Innovative Advanced Materials Innovation Procurement (CSA)

The Innovative Advanced Materials Innovation Procurement grant falls under Horizon Europe as a Coordination and Support Action (CSA) aimed at leveraging public procurement to stimulate innovation in advanced materials. This grant primarily targets public procurers who must form a Europe-wide consortium. While other stakeholders can participate, the main focus is on public sector organizations involved in procurement.

The grant provides funding in the form of a lump-sum grant with a typical budget range estimated between €1 million and €5 million depending on the scope of the consortium. The specific grant topic for 2025 has an indicative budget of €2 million with only one grant expected to be awarded.

This single-stage open call has a submission window opening on May 22, 2025, and a deadline of September 23, 2025. The grant supports activities aimed at preparing future procurement topics for Pre-Commercial Procurements (PCP) and Public Procurements of Innovative Solutions (PPI), specifically in the advanced materials sector aligned with EU policies like the Green Deal and the Net-Zero Industry Act.

Eligible applicants are primarily from EU member states, EEA countries, and Horizon Europe-associated countries, with a strong emphasis on collaboration to ensure the grant's objectives are met. The project aims to define unmet needs for innovative solutions based on advanced materials, improve procurement strategies, and drive market transformation by fostering dialogue between public demand and the supply side, including industry and research organizations.

The activities under this grant will involve market analysis, consultation with stakeholders, and identification of barriers to innovation procurement. Success rates for this funding opportunity align with typical Horizon Europe calls, ranging from 10 to 39%.

Overall, the grant is designed to enhance the EU's resilience and competitiveness by addressing key challenges in public procurement for advanced materials, thereby accelerating the market uptake of sustainable and innovative technologies.

This is a Horizon Europe call, specifically HORIZON-CL4-INDUSTRY-2025-01-MATERIALS-44, focusing on Innovative Advanced Materials Innovation Procurement (CSA). It falls under the INDUSTRY (HORIZON-CL4-2025-01) call. The action type is HORIZON-CSA (Coordination and Support Actions) with a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS] model grant agreement. The call is currently open for submission with a single-stage deadline. The opening date is May 22, 2025, and the deadline is September 23, 2025, at 17:00:00 Brussels time. The budget for 2025 is EUR 2,000,000, and the indicative number of grants is 1.

The expected outcomes of this call are to:
Leverage innovation procurement processes to stimulate innovation in advanced materials addressing specific needs or challenges faced by public procurers.
Drive market transformation by aligning public procurement strategies with broader policy objectives, such as the twin transition.
Establish market dialogue between the public demand side and the supply side, industry, and research organisations, reducing the gap between innovation procurement strategies and innovative solution development roadmaps on both sides.
Develop proposals for amending Commission guidelines and sharing best practice on innovation procurement targeting resource and energy efficiency gains due to innovative technologies related to advanced materials.
Identify standardisation needs for procurers in line with the Commission communication on Advanced Materials for Industry Leadership.

The scope of this call is as follows:
The use of advanced materials has the potential to reinforce the Union’s resilience and competitiveness as well as achieving circularity, materials efficiency and overall sustainability targets.
Public procurers can play a leading role in driving innovation and fostering the uptake of advanced materials, thereby speeding up the market introduction of technologies that enable the twin transition and EU’s resilience and economic security.
Advanced materials drive innovations in new clean energy technologies provided for in the Net-Zero Industry Act and have the potential to substitute certain Critical Raw Materials (CRMs), thus contributing to the objectives of the CRM Act.
Advanced materials can also replace hazardous substances, improve the environmental performance of products and processes, and facilitate circularity.
Public Procurements that make better use of advanced materials can potentially achieve a substantial impact towards these policy objectives in all areas where the public sector is an important customer such as construction, mobility, electronics and energy.
Examples of functionalities that could potentially be realised through advanced materials include thermal isolation and protective coatings in construction, superior reliability and durability of energy and mobility infrastructures, improved performance of electronic devices, increased circularity and cost-efficient maintenance of products.
Mandatory requirements in public procurement procedures, relating to for example energy efficiency performance or environmental sustainability, are foreseen in the Energy Efficiency Directive, the Net Zero Industry Act and the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation.
More generally, the EU Public Procurement Directives allow contracts to be awarded not only based on lowest price, but also on other criteria linked to the subject matter of the contract, such as improved performance/functionalities provided by advanced materials.
The Competitiveness Compass for the EU foresees the introduction of a European preference in public procurement for strategic sectors and technologies, reinforcing technological security and domestic supply chains, as well as simplifying and modernising rules, in particular for start-ups and innovative companies.
The objective of this coordination and support action (CSA) is to create a Europe-wide consortium of public procurers that define together unmet procurement needs for innovative solutions based on advanced materials.
The consortium should prepare future procurement topics to conduct Pre-Commercial Procurements (PCP)/Public Procurements of Innovative Solutions (PPI) that make use of advanced materials with novel functionalities for sectors where public procurers and key customers, in particular aligned with objectives pertinent to advanced materials.
Proposal objectives should reflect making best use in public procurements of innovative material properties that contribute to superior product performance (including the impact on e.g. production, maintenance or recyclability) and/or contribute to policy objectives such as those formulated in the Green Deal, the Net-Zero Industry Act, the Critical Raw Materials Act and the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation while having the potential to be exploited as widely as possible.
Activities supported by this CSA should include the following aspects:
open market consultation with the industry;
market analysis and analysis of potential barriers (status of market developments regarding advanced materials versus the procurement needs, standardisation, certification, regulatory requirements, intellectual property rights, contracting models, payment schemes, etc.);
consultations with other public buyers and relevant stakeholders such as end-users to prepare for a future market uptake of the solutions and effective use of innovation procurement (PCP/PPI).

General conditions include:
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.
Eligible Countries described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes, with specific provisions for non-EU/non-Associated Countries outlined in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.
Other Eligible Conditions described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Financial and operational capacity and exclusion described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.
Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Legal and financial set-up of the grants: Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021, described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.

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

Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA) details:
Application form templates are available in the Submission System, including the Standard application form (HE CSA).
Evaluation form templates will be used with necessary adaptations, including the Standard evaluation form (HE CSA).
Guidance is provided in the HE Programme Guide.
Model Grant Agreements (MGA) include the Lump Sum MGA.
Call-specific instructions and a Detailed budget table (HE LS) are available.
Information on financial support to third parties (HE) and Information on clinical studies (HE) are provided.
Guidance: "Lump sums - what do I need to know?" is available.

Additional documents include:
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 1. General Introduction
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 7. Digital, Industry and Space
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 14. 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

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In summary, this Horizon Europe call aims to foster innovation in advanced materials by creating a Europe-wide consortium of public procurers. The goal is to identify unmet procurement needs and prepare future procurement topics for innovative solutions using advanced materials. The project encourages open market consultation, market analysis, and collaboration with stakeholders to promote the adoption of advanced materials in various sectors, aligning with EU policy objectives such as the Green Deal and circular economy. The funding will be provided as a lump sum, and the call is open for submission until September 23, 2025.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types for this opportunity are public procurers. The call specifically targets the creation of a Europe-wide consortium of public procurers. While not explicitly excluding other entities, the focus is clearly on public sector organizations involved in procurement. Startups and innovative companies are mentioned as beneficiaries of simplified and modernized rules in public procurement.

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, specifically a HORIZON Coordination and Support Action (CSA) under the Horizon Europe Programme. The eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum.

Consortium Requirement: A consortium of multiple applicants is required. The call aims to create a Europe-wide consortium of public procurers.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility appears to be primarily focused on EU member states and associated countries, given that it is a Horizon Europe action. 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. Applicants should consult the Horizon Europe Programme Guide for specific details.

Target Sector: The primary target sector is advanced materials, with a focus on innovation procurement in areas such as construction, mobility, electronics, and energy. The program also touches upon other sectors indirectly through its alignment with broader policy objectives like the Green Deal, Net-Zero Industry Act, Critical Raw Materials Act, and Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation.

Mentioned Countries: No specific countries are mentioned, but the opportunity is focused on a Europe-wide consortium. The text refers to EU member states and associated countries, as well as non-EU/non-associated countries that have specific provisions for funding participation in Horizon Europe projects.

Project Stage: The project stage is geared towards coordination and support actions, which implies activities that support and prepare for future procurement activities. This includes market consultation, analysis, and stakeholder engagement to define unmet procurement needs and prepare for Pre-Commercial Procurements (PCP) and Public Procurements of Innovative Solutions (PPI).

Funding Amount: The budget for the HORIZON-CL4-INDUSTRY-2025-01-MATERIALS-44 topic is EUR 2,000,000. The indicative number of grants is 1. Other related topics have different budgets, ranging from EUR 1,000,000 to EUR 45,000,000.

Application Type: The application type is a single-stage open call. The submission session is open as of 22 May 2025, and the deadline for submission is 23 September 2025.

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a lump sum grant to support coordination and support activities.

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

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly stated, but the indicative number of grants for the HORIZON-CL4-INDUSTRY-2025-01-MATERIALS-44 topic is 1, suggesting a competitive process. Success rates for other related topics vary depending on the number of grants available.

Co-funding Requirement: The text does not explicitly mention a co-funding requirement for this specific CSA action. However, one of the related topics, HORIZON-CL4-INDUSTRY-2025-01-MATERIALS-64, is a HORIZON Programme Cofund Action, which implies a co-funding requirement.

Summary: This Horizon Europe call (HORIZON-CL4-INDUSTRY-2025-01-MATERIALS-44) seeks to establish a Europe-wide consortium of public procurers to define unmet procurement needs for innovative solutions based on advanced materials. The goal is to leverage innovation procurement to drive market transformation, support the twin transition (digital and green), and enhance EU resilience and competitiveness. The selected consortium will prepare future procurement topics for Pre-Commercial Procurements (PCP) and Public Procurements of Innovative Solutions (PPI) that utilize advanced materials with novel functionalities. Activities will include open market consultation, market analysis, barrier identification, and stakeholder engagement. The funding is provided as a lump sum grant under a Coordination and Support Action (CSA) framework, and eligible applicants are primarily public procurers from EU member states and associated countries. The call aligns with key EU policy objectives, including the Green Deal, Net-Zero Industry Act, Critical Raw Materials Act, and Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, targeting sectors such as construction, mobility, electronics, and energy. The application process is a single-stage open call with a deadline of 23 September 2025.