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Grant Details

Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

  • Core objective: Enhance the 'lighthouse' basin approach to restore ocean and waters by strengthening basin-scale cooperation and governance, and supporting the replication and scale-up of transformative solutions.
  • Explicit identification of target recipient type and size: Complementary public and/or private organisations and networks with heterogeneous expertise.
  • MUST state if grant is 'SECTOR-SPECIFIC' or 'SECTOR-AGNOSTIC': SECTOR-SPECIFIC
  • Geographic scope and any location requirements: Focus on the four major EU sea/river basins: Atlantic and Arctic, Mediterranean Sea, Baltic and North Sea, and Danube River (including Black Sea). Requires transboundary coordination within these basins.
  • Key filtering criteria for initial grant screening: Focus on ocean and water restoration, basin-scale collaboration, coordination and support actions, and the deployment of innovative solutions for the blue economy.
  • Grant frequency and program context: Part of the multi-year Horizon Europe Mission 'Restore our ocean and waters by 2030' Work Programme, indicating recurring opportunities.

Financial Structure

  • Funding amounts: Individual grants are expected to range from a minimum of €3,000,000 to a maximum of €3,550,000.
  • Total budget for this specific topic (HORIZON-MISS-2025-03-OCEAN-07) is €14,200,000, with 4 grants expected to be awarded.
  • Eligible costs: All eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum contribution.
  • Breakdown of costs: Applicants must propose the lump sum amount based on estimated direct and indirect costs, broken down by work package and per beneficiary/affiliated entity.
  • Categories of costs covered by lump sum (if eligible under Horizon Europe rules):
    • Personnel costs: Employees, natural persons under direct contract, seconded persons, SME owners, natural person beneficiaries.
    • Subcontracting costs.
    • Purchase costs: Travel and subsistence, equipment, other goods, works, and services.
    • Other cost categories: Financial support to third parties, internally invoiced goods and services, transnational/virtual access to research infrastructure, PCP/PPI procurement costs.
  • Indirect costs: Calculated at a 25% flat rate of eligible direct costs.
  • Payment mechanisms: Lump sum contributions per work package are paid upon verification of proper implementation of those work packages, in accordance with the grant agreement's Annex 1.
  • Mutual Insurance Mechanism: Between 5% and 8% of the total lump sum is retained as a contribution to this mechanism.
  • Financial reporting: No reporting of actual costs incurred is required. Financial checks and ex-post audits are minimized.
  • Co-financing: The total estimated costs of the action must be greater than the estimated Union contribution to comply with co-financing principles.

Eligibility Requirements

Organizational Type and Structure
  • Proposals must involve complementary public and/or private organisations and networks.
  • Must integrate heterogeneous expertise.
  • A consortium is expected, bringing together various organisations.
Geographic Location
  • Eligible countries are described in Annex B of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes. This document was not provided, so specific country ISO codes cannot be listed.
  • Projects must address one of the four specified Mission 'lighthouses' (sea/river basins): Atlantic and Arctic, Mediterranean Sea, Baltic and North Sea, or Danube River basin (including Black Sea).
  • Required to demonstrate basin-scale coordination and cooperation across regions.
Financial and Operational Capacity
  • Applicants must meet financial and operational capacity criteria as detailed in Annex C of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.
  • Costs will be managed via a lump sum contribution, requiring a detailed upfront estimation of direct and indirect project costs.
Exclusion Criteria
  • Applicants must not fall under the exclusion criteria outlined in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Application Process

Application Submission
  • Application deadline: 2025-09-24 00:00:00+0000.
  • Submission procedure: Single-stage application process.
  • Submission platform: Applications must be submitted through the Electronic Submission Service on the Funding & Tenders Portal.
Required Documentation and Materials
  • Applicants must adhere to proposal page limits and layout described in Part B of the Application Form.
  • The application form specific to this call (HE CSA standard application form) is available in the Submission System.
  • A detailed budget table (HE LS) is required to present the estimated lump sum contribution, broken down by work package and beneficiary.
Evaluation Process
  • Evaluation criteria, scoring, and thresholds are specified in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.
  • The submission and evaluation processes are detailed in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.
  • Proposals will be evaluated by external independent experts.
Grant Agreement and Timeline
  • An indicative timeline for evaluation and the grant agreement preparation is provided in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.
  • The legal and financial framework for grants is described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.
  • The Lump Sum Model Grant Agreement (MGA) will be used.
Application Support
  • Guidance and assistance are available through:
    • The Online Manual for procedures.
    • The Horizon Europe Programme Guide.
    • The Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ.
    • The Research Enquiry Service.
    • National Contact Points (NCPs) in EU and associated countries.
    • The Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), particularly for SMEs.
    • The IT Helpdesk for technical submission issues.
    • The European IPR Helpdesk for intellectual property concerns.
    • CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk for standardisation advice.
    • The European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for researcher-related principles.
  • A 'Partner Search' functionality is available on the portal to help find consortium partners.

Evaluation Criteria

Award Criteria
  • Proposals will be assessed based on three main criteria: excellence, expected impact, and quality and efficiency of the implementation.
Geographical Balance
  • To ensure a balanced portfolio, grants will be awarded based on ranking, but also guaranteeing at least one highest-ranked proposal from each of the four specified sea/river basins (Atlantic and Arctic, Mediterranean Sea, Baltic and North Sea, Danube River including Black Sea), provided all minimum thresholds are met.
Financial Assessment
  • Experts with financial knowledge will review the proposed budget estimate, checking it against relevant benchmarks (e.g., market prices, statistical data, historical data).
  • Experts will assess whether the proposed resources and the lump sum breakdown are sufficient to achieve the defined activities and expected outputs.
  • Beneficiaries must declare that they have prepared their estimated budget using their own accounting practices.
Impact and Alignment
  • Proposals must clearly demonstrate how their activities and results contribute to the Mission's objectives and the overall 'lighthouse' basin approach.
  • Expected outcomes include:
    • Structuring effect on national and regional hubs, ensuring policy coherence and alignment.
    • Well-coordinated activities supported by a consistent monitoring framework.
    • Effective provision of technical services, governance, and business models to local stakeholders.
    • Development of a well-functioning basin-scale innovation ecosystem attractive to investors.
    • Increased awareness and citizen involvement in Mission implementation.
    • Enhanced coordination and collaboration among various lighthouses.
    • Greater involvement of public procurement bodies in the innovation cycle.
    • Strengthened regional implementation of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.
  • Projects must align with the Mission's timeframe, specifically contributing to the ‘deployment and upscaling phase’ by 2030.
Technical Quality and Implementation
  • Quality of support measures for replicating and upscaling innovative solutions (dissemination, demonstration, access to finance, knowledge/technology transfer, 'associated regions' involvement).
  • Effectiveness of actions to promote the Mission to stakeholders and the general public.
  • Robustness of plans to mobilize national, regional, and private funds (joint initiatives, alignment with Smart Specialisation Strategies, engaging funding organisations, supporting Pre-Commercial Procurements/Public Procurement of Innovative solutions).
  • Contribution to overall Mission monitoring by providing relevant information for the basin lighthouse area and liaising with other Mission projects.
  • Strength of lighthouse governance and networking (liaison with Mission secretariat, promoting actions under Mission charter, establishing effective participatory governance, liaising with UN Ocean Decade, consolidating/setting up national/regional mission hubs, exchanging best practices with other EU Missions).

Compliance & Special Requirements

Legal and Regulatory Compliance
  • Admissibility conditions, eligible countries, and other eligibility requirements are defined in the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.
  • Compliance with the Decision of 7 July 2021 regarding the use of lump sum contributions under Horizon Europe is mandatory.
  • General Horizon Europe rules on financial and operational capacity, as well as exclusion criteria, apply.
Data Management and Dissemination
  • Project results are expected to be shared and disseminated following FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable) principles.
  • Activities should be compatible with existing EU initiatives like the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) and the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC).
  • The project should contribute to widening access to ocean/water data and knowledge, specifically through the Digital Twin Ocean (DTO).
Monitoring and Accountability
  • Checks, reviews, and audits will primarily focus on the technical implementation of the project, specifically verifying that the conditions for releasing lump sum contributions per work package have been met.
  • Other aspects of the grant agreement, such as ethics and research integrity, dissemination and exploitation of results, management of intellectual property, and gender equality, will also be monitored for compliance.
  • Failure to meet payment conditions for a work package may result in non-payment or recovery of undue payments.
Strategic Alignment and Context
  • The grant is integral to the EU Mission 'Restore our ocean and waters by 2030', contributing directly to its core objectives: protecting/restoring marine and freshwater ecosystems, preventing/eliminating pollution, and fostering a carbon-neutral/circular blue economy.
  • The activities should strengthen the regional implementation of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.
  • Proposals are encouraged to build upon and enhance outcomes from previous Mission work programmes (e.g., Prep4Blue, BlueMissionAA, BlueMissionMed, BlueMissionBANOS, EcoDaLLi).
  • Applicants should actively seek complementarities and potential additional funding from other relevant EU, national, or regional R&I programs (e.g., EMFF/EMFAF, LIFE, ERDF, ESF+, JTF, CEF Inland Waterways/Maritime, InvestEU) and private funds.
Risk Management
  • While the lump sum funding model simplifies financial management and reduces ex-post financial error rates, the primary risk lies in technical non-compliance or failure to demonstrably complete work packages, which can lead to non-payment.
Intellectual Property
  • Management of intellectual property is a key component of the grant agreement that will be monitored, adhering to general Horizon Europe IP policies.

Grant Details

ocean water marine blue economy ecosystems biodiversity pollution climate change digital twin innovation governance coordination collaboration lighthouses atlantic arctic mediterranean baltic north sea danube river black sea sustainability un decade of ocean science research development capacity building networking monitoring data ai environment technology social impact
Mission Lighthouses coordination and support activities
48335625TOPICSen
Horizon Europe
UNIVERSITY NGO ENTERPRISE 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
ENVIRONMENT TECHNOLOGY SOCIAL
DEVELOPMENT GROWTH
OTHER
SDG6 SDG13 SDG14
FUNDING CAPACITY_BUILDING NETWORKING RESEARCH_DEVELOPMENT OPERATIONAL_SUPPORT PILOT_PROJECTS
14200000.00
3000000.00
3550000.00
EUR
100.00
Sept. 24, 2025, midnight
None