StandICT.eu 2026 Open Calls

A Snapshot of StandICT.eu 2026 Open Calls Fellowships

StandICT.eu 2026 launched a total of 9 Open Calls between 8 May 2023 and 27 June 2025. Across these calls, 961 applications were submitted, of which 35% (342) were funded, amounting to €2.9 million in direct funding. The three main targeted topics among funded applications were AI (66 funded applications), cybersecurity (60), and 5G/6G (17).

Engaged SDOs and Organisations

StandICT.eu 2026's Fellowship Programme has delivered measurable impact across the European standardisation landscape. The 342 funded fellowships generated wide-reaching results across 24 different standardisation bodies, including CEN/CENELEC, ETSI, and ISO/IEC.

Fellows also drove tangible technical progress, with 243 direct contributions to developing new standards and 84 expert contributions to revising existing ones. In addition, fellows helped launch 47 new working groups, further expanding the reach and influence of the programme.

Fellows' contributions to standardisation organisations span a broad and diverse ecosystem, distributed across international SDOs, European SDOs, national standards bodies, and other standards bodies.

International SDOs drew the largest share of engagement: ISO/IEC (90 fellowships), ISO (43), ITU (21), IEEE (17), IETF (15), and IEC (12).
European SDOs (ESOs) also saw strong participation, led by CEN-CENELEC (64), CEN (31), and ETSI (22).
National standards bodies received more targeted engagement, with DIN, AFNOR, UNE, and NIST each contributing 1 fellowship.
Other standards bodies rounded out the picture, including 3GPP (8), EITCI (6), W3C/ERCIM (3), and single fellowships each with O-RAN, ECMA, OASIS, oneM2M, and UN/CEFACT.

Fellowship Profiles and infographics

Of the 342 funded applications, 288 were long-term (6 months), accounting for roughly 84% of the total. Among the funded fellows, 77.8% were men and 22.2% were women. The selected fellowships contribute to the development of international ICT standards on strategic ICT areas that are framed within the Rolling Plan for ICT standardisation published and revised annually by the European Commission.

By organisation type, SMEs led with 109 funded applications, followed by Academia (99) and IT Consultancy/Development (85). Notably, Open Call 9 set the record for the highest number of submissions, with 119. Among all funded applications, 82 fellows represent SDO Working Groups/Technical Committees as chair, convenor, co-chair, or co-convenor.

The total budget of €2,924,511.00 was distributed fairly evenly across the 9 Open Calls, with each call receiving between approximately €313,000 and €343,000. This balanced allocation ensured consistent funding opportunities for applicants throughout the programme's duration:

OC1: €331,766.00
OC2: €325,918.00
OC3: €322,158.00
OC4: €343,024.00
OC5: €325,544.00
OC6: €322,671.00
OC7: €320,649.00
OC8: €319,390.00
OC9: €313,391.00