has multiple cut-off dates:

- 24 January 2019

- 18 September 2019

- 13 May 2020

More information at http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/opportunities/h2020/topics/fetopen-01- 2018-2019-2020.html