STUDIES ON RAIL INDUSTRY 5.0

The EU-RAIL JU Call Proposals 2025-02 under the Horizon Europe program aims to fund a Research and Innovation Action focused on "Studies on Rail Industry 5.0." This initiative seeks to explore the application of Industry 5.0 principles within the European rail sector, aligning with the vision for a sustainable, people-centric, and resilient industry. The objective is to conduct a comprehensive study that identifies key challenges, drivers, and measurable benefits related to implementing Industry 5.0 concepts in rail, ultimately leading to recommendations for improving safety, reliability, and efficiency in rail operations.

The scope of proposed research includes identifying practices and drivers for implementing Industry 5.0, with a focus on stakeholders such as Infrastructure Managers, operators, suppliers, and academia. It also involves investigating possible solutions, defining drivers, challenges, and risks, and considering public policies and regulations. Success factors for Industry 5.0 in rail are to be defined, addressing competitiveness, job creation, and climate goals. The project will require developing a framework for measuring progress toward implementation and recommending pilot projects to showcase these principles in a human-centric rail system.

General conditions for application specify a proposal page limit of 70 pages. Eligible countries include EU member states and non-EU/non-Associated Countries participating in Horizon Europe. The funding available amounts to a total indicative budget of 600,000 EUR for the topic, with an expectation to fund three research actions likely receiving around 200,000 EUR each. The grant will be provided under a lump sum model as direct financial support for research activities.

Applications will follow a single-stage submission process, with a defined opening date on October 30, 2025, and a submission deadline of February 11, 2026. Private members within the consortia must provide in-kind contributions, totaling no less than 1.26352 times their funding request, reflecting the importance of public-private partnerships within this initiative.

In essence, this call presents an opportunity for participants from academia, the rail supply industry, SMEs, and startups to contribute to the transition of the European rail sector toward Industry 5.0 concepts. The expected research outputs will inform subsequent projects and frameworks, paving the way for implementing a more sustainable, human-centric, and resilient rail system across Europe.

The EU-RAIL JU Call Proposals 2025-02, under the Horizon Europe (HORIZON) program, aims to fund a Research and Innovation Action (RIA) focused on "Studies on Rail Industry 5.0." This call seeks to explore the application of Industry 5.0 principles within the European rail sector, aligning with the European Commission’s vision for a sustainable, people-centric, and resilient industry. The expected outcome is a comprehensive study identifying key challenges, drivers, and measurable benefits of implementing Industry 5.0 concepts in rail, along with recommendations for improving safety, reliability, and efficiency in rail operations.

The scope of the research includes:

Identifying practices and drivers for Industry 5.0 implementation in the rail sector, considering stakeholders like Infrastructure Managers (IMs), operators, suppliers, and academia.
Investigating and identifying possible implementation solutions, defining drivers, challenges, and risks, and focusing on the role of public policies and regulations.
Defining success factors for Industry 5.0 in rail, including competitiveness, reputation, talent attraction, job creation, and meeting climate goals.
Identifying internal and external factors impacting Industry 5.0 implementation, such as worker acceptance of technology, community engagement, and potential inequalities.
Developing a framework for measuring progress toward Industry 5.0 implementation in rail, focusing on safety, reliability, and efficiency.
Recommending pilot projects to showcase Industry 5.0 principles for a human-centric rail system.

Funded actions must consider outputs from EU-RAIL Flagship areas 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, if relevant.

General conditions include:

Admissibility: The proposal page limit is 70 pages, following guidelines in Annex A and E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2023-2025 General Annexes. Proposal layout should adhere to Part B of the Application Form in the Submission System.
Eligible countries: As described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes, with specific provisions for non-EU/non-Associated Countries outlined in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.
Other eligible conditions: As described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Financial and operational capacity and exclusion: As described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Evaluation and award: 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 and the Online Manual. The award criteria are complemented by Annex VIII of the Work Programme.
Indicative timeline: For evaluation and grant agreement, refer to Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Legal and financial setup: The starting date may be the submission date, with justified retroactive costs eligible. Eligible costs will be in the form of a lump sum, as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021.

Specific conditions:

Refer to the specific topic of the Work Programme for details.
The total indicative budget for the topic is 0.6 million EUR.
Applicant Private Members of EU-Rail consortia must provide in-kind contributions to additional activities, declared via the F&T portal. Total in-kind contributions should be no less than 1.26352 times the funding request. Grant agreements will include annual deliverables and reporting requirements for these applicants.
The indicative project duration is 30 months, but proposals with different durations can be submitted.

Applicants should ensure their proposals and consortium demonstrate expertise to achieve the topic's objectives. Expertise should come from academia, the rail supply industry, SMEs, and start-ups, leveraging end-user expectations for 2030 and the EU-Rail Master Plan and Multi-Annual Work Plan.

Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA):

Application form templates are available in the Submission System, including Part B forms for HE EU-RAIL IA, RIA, and CSA.
Evaluation form templates include forms for HE EU-RAIL RIA/IA and CSA.
Guidance is provided in the HE Programme Guide.
Model Grant Agreements (MGA) include the Lump Sum MGA.
Call-specific instructions and information on financial support to third parties are available.

Additional documents:

HE Main Work Programme 2023–2025 – 1. General Introduction
HE Main Work Programme 2023–2025 – 13. General Annexes
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 submission system is planned to open on 30 October 2025. The deadline for proposal submission is 11 February 2026 at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

Support is available through:

EU-RAIL JU Call Helpdesk: info-call@rail-research.europa.eu (queries deadline: Wednesday 28 January 2026 at 17:00 Brussels Local Time).
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.
CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk.
The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment.
Partner Search.

In summary, this EU-RAIL JU call invites proposals for a Research and Innovation Action to study and recommend strategies for implementing Industry 5.0 principles within the European rail sector. The goal is to enhance safety, reliability, and efficiency while ensuring a people-centric and resilient industry. The call encourages participation from academia, industry, SMEs, and start-ups, with a total budget of 0.6 million EUR and a project duration of 30 months. Applicants should carefully review the general and specific conditions, and utilize the available support resources to prepare a comprehensive and impactful proposal.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types include academia, rail supply industry, SMEs, and start-ups. The call also mentions "Applicant Private Members of EU-Rail," suggesting that private sector entities involved in the EU-Rail initiative are particularly relevant. The call specifies that applicants should leverage expertise from the knowledge of academia, the rail supply industry, SMEs, and start-ups.

Funding Type: The primary funding mechanism is a grant, specifically a "HORIZON Lump Sum Grant" under the Horizon Europe program. There are different types of actions that can be funded: Research and Innovation Actions (RIA), Innovation Actions (IA) and Coordination and Support Actions (CSA).

Consortium Requirement: The opportunity requires a consortium of multiple applicants. The call emphasizes that "Applicants shall ensure that their proposals and consortium reflect the aggregated expertise to perform the activities and achieve the objectives set by the topic." The applicants are expected to gather expertise leveraging from the knowledge of Academia and of the rail supply industry, SMEs and start-ups.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility includes EU and non-EU/non-Associated Countries. The call mentions that "A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide."

Target Sector: The program targets the rail sector, with a focus on applying Industry 5.0 principles to improve safety, reliability, and efficiency in rail operations. The thematic sectors include transport, innovation, and potentially advanced machines/processes related to rail technology.

Mentioned Countries: The opportunity explicitly mentions EU countries and non-EU/non-Associated Countries participating in Horizon Europe.

Project Stage: The expected maturity of the project is research and innovation action, implying projects in the research, development, and demonstration stages. The call is for a Research and Innovation Action, which suggests projects that are beyond the initial idea stage but not yet at full commercialization. The call also mentions Innovation Actions and Coordination and Support Actions.

Funding Amount: The funding ranges vary depending on the specific topic. For the HORIZON-JU-ER-2025-EXPLR-01 topic, the budget is 0.6 million EUR. Other topics have budgets ranging from 0.6 million EUR to 33.1 million EUR.

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 lump sum grant.

Application Stages: The application process is single-stage.

Success Rates: The indicative number of grants varies by topic, ranging from 1 to 3 grants per topic.

Co-funding Requirement: Co-funding is required in the form of in-kind contributions from "Applicant Private Members of EU-Rail." These members should provide in-kind contributions to additional activities, with the total in-kind contributions being no less than 1.26352 times the funding request.

Summary:

This opportunity is a call for proposals under the Horizon Europe program, specifically targeting the rail sector and the application of Industry 5.0 principles. The goal is to fund research and innovation actions that will lead to a study identifying key challenges, drivers, and outcomes related to implementing Industry 5.0 in the rail sector. The study should provide recommendations to improve safety, reliability, and efficiency in rail operations.

The call is open to a consortium of applicants, including academia, rail supply industry, SMEs, and start-ups, with a particular emphasis on private members of the EU-Rail initiative. The geographic eligibility extends to EU and non-EU/non-Associated Countries participating in Horizon Europe.

The funding is provided as a lump sum grant, with a total indicative budget of 0.6 million EUR for the HORIZON-JU-ER-2025-EXPLR-01 topic. The project duration is approximately 30 months. The application process is single-stage, with a deadline of February 11, 2026. Private members of EU-Rail are required to provide in-kind contributions as co-funding.

In essence, this call aims to foster research and innovation in the rail sector by exploring the potential of Industry 5.0 to create a more sustainable, people-centric, and resilient European rail industry. It seeks to fund projects that can provide actionable recommendations and pilot projects to drive the adoption of Industry 5.0 principles in rail operations.