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Grant Details

Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

This grant aims to provide specific support for the co-programmed European Virtual Worlds Partnership and the Web 4.0 initiative. It seeks to foster a thriving European ecosystem for trustworthy, human-centric virtual worlds and an open, interoperable Web 4.0. The grant targets organizations capable of coordinating and supporting a diverse network including academia, industry (with a focus on SMEs), public actors, end-users, developers, and researchers. This is a SECTOR-SPECIFIC grant focused on digital technologies. It is open to entities from EU Member States and Associated Countries. Key filtering criteria include a focus on Virtual Worlds and Web 4.0, demonstrated ability to lead coordination and support actions, alignment with European values, and willingness to engage diverse stakeholders. This is a one-time call within the broader Horizon Europe program (2021-2027), specifically part of Cluster 4 'Digital, Industry and Space' for 2025.

Financial Structure

  • Total budget for this call is 2,500,000 EUR.
  • The expected grant amount per project is 2,500,000 EUR, suggesting one project will be funded.
  • Currency is EUR.
  • Information regarding eligible and ineligible costs, matching fund requirements, payment schedules, financial reporting, and audit requirements is described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes; these details are not provided in this document.

Eligibility Requirements

Organization Type & Structure
  • Eligible entities include: academia, industry, public actors, end-users, developers, research teams, startups, and civil society.
  • A consortium is required for this Coordination and Support Action (CSA).
  • Legal and financial setup must conform to Annex G of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.
Geographic & Regulatory Compliance
  • Organizations must be from EU Member States or Associated Countries.
  • Subject to restrictions for the protection of European communication networks.
  • Must comply with general conditions in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Technical & Professional Qualifications
  • Proposals must involve the effective contribution of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) disciplines and SSH experts.
  • Demonstrated capacity to support the development of Strategic Research and Innovation Agendas (SRIA) for Virtual Worlds and Web 4.0.
  • Ability to support and encourage the adoption of Virtual Worlds across all Member States and Associated Countries.
Exclusion Criteria
  • Information on specific exclusion criteria is described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes; details are not provided in this document.

Application Process

Application Procedure
  • The application process is single-stage.
  • Submission must be completed via the Electronic Submission Service on the Funding & Tenders Portal.
  • Applicants are required to sign in using EU Login or a supported third-party sign-in option.
Required Documentation & Materials
  • The proposal application form (Part B), specific to this call, is available in the Submission System.
  • General Admissibility Conditions for page limits and layout are described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.
  • Standard application form templates for 'Coordination and Support Actions' (HE CSA) and evaluation form templates (HE CSA) will be used.
Timeline & Deadlines
  • The submission session opened on 2025-06-10.
  • The application deadline is 2025-10-02 00:00:00+0000.
  • An indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes; specific dates are not provided here.
Project Implementation & Reporting
  • The typical project duration is 36 months, though proposals requesting other durations are possible.
  • Proposals are expected to allocate tasks to cohesion activities with the Partnership on Virtual Worlds and related funded actions.
  • General reporting and progress tracking mechanisms are outlined in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes; specific details are not provided here.
Support & Guidance
  • Various support services are available, including: the 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, ETSI Research Helpdesk, European Charter for Researchers, and Partner Search.

Evaluation Criteria

Award Criteria
  • Criteria, scoring, and thresholds are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes; details are not provided in this document.
  • High quality thresholds and excellence benchmarks are expected, typical for Horizon Europe calls.
Expected Outcomes & Impact
  • Proposals will be evaluated on their contribution to:
  • Establishing and running the European Virtual Worlds Partnership.
  • Delivering a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) for Virtual Worlds that reflects EU values.
  • Delivering a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) for Web 4.0, leading to an inclusive, trustworthy, interoperable, and human-centric Web 4.0.
  • Fostering a strong and competitive ecosystem where European companies lead in Virtual Worlds adoption and development.
  • Reinforcing links and synergies among existing initiatives at EU, national, and regional levels (e.g., Horizon Europe, Digital Europe Programme, EIC, DIHs).
  • Implementing widespread awareness and outreach programmes, particularly targeting SMEs, public administrators, citizens, and civil society.
  • Increasing the adoption of open, accessible, inclusive, safe, and ethical virtual worlds that respect European legal frameworks (privacy, security).
  • Identifying and proposing actions to tackle ethical, legal, societal, and economic aspects of virtual worlds, with particular attention to gender, racial, and other biases.
  • Supporting standardisation in virtual worlds to boost industry and ensure trustworthy and ethical development.
Cross-cutting Themes
  • Strong emphasis on proposals being human-centric, inclusive, ethical, and addressing gender, racial, and other social biases by design.
  • Integration of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) expertise is a specific requirement to enhance societal impact.
  • Alignment with European values and principles is crucial for evaluation.

Compliance & Special Requirements

Regulatory Compliance
  • Compliance with European communication networks restrictions is required.
  • Strict adherence to ethical standards and the European legal framework is mandatory, especially concerning privacy and security in Virtual Worlds.
  • Proposals must consider compliance with the AI Act, aiming for 'compliant by design' AI systems.
Ethical & Societal Considerations
  • There is an explicit requirement to identify and tackle ethical, legal, societal, and economic aspects of virtual worlds.
  • Particular attention and mitigation measures are required for gender, racial, and other biases.
  • Strong emphasis is placed on developing 'trustworthy and human-centric' virtual worlds and Web 4.0.
Collaboration & Synergy
  • Strong encouragement is given to building on and seeking collaboration with existing projects and initiatives, such as HORIZON-CL4-2023-HUMAN-01-21, -22, -23, other Horizon Europe programs, Digital Europe Programme, European Innovation Council (EIC), Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs), and the VR/AR Industrial Coalition.
  • Projects are expected to coordinate, establish links, and ensure complementarities with other relevant European Partnerships (e.g., Data, AI and Robotics; Photonics, European Blockchain Partnerships), the Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative, and EU-supported digital twins initiatives.
Intellectual Property & Standardisation
  • Intellectual property policies are described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.
  • Projects are expected to support standardisation efforts for virtual worlds technologies and in support of the EU regulatory framework, including European representation in standardisation working groups.
Risk Management
  • Proposals should address risks related to potential issues arising from ethical, legal, societal, and economic aspects of virtual worlds, including biases.
  • Outreach programs should aim to ensure public expectations are realistic to avoid backlash.

Grant Details

coordination european legal framework strategic research competitive ecosystem deployment ethics innovation interdisciplinary open safe standardisation horizon europe virtual worlds web 4.0 digital technologies human-centric ai generative ai extended reality immersive environments sria ecosystem building digital commons collaboration trustworthy technology sme support public actors academia civil society ssh gender equality inclusion sustainability regulatory compliance data protection privacy societal impact
Specific support for the Virtual Worlds Partnership and the Web 4.0 initiative (CSA) (Virtual Worlds Partnership)
48401816TOPICSen
Horizon Europe
SME UNIVERSITY ENTERPRISE NGO PUBLIC OTHER
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 AL BA GE IS IL MD ME MK NZ NO RS TR UA UK CH
TECHNOLOGY SOCIAL EDUCATION OTHER
DEVELOPMENT OTHER
OTHER
SDG4 SDG5 SDG8 SDG9 SDG10 SDG16 SDG17
CAPACITY_BUILDING NETWORKING RESEARCH_DEVELOPMENT TRAINING_EDUCATION OTHER
2500000.00
2500000.00
2500000.00
EUR
100.00
Oct. 2, 2025, midnight
None