Grants8 | The most comprehensive grants search on the web

Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

- - The grant's core objective is to provide innovative, customised, and efficient research infrastructure services that enhance society's problem-solving capacity and support evidence-based policy making in the health domain. - It specifically targets research and innovation related to: 1) medical countermeasures for epidemic response, 2) improving clinical research in the paediatric area, and 3) enabling research linking environmental factors to human health. - Target recipient type: Organisations providing access to state-of-the-art research infrastructures (RIs) of European interest, including ESFRI Landmarks and European Research Infrastructure Consortia (ERICs). - Target size: Not explicitly defined by employee count, but typically large research institutions and consortia due to the nature of RIs. SMEs are envisioned as users of these services. - This grant is SECTOR-SPECIFIC focusing on 'Healthcare', 'Technology', 'Environment', and 'Research & Development' sectors. - Geographic scope: Primarily EU Member States and Associated Countries. Certain non-EU/non-Associated countries are exceptionally eligible for funding if they provide access to RIs for EU/Associated researchers. - Key filtering criteria: Applicant must operate or provide access to existing RIs, address one of the three specified health-related areas, and include at least one ESFRI Landmark or ERIC as a beneficiary. - Grant frequency: Part of the Horizon Europe framework, which typically issues recurring calls.

Financial Structure

Funding type: HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions (RIA).
Total budget available for this specific topic (HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01-SERV-01): 30,000,000 EUR.
Expected number of grants: 3.
Minimum contribution per grant: 10,000,000 EUR.
Maximum contribution per grant: 10,000,000 EUR.
Currency: EUR.
Eligible costs: May take the form of unit costs for trans-national and virtual access to research infrastructures, as defined in the Decision authorising the use of unit costs for these actions (Annex 2a of the Horizon Europe Model Grant Agreement).
Financial and operational capacity: Required as described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Funding rate: Not specified as a percentage, but defined by eligible unit costs for trans-national and virtual access.

Eligibility Requirements

Organization Type and Legal Structure

Proposals must include at least one ESFRI Landmark or European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) as a beneficiary.
If a 'distributed' ERIC, a legal entity hosting ERIC facilities, resources, or related services may participate as a beneficiary. A declaration signed by the legal representative of the ERIC must confirm support for this participation, explain its relevance for the ERIC, and describe any further cooperation.
The Joint Research Centre (JRC) may participate as a member of the consortium selected for funding.
A 'research infrastructure of European interest' is defined as one able to attract users from EU or Associated Countries other than the country where the infrastructure is located. This includes ESFRI and ERIC infrastructures.
An 'ESFRI Landmark' refers to research infrastructures identified in the ESFRI Roadmap (e.g., the 2021 ESFRI Roadmap).
An 'ERIC' is a European Research Infrastructure Consortium.
A 'distributed' research infrastructure typically refers to one with central hubs and interlinked national or institutional nodes where components may not be part of the same legal entity as the ERIC.

Geographic Location

Eligible Countries for funding are EU Member States and Associated Countries (as defined in Annex B of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes).
Exceptionally eligible for funding are legal entities established in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, India, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, and USA, provided they offer access to their research infrastructures to researchers from EU Member States and Associated Countries under the grant.
Research infrastructures from third countries may be involved as beneficiaries or affiliated entities only if they offer complementary or more advanced services than those available in EU Member States and Associated Countries.

Specific Qualifications and Certifications

Access provision activities must be explicitly included in the proposal.
Proposals must adhere to the guidelines and principles outlined in the 'European Charter for Access to Research Infrastructures'.

Partnership or Consortium Requirements

A consortium is required.
Proposals must involve an interdisciplinary set of research infrastructures of European interest to provide a wide, inclusive, and comprehensive portfolio of complementary services.

Application Process

Application Deadlines and Submission

Submission session opens: 2025-05-06.
Application deadline: 2025-09-18.
Submission procedure: Single-stage.

Required Documentation and Materials

Application form: Specific to this call, available in the Submission System.
Proposal page limit: 100 pages for the application (specific to this topic due to required information on research infrastructures providing access).
Exploitation and dissemination plan: Not required, as the main objective of these actions is service provision.

Model Grant Agreement (MGA)

The standard model grant agreement is 'HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based' (HORIZON-AG).

Support and Guidance Available

Online Manual: Comprehensive guide for proposal submission and grant management.
Horizon Europe Programme Guide: Detailed guidance on the structure, budget, and political priorities of Horizon Europe.
Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ: Answers to common questions on submission, evaluation, and grant management.
Research Enquiry Service: For general questions about European research and EU Research Framework Programmes.
National Contact Points (NCPs): Guidance and assistance on participation in Horizon Europe, available in EU, Associated, and many third countries.
Enterprise Europe Network: Advice for businesses, especially SMEs, including on EU research funding.
IT Helpdesk: For technical issues with the Funding & Tenders Portal (e.g., forgotten passwords, access rights, submission technicalities).
European IPR Helpdesk: Assistance on intellectual property issues.
CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk: Advice on standardisation in project proposals.
European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct: General principles and requirements for researchers, employers, and funders.
Partner Search: Tool to find partner organisations for proposals.

Project Implementation and Reporting

Implementation timeline: The main goal is access provision to existing services. Improvement and optimisation of services, and development of new services for short-term R&D are supported. Further development of new/improved services for mid-term (2-3 years) may be supported if justified.
Long-term sustainability concept: Expected, especially for research infrastructure networks supporting epidemic research (Area 1).
Reporting requirements: Financial reporting and audit requirements are described in Annex C and G of Work Programme General Annexes.

Evaluation Criteria

Award Criteria

Proposals will be assessed against the general award criteria for Horizon Europe, which include 'Excellence', 'Impact', and 'Quality and Efficiency of the Implementation' (as described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes).
To ensure a balanced portfolio across the different health areas (epidemic response, paediatric clinical research, environmental health), grants will be awarded not only by ranking but also to the highest-ranked proposals within each area, provided they meet all thresholds.

Excellence Criterion - Additional Aspects

The extent to which the proposed access activities (trans-national and/or virtual access) offer access to state-of-the-art infrastructures of European interest in the field.
The provision of high quality services by the infrastructures and their ability to enable users to conduct excellent research.
The project's contribution to facilitating and integrating access procedures.
The project's efforts to improve the services provided by the infrastructures.
The project's commitment to further develop the infrastructures' on-line services.

Cross-Cutting Themes (Scoring Factors)

Data management (and related ethics issues), interoperability, and connection of digital services to the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) should be addressed where relevant.
Proposals should take into account major European or international initiatives relevant to the domain and foster the use and deployment of (open) global standards.
Integration of the gender dimension in research and innovation content is not mandatory for the proposal itself; however, proposals should promote this for users applying for access through their calls.

Compliance & Special Requirements

Regulatory Compliance Requirements

Proposals must comply with regulatory requirements for clinical research, especially in the paediatric area, to meet licensure requirements and facilitate clinical use of medicines and devices.

Data Protection and Privacy Regulations

Compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is mandatory, particularly for data emerging from access provision activities.
Data management (including ethics issues), interoperability, and connection of digital services to the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) must be addressed where relevant.
Data resulting from user project activities should adhere to FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable).
Metadata, statistical, and anonymised datasets should comply with FAIR principles to be accessible under the European Open Science Cloud.

Ethical Standards and Requirements

Ethics issues related to data management must be addressed.
While not mandatory for the proposal content itself, proposals should promote the integration of the gender dimension (sex and gender analysis) in the research and innovation content of the users applying for access.

Intellectual Property Policies

Intellectual property policies are governed by the Horizon Europe Model Grant Agreement (MGA).

Risk Management and Security Requirements

Flexibility in service provision must be demonstrated to ensure fast re-orientation and expansion of the portfolio in response to unexpected epidemic situations (Area 1).

Unique Aspects and Strategic Opportunities

The grant primarily focuses on funding access provision to existing services provided by research infrastructures, rather than long-term research and development of new instrumentation or methodologies.
Proposed actions should be strongly linked to research infrastructures of pan-European relevance, as prioritised by ESFRI and ERICs.
Collaboration with the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) is encouraged in specific areas (e.g., Nanobiotechnology laboratory for Area 1, Water Laboratory and High Throughput Testing facility for Area 3).
Proposals are expected to include an outreach and engagement plan to advertise services to targeted research communities, notably from Widening Countries and relevant industries, including SMEs.
Synergies and complementarity with other EU grants supporting access provision should be exploited.
Emphasis on the 'One-Health concept', particularly in Area 1 (transmission of pathogens from animals to humans) and Area 3 (environmental factors linked to human health).
For paediatric research (Area 2), wider geographical outreach and international collaboration, including with Low-to-Middle-Income Countries (LMIC), is strongly encouraged.
Alignment with various EU-level initiatives and partnerships is crucial, such as the Pandemic Preparedness Partnership, EU Reference Laboratories, EU4Health, EnprEMA, Innovative Health Initiative, Transforming Health and Care Systems, Personalised Medicine partnership (EP PerMed), ERA for Health Research (ERA4Health), Partnership on Rare Diseases research (ERDERA), ESFRI roadmap efforts (e.g., EIRENE), European Human Exposome Network (EHEN), Information Platform for Chemical Monitoring (IPCHEM), EC Knowledge Centre on Cancer, and European Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals (PARC).

Grant Details