Open innovation challenge participation can be measured through proposals, submissions, participating organisations, countries, registrations, and community activity. Recent European Innovation Council (EIC) calls and NASA programs show how participation changes with the purpose and design of a challenge.
Contents
- European Innovation Council challenge participation
- EIC Pathfinder Open scale
- EIC Pathfinder Challenges by topic
- NASA challenge registrations and submissions
- NASA team composition and international reach
- Open innovation programs and community engagement
European Innovation Council challenge participation
The first EIC Advanced Innovation Challenges call received 709 proposals across two challenge topics in 2026. The European Commission’s source, High interest in first EIC Advanced Innovation Challenges call, reports participation from 39 countries. That combination provides two useful measures of reach: the number of submitted proposals and the number of national locations represented.
The two topics attracted different volumes. Accelerating Physical AI received 425 proposals, while Translating Disruptive New Approach Methodologies into practice received 284 proposals. The first topic therefore had the larger submission count within this call, while both figures belong to the same 2026 application period and source.
The participating organisations were not evenly distributed geographically. Organisations from Germany submitted 84 proposals, those from Italy submitted 71, and those from the Netherlands submitted 62. These are country-level proposal counts reported by the European Commission; they are not a ranking of all 39 participating countries.
The call also separates participants by organisation type. Companies accounted for 490 applicants, or 69% of participants. Higher-education establishments accounted for 124 applicants, or 17%, and research organisations accounted for 89 applicants, or 13%. The source presents these categories as participation measures for the 2026 call.
| EIC Advanced Innovation Challenges measure | 2026 figure |
|---|---|
| Proposals across two topics | 709 |
| Participating countries | 39 |
| Companies | 490 applicants (69%) |
| Higher-education establishments | 124 applicants (17%) |
| Research organisations | 89 applicants (13%) |
The organisation mix matters when interpreting participation. A proposal total describes applications, while the organisation categories describe the applicant population reported for the call. The figures show a strong company presence alongside measurable participation from higher education and research organisations.
EIC Pathfinder Open scale
The EIC Pathfinder Open 2026 call operated at a substantially larger research-community scale than the first EIC Advanced Innovation Challenges call. According to the European Commission’s EIC Pathfinder Open 2026 call continues to attract strong interest from the research community, the call received 2,103 project proposals from 76 countries.
The same source reports more than €8.2 billion in requested grant funding. This is a request total, not an awarded amount. The call’s indicative budget was €166 million, so the reported funding request and the indicative budget describe different sides of the competition: demand from applicants and the funding envelope identified for the call.
Participation can also be counted at beneficiary level. EIC Pathfinder Open 2026 recorded 12,399 beneficiary participations and involved 4,633 unique beneficiary organisations. These measures are distinct. A participation count can include organisations appearing across project activity, whereas a unique-organisation count identifies the number of separate beneficiary organisations reported by the source.
| EIC Pathfinder Open measure | 2026 figure |
|---|---|
| Project proposals | 2,103 |
| Countries | 76 |
| Beneficiary participations | 12,399 |
| Unique beneficiary organisations | 4,633 |
| Requested grant funding | More than €8.2 billion |
| Indicative budget | €166 million |
The geographic measure is also notable: the 76-country reach of Pathfinder Open is broader than the 39-country reach reported for the first EIC Advanced Innovation Challenges call. The two calls have different scopes, so country counts should be read as indicators of each call’s participation footprint rather than as a direct measure of program quality or popularity.
EIC Pathfinder Challenges by topic
The EIC Pathfinder 2023 Challenges call provides a topic-by-topic view of participation. The European Commission’s EIC Pathfinder – 2023 Challenges call statistics reports 371 project proposals, including 2,077 participants from 41 countries. Applicants requested €1.3 billion in grant support.
Proposal volume varied by challenge topic. Responsible Electronics received 116 proposals, Precision Nutrition received 81, Clean and Efficient Cooling received 69, Architecture, Engineering and Construction digitalisation received 66, and In-space Solar Energy Harvesting received 39.
| EIC Pathfinder 2023 Challenges topic | Proposals |
|---|---|
| Responsible Electronics | 116 |
| Precision Nutrition | 81 |
| Clean and Efficient Cooling | 69 |
| Architecture, Engineering and Construction digitalisation | 66 |
| In-space Solar Energy Harvesting | 39 |
The same call had an estimated €163.5 million budget and an average EU grant shown as €3.2 million. The budget is explicitly an estimate in the source, while the average grant is a displayed average. Neither figure should be treated as the amount awarded to every proposal or topic.
The 2023 figures illustrate why a single participation statistic is incomplete. The call can be described by its 371 proposals, its 2,077 participants, its 41-country reach, its topic distribution, or its €1.3 billion in requested support. Each measure answers a different question about involvement.
NASA challenge registrations and submissions
NASA’s challenge portfolio includes programs with very different entry points and participation scales. For LunaRecycle Challenge Phase 1, concluded in 2025, NASA reported more than 1,200 registrations. A panel of 50 judges evaluated nearly 200 submissions, and NASA selected 17 winning teams. The figures are reported in NASA Awards First Prize in Phase 2 of Agency’s LunaRecycle Challenge.
The LunaRecycle figures distinguish registration from submission. More than 1,200 people or entities registered, while nearly 200 submissions reached the evaluation panel. The 17 winning teams are a further, narrower stage of the process. The winning teams represented five countries and nine U.S. states.
NASA’s Exploring Hell Challenge, covering 2019–2020, received 572 submissions from people in more than 80 countries. NASA TechPort’s project record reports 15 awarded entries plus about 25 additional entries with detailed designs or reports. The source’s wording makes the additional count approximate, so it should remain an estimate rather than being presented as an exact total.
Watts on the Moon Phase 1, held in 2021, received 60 total submissions and had 43 eligible submissions. The Watts on the Moon Challenge: Phase 1 submissions and assessment reports that the 60 submissions came from 28 distinct teams. Here again, total submissions and eligible submissions are different measures of the same challenge stage.
| NASA challenge measure | Period | Figure |
|---|---|---|
| LunaRecycle Phase 1 registrations | Concluded 2025 | More than 1,200 |
| LunaRecycle Phase 1 submissions evaluated | Concluded 2025 | Nearly 200 |
| LunaRecycle Phase 1 winning teams | Concluded 2025 | 17 |
| Exploring Hell submissions | 2019–2020 | 572 |
| Watts on the Moon Phase 1 submissions | 2021 | 60 total; 43 eligible |
| Watts on the Moon Phase 1 distinct teams | 2021 | 28 |
These examples show why “participation” should be defined before comparing challenges. Registrations, submissions, eligible submissions, teams, and winners are sequential or related measures, but they are not interchangeable.
NASA team composition and international reach
Watts on the Moon provides a detailed team-composition snapshot. Of the 28 distinct Phase 1 teams in 2021, 24 were industry players, representing about 86% of teams. Three teams came from academia, or about 11%, and one was classified as a citizen inventor, or about 4%. These proportions and counts are reported in the NASA assessment linked above.
The classification describes teams rather than individual participants. It therefore complements, rather than replaces, the submission count: 60 submissions came from 28 teams, and the team categories describe the composition of those teams.
LunaRecycle offers a different geographic measure. Its 17 Phase 1 winning teams represented five countries and nine U.S. states. Exploring Hell reached people in more than 80 countries, while EIC Pathfinder Open 2026 reported participants from 76 countries. These figures use different units and program stages, so they should not be read as a single league table.
The geographical range nonetheless demonstrates several forms of open innovation reach. A challenge may report countries represented by applicants, countries represented by winning teams, or countries where participants are located. Naming the stage and unit keeps the comparison precise: Exploring Hell’s figure concerns submission contributors, while LunaRecycle’s concerns winning teams.
Open innovation programs and community engagement
NASA’s program-level reporting adds activity measures beyond individual challenges. In FY2019–FY2020, NASA recorded 56 public prize competitions and challenges and 29 citizen-science and crowdsourcing activities. The Open Innovation: Boosting NASA Higher, Faster, and Farther report also recorded 2 million citizen-science participants, $2.2 million in open-innovation prizes, more than 11,000 solutions submitted, and 140 citizen scientists named as co-authors on scientific papers.
For October 2020 through September 2022, NASA’s Open Innovation 2023 report recorded 47 public prize competitions and challenges, $2.3 million in prizes, 32 active citizen-science projects, and 103 citizen scientists named as co-authors. The dates matter: these measures cover a defined two-year period rather than a single challenge.
NASA’s Space Apps program demonstrates growth in local-event reach. From its launch in 2012 to 2021, the program grew from 25 local events in 17 countries to more than 250 local events in 87 countries and territories. NASA reported that the 2020 Space Apps Challenge engaged 26,000 people. These figures come from NASA’s 10th Space Apps Challenge Increases Global Participation.
An Austrian ideation campaign provides smaller-scale community measures. In 2024, the Ideation campaign: Your Ideas. Our Future. Austria’s Global Potential! recorded 95 submitted ideas, 1,052 views of submitted ideas, 560 community ratings, and 98 active competition users. Ideas received 189 comments and 600 likes.
Together, these measures cover the participation funnel from ideas and registrations to submissions, ratings, judging, awards, and public recognition. The most meaningful comparison depends on the question: proposal volume measures demand, country counts measure geographic reach, team categories describe contributor mix, and comments, ratings, views, and likes measure community interaction.