Preparing the Advancement of the state of the art of submarine cable infrastructures (CSA)

The EU Funding & Tenders Portal presents a call for proposals under the Horizon Europe program, specifically for the DIGITAL CNECT pillar, identified as HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-12. This initiative focuses on preparing the advancement of submarine cable infrastructures through a Coordination and Support Action (CSA). The grant aims to develop a specific Research and Innovation (R&I) roadmap to bolster cooperation among EU authorities and stakeholders, strengthening leadership in submarine cable technology.

Eligible applicants include legal entities from EU member states, Iceland, Norway, associated countries, OECD countries, and MERCOSUR countries. Participation is limited to entities that are not controlled by ineligible countries. The funding type is a grant with a budget of approximately €2.1 million, with individual contributions expected to range from €1.9 million to €2.1 million.

The application process involves a single-stage submission with a deadline set for October 2, 2025. The project should focus on preparatory and strategic coordinated actions aimed at addressing various challenges. These include reinforcing European leadership in submarine cable connectivity, promoting a digital and green transition with low-carbon solutions, ensuring resilience and high performance, and conducting risk assessments to prepare for potential damages.

The project is expected to define crucial hardware and software components of future submarine cable systems, assess the required R&I work, and create an industry roadmap in collaboration with EU partners. Specific research areas include multi-core fibre technology, digital signal processing, advanced sensing capabilities, underwater robotics, and wireless sensor networks.

Additionally, the project should foster synergies with existing programs such as CEF Digital and the Digital Europe Programme. The overarching objective is to create an actionable roadmap that will guide future research and innovation in submarine cable infrastructures, supporting Europe's strategic autonomy and security in this critical sector.

General conditions for participation, including eligibility criteria and financial requirements, are detailed in the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes. The submission system is scheduled to open on June 10, 2025.

The EU Funding & Tenders Portal presents a call for proposals under the Horizon Europe program, specifically the DIGITAL CNECT (HORIZON-CL4-2025-03) call. The topic is "Preparing the Advancement of the state of the art of submarine cable infrastructures (CSA)" with the identifier HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-12. This is a HORIZON Coordination and Support Action (HORIZON-CSA) with a HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG] Model Grant Agreement (MGA).

The call follows a single-stage deadline model. The planned opening date is June 10, 2025, and the deadline for submission is October 2, 2025, at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

The expected outcome of this call is to define a specific Research and Innovation (R&I) roadmap at the EU level. This roadmap aims to enhance cooperation between EU authorities and stakeholders to establish leadership in all relevant submarine cable technology domains. The roadmap will encompass all infrastructure related to the construction, operation, maintenance, and repair of submarine cables. Key stakeholders, including industry, research, and academic entities, should prepare, manage, and coordinate this CSA.

The project should address the following overarching challenges:

Reinforcing European leadership and cooperation in submarine cable connectivity, ensuring European capabilities and best practices shape future connectivity standards. This includes promoting the secondary use of these cables (e.g., for natural hazard pre-warning systems) and fostering synergies with CEF-Digital backbone projects.

Facilitating a digital and green transition towards low carbon footprint connectivity platforms. This involves applying circular economy principles, reducing pollution, and regenerating natural systems, while ensuring the long-term sustainability, resilience, and security of submarine cable networks.

Ensuring resilience for demanding cases that require a very high grade of Quality of Service (QoS) and performance.

Conducting risk evaluation, preparedness, and prevention against future natural or man-made damage, including deliberate sabotage.

The objectives of the target support actions are:

Analyzing and defining the expected critical hardware and software components of future submarine cable infrastructure systems. This includes identifying opportunities for Europe to strengthen its capabilities, considering the characteristics and architectures, components, security, and operations of future submarine connectivity infrastructures.

Defining the main required R&I work and assessing associated research investment needs related to the identified domains.

Defining an appropriate industry roadmap (SRIA) in partnership with relevant EU actors from industry and academia. This roadmap should indicate priority research and innovation actions, their scope, and a timetable with milestones and targets. The project may organize thematic workshops to consult interested communities. The results will contribute to the work of groups such as the European Submarine Cable Expert Group, the NIS 2 Coordination Group, and the CER Group.

The scope of the call includes enabling technologies applicable to submarine connectivity infrastructures and systems, including secondary uses for pre-warning systems against natural hazards. These technologies are crucial for ensuring Europe’s strategic autonomy and economic security. Europe needs to maintain a technological edge in cable technology and critical elements like repeaters, landing stations, operational control centers, underwater acoustic sensor networks (UASN), and cable communications cybersecurity.

While some research occurs through mainstream activities in generic technologies (e.g., optical communications, network management software), specific research is needed for submarine cable infrastructures. The call aims to identify these specific research needs and develop a roadmap and SRIA for research and innovation in submarine cable technologies.

Potential research areas include:

Multi-core fibre (MCF) technology

Digital Signal Processing

Repeater systems

Intelligent sensing

Advanced Digital Acoustic Sensing (DAS)

Strain and temperature sensing

Oceanographic sensors for continuous, real-time trans-oceanic measurements (monitor water body)

Logical layer and cable network management systems

Underwater robotics for construction, maintenance, and repair

Wireless sensor networks (WSN) for permanent infrastructure monitoring and threat detection

Projects should develop synergies and complementarities with projects under CEF Digital, the Digital Europe Programme (DEP), and the Smart Networks and Services (SNS) Joint Undertaking. Integrating the gender dimension (sex and gender analysis) in research and innovation content is not mandatory.

General conditions for admissibility, eligible countries, financial and operational capacity, evaluation, award, and legal/financial setup are detailed in the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes. Proposal page limits and layout are described in Part B of the Application Form in the Submission System. Participation is limited to legal entities established in Member States, Iceland, Norway, associated countries, OECD countries, and MERCOSUR countries. Entities controlled by non-eligible countries or entities cannot participate.

Application forms, evaluation templates, the HE Programme Guide, Model Grant Agreements (MGA), call-specific instructions, and additional documents such as the Ownership Control Declaration and relevant work programs are available in the Submission System and through provided links.

The budget overview lists various topics under the HORIZON-CL4-2025-03 call, including DATA, DIGITAL EMERGING, HUMAN, and MATERIALS, with their respective action types (RIA, CSA, IA), budget allocations (ranging from 1,000,000 EUR to 85,000,000 EUR), opening and deadline dates (June 10, 2025, and October 2, 2025, respectively), and indicative number of grants.

Partner search announcements can be viewed and edited by LEARs, Account Administrators, or self-registrants after logging into the portal. The submission system is planned to open on June 10, 2025.

This funding opportunity aims to bolster European leadership in submarine cable technology by creating a strategic roadmap for research and innovation. It seeks to address challenges related to connectivity, sustainability, resilience, and security, while fostering collaboration between industry, academia, and EU authorities. The call encourages projects that align with broader EU digital and green transition goals and promotes the development of cutting-edge technologies for submarine cable infrastructure. The ultimate goal is to ensure Europe's strategic autonomy and economic security in the domain of submarine cable connectivity.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types for this opportunity include industry, research, and academic stakeholders. The call specifies that the CSA should be prepared, managed, and coordinated by key stakeholders in the field, including industry, research, and academic entities. Furthermore, participation is limited to legal entities established in Member States, Iceland and Norway, associated countries, OECD countries and MERCOSUR countries. Entities controlled by non-eligible countries or entities are not allowed to participate.

Funding Type: The funding type for this opportunity is a grant, specifically a HORIZON Coordination and Support Action (HORIZON-CSA). The type of Model Grant Agreement (MGA) is a HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG].

Consortium Requirement: While not explicitly stated, the description suggests a consortium is preferred, as the CSA should be prepared, managed, and coordinated by key stakeholders, implying multiple entities working together. The partner search announcements also suggest that a consortium is expected.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility for applicants is limited to legal entities established in Member States, Iceland and Norway, associated countries, OECD countries, and MERCOSUR countries. Entities directly or indirectly controlled by a non-eligible country or entity are excluded.

Target Sector: The target sector for this program is digital, specifically focusing on submarine cable technology domains. This includes any infrastructure related to its construction, operation, maintenance, and repair. The program falls under the DIGITAL CNECT call within Horizon Europe.

Mentioned Countries: Iceland, Norway, EU Member States, OECD countries, and MERCOSUR countries are explicitly mentioned as eligible.

Project Stage: The project stage is focused on defining a specific R&I roadmap, which suggests a stage of research and development, leading to the creation of a strategic research and innovation agenda (SRIA). This implies an early stage of development, aiming to guide future research and innovation actions.

Funding Amount: The budget for the HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-12 topic is EUR 2,100,000, with an indicative contribution ranging from EUR 1,900,000 to EUR 2,100,000.

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 a grant to fund their coordination and support actions.

Application Stages: The application process consists of a single stage.

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly mentioned, but the indicative number of grants for the HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-12 topic is 1.

Co-funding Requirement: The information does not explicitly state whether co-funding is required.

Summary: This Horizon Europe call, specifically topic HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-12, focuses on "Preparing the Advancement of the state of the art of submarine cable infrastructures (CSA)". It is a Coordination and Support Action (CSA) aimed at defining a specific Research and Innovation (R&I) roadmap at the EU level. The goal is to enhance cooperation between EU authorities and stakeholders to establish leadership in submarine cable technology domains. This includes infrastructure related to construction, operation, maintenance, and repair.

The project should address challenges such as reinforcing European leadership in submarine cable connectivity, promoting a digital and green transition for low-carbon connectivity platforms, ensuring resilience and quality of service, and evaluating risks.

Eligible applicants include industry, research, and academic stakeholders from EU Member States, Iceland, Norway, associated countries, OECD countries, and MERCOSUR countries. The funding mechanism is a grant, with a budget of approximately EUR 2.1 million for a single project. The application process is a single-stage open call with a deadline of October 2, 2025.

The selected project is expected to analyze critical hardware and software components, define required R&I work, assess research investment needs, and develop an industry roadmap (SRIA) in partnership with EU actors. The roadmap should indicate priority research and innovation actions, their scope, and a timetable with milestones and targets. The project may also organize thematic workshops to consult interested communities. The results will contribute to the work of groups such as the European Submarine Cable Expert Group, the NIS 2 Coordination Group, and the CER Group.

The scope includes enabling technologies for submarine connectivity infrastructures, such as multi-core fibre technology, digital signal processing, repeater systems, intelligent sensing, underwater robotics, and wireless sensor networks. The project should develop synergies with other relevant programs like CEF Digital, the Digital Europe Programme (DEP), and the Smart Networks and Services (SNS) Joint Undertaking.