Between May 2025 and May 2026 fifteen Pilot and Demonstration Infrastructures (PDIs), all part of the “Pilots4U powered by COPILOT” scale-up community, are opening their doors for a Study Visit and Workshop, open to any bioeconomy stakeholder and part of the COPILOT/PILOTS4U “Scale-Up & Growth” Programme. The PDIs are located across Europe and active in a variety of technology areas relevant for the bioeconomy.

To facilitate bioeconomy innovators and enablers in attending these events, COPILOT opens OPEN CALL 3, with the aim to issue travel vouchers (€500 each). With these vouchers, the COPILOT project will encourage access to and a better knowledge and understanding about the purpose and work of pilot and demonstration infrastructures, as well as access to a vibrant bio-economy community, networking and matchmaking. Simultaneously, the vouchers will foster collaboration, expand horizons and support scale-up endeavours for the bioeconomy in Europe.

Open Call 3 (OC3) will allow bioeconomy innovators and enablers to apply for a €500 Travel Voucher to attend the study visit and workshop of their choice.

Submission Deadlines: 

• OC3 – Part 1: Opens on 10 March 2025 and closes on 8 May 2025 (5 pm CET), travel voucher application for study visits in 2025.
• OC3 – Part 2: Opens on 15 September 2025 and closes on 13 November 2025 (5 pm CET), travel voucher application for study visits taking place in 2026.

Study Visits organised in 2025:

Travel voucher application opens on 10 March 2025 and closes on 8 May 2025 at 5 pm CET.
* travel vouchers available for this study visit
*** no travel vouchers available for this study visit

• 20 May 2025: Biosphere, Italy***
• 6 June 2025: NIZO, The Netherlands*
• 2 September 2025: Acies Bio, Slovenia*
• 16 September 2025: BEST – Bioenergy and Sustainable Technologies, Austria*
• 14 October 2025: LIST – Luxemburg Institute of Science and Technology, Luxembourg*
• 16 October 2025: A4F-ALGAFUEL, Portugal*
• 5 November 2025: IBioIC – Bioprocessing Scale-up Centre, Scotland*
• 26 November 2025: Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant, Belgium***; study visit follows the Pitch Perfect and Boost the European Bioeconomy 2025 event in Brussels on 24/25 November 2025.

Study Visits organised in 2026:

Travel voucher application opens on 15 September 2025 and closes on 13 November 2025 at 5 pm CET.
* travel vouchers available for this study visit
*** no travel vouchers available for this study visit

• 4 February 2026: FHNW – University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland***
• February/March 2026: BIO2CHP, Greece* (study visit will be linked to a tbd bigger bioeconomy event in Greece)
• March 2026: ARD – Agro Industrie Recherches et Développements, France*
• 19 March 2026: DTI – Danish Technological Institute, Denmark*
• 14 April 2026: VTT Bioruukki Pilot Centre, Finland***
• April/May 2026: Food Pilot (ILVO), Belgium***

Who can apply? 

• Bioeconomy innovators: to be start-ups, start-ups, spin-offs, scale-ups and SMEs  
• Enablers in the bioeconomy domain:  Investors, Research and technology organisations, Incubators, Cluster representatives, Representatives of relevant public authorities / policy-makers responsible for bio-economy sector and research and innovation in an eligible Horizon Europe country, Corporates. 

To be eligible for a travel voucher, the organisation of the applicant needs to be located at least 300 km away from the location of the pilot or demo infrastructure organising the study visit that the applicant would like to attend.

Selected applicants receive:

Each selected applicant will receive 500 EUR per voucher to cover the respective mandatory actions and additional activities set up in the application. 

In return, COPILOT expects the following mandatory tasks to be completed:

📝 Submission Conditions

To apply for the travel voucher, applicants must:

1. Download and thoroughly read all Open Call Documents, with particular attention to Annex 1: Guidelines for Applicants.

2. Complete the application form, selecting one study visit from the provided list.

3. Ensure all required information is included before submission.

4. Submit the application during the designated application periods.​

Note: Only one application per applicant (legal entity or natural person) is permitted. In cases of multiple submissions, only the latest application received will be considered for evaluation.