Facilitated cooperation for AI in Science (CSA)

The "Facilitated cooperation for AI in Science (CSA)" grant under Horizon Europe is designed to enhance collaboration in artificial intelligence (AI) research across various scientific disciplines. This funding opportunity aims to structure AI-enabled research in Europe and develop a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) that identifies long-term research challenges where AI can drive significant breakthroughs.

Eligible applicants include universities, research institutes, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and public-private partnerships involved in AI and scientific research, provided they are legal entities from EU member states and countries associated with Horizon Europe. The funding type is a grant, specifically a lump sum grant under the HORIZON-AG-LS model, with a total budget of €3 million allocated to a single project.

A consortium is generally required for this Coordination and Support Action, which encourages multi-stakeholder collaboration. The geographic scope includes all EU member states and associated countries. The target sector is AI applications in scientific research, with implications across health, climate, energy, and other scientific fields.

Projects are at the research and development stage, focusing on networking, data access, and resource coordination to facilitate AI integration in science. Applications are submitted through a single-stage open call which is currently accepting submissions until September 23, 2025.

No co-funding is required, although successful projects can expect moderate competition, based on typical success rates for similar grants. The nature of support is monetary, and the application process is straightforward, involving one single-stage submission.

In summary, this grant initiative seeks to advance collaborative efforts to integrate AI into science across Europe, facilitating the development of new paradigms in research and enhancing EU competitiveness in critical scientific domains. Successful proposals will coordinate efforts among researchers and stakeholders, focusing on ethical and methodological advancements in AI research, aimed at improving data access, and fostering synergy with existing initiatives. The aim is to enhance infrastructure, skills, and collaboration in AI, enabling cooperative development and sharing of AI models across scientific fields.

The EU Funding and Tenders Portal provides information on a funding opportunity related to Facilitated cooperation for AI in Science (CSA) under the Horizon Europe Programme, specifically call INDUSTRY (HORIZON-CL4-2025-01) with topic HORIZON-CL4-INDUSTRY-2025-01-DIGITAL-62. This 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 currently open for submission with a single-stage model. The opening date was 22 May 2025, and the deadline for submission is 23 September 2025 at 17:00:00 Brussels time. The topic description outlines the expected outcomes and scope of the projects. Projects are expected to identify long-term research challenges where AI can make a meaningful breakthrough, contributing to the EU’s competitive edge in selected scientific disciplines/areas, through a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA). They should provide evidence to structure resources for AI in Science at the European level, as a feasibility test towards potential R&I initiatives beyond the CSA, optimising access to relevant data, infrastructure, and talent across different scientific domains for more and better AI-enabled research. Projects should also coordinate, strengthen the network, and raise awareness and a community of scientists, including citizen scientists, research organisations, and stakeholders towards new paradigms of research with AI. The scope emphasizes that AI is a game-changer for science and innovation, offering significant opportunities to boost the European competitive edge in R&I. The CSA aims to structure AI-enabled research in Europe and assess options towards optimising the ecosystem for AI in Science in Europe, through a Strategic Research & Innovation Agenda and assessing the potential for possible future R&I initiative(s), in line with the recommendations of the Scientific Advice Mechanism and the European Commission President’s political guidelines, for the setting up of an AI Research Council. The project should develop a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda for AI in Science by mobilising large groups of domain and AI researchers in different fields to identify key long-term research challenges in a diverse range of scientific areas where AI can make a meaningful difference for scientific breakthroughs, which are compelling to the EU competitive, environmental and social policy agenda. The project should come up with pilot areas from across Horizon Europe Pillar II Clusters, building on Europe’s competitive advantages in science and AI technologies. The research challenges should be related to prediction and design problems in the different scientific fields identified that could be solved with AI. The SRIA should also include areas where AI can improve generic scientific tasks e.g virtual research assistant / tools for literature-based discovery, for improving / enabling research workflows, lab automation and collaborative human-AI work in science. Research priority areas involving the use of models based on frugal AI, which are more compact, more efficient and less energy intensive, as well as human-centric and trustworthy AI for scientific work should also be explored. The project should build evidence and assess the needs and potential for R&I initiatives for AI in Science beyond the CSA, in an effort to identify ways to improve the EU landscape for support for AI in Science, to be discussed and agreed upon with the Commission and the Member States. The assessment should identify the ways for improving data access, infrastructure and support services, as well as skills and talent-related needs to boost the integration of AI in different fields of science at larger scale in Europe in research processes and lab automation, while promoting reproducibility, transparency and open science. It should also identify options for EU to better enable cooperative development and sharing of AI models for scientific discovery across different scientific fields. It should also take into account existing EU efforts to support access to data, research infrastructures, networks, HPC. Different scenarios of R&I initiatives and infrastructure improvements should be prototyped together with a diverse range of users and stakeholders from the research community, industry, start-ups, civil society and policy-maker communities. Based on the feasibility test results, the project should develop a roadmap on the needed steps for a more effective coordination between the domain and AI scientific communities in Europe and the needed upgrades in service and infrastructure provision at EU level for the integration of AI in different scientific fields, including research processes engaging citizens and civil society, e.g. Citizen Science. The proposals should also provide coordination and dissemination for interdisciplinary AI-enabled science to facilitate stakeholder engagement, coordination and promotion of AI in Science initiatives across Europe. The CSA should develop a website, organise awareness raising events for the benefits of AI in Science and create opportunities for exchanging on good practices. Projects should build on or seek collaboration with existing projects and develop synergies with other relevant European, national or regional initiatives, funding programmes and platforms, in particular with EU-level initiatives such as EOSC, EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, ESFRI, AI Factories, the EU AI, Data and Robotics Partnership, AI4EOSC the AI on Demand Platform and the GenAI4EU Central Hub. The submission session is now available for various topics under the HORIZON-CL4-INDUSTRY-2025-01 call, including materials, digital, human, and twin transition areas. The general conditions for participation include admissibility conditions, eligible countries, financial and operational capacity, exclusion criteria, evaluation and award processes, and legal and financial setup. Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum. Application and evaluation forms, as well as the model grant agreement, are available in the Submission System. Additional documents such as the Horizon Europe Work Programme, Programme Guide, EU Financial Regulation, and other guidance documents are also provided. The budget overview lists various topics under the HORIZON-CL4-INDUSTRY-2025-01 call, their respective budgets for 2025 and 2027, the type of action (RIA, CSA, IA, COFUND), opening and deadline dates, and the indicative number of grants. There are 26 partner search announcements available for collaboration on this topic. Support resources include an online manual, the Horizon Europe Programme Guide, FAQs, a Research Enquiry Service, National Contact Points, the Enterprise Europe Network, and an IT Helpdesk.

In summary, this is a call for proposals under the Horizon Europe Programme aimed at fostering cooperation in AI for Science. It seeks to identify research challenges, structure resources, and coordinate a network of scientists and stakeholders to promote new research paradigms with AI. The call provides funding opportunities across various areas, including digital, materials, human, and twin transition, with a deadline for submission on September 23, 2025. Applicants are encouraged to collaborate with existing projects and leverage EU-level initiatives. The funding is provided as a lump sum, and detailed guidance and support resources are available to assist applicants throughout the process.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are not explicitly defined in the provided text. However, based on the context of Horizon Europe and the types of actions (Coordination and Support Actions, Research and Innovation Actions, Innovation Actions, and Programme Cofund Actions), eligible applicants are likely to include: research organizations, universities, SMEs, large enterprises, industry stakeholders, start-ups, civil society organizations, and policy-maker communities. The call is geared towards mobilising domain and AI researchers.

Funding Type: The primary funding mechanism is a grant, specifically a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant. There are also HORIZON Programme Cofund Actions.

Consortium Requirement: The text does not explicitly state whether a consortium is required. However, the scope mentions mobilising large groups of domain and AI researchers, prototyping with a diverse range of users and stakeholders, and building synergies with other initiatives, suggesting that a consortium would be beneficial, if not required.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The primary geographic eligibility appears to be focused on EU member states and associated countries, as the aim is to boost the European competitive edge in R&I. However, the text mentions that a number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects.

Target Sector: The program targets the following sectors: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Science, Research and Innovation (R&I), Digital Technologies, Industry, and potentially other sectors covered by Horizon Europe Pillar II Clusters.

Mentioned Countries: No specific countries are mentioned, but the focus is on the European Union and associated countries. The text refers to improving the EU landscape for support for AI in Science and enabling cooperative development and sharing of AI models across different scientific fields within the EU.

Project Stage: The project stage is primarily focused on developing a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA), assessing needs and potential for R&I initiatives, prototyping scenarios, and developing a roadmap. This suggests a focus on research, development, and strategic planning rather than commercialization or scale-up.

Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific topic and type of action. The budget overview lists several topics with funding ranging from €1,000,000 to €45,000,000. For example, HORIZON-CL4-INDUSTRY-2025-01-DIGITAL-62 (HORIZON-CSA) has a budget of €3,000,000, while HORIZON-CL4-INDUSTRY-2025-01-MATERIALS-64 (HORIZON-COFUND) has a budget of €45,000,000. The indicative number of grants also varies, with some topics expecting to fund multiple projects.

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 a lump sum grant.

Application Stages: The application process is a single-stage process.

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly mentioned. However, the indicative number of grants for each topic provides some insight into the potential success rate, which would depend on the number of applications received.

Co-funding Requirement: Co-funding is specifically mentioned for HORIZON-CL4-INDUSTRY-2025-01-MATERIALS-64, which is a HORIZON Programme Cofund Action. For other topics, the need for co-funding is not explicitly stated, but it is common in Horizon Europe projects.

Summary: This Horizon Europe call, specifically under the INDUSTRY (HORIZON-CL4-2025-01) call, aims to boost the European competitive edge in Research and Innovation (R&I) by structuring AI-enabled research. The primary goal is to develop a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) for AI in Science, identifying long-term research challenges and pilot areas where AI can drive scientific breakthroughs. The call encompasses various topics spanning digital technologies, human-centric approaches, materials science, and twin transitions, each with its own budget and expected outcomes. Projects should focus on improving data access, infrastructure, skills, and coordination between domain and AI scientific communities. The funding mechanisms include HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions (CSA), Research and Innovation Actions (RIA), Innovation Actions (IA), and Programme Cofund Actions, with funding amounts varying from 1 million EUR to 45 million EUR. Eligible applicants include research organizations, universities, SMEs, large enterprises, and other stakeholders from EU member states and associated countries, with some provisions for non-EU countries. The application process is a single-stage open call, and successful projects will receive lump sum grants. The call emphasizes collaboration, synergy with existing initiatives, and the development of a roadmap for integrating AI into various scientific fields, including citizen science.