top of page

Call for Projects - 7th Edition | 2026

The INNCYBER Call for Projects is designed to identify, support and reward innovative ideas and cutting-edge solutions in cybersecurity and cyberdefence. By fostering collaboration between multidisciplinary teams, the Call for Projects accelerates the development of scalable solutions with real-world impact in cybersecurity and related technologies.

Who Can Apply?

The call is open to: 

  • Students and recent graduates;

  • Researchers and PhD.

  • STARTUPS.

Why Apply?

Selected projects and startups benefit from:

  • Join the Inncyber Innovation Hub Ecosystem;

  • Recognition and visibility within the cybersecurity ecosystem;

  • Support for innovation and entrepreneurship;

  • Opportunities to scale and validate solutions;

  • Integration into a network focused on cyber and digital innovation.

Register Now:

DEADLINES

Students Category

Registrations Deadline: March 14h, 2026
Follow-up Questionnaire Deadline: April 26th, 2026
Project Submission Deadline: May 30th, 2026

PhD and Researchers Category

Registrations Deadline: March 14h, 2026
Follow-up Questionnaire Deadline: April 26th, 2026
Project Submission Deadline: May 30th, 2026

STARTUPS Category

​​Registrations & Pitch Deck Delivery deadline: April 30th, 2026

AWARD

Students Category

5,500 EUR

(gross amount)

Comprised of: 

 

a monetary amount of

2,000  EUR

1,250 EUR of which will be paid after the creation of a STARTUP in the  Autonomous Region of the Azores, the Autonomous Region of Madeira, or in the Algarve, within 6 months after the date of the Pitch Ceremony

and 

3,000 EUR

 in dedicated mentoring hours from experienced professionals with expertise in business modelling, finance and business development. 

If the winning team develops their project under the supervision of one or more professor/

researcher they will be

awarded

500 EUR

(gross amount)

5,500 EUR

(gross amount)

Comprised of: 

 

a monetary amount of

2,000  EUR

1,250 EUR of which will be paid after the creation of a STARTUP in the  Autonomous Region of the Azores, the Autonomous Region of Madeira, or in the Algarve, within 6 months after the date of the Pitch Ceremony

and 

3,000 EUR

 in dedicated mentoring hours from experienced professionals with expertise in business modelling, finance and business development. 

If the winning team develops their project under the supervision of one or more professor/

researcher they will be

awarded

500 EUR

(gross amount)

1st PRIZE

3,250 EUR

(gross amount)

Comprised of: 

 

a monetary amount of

1,250  EUR

750 EUR of which will be paid after the creation of a STARTUP in the Autonomous Region of the Azores, the Autonomous Region of Madeira, or in the Algarve, within 6 months after the date of the Pitch Ceremony

and 

1,750 EUR

 in dedicated mentoring hours from experienced professionals with expertise in business modelling, finance and business development.

If the team develops their project under the supervision of one or more professor/

researcher they will be

awarded

250 EUR

(gross amount)

3,250 EUR

(gross amount)

Comprised of: 

 

a monetary amount of

1,250  EUR

750 EUR of which will be paid after the creation of a STARTUP in the Autonomous Region of the Azores, the Autonomous Region of Madeira, or in the Algarve, within 6 months after the date of the Pitch Ceremony

and 

1,750 EUR

 in dedicated mentoring hours from experienced professionals with expertise in business modelling, finance and business development.

If the team develops their project under the supervision of one or more professor/

researcher they will be

awarded

250 EUR

(gross amount)

2nd PRIZE

1,850 EUR

(gross amount)

Comprised of: 

 

a monetary amount of

600  EUR

400 EUR of which will be paid after the creation of a STARTUP in the Autonomous Region of the Azores, the Autonomous Region of Madeira, or in the Algarve, 6 months after the date of the Pitch Ceremony

and 

1,000 EUR

in dedicated mentoring hours from experienced professionals with expertise in business modelling, finance and business development. 

If the team develops their project under the supervision of one or more professor/

researcher they will be

awarded

250 EUR

(gross amount)

1,850 EUR

(gross amount)

Comprised of: 

 

a monetary amount of

600  EUR

400 EUR of which will be paid after the creation of a STARTUP in the Autonomous Region of the Azores, the Autonomous Region of Madeira, or in the Algarve, 6 months after the date of the Pitch Ceremony

and 

1,000 EUR

in dedicated mentoring hours from experienced professionals with expertise in business modelling, finance and business development. 

If the team develops their project under the supervision of one or more professor/

researcher they will be

awarded

250 EUR

(gross amount)

3rd PRIZE

Doctorates and Researcher’s Category

4,750 EUR

(gross amount)

Comprised of: 

 

a monetary amount of

1,750 EUR

1,250 EUR of which will be paid after the creation of a STARTUP in the Autonomous Region of the Azores, the Autonomous Region of Madeira, or in the Algarve, within 6 months after the date of the Pitch Ceremony

and 

3,000 EUR

 in dedicated mentoring hours from experienced professionals with expertise in business modelling, finance and business development. 

4,750 EUR

(gross amount)

Comprised of: 

 

a monetary amount of

1,750 EUR

1,250 EUR of which will be paid after the creation of a STARTUP in the Autonomous Region of the Azores, the Autonomous Region of Madeira, or in the Algarve, within 6 months after the date of the Pitch Ceremony

and 

3,000 EUR

 in dedicated mentoring hours from experienced professionals with expertise in business modelling, finance and business development. 

1st PRIZE

2,850 EUR

(gross amount)

Comprised of: 

 

a monetary amount of

1,100  EUR

750 EUR of which will be paid after the creation of a STARTUP in the Autonomous Region of the Azores, the Autonomous Region of Madeira, or in the Algarve, within 6 months after the date of the Pitch Ceremony

and 

1,750 EUR

 in dedicated mentoring hours from experienced professionals with expertise in business modelling, finance and business development. 

2,850 EUR

(gross amount)

Comprised of: 

 

a monetary amount of

1,100  EUR

750 EUR of which will be paid after the creation of a STARTUP in the Autonomous Region of the Azores, the Autonomous Region of Madeira, or in the Algarve, within 6 months after the date of the Pitch Ceremony

and 

1,750 EUR

 in dedicated mentoring hours from experienced professionals with expertise in business modelling, finance and business development. 

2nd PRIZE

1,600 EUR

(gross amount)

Comprised of: 

 

a monetary amount of

600  EUR

400 EUR of which will be paid after the creation of a STARTUP in the Autonomous Region of the Azores, the Autonomous Region of Madeira, or in the Algarve, within 6 months after the date of the Pitch Ceremony

and 

1,000 EUR

 in dedicated mentoring hours from experienced professionals with expertise in business modelling, finance and business development. 

1,600 EUR

(gross amount)

Comprised of: 

 

a monetary amount of

600  EUR

400 EUR of which will be paid after the creation of a STARTUP in the Autonomous Region of the Azores, the Autonomous Region of Madeira, or in the Algarve, within 6 months after the date of the Pitch Ceremony

and 

1,000 EUR

 in dedicated mentoring hours from experienced professionals with expertise in business modelling, finance and business development. 

3rd PRIZE

STARTUPS Category

6,750 EUR

(gross amount)

Comprised of: 

a monetary amount of

2,250 EUR

1,250 EUR of which will be paid after the change of the company’s headquarters to the Autonomous Region of the Azores, the Autonomous Region of Madeira, or in the Algarve, within 6 months after the date of the Pitch Ceremony

and 

4,500 EUR

 in dedicated mentoring hours from experienced professionals with expertise in business modelling, finance and business development.

6,750 EUR

(gross amount)

Comprised of: 

a monetary amount of

2,250 EUR

1,250 EUR of which will be paid after the change of the company’s headquarters to the Autonomous Region of the Azores, the Autonomous Region of Madeira, or in the Algarve, within 6 months after the date of the Pitch Ceremony

and 

4,500 EUR

 in dedicated mentoring hours from experienced professionals with expertise in business modelling, finance and business development.

1st PRIZE

4,500 EUR

(gross amount)

Comprised of: 

 

a monetary amount of

1,500 EUR

1,000 EUR of which will be paid after the change of the company’s headquarters to the Autonomous Region of the Azores, the Autonomous Region of Madeira, or in the Algarve, within 6 months after the date of the Pitch Ceremony

and 

3,000 EUR

 in dedicated mentoring hours from experienced professionals with expertise in business modelling, finance and business development.

4,500 EUR

(gross amount)

Comprised of: 

 

a monetary amount of

1,500 EUR

1,000 EUR of which will be paid after the change of the company’s headquarters to the Autonomous Region of the Azores, the Autonomous Region of Madeira, or in the Algarve, within 6 months after the date of the Pitch Ceremony

and 

3,000 EUR

 in dedicated mentoring hours from experienced professionals with expertise in business modelling, finance and business development.

2nd PRIZE

2,450 EUR

(gross amount)

Comprised of: 

 

a monetary amount of

950 EUR

750 EUR of which will be paid after the change of the company’s headquarters to the Autonomous Region of the Azores, the Autonomous Region of Madeira, or in the Algarve, within 6 months after the date of the Pitch Ceremony

and 

1,500 EUR

 in dedicated mentoring hours from experienced professionals with expertise in business modelling, finance and business development.

2,450 EUR

(gross amount)

Comprised of: 

 

a monetary amount of

950 EUR

750 EUR of which will be paid after the change of the company’s headquarters to the Autonomous Region of the Azores, the Autonomous Region of Madeira, or in the Algarve, within 6 months after the date of the Pitch Ceremony

and 

1,500 EUR

 in dedicated mentoring hours from experienced professionals with expertise in business modelling, finance and business development.

3rd PRIZE

Topics of the projects

INNCYBER - Call for Projects - 5th Edition aims to promote the development of innovative projects with national and international impact, leveraging the capacity for innovation in cybersecurity and cyberdefence areas. The projects to be developed should focus on strategic areas of Cybersecurity and Cyberdefence, namely:

a) Security Automation:

- Mechanisms for testing vulnerabilities in implementations using Security-by-Design

b) Threat Modeling applied to IoT:

- Security mechanisms applicable to IoT communication, in terms of data protection

 

c) Threat Modeling applied to Networks:

- Identification of vulnerability testing mechanisms applied in 5G private network scenarios, based on OPEN-RAN and Edge Computing approaches

​d) Submarine Cable Protection

 

e) Cognitive Cybersecurity System for the Defense of Human-Artificial Intelligence (AI) Interaction

 

f) Emotional Cybersecurity Monitoring for Smart Environments

 

g) AI-Guided Deception Platform

 

h) Air Operations and Maintenance Actions Management Platform with Augmented Reality (AR)

 

i) Autonomous Drone Program for Surveillance and Rescue in Remote Areas

 

j) Air Combat Simulation Laboratory with Generative AI

​​

k) Critical Infrastructures and essential services protection;

l) Security and vulnerabilities in the 5G World;

m) Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning applied to cybersecurity;

n) Cloud Security;

o) Security-by-Design (SbD);

p) Cybersecurity Certification;

q) Cybersecurity Risk Management and Identification;​

r) New strategies to address social engineering attacks;

​​

s) Ethics & Human Element of Cybersecurity – bridging the gap between machines usage in cybersecurity and the human decision-maker;

​​​

t) Cyber Hygiene and GDPR: Training program for the dissemination of good practices among users;

​​

u) Cybersecurity risks, awareness (marketing/communication plan);

​​

v) Microeconomics applied to cybersecurity;

Requirements

Students category 

 Projects developed by Undergraduate, Postgraduate or Master students from national and international Universities/Institutes and Military Schools/Academies

Candidates who have completed their bachelor, postgraduate or master’s degree in the academic years 2022/2023 or 2023/2024 can also apply

  • Candidates must form a group composed by a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 5 students of Graduation, Post-graduation or Master at universities or Institutes

  • Invite one or more coordinating professors (recommended).

  • ​Candidates who have completed their bachelor, postgraduate or master’s degree in the academic years of 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 can also apply;

Doctorates and researcher’s category

 Projects developed by doctorates, doctorate students or researchers

The requirements to participate in Doctorates and Researchers category are:

  • Have a PhD/Doctorate degree; or

  • Attend in the present academic year (2024/2025) a PhD/Doctorate program; or

  • Be a researcher in a University, Institute or Research Center;

STARTUPS category

 STARTUPS that are developing innovative solutions with high potential of growth / internationalization

Candidates must have a Startup already formed:

  • Startups at different levels of development / TRL can apply to INNCYBER - Call for Projects if they focus on the cybersecurity or cyberdefence areas;

  • Early stages startups are accepted but they need to have a clear market orientation and the vision to have a commercial product/service in a maximum time frame of 2 or 3 years.

Relevant phases

Call for Projects phases_edited.png
bottom of page