Supporting the long-term resilience and European sovereignty of critical research data and knowledge repositories and scientific services for the life...

What it funds:Actions to increase long-term resilience, technical reliability, cybersecurity, trusted access, and European sovereignty of critical research data and knowledge repositories and scientific services used in the life sciences; integration and operational contribution to the EOSC Federation; business and financing models, load‑sharing across actors, and training/upskilling for technical staff.

Who can apply:Consortia of research infrastructures, data and knowledge repositories, scientific service providers, research organisations, and other relevant organisations across EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries (projects must justify broad participation and focus on specific key repositories/services).

Action type and grant model:HORIZON Research and Innovation Action (RIA). Grants awarded as lump sums under the Horizon Lump Sum Grant model (HORIZON-AG-LS).

Budget and number of grants:Indicative total contribution for this topic: €8,000,000 for around 1 grant.

Proposals must:identify the targeted repositories/services and risks; demonstrate integration and operational contribution to EOSC Federation and relevant international frameworks; develop business/financing models, federated technical arrangements, agreements for load‑sharing, and training plans; and ensure complementarity with related Horizon topics and Common European Data Spaces EOSC information 1.

How to apply:Use the Funding & Tenders Portal submission system and the application form available in the Submission System. Read the Work Programme General Annexes for eligibility, admissibility, evaluation rules, and lump sum conditions.

Full topic text, conditions and submission:EU Funding & Tenders Portal – topic page.

Call title:Bridging actions 2027. Topic identifier: HORIZON-BRIDGING (Supporting the long-term resilience and European sovereignty of critical research data and knowledge repositories and scientific services for the life sciences). Programme: Horizon Europe (HORIZON). Type of action: HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions (HORIZON-RIA). Type of grant: Horizon Lump Sum Grant (HORIZON-AG-LS). Opening date: 09 March 2027. Deadline: 15 June 2027 at 17:00 Brussels time. Submission model: single-stage. Planned indicative number of grants for this topic: 1.

Overall objective:Increase the resilience and European sovereignty of critical research data repositories, knowledge repositories and scientific services used in the life sciences by supporting their integration into the EOSC Federation, diversifying their operational base and funding, improving technical reliability and cybersecurity, demonstrating business and financing models that reduce single points of failure, and expanding skills and community uptake across EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries 1.

Expected outcomes (proposals must contribute to all listed):increased resilience and sovereignty of critical European research data and knowledge repositories and scientific services for the life sciences, further integration of trusted FAIR data and research infrastructures in the EOSC Federation, and increased European leadership and contribution to international collaboration frameworks supporting data infrastructures.

Scope details:The action targets critical research, data and knowledge infrastructures and other facilities serving life sciences research (particularly biomedical and biomolecular disciplines). It addresses vulnerabilities such as precarious funding streams, overreliance on a limited number of organisations or experts, and single points of failure. The action supports (i) integration and operational contribution to EOSC Federation and relevant collaborative frameworks to interconnect, share and scale resources, and (ii) creation of a broad community of infrastructure operators to diversify and enrich services, strengthen sustainability and grow uptake by end-users.

Country eligibility:follows Annex B of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes. Eligible applicants include entities established in EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries; a number of third countries that are not automatically eligible may have national provisions allowing participation—refer to the Horizon Europe Programme Guide. Proposals must ensure broad participation across EU Member States and Associated Countries.

Other eligibility and restrictions:restrictions may apply for protection of European communication networks. If satellite-based earth observation or positioning/navigation/timing data are used, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS. Additional eligibility conditions, admissibility rules, page limits and layout are described in the General Annexes (Annex A, Part B of the Application Form) and in the Submission System.

Funding type and form:Primary funding mechanism: grant (Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Action). The grant uses a lump sum model as defined in the Decision authorising lump sum contributions under Horizon Europe (Lump Sum Grant - HORIZON-AG-LS).

Indicative funding amount for this topic:Indicative contribution for this topic: around €8,000,000 for one grant (budget year 2027). The overall Bridging actions 2027 call contains multiple topics with separate budgets; this topic’s indicative budget is approximately €8,000,000.

Consortium requirement:consortium-based proposals are expected and appropriate for the scope; a single grant is expected to be awarded for this topic. The call text requires broad participation across EU Member States and Associated Countries and collaboration with infrastructure operators, data repositories and service providers. The call does not explicitly permit single-participant proposals for this topic; applicants should consult Annex B and the Application Form for final eligibility rules.

Expected project maturity:actions are targeted at operational research infrastructures and services (i.e., development beyond basic research). Activities should demonstrate readiness to adopt and operate EOSC federating capabilities and to implement business/financing models. Typical TRL concept is not explicitly stated for this topic, but the action targets existing operational infrastructures and services (development, deployment, demonstration and sustainability activities rather than early-stage idea research).

Application and evaluation:follow standard Horizon Europe procedures as described in the General Annexes and Online Manual. Award criteria, scoring, thresholds, evaluation templates and procedures are defined in the Work Programme General Annexes (Annex D and Annex F) and standard evaluation forms will be used with necessary adaptations for RIA. Proposals must comply with page limits and layout requirements in Part B of the Application Form in the Submission System.

Submission route:use the Funding & Tenders Portal submission system and the application form available there. Application form templates and examples are available in the Reference Documents section of the Portal. Applicants must register legal entities via the Participant Register and obtain validated PICs before submission.

Application stages and timeline:Single-stage submission. Planned opening 09 March 2027. Deadline 15 June 2027 (single-stage). Indicative evaluation timeline and grant agreement timeline follow Annex F of the General Annexes and the Online Manual; applicants should consult the Portal for exact dates and procedures.

Evaluation criteria and thresholds:Award criteria (excellence, impact, quality and efficiency of implementation) and scoring thresholds are those described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes, with RIA-specific adaptations. Standard evaluation forms for HE RIA/IA will be used.

Co-funding requirement:The lump sum model applies. The call does not specify an obligatory co-funding percentage in the topic text; applicants should follow General Annexes and the lump sum decision. For Horizon actions that normally require co-financing or actual-cost accounting, the rules are in Annex G and the relevant model grant agreement; check the Lump Sum MGA and guidance. Financial and operational capacity checks, exclusion rules and any requirements for legal entity validation (LEAR appointment, PIC validation) are described in Annex C and in the Portal guidance documents.

Technology and data requirements:Proposals shall adopt and contribute to EOSC federating capabilities and FAIR principles (findability, accessibility, interoperability, reusability). They should address trusted data frameworks, interoperability standards, cybersecurity-by-design, federation of technical components, data management plans aligned with FAIR, and demonstrators showing cross-node economies of scale. Proposals may include software development, service federation, API and interoperability layer work, governance frameworks, and operational reliability improvements.

Target sectors and thematic focus:life sciences broadly, particularly biomedical and biomolecular disciplines, biodata repositories, genomic and proteomic databases, knowledgebases, scientific services used by life sciences researchers, and cross-discipline services that benefit life sciences research. Cross-cutting priorities include AI, EOSC and FAIR data, and digital agenda.

Geographic eligibility:EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries (detailed list in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes). The topic encourages participation across Member States and Associated Countries and supports engagement with global collaborative frameworks (e.g., Global Biodata Coalition). No single list of specific countries is mandated in the topic text; applicants should consult Annex B for the full eligibility matrix and check national provisions for third-country participation.

Key actionable next steps for interested applicants:validate organisation PIC and LEAR roles, consult the specific Application Form in the Submission System, prepare Part B following page limits and the evaluation criteria (excellence, impact, implementation), assemble a consortium spanning repositories, infrastructure operators and service providers across Member States and Associated Countries, and document EOSC Federation integration plans and sustainability/business models in detail.