Call: Materials for clean air

Horizon Prizes are challenge prizes (also known as 'inducement' prizes) which offer a cash reward to whoever can most effectively meet a defined challenge. They act as an incentive for innovation. They prescribe the goal but not who the innovator should be or how the goal should be achieved.

The Horizon Prize on materials for clean air will be awarded to the most affordable, sustainable and innovative design-driven material solution that can reduce the concentration of particulate matter in urban areas.

Particulate matter (PM) is the air pollutant which has the most severe impact on health.

Currently, around 90% of the population of European cities for which PM data exist is exposed to levels exceeding WHO air quality guidelines levels.

Average life expectancy in the European Union is estimated to be 8.6 months lower due to exposure to particulate matter resulting from human activities. The inhalation of particulate matter can lead to asthma, lung cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, birth defects, and premature death.

In addition to its impact on human health, particulate matter can also have adverse effects on climate change and ecosystems.

The contest will be open to any single person and legal entity or group of legal entities established in EU Member States or countries associated to Horizon 2020, the EU's research and innovation programme.

Prize Amount: 3 Mio. €