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Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

Core Objective: To advance European research infrastructures by using generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) to set up and manage highly complex modelling and simulation activities, delivering digital twins of complex real-world systems.
Target Recipients: Organizations involved in research and innovation, including industry, research institutions, academia, and public authorities. There's a particular focus on AI startups and SMEs.
Designation: SECTOR-SPECIFIC (primarily focused on AI/Digital Twins within sectors like healthcare, transportation, agriculture, environment, manufacturing, and fields related to the Clean Industrial Deal).
Geographic Scope: EU Member States and countries associated with Horizon Europe.
Key Filtering Criteria: Proposals must demonstrate innovative use of generative AI for digital twins, show applicability in multiple scientific domains and application scenarios, and align with key EU AI initiatives (GenAI4EU, Apply AI strategy, Destination Earth).
Grant Frequency: This is part of the Horizon Europe Work Programme, indicating a recurring program context within the 2021-2027 period.

Financial Structure

Funding Type: The grant will take the form of a 'lump sum contribution', meaning payments are based on the completion of predefined work packages and not on actual incurred costs.
Budget Range per Grant: Projects are expected to request between €8,000,000 (minimum contribution) and €10,000,000 (maximum contribution).
Total Topic Budget: The total indicative budget for this topic is €40,000,000.
Expected Number of Grants: Approximately 4 grants are expected to be awarded under this topic.
Currency: All amounts are in EUR.
Funding Rate: The grant covers up to 100.0% of the estimated eligible costs. A 25% flat rate for indirect costs is included in the lump sum calculation.
Eligible Costs: The lump sum covers estimated direct and indirect project costs including: personnel costs (employees, contractors, seconded persons, SME owners/natural persons), subcontracting costs, purchase costs (travel, subsistence, equipment, other goods/works/services), and other specific cost categories (financial support to third parties, internally invoiced goods/services, access to research infrastructure, PCP/PPI procurement, Euratom Cofund staff mobility, ERC additional funding).
Ineligible Costs: Any costs that would be ineligible under standard Horizon Europe rules are excluded from the lump sum calculation.
Payment Schedule: Lump sum contributions are paid per work package upon proper implementation and compliance with grant agreement obligations. Payments are made to the coordinator. Unfulfilled work packages will not be paid until conditions are met, or the grant may be reduced.
Co-financing: The 'sound financial management and co-financing principles' apply, ensuring the total estimated costs exceed the Union contribution.
Financial Guarantees: Between 5% and 8% of the total lump sum is retained as a contribution to the Mutual Insurance Mechanism.

Eligibility Requirements

Organization Type & Capacity

Eligible Organization Types: This grant is open to a wide range of 'beneficiaries' and 'applicants' as is typical for Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Actions (RIAs). The 'AI Factories' initiative, which this grant aligns with, explicitly prioritizes access for 'AI startups and SMEs'. Therefore, 'STARTUP', 'SME', 'ENTERPRISE', 'UNIVERSITY', 'NGO', and 'PUBLIC' research entities are all potentially eligible.
Consortium Requirement: Yes, the grant anticipates multi-beneficiary projects, requiring a consortium. The lump sum contribution is managed per work package and broken down by 'beneficiary and affiliated entity'. Partner search is explicitly allowed.
Capacity Requirements: Applicants must demonstrate the technical and operational capacity to implement complex modelling and digital twin setups, with the ability to show solutions in a relevant environment that can lead to 'sustainable production'.

Geographic Location

Eligible Countries: Entities established in EU Member States or countries associated with the Horizon Europe Programme, as described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Financial & Regulatory

Financial and Operational Capacity: Must comply with requirements described in Annex C of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.
Exclusion Criteria: Subject to exclusion criteria detailed in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Legal Entity Validation: Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment, and Financial Capacity Assessment apply.

Application Process

Application Submission

Submission Platform: Applications must be submitted via the Electronic Submission Service on the Funding & Tenders Portal.
Submission Procedure: Single-stage application process.
Application Form: Use the standard application form specific to 'HE RIA, IA' actions, available in the Submission System. Follow layout and page limits described in Part B of the Application Form.
Required Documentation: Standard application form, and a detailed budget table ('HE LS') outlining estimated costs per work package and beneficiary.
Pre-Application Requirements: Applicants need to sign in to the Funding & Tenders Portal, typically using an EU Login account or a third-party sign-in service. SMS authentication is no longer possible.
Partner Search: The funding organization allows and supports partner searches.

Deadlines & Timeline

Planned Opening Date: 2025-05-06.
Application Deadline: 2025-09-18 00:00:00+00 (UTC).
Evaluation Timeline: An indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is detailed in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes (not provided in this document).

Project Implementation

Implementation Focus: Emphasis is on the technical implementation of the action and the fulfillment of the conditions for releasing lump sum contributions per work package.
Reporting Obligations: No obligation to report actual costs incurred. Reporting focuses on technical progress and achievement of work package conditions.

Application Support & Resources

General Guidance: Applicants can consult the 'Online Manual', 'Horizon Europe Programme Guide', 'Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ', and the 'Research Enquiry Service'.
National and Regional Support: 'National Contact Points (NCPs)' provide guidance and assistance. The 'Enterprise Europe Network' offers advice with a focus on SMEs.
Technical & Legal Support: 'IT Helpdesk' assists with portal technical issues. The 'European IPR Helpdesk' supports intellectual property questions. 'CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk' and 'ETSI Research Helpdesk' advise on standardization.
Ethical Guidelines: Applicants should consult 'The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment'.

Evaluation Criteria

General Award Criteria (Horizon Europe Standard)

Excellence: Quality and relevance of the proposed AI-generated digital twin solutions, scientific and technical methodology, clarity of objectives, and degree of ambition.
Impact: Credibility of expected project impacts on innovation, research methods, and addressing societal/economic challenges. Alignment with EU policies and initiatives, and the potential for uptake by industrial, scientific, or policy users.
Quality and Efficiency of Implementation: Soundness of the work plan, appropriateness of resources, project management structure, and the competence and complementary of the consortium.

Specific Scoring Factors

Innovative AI Use: Demonstrating innovative application of AI, particularly generative AI (e.g., Foundation Models, LLMs), to set up and manage complex modelling and simulation activities.
Multi-Scenario/Domain Applicability: The chosen approach must be proven to work effectively in at least three different application scenarios and for at least two different scientific domains.
User Accessibility: Solutions should enable 'non-technical decision-makers' to express challenges for translation into impactful simulations, utilizing existing digital twins, models, and data sources.
AI Trustworthiness: Proposals must explicitly demonstrate 'trustworthiness/reliability in the use of AI' and commit to 'clear and open communication of AI use and impact to users'.
Best Practices Contribution: Work on developing 'best practices' for using AI to generate digital twins and their setup.
Alignment with European AI Ecosystem: Contribution to the 'European AI Factories' initiative and their capabilities for large-scale AI setups. Linkage to relevant European AI initiatives (GenAI4EU, Apply AI strategy, European AI factories).
Strategic Cooperation: Taking advantage of opportunities and developments from existing Horizon Europe research and innovation actions (RIAs) developing new simulation/observation capabilities, the HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-18: GenAI4EU central Hub, and new/emerging ICT infrastructures (EuroHPC, AI-on-demand platform).
Destination Earth Adherence: For digital twins related to Earth systems, strict adherence to 'standards and best practices set by the Destination Earth initiative' is required.
Sustainability & Cost-Effectiveness: Demonstration of solutions in an environment that can lead to 'sustainable production' and inclusion of a 'cost estimate for the operations'.
Financial Assessment: Detailed cost estimation per work package and beneficiary will be checked by experts against benchmarks (market prices, statistical data, historical data) to ensure resources align with activities and expected outputs.

Compliance & Special Requirements

Regulatory & Legal Compliance

General Conditions: Proposals must adhere to general conditions outlined in the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes, including admissibility rules (Annex A and E), eligible countries (Annex B), financial and operational capacity checks, and exclusion criteria (Annex C).
European Communication Networks: Projects are subject to restrictions for the protection of European communication networks.
Ethical & Research Integrity: Compliance with ethical standards, research integrity, dissemination and exploitation of results, management of intellectual property, and gender equality are expected under Horizon Europe framework.
Data Protection & Privacy: Compliance with relevant data protection and privacy regulations, including GDPR, is implicitly required.

Technical & Thematic Specificities

AI Initiative Alignment: Projects are strictly required to be in line with the 'GenAI4EU initiative' and other key EU initiatives such as the 'Apply AI strategy'.
Data-Driven Approach: The setup of new simulations and Digital Twins must follow a data-driven approach, and the chosen approach needs to be demonstrably effective.
AI Trustworthiness: Proposals must clearly address and demonstrate the 'trustworthiness/reliability' of the AI used.
Destination Earth Adherence: For digital twins focusing on 'Earth systems' and 'socio-economic impacts', proposals must adhere to the 'standards and best practices set by the Destination Earth initiative' to ensure compatibility with the existing system.

Collaboration & Knowledge Exchange

Synergies: Proposals should leverage and seek synergies with ongoing Horizon Europe research and innovation actions (RIAs) that are developing new simulation and observation capabilities.
Collaboration with EU Hubs/Infrastructures: Collaboration is expected with the 'HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-18: GenAI4EU central Hub' and emerging ICT infrastructures like 'EuroHPC' and the 'AI-on-demand platform'.
Joint Research Centre (JRC) Cooperation: For projects in the 'energy-intensive industrial transition field', close cooperation with the European Commission’s 'Joint Research Centre (JRC)' is encouraged to coordinate with existing activities.

Project Outcomes & Sustainability

Sustainable Production: Solutions must demonstrate potential for 'sustainable production' within a relevant environment.
Cost Estimate: Projects need to provide a 'cost estimate for the operations' to ensure viability and sustainability.

Grant Details