Research infrastructure services advancing frontier knowledge (bottom-up)

The grant opportunity titled "Research infrastructure services advancing frontier knowledge (bottom-up)" is part of the Horizon Europe program aimed at enhancing research infrastructures to support innovative scientific advancements. Eligible applicants for this grant include universities, research institutes, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), large companies, and public-private partnerships involved in research infrastructure development. While consortia are generally encouraged, the call does not explicitly state that single applicants are excluded.

The funding type is a non-repayable grant under the HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based model. It is likely that proposals will require a consortium, as collaboration between academia and industry is a typical expectation in Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Actions (RIAs). The geographic eligibility covers EU member states and associated countries, with some provisions for researchers from certain third countries, including Australia, Canada, and Japan, under specific conditions.

The target sectors for the grant encompass a wide range of scientific domains, including data and computing, energy, environment, health, physical sciences, engineering, social sciences, and humanities. Proposals should focus on transnational and/or virtual access to research infrastructure services, aiming for applied research and development primarily between technology readiness levels 3 and 4.

While the exact funding amounts are not specified, they vary depending on the specific topics within the call, with an overall budget allocation of around €7.3 billion for Horizon Europe's Work Programme in 2025. The application process consists of a single-stage submission, with the deadline set for September 18, 2025. Financial support will cover up to 100% of eligible costs, indicating no co-funding requirement, although the infrastructure's operational and financial capacities must be demonstrated.

The expected outcomes include wider and simplified access to high-quality research infrastructures, improved research services, and better training for researchers. Proposals should address existing infrastructure services and the development of new ones if they can be sustained and opened during the project's duration.

In sum, this grant aims to promote curiosity-driven research by facilitating access to advanced research infrastructures while ensuring effective service harmonization and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers. The overarching goal aligns with Horizon Europe's priorities for promoting sustainability, digital transitions, and research excellence across Europe and beyond.

This is a comprehensive summary of the Horizon Europe Research Infrastructures 2025 funding call, specifically focusing on the topic "Research infrastructure services advancing frontier knowledge (bottom-up)" HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01-SERV-04.

The call aims to provide transnational and virtual access to research infrastructure services for curiosity-driven research across various scientific domains. The goal is to improve access, harmonize services, and train researchers in using advanced research infrastructures. The call excludes longer-term R&D for new instrumentation, tools, methods, and advanced digital solutions.

Expected Outcomes:

Wider, simplified, and more efficient access to the best research infrastructures available to researchers to conduct curiosity-driven research, irrespective of location.
Breakthrough and leading-edge research enabled by advanced research infrastructure services, including from emerging facilities, made available to a wider user community, including in emerging areas of research.
Improved and harmonised research infrastructure services and broader and more balanced use of research infrastructure resources across the EU and Associated Countries deriving from the exploitation of synergies and complementarities.
A new generation of researchers trained to optimally exploit all the essential tools for their research.
Cross-disciplinary fertilisations and a wider sharing of information, knowledge and technologies across scientific fields fostered by closer interactions between researchers active in and around research infrastructures.
Better management, including implementing FAIR data principle, of the continuous flow of data collected or produced by research infrastructures.

Scope:

The topic focuses on providing transnational (on-site or remote) and/or virtual access to integrated and customized research infrastructure services for curiosity-driven research in wide scientific domains.
Proposals should address a specific domain, explicitly stating the domain and sub-domain, excluding those already covered by Horizon Europe Research Infrastructures part of Work Programme 2023 to 2025, curiosity-driven INFRASERV topics. Excluded domains/sub-domains are: Environment/Biosphere: terrestrial biodiversity and ecosystems, including forest; Physical sciences and engineering/Astronomy and Astroparticle physics; Arts and Humanities; Environment / atmospheric chemistry and dynamics; Physical sciences and engineering:/ particle and nuclear physics.
Access includes user training and scientific/technical support.
Activities to integrate access procedures, develop remote/virtual services, and improve/harmonize infrastructure services are supported.
The primary goal is access provision to existing services.
Improvement and optimization of services, development of new services relevant to scientific challenges, including joint/cross-research infrastructure services, are supported if the resulting services are opened and offered under the actions and their long-term sustainability is ensured.
Adherence to the European Charter for Access to Research Infrastructures is required.
Data management, interoperability, and connection to the European Open Science Cloud should be addressed.
Proposals should consider major European/international initiatives and foster the use of global standards.
A wide portfolio of complementary research infrastructure services, including data services, relevant for frontier research should be made available.
Actions should link to pan-European research infrastructures prioritized by ESFRI and the ERICs, including at least one ESFRI Landmark or ERIC as a beneficiary.
Access can be open to third countries’ researchers for global scientific challenges.
Third-country research infrastructures may be involved if they offer complementary or more advanced services than those in EU Member States and Associated Countries.
Proposals should include an outreach plan to advertise services, especially in Widening countries.
Synergies and coherence with other EU grants supporting access provision are expected.
Proposals should list services/installations opened for access and the amount of access units available.
Integration of the gender dimension is not mandatory.

General Conditions:

Admissibility: The proposal page limit is 100 pages.
Eligible Countries: Specified in Annex B of the Work Programme and the Horizon Europe Programme Guide. Certain non-EU/non-Associated Countries have provisions for funding participants.
Other Eligible Conditions: Access provision activities must be included. Legal entities from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, India, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, and USA are eligible for funding if they provide access to their research infrastructures.
Financial and Operational Capacity: As described in Annex C of the Work Programme.
Evaluation and Award: Grants will be awarded to ensure a balanced portfolio across scientific domains. The evaluation process is detailed in Annex D and F of the Work Programme and the Online Manual.
Legal and Financial Set-up: The funding rate is 80% of eligible costs, which may take the form of unit costs for transnational and virtual access.

Specific Conditions:

Application forms are available in the Submission System.
Model Grant Agreements include HE MGA, HE Unit MGA, Lump Sum MGA, Operating Grants MGA, and Framework Partnership Agreement FPA.
Additional documents include the HE Main Work Programme, HE Programme Guide, EU Financial Regulation, and guidelines on lump sums.

Budget:

The total budget for the call is specified, with individual topics having their own budget allocations, contribution ranges, and indicative numbers of grants. For HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01-SERV-04 the budget is 20,000,000 EUR and the indicative number of grants is 5.

Timeline:

The call opens on 06 May 2025.
The deadline for submissions is 18 September 2025, 17:00:00 Brussels time.

Additional Information:

Partner search announcements can be viewed and edited on the Funding & Tenders Portal.
Applicants should consult the Online Manual, Horizon Europe Programme Guide, and Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ for guidance.
Support services include the Research Enquiry Service, National Contact Points (NCPs), Enterprise Europe Network, IT Helpdesk, and European IPR Helpdesk.

In summary, this Horizon Europe call aims to enhance research by providing researchers with access to top-tier research infrastructures, promoting collaboration, and improving data management, with a focus on curiosity-driven research across various scientific domains. The funding supports transnational and virtual access, training, and service harmonization, excluding long-term R&D for new infrastructure development.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types for this opportunity include legal entities such as research infrastructures of European interest, ESFRI Landmarks, European Research Infrastructure Consortia (ERICs), legal entities hosting ERIC facilities, and affiliated entities or third parties providing services to research infrastructures. Researchers from EU Member States, Associated Countries, and potentially third countries can benefit from the access provided. Legal entities established in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, India, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, and USA are exceptionally eligible for funding if they provide access to their research infrastructures to researchers from Member States and Associated Countries.

Funding Type: The primary financial mechanism is a grant, specifically HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions (HORIZON-RIA) and HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions (HORIZON-CSA) under the Horizon Europe Programme. The Model Grant Agreement is HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG].

Consortium Requirement: The opportunity appears to require a consortium, as proposals should involve a network of interdisciplinary research infrastructures and include at least one ESFRI Landmark or ERIC as a beneficiary. However, in the case of a distributed ERIC, a legal entity hosting ERIC facilities may participate as a beneficiary as an alternative to the ERIC itself.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The primary geographic eligibility focuses on EU Member States and Associated Countries. However, researchers from third countries can also benefit from access. Additionally, legal entities from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, India, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, and USA are exceptionally eligible for funding under specific conditions. The outreach should include Widening countries.

Target Sector: The program targets research infrastructures across a wide range of scientific domains, excluding specific sub-domains already covered by Horizon Europe Research Infrastructures part of Work Programme 2023 to 2025, curiosity-driven INFRASERV topics. These excluded domains/sub-domains are: Environment/Biosphere: terrestrial biodiversity and ecosystems, including forest; Physical sciences and engineering/Astronomy and Astroparticle physics; Arts and Humanities; Environment / atmospheric chemistry and dynamics; Physical sciences and engineering:/ particle and nuclear physics. The program supports curiosity-driven research and frontier research.

Mentioned Countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, India, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, USA, EU Member States, Associated Countries, Widening Countries.

Project Stage: The program focuses on providing access to existing research infrastructure services. It supports the improvement and optimization of existing services and the development of new services that can be opened and offered during the project's lifetime (short-term R&D). It does not support longer-term R&D for new instrumentation, tools, methods, and advanced digital solutions. Therefore, the project stage is primarily focused on validation, demonstration, and potentially some limited commercialization of existing services.

Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific topic within the call, ranging from 1,000,000 EUR to 15,000,000 EUR for Coordination and Support Actions (CSA) and from 3,000,000 EUR to 15,000,000 EUR or "around 5,000,000 EUR" to "around 10,000,000 EUR" for Research and Innovation Actions (RIA).

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 grants to cover eligible costs, with a funding rate of 80%. Eligible costs may take the form of unit costs for trans-national and virtual access to research infrastructures. The support also includes non-monetary services such as training and technical support for users of the research infrastructures.

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

Success Rates: The indicative number of grants varies per topic, providing some insight into potential success rates, but the actual success rates are not explicitly stated.

Co-funding Requirement: Co-funding is required, as the funding rate is 80% of the eligible costs, implying that the remaining 20% must be covered by the applicant or other sources.

Summary: This Horizon Europe call aims to enhance access to research infrastructures for researchers, promoting curiosity-driven and frontier research across various scientific domains. It provides funding for transnational and virtual access to research infrastructure services, training, and support, with a focus on sustainability and balanced use of resources. The call is open to a wide range of legal entities, including research infrastructures, ESFRI Landmarks, and ERICs, primarily from EU Member States and Associated Countries, with some exceptions for entities from specific third countries. Proposals should focus on providing access to existing services, with limited support for short-term R&D to improve or develop new services that can be offered within the project's duration. The funding rate is 80% of eligible costs, and projects are expected to contribute to wider access, improved services, researcher training, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and better data management. The application process is a single-stage open call, and consortia are generally required, with at least one ESFRI Landmark or ERIC as a beneficiary.