Specific support for the Virtual Worlds Partnership and the Web 4.0 initiative (CSA) (Virtual Worlds Partnership)

The EU's Horizon Europe program is offering a grant opportunity titled HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-17. This grant focuses on providing specific support for the Virtual Worlds Partnership and the Web 4.0 initiative, categorized as a Coordination and Support Action (CSA). The primary goal of this funding is to facilitate the development of a thriving ecosystem for virtual worlds in the EU, covering various aspects of the value chain, and engaging with multiple stakeholders.

Eligible applicants include research institutions, universities, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), large enterprises, public-private partnerships, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are involved in digital innovation. The emphasis is on collaboration among diverse stakeholders, suggesting a consortium may be required for application.

The funding amount is set at €2,500,000, and the application process is structured as a single-stage open call, with submissions commencing on June 10, 2025, and concluding on October 2, 2025. The grant aims to deliver Strategic Research and Innovation Agendas (SRIA) aimed at enhancing the development, standardization, and societal acceptance of virtual worlds technologies.

The project scope primarily includes EU member states and associated nations, targeting sectors such as information and communication technology, virtual and augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and digital infrastructure. It is expected that successful proposals will strengthen links among virtual world initiatives, address ethical and legal dimensions including biases, and promote the adoption of open, accessible, and inclusive virtual world systems.

With a competitive nature, the anticipated success rate for applicants is notably low, expected to be below 10%, due to a limited number of grants available. There is no explicit requirement for co-funding, although collaborative projects would typically leverage additional resources from partners. The overarching vision is to establish and operate a European Virtual Worlds Partnership that advances the community engaged in virtual world technologies and harmonizes various initiatives within the EU framework.

In conclusion, this grant provides an opportunity to strategically coordinate and support the innovative landscape surrounding virtual worlds in Europe, ensuring the technology reflects EU's ethical values and encourages a cohesive, human-centric approach to digital transformation.

The EU's Horizon Europe program is offering a grant opportunity, HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-17, titled "Specific support for the Virtual Worlds Partnership and the Web 4.0 initiative (CSA) (Virtual Worlds Partnership)". This call falls under the DIGITAL - CNECT call within the Horizon Europe program. It is classified as a HORIZON Coordination and Support Action (HORIZON-CSA) with a HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG] Model Grant Agreement.

The call is forthcoming with 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 primary goal of this Coordination and Support Action (CSA) is to provide specific support for the upcoming European Virtual Worlds Partnership and the Web 4.0 initiative. The broader aim is to foster a thriving industrial and end-user ecosystem in the EU related to virtual worlds, encompassing all aspects of the value chain. This includes engaging with the public and providing access to resources, expertise, and technology.

Expected outcomes of the CSA include:

Delivery of a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) for Virtual Worlds in Europe, focusing on useful, open, interoperable, inclusive, sustainable, and trustworthy systems and applications that reflect EU values.

Delivery of a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) for Web 4.0 in Europe, promoting an inclusive, trustworthy, interoperable, and human-centric Web 4.0 that leverages open-source building blocks and respects European values.

Establishment and operation of a European Virtual Worlds Partnership to support the Virtual Worlds and Web 4.0 community.

Development of a strong and competitive ecosystem where European companies play a leading role in the adoption, acceptance, development, and deployment of Virtual Worlds technologies.

Reinforcement of links among virtual world initiatives across Horizon Europe, the Digital Europe Programme, and other EU, national, and regional programs.

Implementation of widespread awareness and outreach programs.

Increased adoption of open, accessible, inclusive, interdisciplinary, and safe virtual worlds that respect ethical values and the European legal framework, including privacy and security.

Standardization methods for virtual world technologies in support of the EU regulatory framework.

The selected proposal should:

Support the Virtual Worlds Partnership in developing a strong and inclusive network by strengthening links and promoting collaboration among academia, industry, public actors, and end-users. This includes major European industrial sectors and relevant stakeholders, ensuring coordinated efforts toward trustworthy and human-centric virtual worlds. The network should also include national representatives to link to national programs and foster synergies between European, national, public, and private initiatives.

Support the development and implementation of a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) for Virtual Worlds.

Support the development of a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) for Web 4.0 in Europe and propose an implementation agenda for a European Web 4.0 strategy for research and innovation. This includes defining the architectural framework, standards, protocols, principles, and identifying main building blocks.

Support the emergence of a thriving European ecosystem for Web 4.0, enabling developers, research teams, industry, and startups to boost technological capabilities, accelerate the uptake of innovative solutions, and foster a supportive business environment.

Support and encourage the adoption of Virtual Worlds in all Member States and Associated Countries, with emphasis on geographical aspects and the value chain.

Develop and implement outreach programs to improve understanding and awareness of Virtual Worlds, including acceptability and trustworthiness. These programs should inform about the potential of Virtual Worlds while ensuring realistic public expectations. Target audiences include the business community (especially SMEs), public administrators, citizens, and civil society.

Identify ethical, legal, societal, and economic aspects of virtual worlds and propose actions to address potential issues, with attention to gender, racial, and other biases.

Support standardization to boost the virtual worlds industry and create trustworthy and ethical Virtual Worlds. This involves bringing stakeholders together and organizing European representation in standardization working groups to support the Commission's regulatory framework.

Proposals are encouraged to build on existing projects and develop synergies with other relevant initiatives and funding programs, including:

Horizon Europe

Digital Europe Programme (e.g., Common European Data spaces, Digital Twins)

European Innovation Council

Digital Innovation Hubs

European Digital Innovation Hubs

European Digital Infrastructure Consortia

VR/AR Industrial Coalition

Specific links are encouraged with:

HORIZON-CL4-2023-HUMAN-01-21: Next Generation eXtended Reality (RIA)

HORIZON-CL4-2023-HUMAN-01-22: eXtended Reality for Industry 5.0 (IA)

HORIZON-CL4-2023-HUMAN-01-23: Supporting the emergence of an open human-centric Metaverse (CSA)

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-11: Open Internet Stack: development of technological commons/open-source 3C building blocks (RIA)

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-08: Large-scale pilots for supply end-to-end infrastructures integrating device, network computing and communication capabilities for Telco Edge Cloud deployments, as a basis for Connected Collaborative Computing Networks (3C networks) (RIA)

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-14: Core technologies for virtual worlds (RIA) (Virtual Worlds and Photonics Partnerships)

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-15: GenAI4EU: Generative AI for Virtual Worlds: Advanced technologies for better performance and hyper personalised and immersive experience (IA) (AI/Data/Robotics & Virtual Worlds Partnerships)

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-16: Drive the evolution of the internet towards open and interoperable Web 4.0 and Virtual Worlds: building blocks in priority areas (RIA) (Virtual Worlds Partnership)

Collaboration and synergies are also encouraged with other European Partnerships (Data, AI and Robotics; Photonics, European Blockchain Partnerships), the Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative, European Flagships (Graphene), and EU-supported digital twins initiatives (Destination Earth).

The Commission suggests a typical project duration of 36 months, but other durations are also possible. Proposals should involve Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) disciplines and experts to enhance the societal impact of research activities. All proposals are expected to allocate tasks to cohesion activities with the Partnership on Virtual Worlds and funded actions related to this partnership.

General conditions for participation include:

Admissibility Conditions: Described in Annex A and Annex E of 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.

Eligible Countries: Described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific provisions may apply to non-EU/non-Associated Countries as detailed in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

Other Eligible Conditions: Subject to restrictions for the protection of European communication networks, as 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 are described 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 described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Legal and financial set-up: 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) information:

Application form templates are available in the Submission System (Standard application form HE CSA).

Evaluation form templates will be used with necessary adaptations (Standard evaluation form HE CSA).

Guidance is provided in the HE Programme Guide.

Model Grant Agreements (MGA) include the HE MGA.

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

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

The budget overview for related topics in the 2025 call includes:

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-08 - HORIZON-RIA: EUR 75,000,000 (Indicative number of grants: 1)

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-09 - HORIZON-CSA: EUR 2,500,000 (Indicative number of grants: 1)

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-10 - HORIZON-CSA: EUR 2,500,000 (Indicative number of grants: 1)

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-11 - HORIZON-RIA: EUR 10,000,000 (Indicative number of grants: 1)

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-12 - HORIZON-CSA: EUR 2,100,000 (Indicative number of grants: 1)

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-13 - HORIZON-IA: EUR 45,000,000 (Indicative number of grants: 6)

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DIGITAL-EMERGING-01 - HORIZON-CSA: EUR 4,500,000 (Indicative number of grants: 1)

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DIGITAL-EMERGING-02 - HORIZON-RIA: EUR 10,000,000 (Indicative number of grants: 2)

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DIGITAL-EMERGING-03 - HORIZON-RIA: EUR 8,000,000 (Indicative number of grants: 3)

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DIGITAL-EMERGING-04 - HORIZON-CSA: EUR 2,500,000 (Indicative number of grants: 1)

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DIGITAL-EMERGING-07 - HORIZON-RIA: EUR 85,000,000 (Indicative number of grants: 2)

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DIGITAL-EMERGING-08 - HORIZON-CSA: EUR 1,000,000 (Indicative number of grants: 1)

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DIGITAL-EMERGING-09 - HORIZON-RIA: EUR 45,000,000 (Indicative number of grants: 3)

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-14 - HORIZON-RIA: EUR 43,000,000 (Indicative number of grants: 7)

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-15 - HORIZON-IA: EUR 20,000,000 (Indicative number of grants: 5)

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-16 - HORIZON-RIA: EUR 14,500,000 (Indicative number of grants: 9)

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-17 - HORIZON-CSA: EUR 2,500,000 (Indicative number of grants: 1)

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-18 - HORIZON-CSA: EUR 3,000,000 (Indicative number of grants: 1)

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-19 - HORIZON-CSA: EUR 3,000,000 (Indicative number of grants: 1)

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-MATERIALS-46 - HORIZON-RIA: EUR 10,000,000 (Indicative number of grants: 2)

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-MATERIALS-47 - HORIZON-RIA: EUR 15,000,000 (Indicative number of grants: 3)

There are 19 partner search announcements available. LEARs, Account Administrators, and self-registrants can publish partner requests for open and forthcoming topics after logging into the Funding & Tenders Portal.

The submission system is planned to open on June 10, 2025.

Applicants are encouraged to carefully read all provisions before preparing their application. The Online Manual provides guidance on procedures from proposal submission to grant management. The Horizon Europe Programme Guide contains detailed guidance on the structure, budget, and political priorities of Horizon Europe. The Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ provides answers to frequently asked questions on proposal submission, evaluation, and grant management.

Additional support resources include the Research Enquiry Service, National Contact Points (NCPs), the Enterprise Europe Network, the IT Helpdesk, the European IPR Helpdesk, and CEN-CENELEC/ETSI Research Helpdesks. Information on the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment is also available. Partner Search tools can help find partner organizations for proposals.

In summary, this Horizon Europe call aims to bolster the European Virtual Worlds Partnership and Web 4.0 initiative by funding a Coordination and Support Action. The goal is to create a strong, inclusive network that drives research, innovation, and deployment of trustworthy, human-centric virtual world technologies. The project should develop strategic agendas, foster a thriving ecosystem, encourage adoption across Europe, address ethical and legal aspects, and support standardization efforts. The call encourages collaboration with existing projects and partnerships to maximize synergies and impact. The indicative budget for this specific HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-17 topic is 2,500,000 EUR, with an expectation of funding one project. However, it is important to note the other related calls for proposals with their own budgets and objectives.

Eligible Applicant Types: The call is open to key stakeholders in the field of virtual worlds and Web 4.0, including academia, industry, public actors, end-users, SMEs, research teams, developers, startups, and national representatives. The call targets a broad range of entities to foster a strong and inclusive network.

Funding Type: The funding type is a HORIZON Coordination and Support Action (HORIZON-CSA) under the Horizon Europe program. It is an Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG].

Consortium Requirement: The call emphasizes the importance of a strong and inclusive network, suggesting that a consortium approach is highly encouraged, if not explicitly required. The need for collaboration among diverse stakeholders (academia, industry, public actors, end-users) implies that a single applicant would likely not be sufficient.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The call is primarily focused on entities within EU Member States and Associated Countries. The scope mentions encouraging the adoption of Virtual Worlds in all Member States and Associated Countries. While non-EU/non-Associated Countries may have specific provisions for funding, the main emphasis is on European participation.

Target Sector: The primary target sectors are ICT, specifically focusing on virtual worlds, Web 4.0, and related digital technologies. It also touches upon areas like data, AI, robotics, photonics, blockchain, and digital twins. The call aims to promote a thriving industrial and end-user ecosystem in the EU, covering all aspects of the virtual worlds value chain.

Mentioned Countries: The call mentions EU Member States and Associated Countries as the primary geographic focus.

Project Stage: The expected maturity of the project is geared towards coordination, support, and strategic planning. The call aims to develop Strategic Research and Innovation Agendas (SRIAs) and support the establishment of a European Virtual Worlds Partnership. Therefore, the focus is on the research, development, and strategic phases rather than commercialization or scale-up.

Funding Amount: The budget for this specific topic (HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-17) is EUR 2,500,000. The contributions range from EUR 1,800,000 to EUR 2,500,000, and the indicative number of grants is 1.

Application Type: The application type is a single-stage call, meaning applicants submit a full proposal at once. The call is forthcoming, with a planned opening date of 10 June 2025 and a deadline of 02 October 2025.

Nature of Support: The beneficiaries will primarily receive money in the form of a grant to support coordination and support actions. The funding is intended to facilitate networking, strategic planning, and the development of agendas and ecosystems.

Application Stages: The application process involves a single stage, where applicants submit a complete proposal for evaluation.

Success Rates: Given that the indicative number of grants for this specific topic is 1, and considering the competitive nature of Horizon Europe calls, the success rate is likely to be below 10%.

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

Summary:

This Horizon Europe call (HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-17) focuses on providing specific support for the European Virtual Worlds Partnership and the Web 4.0 initiative. It aims to foster a thriving industrial and end-user ecosystem in the EU related to virtual worlds. The call is structured as a Coordination and Support Action (CSA), with a budget of EUR 2,500,000 and an expected duration of 36 months.

Eligible applicants include key stakeholders such as academia, industry, public actors, end-users, SMEs, research teams, developers, startups, and national representatives from EU Member States and Associated Countries. The selected project is expected to deliver Strategic Research and Innovation Agendas (SRIAs) for both Virtual Worlds and Web 4.0, establish and support the European Virtual Worlds Partnership, and promote the adoption of virtual worlds across Europe.

The call encourages collaboration with existing projects and initiatives in areas like extended reality, data, AI, robotics, photonics, blockchain, and digital twins. It also emphasizes the importance of addressing ethical, legal, societal, and economic aspects of virtual worlds, including issues related to gender, racial, and other biases.

The application process is a single-stage submission, with a planned opening date of 10 June 2025 and a deadline of 02 October 2025. The funding will be provided as a grant to support coordination and support actions, and the success rate is expected to be low due to the limited number of grants available. In essence, this call is about strategically coordinating and supporting the development of virtual worlds and Web 4.0 technologies in Europe, ensuring they are human-centric, ethical, and aligned with EU values.