EU Digital Twin Ocean: Contribution to the EU DTO core infrastructure through applications for sustainable ocean management

The EU Digital Twin Ocean (DTO) grant opportunity is part of Horizon Europe's Mission "Restore our Ocean and Waters," targeting the development of applications for sustainable ocean management through digital innovation. It provides funding primarily through grants, specifically under the HORIZON Innovation Action (HORIZON-IA) framework. The total budget for the call, HORIZON-MISS-2025-03-OCEAN-08, is €12 million, with around €6 million available per project. Eligible applicants include universities, research institutes, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), large corporations, public-private partnerships, and potential non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The initiative encourages multi-partner collaborations or consortia, enhancing cooperation across different sectors such as academia, industry, and policy-making.

Projects funded under this grant must focus on environmental sustainability, ocean health, and digital technologies, including artificial intelligence and data modeling. They should target real-time ocean management and monitoring, pollution reduction, and ecosystem restoration. Geographically, the initiative is centered on EU member states and associated countries, emphasizing the four major EU sea basins: Atlantic-Arctic, Baltic-North Sea, Mediterranean, and Danube-Black Sea regions.

The application process is a single-stage submission, with a deadline set for September 24, 2025. The funding will support the development, validation, and demonstration of applications building on existing data from earlier projects, aiming for Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) of 4-7. Projects need to demonstrate usability and effectiveness across different geographical scales and in at least three distinct sea basins.

While success rates are not explicitly stated, they may typically range from 10% to 39% depending on the competition for specific calls. Co-funding may be expected, although it is not mandated. Proposals should be co-created with stakeholders, ensuring that real-world needs are integrated and that the applications contribute to actionable solutions for sustainable marine practices.

The overarching goal of this grant is to develop user-driven digital twin ocean applications that facilitate better decision-making for marine authorities, industry stakeholders, and civil society, ultimately enhancing the management and preservation of oceanic resources. The initiative is aligned with broader EU objectives for sustainability and the Green Deal, promoting open data and cooperation with European research infrastructures.

This is a summary of a Horizon Europe grant opportunity focused on developing Digital Twin Ocean (DTO) applications. The goal is to enhance the European Digital Twin of the Ocean core infrastructure (EDITO) by creating user-driven applications that address policy implementation and sustainable marine business operations.

The EDITO platform consolidates European marine knowledge, bringing together marine observation and data, a variety of ocean models, digital applications, tools, and advanced computing capabilities. It aims to create virtual representations of marine and coastal systems to simulate their complex nature and test their evolution under different scenarios.

The funding opportunity, HORIZON-MISS-2025-03-OCEAN-08, is a HORIZON Innovation Action (HORIZON-IA) with a budget of 12,000,000 EUR for the year 2025. It is a single-stage submission process, opening on May 7, 2025, and closing on September 24, 2025. The indicative number of grants is 2, with contributions around 6,000,000 EUR per grant.

The expected outcomes of the projects funded under this topic include:

Digital Twin Ocean applications co-designed with stakeholder engagement.
Improved FAIR dataflows and best practices across the data value chain.
Increased availability of models and related best practices on the EDITO infrastructure.
Improved data assimilation processes and interconnections between models.
Improved and increased amount of digital twin intermediate and final open services developed into EDITO.

Proposals should target at least two new DTO domain applications addressing either policy/regulatory implementation or sustainable marine/maritime business operations. These applications should demonstrate usability at different geographical scales and be verified through use cases implemented in at least 3 different sea basins, covering all 4 EU sea basins (Atlantic/Arctic, Baltic/North Sea, Mediterranean, and Danube/Black Sea).

The proposals should consider the whole knowledge value chain, involving relevant actors including implementing authorities. Co-creation with stakeholders is essential, ensuring their needs are incorporated and promoting common understanding. Proposals should address data needs, model development, interactive visualization tools, and quality assurance processes.

Cooperation with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) is encouraged. Proposals should favor open data, open source models, and algorithms with open-source licensing, developing applications directly into the EDITO infrastructure. They should leverage data and services from EMODnet, the European Open Science Cloud, relevant Data Spaces, and demonstrate links to Copernicus Marine and Member State Coastal Systems (MSCS). Consideration of data, expertise, and services from European research infrastructures is also encouraged. Proposals are expected to build on the outcomes of EDITO-Infra and EDITO-Model Lab.

Specific aspects should be followed for applications relating to the implementation of EU legislation, such as the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), Maritime Spatial Planning Directive (MSPD), and Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).

The general conditions for this grant include admissibility conditions, eligible countries, other eligible conditions, financial and operational capacity, exclusion criteria, evaluation and award processes, and legal and financial setup. Beneficiaries are subject to additional obligations regarding open science practices, including making in-situ data and marine observations openly available through EMODnet.

The grant is linked to the action HORIZON-MISS-2024-OCEAN-IBA-01 EU Public Infrastructure for the European Digital Twin Ocean, phase 2.

Application forms, evaluation forms, model grant agreements, and additional documents are available on the Funding & Tenders Portal.

In summary, this funding opportunity aims to develop and implement digital twins of the ocean to support sustainable ocean management and policy implementation. It emphasizes collaboration, open data, and the use of advanced technologies to create user-driven applications that can improve decision-making and communication related to complex oceanic phenomena.

Eligible Applicant Types: The opportunity is open to a wide range of applicants, including scientists, business operators, regulatory authorities, policy makers, civil society, local and regional authorities, and businesses. The call emphasizes a multi-actor approach, encouraging the involvement of implementing authorities at national and/or regional levels.

Funding Type: The funding primarily consists of grants, specifically HORIZON Innovation Actions (HORIZON-IA) and HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions (HORIZON-RIA), as well as HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions (HORIZON-CSA). The grants are budget-based (HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG]).

Consortium Requirement: The opportunity encourages a multi-actor approach, implying that a consortium is preferred, although the specific requirements for consortium composition are not explicitly detailed. The emphasis on co-creation with stakeholders suggests that a consortium including diverse expertise is highly desirable.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility extends to EU member states and associated countries, with specific provisions for non-EU/non-associated countries that have made funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. The project requires demonstration of use cases in at least three different sea basins, covering the four EU sea basins: Atlantic and Arctic Sea, Baltic and North Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and Danube River and Black Sea.

Target Sector: The program targets the marine and maritime sectors, focusing on the development and implementation of Digital Twin Ocean (DTO) applications. Specific areas include ocean and coastal management, marine and maritime business operations (aquaculture, fisheries, sustainable tourism), policy and regulatory implementation, climate change adaptation and mitigation, pollution monitoring and reduction, and sustainable growth in marine industries. The program also touches on ICT, space (through Copernicus and Galileo/EGNOS), artificial intelligence, and virtual reality.

Mentioned Countries: No specific countries are mentioned, but the focus is on the four EU sea basins: Atlantic and Arctic Sea basin, Baltic and North Sea, Mediterranean Sea basin, and Danube River basin and Black Sea. Eligibility extends to EU member states and associated countries, as well as non-EU/non-associated countries with specific funding provisions.

Project Stage: The project stage targets development, validation, and demonstration, with an emphasis on creating usable applications and actionable information for policy, industry, and civil society. The projects are expected to build on existing outcomes from EDITO-Infra and EDITO-Model Lab, indicating a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 4-7.

Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific topic within the call:
HORIZON-MISS-2025-03-OCEAN-01: EUR 5,000,000 (Contributions: EUR 4,000,000 to EUR 5,000,000)
HORIZON-MISS-2025-03-OCEAN-02: EUR 22,000,000 (Contributions: EUR 4,500,000 to EUR 5,500,000)
HORIZON-MISS-2025-03-OCEAN-03: EUR 23,300,000 (Contributions: EUR 5,000,000 to EUR 5,825,000)
HORIZON-MISS-2025-03-OCEAN-04: EUR 15,000,000 (Contributions: around EUR 15,000,000)
HORIZON-MISS-2025-03-OCEAN-05: EUR 15,000,000 (Contributions: around EUR 15,000,000)
HORIZON-MISS-2025-03-OCEAN-06: EUR 13,500,000 (Contributions: around EUR 13,500,000)
HORIZON-MISS-2025-03-OCEAN-07: EUR 14,200,000 (Contributions: EUR 3,000,000 to EUR 3,550,000)
HORIZON-MISS-2025-03-OCEAN-08: EUR 12,000,000 (Contributions: around EUR 6,000,000)

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

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of grants to support their projects. The grants are intended to cover the costs of research, development, and implementation of digital twin ocean applications.

Application Stages: The application process is a single-stage process, meaning applicants submit a full proposal at once.

Success Rates: The indicative number of grants varies by topic, suggesting different levels of competition. For example, some topics indicate one grant will be awarded, while others indicate four. The success rates can be inferred from the budget and the number of grants, but are not explicitly stated.

Co-funding Requirement: The information does not explicitly state whether co-funding is required. However, Horizon Europe typically funds a significant portion of project costs, implying that some level of resources from the applicant or other parties might be expected.

This opportunity focuses on developing and enhancing the European Digital Twin of the Ocean (EDITO) core infrastructure by creating user-driven digital twin ocean applications. These applications should address either policy/regulatory implementation or sustainable marine/maritime business operations. The goal is to transform marine knowledge into actionable information for policy, industry, and civil society. Projects must demonstrate usability across different geographical scales and in at least three of the four EU sea basins (Atlantic/Arctic, Baltic/North Sea, Mediterranean, Danube/Black Sea). The call emphasizes co-creation with stakeholders, open data, and leveraging existing data and services like EMODnet, the European Open Science Cloud, and Copernicus Marine. Proposals should build on previous EDITO outcomes and contribute to the enrichment of marine models. The funding is provided through Horizon Europe Innovation Actions (IA) and Research and Innovation Actions (RIA), supporting a wide range of activities from research to deployment of innovative solutions.