Cooperation on innovative advanced materials with Japan (CSA)

The Horizon Europe call known as HORIZON-CL4 pertains to innovative advanced materials cooperation between European and Japanese institutions. This initiative aims to enhance research collaboration by enabling European researchers from Member States and Associated Countries to visit Japan for research activities in the area of advanced materials, which cover applications in mobility, energy, construction, electronics, and medical devices. Eligible applicants include research organizations, universities, and research institutes from EU Member States and Associated Countries. The funding type is a lump sum grant designed specifically for Coordination and Support Actions (CSA), facilitating travel grants for researcher mobility. The total budget for this initiative is €800,000, with one expected grant anticipated to be awarded, indicating a very low success rate of below 10%. The application process follows a single-stage procedure with an opening date of January 6, 2026, and a deadline of April 21, 2026, at 17:00 Brussels time. The initiative focuses on fostering international collaboration, supporting researchers in making visits to Japanese institutions for periods of up to one month. Co-funding is not required, simplifying the financial management of the grants, which will be administered by coordinating organizations that can demonstrate sufficient operational and financial capacity. The primary goal of the call is to leverage Japan's advanced materials research capabilities to strengthen existing collaborations or initiate new partnerships within the framework of ongoing European research activities. Overall, this call represents a targeted opportunity for enhancing EU-Japan research cooperation in critical areas, reflecting the importance of advanced materials for industrial competitiveness and strategic autonomy.

This is a Horizon Europe call, specifically HORIZON-CL4, which falls under the INDUSTRY (HORIZON-CL4-2026-01) call. It is a HORIZON Coordination and Support Action (HORIZON-CSA) with a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS] type of Model Grant Agreement (MGA). The call is forthcoming with a single-stage deadline model. The planned opening date is 06 January 2026, and the deadline date is 21 April 2026, 17:00:00 Brussels time.

The expected outcome is strengthened cooperation with Japan in the field of innovative advanced materials.

The scope of this call is to enable European researchers in innovative advanced materials from Member States and Associated Countries to make research visits to related Japanese institutions. Proposals should aim to provide travel grants strengthening collaboration in relevant ongoing research activities in Europe on the topic of advanced materials with applications to either mobility, energy, construction, electronics or medical devices. Proposals should ensure a wide geographical coverage of the grants in Member States and Associated Countries. They should aim at visits to research groups at Japanese organisations with complementary activities for up to one month duration. Such travel grants should build on collaborations with Japanese organisations that are willing to receive such visits. Proposals can either support the initiation of new collaborations or existing collaborations.

The general conditions include:

1. Admissibility Conditions:Proposal page limit and layout described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes and Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.

2. Eligible Countries described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific provisions exist for non-EU/non-Associated Countries, detailed in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

3. Other Eligible Conditions described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.

4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.

5. Evaluation and award:

a. Award criteria, scoring, and thresholds are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.

b. Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.

c. Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.

6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants:The granting authority may object to a transfer of ownership or exclusive licensing of results up to 4 years after the action's end, as per Annex 5. Eligible costs will be in the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021.

Specific conditions are described in the specific topic of the Work Programme.

Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA) information:

* Application form templates are available in the Submission System, with a standard application form (HE CSA).

* Evaluation form templates will be used with necessary adaptations, including a standard evaluation form (HE CSA).

* Guidance is provided in the HE Programme Guide.

* Model Grant Agreements (MGA) include Lump Sum MGA, Operating Grants MGA, and Framework Partnership Agreement FPA.

* Call-specific instructions, a detailed budget table (HE LS), information on financial support to third parties (HE), information on clinical studies (HE), and guidance on lump sums are available.

Additional documents include:

* HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction

* HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 7. Digital, Industry and Space

* HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 14. Horizontal Activities

* HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 15. General Annexes

* HE Programme Guide

* HE Framework Programme 2021/695

* HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764

* EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509

* Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme

* Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment

* EU Grants AGA Annotated Model Grant Agreement

* Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual

* Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions

* Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement

The budget overview includes various HORIZON Innovation Actions (HORIZON-IA) and Research and Innovation Actions (HORIZON-RIA), as well as Coordination and Support Actions (HORIZON-CSA), with opening dates on 2026-01-06 and deadlines on 2026-04-21. Contributions and indicative numbers of grants vary across the different actions.

There are partner search announcements available, and LEARs, Account Administrators, and self-registrants can publish partner requests. The submission system is planned to open on the date stated in the topic header.

Support is available through the Online Manual, Horizon Europe Programme Guide, Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ, Research Enquiry Service, National Contact Points (NCPs), Enterprise Europe Network, IT Helpdesk, European IPR Helpdesk, CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk, ETSI Research Helpdesk, the European Charter for Researchers, and Partner Search.

In summary, this Horizon Europe call aims to strengthen cooperation between European and Japanese researchers in the field of advanced materials. It provides travel grants for European researchers to visit Japanese institutions, fostering collaboration in research activities related to mobility, energy, construction, electronics, or medical devices. The call encourages wide geographical coverage and supports both new and existing collaborations. The funding is provided as a lump sum, and detailed guidance and support are available through various resources. The call is a Coordination and Support Action (CSA), meaning it focuses on coordinating research efforts and providing support rather than directly funding research activities.

Eligible Applicant Types:The eligible applicant types are European researchers in innovative advanced materials from Member States and Associated Countries.

Funding Type:The funding type is a grant, specifically travel grants. Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum.

Consortium Requirement:The opportunity appears to be geared towards single applicants, as it focuses on enabling individual European researchers to make research visits. However, the proposals themselves may be submitted by institutions or organizations on behalf of their researchers.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility):The geographic eligibility includes Member States and Associated Countries of the European Union.

Target Sector:The target sector is advanced materials, with applications to mobility, energy, construction, electronics, and medical devices.

Mentioned Countries:Japan, EU member states, and associated countries.

Project Stage:The project stage targets ongoing research activities in Europe. The travel grants aim to strengthen existing or initiate new collaborations.

Funding Amount:The funding amount is variable, taking the form of travel grants. The budget overview section lists multiple topics with varying budgets and indicative grant amounts. For the specific topic HORIZON-CL4, the budget is €800,000 with a contribution of around €800,000 and an indicative number of 1 grant. Other topics listed have contributions ranging from around €800,000 to around €13,000,000.

Application Type:The application type is an open call, with a single-stage submission process.

Nature of Support:The beneficiaries will receive money in the form of travel grants.

Application Stages:The application process involves a single stage.

Success Rates:The success rates are not explicitly mentioned, but the indicative number of grants for each topic provides some insight into the potential success rate. For HORIZON-CL4, the indicative number of grants is 1.

Co-funding Requirement:The need for co-funding is not explicitly stated.

Summary:

This Horizon Europe call, specifically topic HORIZON-CL4, aims to strengthen cooperation between European and Japanese industries in the field of innovative advanced materials. It falls under the INDUSTRY call of the Horizon Europe program. The European Commission and the Japanese Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation Policy launched the EU-Japan Enhanced Dialogue on Advanced Materials in April 2024, building on previous successful collaborations in research and innovation. The goal is to create a platform for sharing policy information and exploring collaborative research opportunities.

The call provides travel grants to European researchers from EU Member States and Associated Countries, enabling them to visit Japanese institutions and research groups. These visits should enhance ongoing research activities in Europe related to advanced materials, particularly those with applications in mobility, energy, construction, electronics, or medical devices. The grants support visits of up to one month to Japanese organizations with complementary activities, fostering new or existing collaborations.

The funding is provided as a lump sum, and the call follows a single-stage submission process. The indicative budget for the HORIZON-CL4 topic is €800,000, with one grant expected to be awarded. The call opens on January 6, 2026, and the deadline for submissions is April 21, 2026, at 17:00 Brussels time.

The call seeks to strengthen cooperation with Japan in innovative advanced materials, enabling European researchers to visit Japanese institutions through travel grants. It targets ongoing research activities in Europe with applications in mobility, energy, construction, electronics, or medical devices. The call is a single-stage submission process with funding provided as a lump sum.