Grants8 | The most comprehensive grants search on the web

Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

The core objective of this grant is to establish Community Centres of Excellence (CoEs) in High-Performance Computing (HPC) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). These CoEs will focus on advancing, developing, and scaling parallel application codes to achieve exascale and post-exascale performance, including advanced AI capabilities. The ultimate goal is to solve critical scientific, industrial, and societal challenges by providing cutting-edge capabilities to the European HPC user community. This grant is HPC/AI-focused, but its applications are broad, making it largely SECTOR-AGNOSTIC in terms of beneficiary industries (e.g., healthcare, energy, environment). The target recipients are legal entities from European industry, academia, and national scientific communities. The geographic scope includes EU Member States and countries associated with Horizon Europe that are also members of the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking. Key filtering criteria for initial screening include a strong emphasis on advancing HPC/AI codes, clear alignment with grand scientific challenges, and a commitment to broad user community engagement. This is part of a recurring series of calls under the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking framework, building on previous initiatives to strengthen Europe's critical HPC infrastructure and digital autonomy.

Financial Structure

Funding Amounts

The total budget for the overall call (which includes this topic and two others) is €60,000,000.0.
For this specific topic (HORIZON-JU-EUROHPC-2026-COE-LH-01-01), the minimum grant amount per application is €2,000,000.0.
The maximum grant amount per application is €4,000,000.0.
All amounts are in EUR.

Funding Rate and Co-financing

The EU-funding rate for eligible costs for this topic is up to 50% of the total eligible costs. This is an explicit exception from the general Horizon Europe funding rate for Research and Innovation Actions (RIAs).
This means that beneficiaries are required to provide co-financing for the remaining 50% of the project costs.

Eligible and Ineligible Costs

While not explicitly detailed, costs must be 'eligible costs' as per general Horizon Europe rules (e.g., personnel, travel, equipment, other goods and services, and indirect costs). Specific conditions for eligible and ineligible costs are typically detailed in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Financial Capacity

Applicants must demonstrate sufficient financial and operational capacity, as described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Eligibility Requirements

Eligible Organizations

Legal entities established in eligible countries as defined by Annex B of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.
This includes organizations from European industry, academia, and national scientific communities. The grant specifically targets HPC user communities more broadly.

Geographic Location Requirements

Participation is limited to entities from EU Member States and non-EU/non-Associated Countries that have made specific provisions for funding within Horizon Europe projects.
There is a particular emphasis on including user communities from EU widening countries and countries associated with Horizon Europe that are members of the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking.

Qualifications and Capacity

Applicants must demonstrate strong scientific and technical excellence in HPC/AI application development and optimization.
Capacity to deliver highly scalable, optimized codes for exascale or post-exascale performance, including advanced AI capabilities, is required.
Expected to engage in co-design activities with HPC hardware and software developers and providers.
Must possess the operational and financial capacity as described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Partnership Requirements

While not explicitly stated as mandatory, the grant strongly emphasizes the formation of consortia. This is implied by requirements to 'federate existing resources around Europe', ensure 'multidisciplinary collaboration', and establish 'strong links' with other Centres of Excellence and national/EU-funded projects.

Exclusion Criteria

Participation is restricted to safeguard the Union's strategic assets, interests, autonomy, or security.
Actions that might lead to technological dependency on a non-EU source for close-to-market critical technologies are likely to be excluded due to the sensitive nature of Europe's critical HPC infrastructure.

Application Process

Application Deadlines and Submission

The submission deadline for proposals is 2026-01-20 00:00:00+0000 (UTC).
The submission process is single-stage and conducted via the European Commission's Funding & Tenders Portal Electronic Submission Service.

Required Documentation and Materials

Applicants must submit an application using the specific Application Form (Part B) available in the Submission System, which follows the standard Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) template.
The page limit for the application is 70 pages.
Mandatory Deliverables during the grant implementation include:
- A Data Management Plan (to be submitted at the beginning, mid-term, and towards the end of the project).
- A Communication Plan (to be submitted 6 months after the grant's start, together with the Dissemination & Exploitation plan).
- A Plan for Dissemination and Exploitation of Results (to be submitted 6 months after the grant's start and towards the end of the project).

Evaluation and Review Process

The submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.
An indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is also described in Annex F.

Post-Award Requirements

Beneficiaries will be subject to additional obligations regarding open science practices, including the coordinated provision of software, algorithms, and relevant information to the wider European HPC user community.
Additional dissemination obligations include the dissemination of training activities in collaboration with linked grants and relevant Coordination and Support Actions, as part of a coordinated training programme.

Application Assistance

Support resources mentioned include the Online Manual, Horizon Europe Programme Guide, Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ, Research Enquiry Service, National Contact Points (NCPs), Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), IT Helpdesk, European IPR Helpdesk, and CEN-CENELEC/ETSI Research Helpdesks. A Partner Search tool is also available.

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation of proposals will be based on standard Horizon Europe award criteria, scoring, and thresholds as detailed in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes. While specific criteria definitions are not provided in the primary text, the 'Expected Outcome' and 'Scope' sections highlight key aspects that will likely influence scoring: 1. Scientific and Technical Excellence

Quality of Proposed Solutions: Clear definition and justification of the software codes to be developed, enhanced, or optimized.
Innovation and Technical Advancement: Ability to address frontier technical HPC/AI challenges (e.g., load balancing, resilience, heterogeneity, AI-driven developments) and achieve exascale or post-exascale performance.
Co-design: Demonstrated commitment to co-design with HPC hardware and software developers/providers.
Energy Efficiency: Inclusion of activities to improve the energy efficiency of applications, algorithms, methods, libraries, or tools.

2. Impact

Benefit to European HPC Community: Clear and convincing demonstration of positive impact on European HPC users (industry and academia).
Addressing Grand Challenges: How effectively the proposed solution contributes to solving scientific, industrial, or societal challenges (e.g., defeating cancer, fusion energy, natural disaster mitigation).
Skills Development: Contribution to training and capacity building activities, addressing skills gaps, and enabling cross-sector AI-HPC adoption.
Collaboration and Dissemination: Maximizing impact through strong links and mutual benefit with transversal CoEs, Lighthouse Codes, AI Factories, and national/EU-funded projects.
User Engagement: A user-driven approach, ensuring involvement of national scientific communities and wider European users beyond the consortium.

3. Quality and Efficiency of Implementation

Project Plan: A detailed development plan with clearly defined objectives, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), milestones, and deliverables.
Resource Management: Efficient use of existing competences and resources across Europe, ensuring multidisciplinary collaboration.
Work Plan Coherence: Coordinated efforts with EuroHPC, AI Factories, and national HPC programs.
Sustainability: The likelihood of sustained impact beyond the grant period.

Cross-Cutting Themes (Influencing Scoring)

Inclusion and Diversity: Proposals are encouraged to enlarge and expand capabilities by including user communities from EU widening countries and countries associated with Horizon Europe that are members of the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking.
Open Science Practices: Adherence to obligations regarding coordinated provision of software, algorithms, and relevant information to the wider HPC user community.

Compliance & Special Requirements

Regulatory and Ethical Compliance

Applicants must adhere to general conditions outlined in the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes, which cover a wide range of regulatory requirements.
Actions under this grant are considered sensitive due to their role in critical European HPC infrastructure and ecosystem. Projects must implement robust safeguards against cyber-attacks and other security threats.
A key requirement is to avoid technological dependency on non-EU sources for close-to-market critical technologies, ensuring the Union's digital autonomy.

Data Protection and Intellectual Property

A Data Management Plan is a mandatory deliverable, ensuring structured data handling.
Beneficiaries are explicitly required to engage in open science practices, which includes the coordinated provision of software, algorithms, and relevant information to the broader European HPC user community (specifically participating supercomputing centres and linked actions) without undue delay.
Specific intellectual property policies are generally governed by the Horizon Europe Model Grant Agreement (MGA).

Unique Aspects and Strategic Considerations

Specialized Focus: This grant specifically targets the creation and enhancement of Community Centres of Excellence in HPC and AI, with a strong emphasis on achieving exascale and post-exascale performance.
Reduced Funding Rate: A significant aspect is the 50% EU-funding rate, which is lower than the typical 100% for Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Actions, requiring substantial co-financing from beneficiaries.
User-Centric Approach: Strong emphasis is placed on projects being user-driven, with active engagement of the European HPC user community, industry, and academia.
Collaboration and Federation: Proposals are expected to federate existing resources across Europe, exploiting available competencies and ensuring multidisciplinary collaborations (combining application domain, HPC systems, software, and algorithm expertise).
Strategic Inclusion: A key strategic objective is to enlarge capabilities by including user communities from EU widening countries and countries associated with Horizon Europe that are members of the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, fostering synergies with national/regional programs.
Grand Challenges Alignment: Projects must clearly articulate how they address specific 'scientific grand challenges' (e.g., fusion energy, defeating cancer, AI-driven cybersecurity) and justify the advanced HPC performance needs.
Non-Duplication: If targeting areas previously or currently covered by other CoEs, proposals must clearly demonstrate how they expand beyond prior work (e.g., new codes, upgraded/enhanced codes, new user communities) and avoid duplication.

Grant Details