FAQ

EU’s five mission under the Horizon Europe program are: adaptation to climate change, cancer prevention and care, restore our ocean and water, 100 climate-neutral and smart cities, and a soil deal for Europe.

EU TalentOn will be held on 7-11 September, 2026.

EU TalentOn 2026 will take place in different venues in the city center of Brest, France.

If you want to be notified when applications opens, click on “Get involved” button, and we will notify you.

All applications will go through 3 stages of evaluation: Administrative review; Peer evaluation; Expert evaluation. The chosen participants (that received highest expert scores) will be divided into teams of 4 or 5 and they will compete during the finals in Brest.

The list of maximum 125 participants will consist of applications with the highest total expert scores. The final number of participants will be selected based on the number of applications within each Mission Arena. Care will be taken to ensure a similar number of teams for each Mission Arena.

This year’s competition is organised by the Technopôle Brest-Iroise.

You can contact the organisers via the email address: contact@eutalentonbrest2026.eu or via the Contact form.

All students, PhD candidates, and young researchers, Post Doc from all across Europe between the ages of 21 and 35 are eligible to participate in the competition. All disciplines of academia are accepted.

To participate, you will need to register when the call for applications is launched in March 2026. To be notified when applications are open, click on the « Get Involved » button.

Once the candidates have been selected for each Mission Arena, they will be divided into groups of 4 or 5 participants. So, each team will consist of minimum 4 participants.

The EU TalentOn Finals will be held in France, in Brest on 7-11 September. The main purpose of the finals is to give you time to develop your ideas into a proposal that will be presented to the jury later. You will take on challenges linked to the 5 EU Missions of Horizon Europe: Adaptation to Climate Change, Cancer, Restore our Ocean and Water, 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities, and A Soil Deal for Europe. These become 5 Mission Arenas of EU TalentOn.

During the finals, you will also be given the opportunity to participate in additional lectures and workshops to help with your work as well as several social events. However, a significant portion of time will be reserved for unsupervised group work in a specially prepared open space.

No, if you are selected for the EU TalentOn, you must physically take part in the competition in Brest.

The competition has a pool prize of 80,000 euros.

Per Mission Arena, a First Prize of 8,000 euros and a Second Prize of 5,000 euros will be handed out. In addition, a Grand Prize will also be awarded to the team with the best ideas. It will be handed to the best of the 5 first-prize winners. The Grand Prize is 12,000 euros. It is also planned to award one team with an Audience Prize of 3,000 euros. Teams can spend the prizes as they want, but are encouraged to continue to work together as a team.

No, you won’t have to pay for anything! As the organisers, we pay for your transport to Brest, accommodation, and meals on-site for the whole stay.

As the organisers we take care of the participants flights from and to the airport selected in the registration form and transfers to and from the hotel.

You will find the main steps to follow to apply for a visa on the following website: https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/coming-to-france/requesting-a-visa/

If you need a visa to come to France:

• The participant must complete the registration information online;
• Participant requests an invitation from the organizer after registration is complete and candidat is selected;
• The organiser issues an invitation;
• The participant meets all the required conditions and submits an application to the embassy or consulate responsible for visas.

NOTE: The participant is fully responsible for arranging the visa in a timely manner and providing all required documents to obtain the visa.
The organisers are not responsible if the participant does not obtain the visa on time.

You will receive a document with all the necessary information before your arrival.

Yes, all participants must be covered by an insurance for the period of the event. Insurance is not provided by organisers.

September in Brest is early autumn, with mild and changeable weather. Daytime temperatures usually range from +11°C to +18°C, while evenings can be cooler, around +7°C to +12°C. Rain showers are common, so we recommend bringing a light jacket, umbrella, and comfortable shoes. For the most up-to-date forecast, check the French Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre :
https://www.meteofrance.com