The increasing scarcity of resources, rising energy prices and the necessary transition to a climate-neutral economy require new approaches in material and product development. Lightweight construction, as a key technology for resource efficiency and emission reduction, plays a major role in the context of those requirements and goals. At the same time, the transformation to a circular economy requires products that are designed from the outset to be resource-efficient, reusable, and recyclable.
Therefore, the European Lightweighting Network (ELN), together with support from countries worldwide, aims to fund research and development projects focused on lightweighting design. The objective is to stimulate the deployment, demonstration, and showcasing of advanced materials, innovative design methodologies, and digital solutions that seamlessly integrate lightweighting with circular value creation.
Funding is provided for application-oriented research and development projects focusing on:
- Development and testing of lightweighting design (including a Safe-and-Sustainable by-Design approach) and manufacturing concepts (including joining technologies, additive manufacturing, …) in various sectors (e.g. construction, energy, and mobility).
- Development and use of novel or alternative advanced lightweight materials including optimised manufacturing processes
- Substitution of conventional (raw-)materials with sustainable and lightweighting alternatives with a lower ecological footprint.
- Innovative approaches in the areas of ease of disassembly, reparability, recyclability, and reuse of lightweighting components.
- Use of digital technologies to optimise lightweighting design for circularity, lifecycle assessment and material tracking in the field of lightweighting (including digital twins, machine learning, …).
- Development of transferable and scalable business models for circular lightweighting design and manufacturing.
Regardless of national priorities, all sectors with a need for Lightweighting technologies are welcome, including but not limited to automotive, railway, aerospace, space, maritime, mechanical engineering, energy, construction, infrastructure, health, farming, and forestry, etc.
Timeline
- 6 May 2026: Call for projects opens
- 8 October 2026, 17:00 CEST: Call for projects deadline
- December 2026 to April 2027: Eureka label and funding decisions
- February to June 2027: Projects can start
Who can apply for this call
Eureka has limited eligibility criteria for organisations participating in a Network projects consortium:
- Your project idea must represent international cooperation in the form of a specific project.
- The project must be directed at researching or developing an innovative product, process, or service with the goal of commercialisation.
- The project must have a civilian purpose.
- Your consortium must include at least two independent legal entities from a minimum of two Eureka Call participating countries. Please note, that organisations from non-participating countries are welcome to join if (public or self-) funding is secured by the call deadline.
- No single organisation or country can be responsible for more than 70% of the project budget.
This call for projects has additional criteria for organisations to be eligible to receive funding:
- The project must benefit all involved partners.
- The project should have an obvious benefit and added value resulting from the technological cooperation between the participants from the different countries (e.g. increased knowledge base, commercial leads, access to R&D infrastructure etc.).
- The product or process must be innovative and with the potential to create impact.
- The maximum duration of a project may not exceed 36 months.
- A signed consortium agreement is required upon approval, before the actual start of the project. It should include, amongst others, the ownership and use of know-how and IPR settlements
On 2 June (11:00–12:30), a pitching session will also be organised, during which potential applicants can present their ideas and network with others. If you would like to pitch, please send a 3-minute pitch using this template to Ms Anna Urumyan (urumyan@niedersachsen-aviation.de) by May 27, 2026.
The following countries are participating in this call: Austria, Belgium (Flanders & Wallonia), Estonia, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, South Africa, South Korea and Turkey.
You can register for the matchmaking event and other activities here: Home | Eureka Lightweighting Call 2026.
Further information on the call can be found on the Eureka website.
