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Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

The core objective of this grant is to develop efficient, reliable, and secure service operation methodologies and technologies for complex, multi-stakeholder, dynamic services within the next-generation (6G) communication networks. This includes addressing crucial societal requirements like sustainability, privacy, and AI-conformance.

Explicit identification of target recipient type and size: The grant targets legal entities established in EU Member States, Associated Countries, OECD, and Mercosur countries. While no specific size is mandated, Research and Innovation Actions (RIAs) typically involve research organizations, universities, and technology-focused companies (SMEs, enterprises) capable of significant R&D.
MUST state if grant is 'SECTOR-SPECIFIC' or 'SECTOR-AGNOSTIC': SECTOR-SPECIFIC (focused on Communication engineering and systems telecommunications, specifically 6G).
Geographic scope and any location requirements: Open to legal entities established in EU Member States, Associated Countries, OECD, and Mercosur countries, with specific exclusions for certain high-risk and sanctioned countries/entities.
Key filtering criteria for initial grant screening:
Must be a legal entity from an eligible country.
Must not be controlled by or linked to non-eligible countries or high-risk suppliers.
Must have expertise in 6G, network security, AI, and service operations.
Must align with the scope areas of automation, intelligence in security, service development, runtime dynamics, interfaces, and multi-stakeholder auditing.
Grant frequency and program context: This is a recurring call as part of the annual 'HORIZON-JU-SNS-2025-01' program under Horizon Europe's Smart Networks and Services (SNS) Joint Undertaking.

Financial Structure

Funding type: This grant is a HORIZON JU Research and Innovation Action (RIA), and it is managed as a HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based.
Minimum grant amount per project: The minimum contribution for a single project under this topic is 8,000,000 EUR.
Maximum grant amount per project: The maximum contribution for a single project under this topic is also 8,000,000 EUR.
Total budget for this topic: The total budget allocated for this specific topic (HORIZON-JU-SNS-2025-01-STREAM-B-04-02) is 8,000,000 EUR.
Expected grants for this topic: Only 1 project is expected to be funded under this specific topic.
Currency: All financial amounts are in EUR.
Financial rules: General Annex C (covering financial and operational capacity, and exclusion criteria) and General Annex G (covering the legal and financial set-up of grants) of the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2023-2025 apply to this call.

Eligibility Requirements

Organization Type and Location

Eligible organizations: Legal entities established in any of the following countries:
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden (EU Member States).
Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Iceland, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States (Additional OECD countries).
Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay (Mercosur countries).
Required for certain types: Public bodies, research organisations, or higher education establishments (including private ones) must provide a Gender Equality Plan.
Ineligible entities:
Legal entities established in Russia, Belarus, or non-government-controlled territories of Ukraine.
Entities, regardless of their establishment location, if their proprietary rights are directly or indirectly owned by more than 50% by legal persons established in Russia (as per Council Regulation (EU) 2024/1745).
Entities assessed as 'high-risk suppliers' of mobile network communication equipment (or entities fully or partially owned or controlled by such suppliers).
Entities established in an eligible country but directly or indirectly controlled by a non-eligible country or entity, unless they can provide guarantees, positively assessed by their eligible country of establishment (if an EU Member State or Associated Country), that their participation will not negatively impact the Union's strategic assets, interests, autonomy, or security.

Technical and Legal Qualifications

Control over applicant entity: The control exercised over the applicant legal entity must not restrict its ability to carry out the action, deliver results, or impose restrictions concerning its infrastructure, intellectual property, or know-how needed for the action.
Sensitive information access: Access by a non-eligible country or entity to sensitive information related to the action must be prevented.
Personnel security clearance: Employees or other persons involved in the action must have a national security clearance issued by an eligible country, where appropriate.
Intellectual Property: Ownership of the intellectual property (IP) arising from, and the results of, the action must remain within the recipient during and after completion. The IP must not be subject to control or restrictions by non-eligible countries or entities, and access to it from outside the eligible countries must not be granted without approval from the eligible country where the legal entity is established.

Application Specifics

Full proposal page limit: The limit for a full proposal is 70 pages for Research and Innovation Actions (RIAs) submitted under Stream B (which includes this topic) and Stream C.

Application Process

Submission type: This call follows a single-stage submission procedure.
Submission system: Applications must be submitted through the Electronic Submission Service.
Required form: A call-specific application form will be used for this topic, which will be made available directly within the Submission System.
Draft proposals: If you have started a draft proposal, you can access it by logging into the Funding & Tenders Portal and selecting the 'My Proposals' page within the 'My Area' section.

Deadlines and Timeline

Call opening date: The submission session for this topic became available on 2025-05-22.
Application deadline: The deadline for submitting proposals is 2025-09-18 00:00:00+00.
Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement: The general timeline procedures for evaluation and grant agreement outlined in Annex F of the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2023-2025 apply.

Post-Award Requirements

Collaboration Agreement: Participants in selected projects will be required to cooperate within the broader SNS Programme for topics of common interest. This cooperation will be formalized by signing a written 'collaboration agreement', as referenced in the specific provisions of the Model Grant Agreement (Annex 5 of the MGA).
Open Science for Data: For all SNS topics under Stream B, any AI/ML training data sets created and used within the context of selected projects must be made available through a common repository. This repository must be openly accessible and the data may be used by other SNS projects.

Support and Guidance Various resources are available to support applicants: - General Guidance: Refer to the HE Programme Guide, Model Grant Agreements (MGA), the EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, and the Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment. - Helpdesks & FAQs: Check the JU SNS FAQ, Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual and FAQ. For specific IT issues (e.g., forgotten passwords, access rights, technical aspects of submission), contact the IT Helpdesk. For intellectual property issues, consult the European IPR Helpdesk. - Expert Advice: National Contact Points (NCPs) provide guidance, practical information, and assistance on participating in Horizon Europe. The Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) offers advice to businesses, especially SMEs, including guidance on EU research funding. - Standardization Support: CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk can advise on addressing standardisation aspects in your project proposal. - Partner Search: A service is available to help applicants find suitable partner organizations for their proposals.

Evaluation Criteria

Standard Horizon Europe Criteria

Excellence: This criterion evaluates the quality and relevance of the project's objectives, the soundness of the proposed methodology, and the innovative aspects of the research and innovation.
Impact: This criterion assesses the project's potential contribution to addressing the challenges outlined in the grant, its expected societal, economic, and environmental benefits, and its potential for dissemination and exploitation of results.
Quality and Efficiency of the Implementation: This criterion evaluates the quality of the work plan, the appropriateness of the resources allocated, the capabilities and complementarity of the project team, and the management and coordination arrangements.

Specific Complements to Impact Section

SME Objective: The proposal's contribution to the overall objective related to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) will be specifically assessed as a sub-criterion within the 'Impact' section.
IKOP Objective: The proposal's contribution to the Innovation Key Performance Indicator (IKOP) objective will also be specifically assessed as a sub-criterion within the 'Impact' section.

Tie-Breaking Procedure (for equally ranked RIA proposals) If two Research and Innovation Action (RIA) proposals receive the same score, the following criteria will be used in sequence to sort them: - Step 1: The first criterion is the 'coverage' of the topic (i.e., how comprehensively the proposal addresses the topic's scope). - Step 2: If still tied, the 'Excellence' criterion score is used. - Step 3: If still tied, the generic 'Impact' criterion score is used. - Step 4: If still inconclusive after the above, the level of SME participation in the proposal will be considered as the next tie-breaker. - Step 5: If still inconclusive, the level of IKOP (Innovation Key Performance Indicator) contribution will be considered. - Step 6: If still inconclusive, the procedure outlined in Part F of the General Annexes to the Horizon Europe Work Programme will be resumed from step 3 onwards.

Compliance & Special Requirements

Regulatory Compliance

Horizon Europe Regulation (Article 22(5)): Adherence to restrictions on participation is required to safeguard the Union’s strategic assets, interests, autonomy, and security, specifically avoiding technological dependency on non-EU sources.
EU Restrictive Measures: Compliance with Council Regulation (EU) 2024/1745 (amending Council Regulation (EU) No 833/2014) is mandatory, particularly concerning legal entities with over 50% ownership by legal persons established in Russia.

Intellectual Property

IP Ownership and Control: Intellectual property (IP) arising from the action must remain with the recipient and must not be controlled or restricted by non-eligible countries or entities. Exporting IP or granting access to it from outside eligible countries is prohibited without approval from the eligible country where the legal entity is established.

Technical and Data Requirements

AI/ML Data Sharing: AI/ML training data sets developed within Stream B projects must be deposited in a common, openly accessible repository and made available for use by other SNS projects.
Security Operations Focus: Projects should contribute to automation and intelligence in security operations, encompassing end-to-end attack detection and response in 6G with secure AI, resilient infrastructures, self-healing, proactive defense, and potentially a dedicated Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) platform tailored for 6G.
Service Reliability: Development of service methodologies capable of supporting non-trustable providers while still building reliable end-to-end services.

Strategic Alignment

EU Strategic Interests: The grant prioritizes proposals that guarantee the protection of the Union's strategic interests, assets, autonomy, and security, particularly in communication networks.
Protection of European Communication Networks: Strict compliance with restrictions for the protection of European communication networks, specifically the ineligibility of 'high-risk suppliers' of mobile network communication equipment.

Cross-Cutting Themes

Gender Equality: Public bodies, research organisations, and higher education establishments (including private ones) are required to have a Gender Equality Plan. Additionally, the 'gender dimension' in research and innovation content will be considered during evaluation if research results are expected to differ when applied to different gender populations of users.
Sustainability and Privacy: Expected outcomes explicitly address societal requirements such as sustainability and privacy within service operation methodologies and technologies.

Grant Details