EFCSN Innovation Grants

The European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFCSN) is pleased to announce a call for Innovation Grants to support the European fact-checking community in its mission to provide the public with access to trustworthy, fact-checked information and to counter disinformation.

Objectives

These grants are designed to support:

1. Piloting new tools and disinformation intervention approaches; 
2. Refine and maintain innovative existing technical tools to counter disinformation at scale;
3. Establish prebunking strategies in fact-checking organisations;
4. Support and carry out innovative media and AI literacy initiatives;
5. Scale crisis communication capabilities;
6. Develop and test new fact-checking formats such as short-form video.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for funding, applicants must meet the following requirements:

1. Legal entity: Applicants must be a legal entity, whether for-profit or non-profit.
2. Certification: Applicants must be EFCSN certified fact-checking organisations or fact-checking organisations that can demonstrate sincere intent to comply with the European Code of Standards for Independent Fact-Checking Organisations.
3. Location: Organisations must be based in the European Union or DEP-associated countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine).
4. Exclusivity: Organisations applying for this grant cannot apply for the simultaneously opened Content Grants. Should an organisation apply for both grants only the application submitted first will be considered.
5. Single applicants: This call is intended for single applicants, i.e. consortia of organisations cannot apply for this call.

Budget, Funding, Payment Terms, Grant Duration

1. Total Call Budget: €240,000.
2. Maximum Grant Amount: €30,000 per project.
3. Funding rate: 50%
4. Form of grant: lump sums
5. Number of Grants: max. 8 grants will be awarded.
6. Payment Structure: 50% upon grant agreement signature, 50% following the approval of the final project report.
7. Exact amount must be calculated using this template table
8. List of eligible costs:
9. direct personnel costs – employees or equivalent: editorial personnel, research personnel, technical personnel, administrative personnel, others; natural persons under direct contract; seconded persons; SME owners and natural person beneficiaries
10. direct purchase costs – travel and subsistence: accommodation, travels, subsistence; other goods, works and services: consumables, services for meetings and seminars, services for dissemination activities including website, publication fees, other (shipment, insurance, translation, etc.)
11. Indirect costs – 10%
12. Max. Grant Duration: 12 months

Selection Procedure

The evaluation will be conducted in three distinct phases:

1. Phase 1: Eligibility & Compliance: The EFCSN team will perform an initial check to ensure all applications are complete, meet the basic requirements and applicants are eligible.
2. Phase 2: Independent Expert Review:
3. External experts in fields such as disinformation studies, AI for information quality, and media literacy will assess and score applications.
4. Applications will be assessed against the award criteria outlined below.

1. An average score will be calculated; at least 10 high-scoring proposals will advance to the final stage.
2. All external reviewers are vetted and must be approved by the EFCSN Governance Body.
3. Phase 3: Final Evaluation:
4. A selection committee, including Governance Body members and optional independent reviewers, will make the final determination.
5. In accordance with Article 15.3 of the EFCSN Statute, any committee member with a conflict of interest (such as an application from their own organisation or a direct competitor) must be recused from the discussion and decision.

How to apply and timeline

To apply, please fill out this application form.

The call closes on May 8 at 23:59. Evaluations will take place in May 2026, results will be communicated in July 2026.

Transparency notice

This call has also been published on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal.

Funding granted through this call will be disclosed on: https://efcsn.com/fund/. Disclosure will cover the name of the receiving organisation, amount, and grant duration.

Questions?

Please send questions about this call to [email protected] or register for our Q&A webinar on 23 April 2026 at 11:00 CET here.

Link to the published call.