National Competence Centres for High Performance Computing

The grant opportunity under the Digital Europe Programme titled "DIGITAL-JU-EUROHPC-2025-NCC-01-01" focuses on establishing National Competence Centres (NCCs) for High Performance Computing (HPC) across EuroHPC JU Participating States. The aim is to strengthen the European HPC ecosystem by supporting the creation or enhancement of NCCs that provide HPC services to industry, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), academia, and public administrations.

Eligible applicants for this grant include research institutes, universities, public administrations, and private entities with HPC expertise capable of operating NCCs. The funding type is classified as a grant, specifically a DIGITAL JU Simple Grant, which reimburses actual costs associated with the project.

Each country is expected to have a single applicant for the grant, which indicates that only one NCC will be established or further developed per EuroHPC JU Participating State. The call is open to organizations based in EU Member States and countries associated with the Digital Europe Programme.

The target sector is specifically HPC, encompassing broad applications across industries and public sectors, focusing heavily on supporting SMEs with tailored HPC solutions. The total funding for the initiative ranges from €10 million to €20 million per project, aiming for a cohesive national competence that can readily support local communities' needs. The application process is single-stage, opening on July 29, 2025, and closing on September 30, 2025.

The nature of the support consists solely of financial grants, facilitating the operationalization of NCCs without the necessity for co-funding, as the grant covers up to 100% of eligible costs. While the success rate has not been specified in the available information, the call indicates an intention to award a limited number of grants to meet its objectives, with around 11 grants anticipated.

Overall, this grant represents a strategic investment in Europe’s technological capabilities in HPC, empowering national centers to become essential resources for local stakeholders while promoting cooperation and innovation in the field.

The DIGITAL-JU-EUROHPC-2025-NCC-01-01 call, under the Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL), focuses on National Competence Centres for High Performance Computing (HPC). It is a DIGITAL JU Simple Grant with a DIGITAL Action Grant Budget-Based [DIGITAL-AG] type of Model Grant Agreement (MGA). The call is forthcoming with a single-stage deadline model. The planned opening date is 29 July 2025, and the deadline is 30 September 2025 at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

The objective of this call is to strengthen the European HPC ecosystem by supporting existing, or establishing up to one new, National Competence Centre (NCC) for HPC in as many EuroHPC JU Participating States as possible. NCCs will be a focal point of HPC in the respective country and will provide a wide range of HPC services and training to industry, particularly SMEs, as well as academia and public administrations. This aims to facilitate tailored and modular solutions for a wide variety of HPC users. The NCCs are expected to connect relevant stakeholders to other national and European initiatives in the area of HPC to provide the best possible support for HPC to the local communities. SMEs and start-ups will be central to the NCC’s activities, while academic institutions and stakeholders may be addressed to a limited extent, dedicating most resources to support local SMEs, industry, and public services.

The scope of the action involves setting up and operating, or further developing where already existing, one NCC for HPC in each country within a maximum number of EuroHPC JU Participating States. The NCCs will serve as the focal point of national competences in HPC, providing leading-edge knowledge to enable the development of innovative solutions tailored to their country's needs. This includes considering national HPC needs and requirements from different user communities such as industry, academia, public administrations, and various application domains. The NCCs will concentrate on activities where local support is most effective, such as local communication, training, and consultation services, to support the specific needs of the relevant national and local communities. They will offer a flexible and modular portfolio of HPC services, taking into account the maturity of the national HPC ecosystem and working in close coordination with other NCCs to maximize impact and knowledge dissemination. NCCs will also support stakeholders from other regions and countries through the NCC network, coordinated by a complementary Coordination and Support Action.

The conditions for this call include:

1. Admissibility Conditions: The proposal page limit and layout are described in section 5 of the call document and Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.

2. Eligible Countries are described in section 6 of the call document.

3. Other Eligible Conditions are described in section 6 of the call document.

4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion are described in section 7 of the call document.

5a. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes are described in section 8 of the call document and the Online Manual.

5b. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring, and thresholds are described in section 9 of the call document.

5c. Evaluation and award: The indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is described in section 4 of the call document.

6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants is described in section 10 of the call document.

The call document and annexes include the call document itself, application form templates (Standard application form (DEP) available in the Submission System), Model Grant Agreements (MGA) including the DEP MGA, and additional documents such as EuroHPC JU GB Decision No. 26/2025 amending the Joint Undertaking's Work Programme and Budget for the year 2025 (Amendment No 4), EuroHPC JU GB Decision No. 28/2025 approving the launch of a call for proposals on National Competence Centres, EuroHPC JU regulation 2021, DEP Work Programmes, DEP Regulation 2021/964, EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, 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, and Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement.

The budget overview for the topic in 2025 includes DIGITAL-JU-EUROHPC-2025-NCC-01-02, which is a DIGITAL JU Coordination and Support Action, and DIGITAL-JU-EUROHPC-2025-NCC-01-01, which is a DIGITAL JU Simple Grant. The total budget is 22,000,000 EUR. The call is single-stage, opening on 2025-07-29 and closing on 2025-09-30. The contributions range from 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 EUR for the Coordination and Support Actions and from 10,000,000 to 20,000,000 EUR for the Simple Grants. The indicative number of grants is 11.

There are partner search announcements available, and LEARs, Account Administrators, and self-registrants can publish partner requests for open and forthcoming topics on the portal.

The submission system is planned to open on the date stated in the topic header.

For support, applicants are advised to read all provisions carefully before preparing their application. For help related to the call, contact ri@eurohpc-ju.europa.eu. Additional resources include the Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ for proposal submissions, the IT Helpdesk for technical questions, and the Online Manual for a step-by-step guide through the Portal processes.

In summary, this EuroHPC JU call aims to bolster the European high-performance computing landscape by funding National Competence Centres in participating states. These centers will act as hubs, providing HPC resources, training, and support primarily to SMEs and public services, while also connecting stakeholders to broader European HPC initiatives. The call seeks to establish or enhance these centers, enabling them to deliver tailored HPC solutions, foster innovation, and spread HPC knowledge across various sectors. The funding mechanism is through simple grants, with a substantial budget allocated to support the establishment and operation of these vital national competence centers.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are not explicitly defined in the provided text. However, the call aims to support existing or establish new National Competence Centres (NCCs) for HPC. The NCCs are intended to serve industry (particularly SMEs), academia, and public administrations. Therefore, eligible applicants could include organizations capable of establishing and operating such competence centers, such as universities, research institutes, industry associations, government agencies, or consortia thereof.

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, specifically a DIGITAL JU Simple Grant (DIGITAL-JU-SIMPLE). The Model Grant Agreement type is DIGITAL Action Grant Budget-Based [DIGITAL-AG].

Consortium Requirement: The text suggests that a single applicant per country is expected to set up or further develop a National Competence Centre (NCC). While not explicitly excluding consortia, the emphasis on establishing "one NCC for HPC in each country" implies that the applicant should be a single entity or a closely coordinated group capable of representing the national competence in HPC.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility is focused on EuroHPC JU Participating States. The call aims to establish or strengthen NCCs "in as many EuroHPC JU Participating States as possible."

Target Sector: The primary target sector is High Performance Computing (HPC). The call also targets SMEs and start-ups, industry, academia, and public administrations as beneficiaries of the HPC services provided by the NCCs. The application domains are broad, encompassing various user communities.

Mentioned Countries: No specific countries are mentioned, but the geographic scope is limited to EuroHPC JU Participating States.

Project Stage: The project stage encompasses both the establishment of new NCCs and the further development of existing ones. This suggests that the call is open to projects in the development, validation, and potentially demonstration stages, depending on the maturity of the HPC ecosystem in the applicant's country.

Funding Amount: The budget overview indicates a total budget of EUR 22,000,000 for the call. The contributions are expected to range from EUR 1,000,000 to EUR 2,000,000. The indicative number of grants is 11.

Application Type: The application type is a single-stage open call. The planned opening date is 29 July 2025, and the deadline is 30 September 2025 at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

Nature of Support: The beneficiaries will receive money in the form of grants to set up and operate the National Competence Centres.

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

Success Rates: Based on the budget and indicative number of grants, the success rate can be estimated. With a budget of EUR 22,000,000 and 11 grants, the average grant size would be EUR 2,000,000. The success rate would depend on the number of applications received, which is not specified in the document.

Co-funding Requirement: The document does not explicitly mention a co-funding requirement.

Summary:

This call for proposals, under the Digital Europe Programme, aims to bolster the European HPC ecosystem by supporting the creation or enhancement of National Competence Centres (NCCs) for High Performance Computing in EuroHPC JU Participating States. The primary goal is to establish NCCs as focal points for HPC expertise within each country, offering a range of services and training to industry, academia, and public administrations. A key focus is on supporting SMEs and start-ups by providing tailored HPC solutions. The call seeks to fund projects that will set up and operate, or further develop existing, NCCs, enabling them to provide local communication, training, and consultation services. The NCCs are expected to offer a flexible portfolio of HPC services, tailored to the maturity of the national HPC ecosystem, and to collaborate with other NCCs to maximize impact and knowledge dissemination. The call has a budget of EUR 22,000,000, with individual grants ranging from EUR 1,000,000 to EUR 2,000,000, and anticipates awarding approximately 11 grants. The application process is a single-stage submission, with a deadline of 30 September 2025. This initiative is designed to strengthen national competences in HPC and facilitate the development of innovative solutions across various application domains, ultimately contributing to a more robust and accessible European HPC landscape.