Call for RIS Projects (RIS Capacity Building and RIS Innovation)

Raw materials are crucial for Europe’s green and digital transformation. To secure Europe’s future, we must build a resilient, sustainable supply chain for critical raw materials and advanced materials within Europe. Innovation in mining, materials processing, and recycling is essential to Europe’s industrial independence and underpins high-quality job creation and economic growth, and the vision of the green transition.
Europe’s Critical Raw Materials Act (CRM Act) sets ambitious goals for domestic production, processing, and recycling. To achieve these goals by 2030, Europe must:

• Increase domestic mining to supply at least 10% of Europe’s Critical Raw Materials’ needs.
• Expand processing capacity to cover 40% of Europe’s raw materials demand.
• Accelerate recycling efforts to reclaim 25% of end-of-life products.
• Diversify supply sources to ensure no more than 65% of any material comes from a single external country.

EIT RawMaterials is committed to transform this vision into reality and making raw materials a strategic strength for Europe. We are the sectors’ leading knowledge and innovation community with more than 300 partners comprising the leaders in industry, research and technology, and academia in the raw materials sector. EIT RawMaterials has successfully deployed over €600mn in strategic funding under the Horizon Europe programme, unlocking secondary funding into research, innovation, upscaling, skills and raw materials projects of more than ~€3.6bn.

The European Raw Materials Alliance (ERMA), led by EIT RawMaterials, has grown to over 750 members with an overall investment potential of ~€50 billion and the potential to close the EU raw materials’ supply-demand gap by between 20-100% across a range of Critical and Strategic Raw Materials.

All organisations that are eligible for funding under the Horizon Europe programme can apply.

You do not have to be an existing partner organisation of EIT RawMaterials to apply for funding, but by becoming one, you will gain access to valuable expertise and potential collaborators. They will work with you to help build your consortium.

We also encourage our partners and stakeholders from industry, research, and education, including start-ups and SMEs, to participate in our ongoing calls.

EIT RawMaterials Lighthouse programmes reflect the most pressing needs of the raw materials value chain.

• Responsible Sourcing leading the innovation in mineral exploration, responsible sourcing and processing of raw materials for Europe’s green future.
• Sustainable Materials guiding innovation in the making, using, and recycling of sustainable and cost-efficient raw materials for future green mobility and energy.
• Circular Societies fostering innovation in the radical shift to a circular economy and society enabling economic growth and carbon-neutrality

Proposals must be registered by

• Friday 17th January 2025 at 13.00 CET (Berlin time) for cut-off 1
• Friday 28th February 2025 at 13.00 CET (Berlin time) for cut-off 2
• Friday 30th May 2025 at 13.00 CET (Berlin time) for cut-off 3
• Friday 29th August 2025 at 13.00 CET (Berlin time) for cut-off 4
• Friday 28th November 2025 at 13.00 CET (Berlin time) for cut-off 5

For applications, please go to the SeedBook online platform.