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Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

The core objective of this grant is to significantly advance research and innovation related to the Air Traffic Management (ATM) system's impact on climate change. It seeks to develop solutions and increase knowledge regarding environmental effects beyond greenhouse gas emissions, such as noise, air quality pollutants, and the impact of extreme weather events. - Target recipients: Entities capable of conducting research and innovation in aviation environmental impacts. - SECTOR-SPECIFIC: Aviation/Air Traffic Management. - Geographic scope: Countries eligible for Horizon Europe funding (EU Member States and Associated Countries). - Key filtering criteria: Focus on ATM, climate change, and environmental impacts (noise, air quality, weather, contrails). Projects must address one or more of the specified research areas. - Grant frequency: This is part of the SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking Bi-Annual Work Programme (BAWP) 2024-2025, indicating it's part of a recurring program.

Financial Structure

Funding Details

Funding type: The grant funding will take the form of a lump sum, as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 regarding Horizon Europe.
Minimum funding per project: EUR 500,000.0.
Maximum funding per project: EUR 1,000,000.0.
Currency: EUR (Euro).
Funding rate: Eligible costs covered by the grant are expected to be 100.0% of the agreed lump sum for beneficiaries. (Lump sum funding implies that the agreed amount covers the full eligible cost of the project activities).

Cost Categories

Eligible costs: Covered by the lump sum agreement, based on predefined activities and deliverables.
Ineligible costs: Not explicitly detailed, but typically include costs not directly related to the agreed lump sum project activities.

Financial Reporting & Audit

Reporting: Beneficiaries are subject to financial reporting requirements as described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Lump Sum Model Grant Agreement (MGA).
Audit: Standard audit requirements apply as per the MGA.

Eligibility Requirements

Organization Type & Legal Status

Eligible entities: Described in Annex B of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes. This typically includes universities, research organizations, public bodies, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), and large enterprises.
Legal status: Must be independent legal entities.
Specific restrictions: This call is subject to restrictions for the protection of European communication networks.

Geographic Location

Eligible countries: Described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. This typically includes EU Member States and countries associated with Horizon Europe (e.g., Norway, Iceland, Israel, UK, Switzerland, etc.).
List of eligible EU Member States: 'AT', 'BE', 'BG', 'HR', 'CY', 'CZ', 'DK', 'EE', 'FI', 'FR', 'DE', 'GR', 'HU', 'IE', 'IT', 'LV', 'LT', 'LU', 'MT', 'NL', 'PL', 'PT', 'RO', 'SK', 'SI', 'ES', 'SE'.
List of common associated countries: 'AL', 'AM', 'BA', 'GE', 'IS', 'IL', 'MD', 'ME', 'MK', 'NO', 'RS', 'TR', 'UA', 'UK'

Financial & Operational Capacity

Requirements: Must demonstrate sufficient financial and operational capacity, as described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Technical & Collaboration

Action type: This is a Research and Innovation Action (RIA), which typically requires a consortium for application.
Consortium requirements: A consortium must comprise at least three independent legal entities established in different EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries (as per general Horizon Europe RIA rules referenced by Annex B).

Application Process

Submission platform: Applications must be submitted electronically via the Funding & Tenders Portal's Submission System.
Application forms: A standard Part A application form is required. A specific SESAR 3 application form (RIA, IA) Part B is also required, available in the Submission System.
Supporting materials: A detailed budget table (for lump sums) is required. Applicants should also provide documentation outlining efforts to meet dissemination and exploitation obligations.
Pre-application requirements: Enquiries about proposal submission should be sent to '[email protected]' at least two weeks before the deadline to ensure a timely answer.

Timeline

Submission window: Opened on 2025-04-01.
Application deadline: 2025-09-16 at 00:00 UTC.
Project duration: Maximum 30 months, including a final 6-month period dedicated to communication, dissemination, and exploitation activities related to the research results.

Post-Award Requirements

Reporting schedule: Specific reporting timelines will be detailed in the grant agreement.
Monitoring and evaluation: Required throughout the project duration.
Dissemination obligations: Beneficiaries must proactively share all relevant results, royalty-free and in a timely manner, with other grants awarded under the same call. This must be acknowledged in the proposal and Annex I of the grant agreement.
Exploitation obligations: Results generated must be made available for reuse under fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory conditions through a trusted repository, especially for objectives related to standardisation (requiring a non-exclusive, royalty-free license). For linked actions, mutual access to background and results is required if necessary for implementation or exploitation.

Evaluation Criteria

General Award Criteria

Evaluation is based on criteria described in Annex D of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes and subsection 1.4 of the SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking Bi-Annual Work Programme (BAWP) 2024-2025.
The evaluation committee may include representatives from EU institutions and agencies.

Key Scoring Factors (typical for Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Actions)

Excellence: Assesses the scientific and technological quality of the proposed project, including the soundness of the concept, methodology, novelty, interdisciplinary aspects, and consideration of sex/gender dimension in the research content.
Impact: Evaluates the project's potential to create significant scientific, societal, and/or economic benefits. This includes the credibility of pathways to achieve these impacts, the quality of the dissemination and exploitation plan, and the effectiveness of communication activities.
Quality and Efficiency of Implementation: Focuses on the coherence and effectiveness of the work plan, the appropriateness of the resources (personnel, equipment) allocated, the quality of the management structure, and the complementarity of the participants within the consortium.

Project-Specific Priorities

Innovation and Relevance: Proposals must demonstrate how they will significantly advance understanding and develop solutions for ATM's impact on climate, covering areas such as non-CO2 effects, new propulsion types, extreme weather events, multi-scale air quality systems, and contrails.
Coordination: Explicit requirement for coordination with the 'Aviation Non-CO2 Expert Network (ANCEN)' for any work addressing non-CO2 impacts. Coordination with EASA is also required for research related to the environmental performance-monitoring toolkit.

Compliance & Special Requirements

Regulatory & Legal Compliance

Regulatory compliance: Subject to restrictions for the protection of European communication networks.
Legal framework: Compliance with Council Regulation (EU) 2021/2085 establishing Joint Undertakings under Horizon Europe.
Financial regulations: Adherence to EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509.
Administrative: Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment (Legal Entity Appointed Representative), and Financial Capacity Assessment apply.

Technical & Research Specifics

Research alignment: Proposals must consider ongoing work under the 'Aviation Non-CO2 Expert Network (ANCEN)' for non-CO2 impacts and feed into their community work.
New aircraft types: Research on new aircraft configurations and fuels (e.g., hydrogen) should consider work performed under the 'Clean Aviation programme'.
Knowledge gaps: Proposals should address knowledge gaps reported in relevant ICAO and EASA environmental reports.
AI potential: Research may leverage the potential of AI technologies for accurate, real-time estimations of trajectories and impacts, and for predicting weather phenomena.

Intellectual Property (IP) Policies

Reuse of results: Beneficiaries must make relevant results available for reuse under fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory conditions via a trusted repository.
Standardisation: If results are used for standardisation, beneficiaries must grant a non-exclusive, royalty-free license.
Linked actions: Mutual access to background and results of ongoing and closed linked actions is required if necessary for implementation or exploitation.

Risk Management

Environmental impacts: Particular attention must be paid to the analysis of trade-offs between environmental impacts and other performance areas.

Strategic & Contextual Considerations

Strategic alignment: Projects must align with objectives outlined in Council Regulation (EU) 2021/2085, the SRIA (Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda), and the European ATM Master Plan.
Societal aspects: Research should pay attention to the social acceptance aspects of new entrants (e.g., higher airspace operations, rocket launches) and U-space-enabled drone operations (visual pollution, noise, privacy, wildlife).

Grant Details