New technologies and solutions for reducing the environmental and climate footprint of research infrastructures

The grant opportunity titled "New technologies and solutions for reducing the environmental and climate footprint of research infrastructures" falls under Horizon Europe, specifically categorized as HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01-TECH-01. The program targets research institutions, universities, and consortia of European Research Infrastructures (ERICs), which necessitate participation from multiple EU Member States and related entities.

The funding mechanism is primarily a grant, identified as the HORIZON Lump Sum Grant. Proposals must be developed within a consortium framework, leveraging collaboration between at least two world-class research infrastructures that qualify as ESFRI infrastructures, ERICs, or other intergovernmental organizations of European interest. The geographical eligibility extends to EU Member States, associated countries, and certain non-EU regions under specific conditions.

This initiative focuses on the environmental and climate impact of research infrastructures, with priority given to sectors such as resource efficiency, energy consumption, and sustainable integration of solutions. The goal is to innovate technologies that can significantly reduce environmental and climate footprints, enhancing sustainability across the entire life cycle of infrastructures.

While specific funding amounts were not detailed, similar Horizon Europe projects typically range from €1 million to €5 million. The application process is a single-stage open call, with submissions due by September 18, 2025. The nature of support provided through this grant is monetary, aimed at covering eligible project costs with lump-sum contributions.

Projects are expected to develop, validate, and prototype new solutions while fostering societal engagement and training personnel in the use of innovative technologies. Co-funding may be required, although specific details were not explicit in the available information.

In summary, this Horizon Europe grant encourages collaborative efforts to enhance the sustainability of European research infrastructures, focusing on innovative technologies to reduce environmental impacts. It calls for partnerships among top-tier research entities, aiming to deliver meaningful advances in resource efficiency and climate action.

This EU grant opportunity focuses on delivering innovative technologies and solutions to significantly reduce the environmental and climate footprint of research infrastructures throughout their entire life cycle. The call falls under the Horizon Europe (HORIZON) program, specifically the Research Infrastructures 2025 call (HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01). It is structured as a HORIZON Research and Innovation Action (HORIZON-RIA) 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 deadline model. The opening date was May 6, 2025, and the deadline for submissions is September 18, 2025, at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

The expected outcomes of successful projects include: reduction of environmental impacts, including those related to climate change; optimization of resource and energy consumption across the entire life cycle of research infrastructures; and increased long-term sustainability of the European research infrastructures ecosystem.

The scope of the call emphasizes the development and implementation of innovative technologies and solutions that can achieve a step change in reducing the environmental and climate footprint of research infrastructures throughout their life cycle. Proposals should identify common methodologies for assessing environmental impact and strategies for reducing it, as well as identifying efficiency gains within the broader ecosystem.

The proposed actions should address several key points, including: developing new technologies and solutions for research infrastructures that enable transformative resource efficiency and reduce environmental impacts; validating and prototyping these solutions; training research infrastructure staff in the operation and use of new solutions; creating action plans for wider deployment and sustainability of new developments; implementing measures to ensure environmentally effective integration of solutions in local contexts; and engaging with society to incorporate solutions from other relevant ecosystems and foster acceptance within local and regional communities.

Consortia applying for this grant should be built around a leading core of at least two different world-class research infrastructures. Each of these infrastructures must be either an ESFRI infrastructure, a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC), or another research infrastructure that is an intergovernmental organization of European interest. The consortia can also include a wider set of research infrastructures and other technological partners.

Proposals should clearly explain any synergies and complementarities with related previous or current EU grants, including those funded under other parts of Horizon Europe or Horizon 2020. Where relevant, proposals should ensure complementarity with actions funded under the 2023 call topic HORIZON-INFRA-2023-TECH-01-01 and clearly justify that different technologies and solutions are targeted.

Applicants are encouraged to consider including the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) Support Services Directorate in their research infrastructure portfolio. The JRC offers expertise in assessing, strategizing, maintaining, operating, and providing access to its research infrastructures in various scientific fields. A key aspect of the JRC’s strategy is ensuring the sustainability of its research infrastructures through measures aimed at reducing energy consumption, improving energy efficiency, and promoting the use of renewable energy sources. The JRC is open to collaborating with successful proposals.

Regarding admissibility conditions, proposal page limits and layout are described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes, as well as in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.

Eligible countries are detailed in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. Notably, some non-EU/non-Associated Countries have specific provisions for funding their participants in Horizon Europe projects, as outlined in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

Other eligibility conditions include the potential participation of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) as a consortium member. Additionally, proposals must include at least two different research infrastructures as beneficiaries, each being an ESFRI Landmark, an ERIC, or another research infrastructure that is an international European research organization. These research infrastructures, and their owning/operating beneficiaries, must be explicitly identified in the proposals.

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

Evaluation and award criteria, scoring, and thresholds are detailed in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes. Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual. The indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is also described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Legal and financial aspects of the grants stipulate that eligible costs will be in the form of a lump sum, as defined in the Decision of July 7, 2021, authorizing the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme. This decision is available on the Funding and Tenders Portal. Further details are provided in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes and in the specific topic of the Work Programme.

Application and evaluation forms, as well as the model grant agreement (MGA), are accessible through the Submission System. Standard application forms (HE RIA, IA and HE CSA) and evaluation forms will be used with necessary adaptations. Guidance is available in the HE Programme Guide. Model Grant Agreements include HE MGA, HE Unit MGA, 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 also provided.

Additional documents include the HE Main Work Programme 2025, the HE Programme Guide, the HE Framework Programme 2021/695, the HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764, the EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, the Decision authorizing the use of lump sum contributions, rules for Legal Entity Validation, the EU Grants AGA, the Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual, and the Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions.

The budget overview for the call indicates various topics with their respective budget allocations, action types (CSA or RIA), opening and deadline dates, contribution ranges, and indicative number of grants.

Partner search announcements are available for those seeking collaborators. LEARs, Account Administrators, and users with active public profiles can publish partner requests on the Funding & Tenders Portal.

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, and CEN-CENELEC/ETSI Research Helpdesks.

In summary, this Horizon Europe call aims to foster the development and implementation of innovative, sustainable technologies and solutions that will significantly reduce the environmental and climate impact of European research infrastructures. It encourages collaboration between research infrastructures and technological partners to achieve transformative resource efficiency and long-term sustainability. The funding mechanism is based on lump sum contributions, and detailed guidance and support are available through the Funding & Tenders Portal and associated resources.

The call is structured around several specific topics, each with its own budget, contribution range, and indicative number of grants. These topics are categorized under HORIZON-CSA (Coordination and Support Actions) and HORIZON-RIA (Research and Innovation Actions), covering areas such as development, EOSC (European Open Science Cloud), services, and technology. The opening date for all topics is May 6, 2025, and the deadline is September 18, 2025.

The specific topics and their corresponding budgets, contribution ranges, and indicative number of grants are as follows:

HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01-DEV-01: HORIZON-CSA, Budget: EUR 10,000,000, Contribution: EUR 1,000,000 to EUR 1,500,000, Indicative number of grants: 8
HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01-DEV-02: HORIZON-CSA, Budget: EUR 16,500,000, Contribution: EUR 1,000,000 to EUR 1,500,000, Indicative number of grants: 11
HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01-DEV-03: HORIZON-RIA, Budget: EUR 30,000,000, Contribution: EUR 3,000,000 to EUR 4,000,000, Indicative number of grants: 8
HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01-DEV-04: HORIZON-CSA, Budget: EUR 3,000,000, Contribution: EUR 1,500,000 to EUR 3,000,000, Indicative number of grants: 1
HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01-DEV-05: HORIZON-CSA, Budget: EUR 4,500,000, Contribution: EUR 1,000,000 to EUR 1,500,000, Indicative number of grants: 3
HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01-EOSC-01: HORIZON-RIA, Budget: EUR 30,000,000, Contribution: EUR 6,000,000 to EUR 8,000,000, Indicative number of grants: 4
HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01-EOSC-02: HORIZON-RIA, Budget: EUR 16,000,000, Contribution: EUR 5,000,000 to EUR 8,000,000, Indicative number of grants: 2
HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01-EOSC-03: HORIZON-RIA, Budget: EUR 15,000,000, Contribution: EUR 7,500,000 to EUR 15,000,000, Indicative number of grants: 2
HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01-EOSC-04: HORIZON-CSA, Budget: EUR 8,000,000, Contribution: EUR 5,000,000 to EUR 8,000,000, Indicative number of grants: 1
HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01-EOSC-05: HORIZON-RIA, Budget: EUR 37,500,000, Contribution: EUR 7,500,000 to EUR 10,000,000, Indicative number of grants: 4
HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01-SERV-01: HORIZON-RIA, Budget: EUR 30,000,000, Contribution: around EUR 10,000,000, Indicative number of grants: 3
HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01-SERV-02: HORIZON-RIA, Budget: EUR 20,000,000, Contribution: around EUR 5,000,000, Indicative number of grants: 4
HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01-SERV-03: HORIZON-RIA, Budget: EUR 20,000,000, Contribution: around EUR 10,000,000, Indicative number of grants: 2
HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01-SERV-04: HORIZON-RIA, Budget: EUR 20,000,000, Contribution: around EUR 5,000,000, Indicative number of grants: 5
HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01-TECH-01: HORIZON-RIA, Budget: EUR 25,000,000, Contribution: around EUR 5,000,000, Indicative number of grants: 5
HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01-TECH-02: HORIZON-RIA, Budget: EUR 45,000,000, Contribution: around EUR 10,000,000, Indicative number of grants: 4
HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01-TECH-03: HORIZON-RIA, Budget: EUR 30,000,000, Contribution: EUR 7,000,000 to EUR 10,000,000, Indicative number of grants: 4
HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01-TECH-04: HORIZON-RIA, Budget: EUR 40,000,000, Contribution: EUR 8,000,000 to EUR 10,000,000, Indicative number of grants: 4

This comprehensive initiative aims to drive innovation and sustainability within the European research infrastructure landscape, aligning with broader environmental and climate goals.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types include research infrastructures, ESFRI infrastructures, European Research Infrastructure Consortia (ERIC), international European research organisations, and other technological partners. The Joint Research Centre (JRC) may also participate as a member of the consortium.

Funding Type: The funding type is primarily a grant, specifically a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant, under the Horizon Europe Programme. There are also Coordination and Support Actions (CSA) and Research and Innovation Actions (RIA).

Consortium Requirement: A consortium of multiple applicants is required. Consortia should be built on a leading core of at least two different world-class research infrastructures, each of them being an ESFRI infrastructure, a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) or another research infrastructure that is an intergovernmental organisation of European interest, and can include a wider set of research infrastructures, and other technological partners.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility includes EU member states, associated countries, and non-EU/non-associated countries that have made specific provisions for funding their participants in Horizon Europe projects.

Target Sector: The target sector is research infrastructures, with a focus on delivering innovative technologies and solutions to reduce the environmental and climate footprint of these infrastructures. This includes resource efficiency, energy consumption, data collection and processing, and sustainable integration of solutions.

Mentioned Countries: No specific countries are mentioned, but the eligibility extends to EU member states, associated countries, and potentially other non-EU/non-associated countries based on specific funding provisions.

Project Stage: The project stage includes validation and prototyping of new technologies and solutions. It also involves training, action plans for deployment, and societal engagement, suggesting a focus on development, demonstration, and potentially early stages of commercialization or scale-up.

Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific topic and type of action (CSA or RIA). The contributions range from 1,000,000 EUR to 15,000,000 EUR for CSA actions and from 3,000,000 EUR to 15,000,000 EUR or "around" 5,000,000 EUR to 10,000,000 EUR for RIA actions.

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 lump sum contributions to cover eligible costs.

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.

Co-funding Requirement: The information does not explicitly state whether co-funding is required. However, Horizon Europe grants often involve some level of co-funding, which may be detailed in the specific call documents.

Summary:

This Horizon Europe call aims to fund projects that develop and implement innovative technologies and solutions to reduce the environmental and climate footprint of research infrastructures. The call is structured around several topics, including development, European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), services, and technology, each with its specific budget and scope. Eligible applicants must form consortia with at least two world-class research infrastructures, including ESFRI infrastructures, ERICs, or other intergovernmental organizations of European interest. The projects should focus on optimizing resource and energy consumption, validating and prototyping new solutions, training staff, and developing action plans for wider deployment. Funding is provided as a lump sum, and the application process involves a single stage. The call targets a broad range of research infrastructures across Europe and associated countries, encouraging collaboration and the sharing of best practices to enhance the sustainability of the European research ecosystem. The overall goal is to deliver a step change in reducing the environmental impact of research infrastructures throughout their entire life cycle, contributing to a more sustainable and resource-efficient research landscape.