Research infrastructure services advancing frontier knowledge
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See in 5 min if you're eligible for Research infrastructure services advancing frontier knowledge offering max €45.0M funding💰 Funding Details
Funding Overview: HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01-SERV-03
This topic is a HORIZON Research and Innovation Action (RIA) designed to fund consortia of research infrastructures (RIs) to provide access to their services for curiosity-driven research.
H1: Financial Framework
* Funding Rate: The grant covers 80% of the eligible costs.
* Budget Model: The grant uses a budget-based model, with a significant portion of costs related to access provision being handled through unit costs. This simplifies reporting for Trans-National Access (TNA) and Virtual Access (VA).
* Total Funding: With a substantial budget available (up to €45M mentioned for similar calls), the EC expects large-scale, high-impact proposals that bring together a significant number of Europe's leading RIs.
H2: Eligible Activities for Funding
Funding is primarily directed towards activities that facilitate access to existing RI services. Key funded activities include:
* Provision of Access: Costs associated with providing trans-national (on-site) and/or virtual (remote) access to the consortium's portfolio of services.
* User Support and Training: Supporting ad hoc user training, dedicated training courses, and the scientific/technical support required for users to conduct their research effectively.
* Service Harmonisation and Improvement: Activities to integrate access procedures, develop remote service provision, and improve or customise the services offered. This can include short-term, targeted R&D.
* Data Management: Costs related to implementing FAIR data principles, ensuring interoperability, and connecting digital services to the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC).
* Outreach and Engagement: Activities to promote the services and attract a wide user base, particularly from Widening countries like your country.
* Project Management and Coordination: Standard costs for managing the consortium and ensuring the smooth execution of the project.
H3: Scope Limitations
It is critical to note what is not funded:
* Long-term R&D: The topic will not support long-term research and development for new instrumentation, tools, or methods. The focus is on providing access to what already exists or can be quickly improved.
📊 At a Glance
🇪🇺 Strategic Advantages
EU-Wide Advantages & Opportunities: HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01-SERV-03
This grant provides a strategic opportunity to leverage the full scale of the European Union, transforming national research assets into a cohesive, world-leading, and integrated pan-European service ecosystem. The advantages extend far beyond the direct funding, creating lasting value for the European Research Area (ERA).
H1: Strengthening the European Research Area (ERA) and Integration
This action is a cornerstone of the ERA, designed to create a single, borderless market for research and knowledge.
H2: Fostering a Single Market for Research Excellence
• Democratised Access: The grant's core mission is to provide trans-national access (TNA) and virtual access (VA) to Europe's best research infrastructures, irrespective of a researcher's location. This breaks down national barriers and allows any EU researcher, from a large university or a small enterprise, to access state-of-the-art facilities that would otherwise be unavailable. This directly creates a single market for cutting-edge research services.
• Harmonisation and Efficiency: By funding networks that must simplify and harmonise access procedures, the project drives regulatory and procedural alignment across the EU. This reduces administrative burdens and creates a more efficient, user-friendly European research landscape.
• EU Cohesion and Reducing the Innovation Divide: The explicit requirement to conduct outreach to Widening countries is a direct contribution to EU cohesion policy. It ensures that talent from all corners of the Union can participate in and contribute to frontier research, strengthening the ERA's overall capacity and reducing regional disparities.
H2: Enhancing Pan-European Collaboration and Networks
The grant's structure inherently builds and reinforces collaborative, multinational networks that are essential for tackling complex scientific challenges.
• Mandated Cross-Border Consortia: The requirement to include multiple, complementary infrastructures from different Member States and Associated Countries, including at least one ESFRI Landmark or ERIC, ensures the creation of powerful, strategically aligned European consortia. These partnerships foster deep integration and long-term collaboration.
• Interdisciplinary Fertilisation: By bringing together users and experts from diverse scientific fields (e.g., linking hadron physics with neighbouring communities), the grant acts as a catalyst for cross-disciplinary innovation. This pooling of knowledge is a unique advantage of the EU scale, leading to breakthroughs that are less likely to occur within national silos.
• Researcher Mobility and Skills Development: The project directly funds researcher mobility, a key EU priority. Furthermore, the emphasis on training a new generation of researchers on harmonised, state-of-the-art tools and data practices creates a highly skilled, mobile European workforce equipped to maintain the EU's competitive edge.
H1: Driving EU Policy Objectives and Strategic Autonomy
Projects funded under this call will directly contribute to the EU's most critical strategic policy goals.
H2: Alignment with the Green Deal and Digital Decade
• Supporting the Green Transition: Area 1 (Environment: atmospheric chemistry and dynamics) provides the fundamental data and models necessary to underpin the European Green Deal. This research is vital for climate action, pollution control, and environmental policy-making, enhancing the EU's evidence-based approach and strategic autonomy in the environmental domain.
• Powering the Digital Transformation: The mandatory focus on FAIR data, interoperability, and connection to the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) directly implements the EU's Digital Agenda. It helps build a federated, pan-European data infrastructure, making European research more transparent, efficient, and impactful in the global digital economy.
H2: Bolstering Europe's Global Competitiveness
• Creating World-Leading Service Portfolios: By integrating the capacities of various national infrastructures, the grant enables the creation of a comprehensive service portfolio that is globally unique. This integrated offering makes Europe a highly attractive destination for top international researchers and strengthens its position as a global scientific leader.
• Strategic International Cooperation: The possibility of including research infrastructures from key third countries (USA, Japan, Canada, etc.) allows for strategic engagement on global challenges. This positions the European research ecosystem as a central hub in a global network, fostering collaboration while ensuring European interests are at the forefront.
• Ensuring Long-Term Sustainability: The focus on sustainability and the involvement of established ERICs and ESFRI Landmarks ensures that the investment builds upon a solid foundation. This is not just temporary project funding; it is a strategic investment in the long-term operational capacity and resilience of Europe's critical research infrastructure, securing its future impact.
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