Grants

The objective of this grant is to support semiconductor-intensive regions and regional industrial semiconductor clusters working with regional governments. The action aims to strengthen regional cooperation across the semiconductor supply chain in the EU, contributing to smart specialisation in the sector, mapping regional ecosystems, and developing joint strategies to link and strengthen semiconductor-related activities. Expected outcomes include enhanced cooperation among regional governments and industrial clusters, mapping and connecting regional semiconductor ecosystems, identifying common needs, joint strategy development, and the creation of a sustainable online platform for exchanging information and best practices. The action involves identifying key stakeholders, developing collective strategies, collaborating with Chips Competence Centres, gathering evidence on investment obstacles, and collecting and disseminating best practices to support infrastructure development.

The grant aims to develop a large selection of Open-Source solutions organized under the Open Internet Stack framework, supporting trust, sovereignty, and credible alternatives for European and global stakeholders, including citizens, governments, companies, start-ups, and SMEs. The focus is on creating interoperable, standard-based, decentralized solutions across key technology areas: network and transport technologies, sovereign operating systems and firmware (including smartphones), and open-source software productivity and supply chain technologies. Projects should target efficient deployment, modular integration, and broad adoption across public administrations, research and education, and service providers. Proposals must show technical maturity, EU regulatory alignment, resilience, advanced cryptographic protection, community support, and replicability. Synergies with prior projects and related EU initiatives are encouraged. Detailed plans for development, integration, deployment, marketing, cataloguing, and maintenance, as well as for interaction with the Open Internet Stack Support for Scale, are expected. Financial support to third parties should focus on internet innovators and adopters of open source.

This grant supports the coordination and strategic advancement of the European photonics ecosystem. Projects are expected to: (1) drive transparent, inclusive governance and bottom-up roadmap development; (2) strengthen engagement across industry, academia, national platforms and end-user sectors; (3) improve alignment of regional, national and European R&I agendas, increasing coherence and impact; (4) monitor and steer Partnership-funded projects toward key performance indicators; (5) raise the visibility of photonics as an enabling technology for the EU's digital and green transitions, industrial competitiveness, and technological sovereignty; (6) facilitate collaboration with European Partnerships and strategic initiatives to maximize synergies; and (7) enhance access to private and blended finance for photonics innovation.

This grant aims to develop and implement innovative artificial intelligence (AI) models that advance early warning and preparedness for flooding and natural disasters, specifically through Local Digital Twins. Funded projects should build open AI systems capable of predicting, responding to, and mitigating natural hazards before their impacts occur, enhancing urban resilience, preparedness, and proactive decision-making. The scope covers integration of varied datasets (terrain, land cover, meteorological) and development of dynamic, high-resolution flood simulations. Proposals should focus on modular, open-source AI algorithms and digital tools, prioritizing frugal, energy-efficient solutions to ensure operability in low-connectivity settings and maximize replicability, impact, and operational deployment inside and outside Europe.

This grant aims to support a challenge-driven initiative to accelerate technological progress and innovation using Generative AI in the strategic sectors of aerospace, pharma/drug development, and telecommunication networks. Its objectives are to enhance the competitiveness and visibility of the European Generative AI community, boost adoption within industry, and foster impactful AI-driven solutions targeting sector-specific challenges. Projects must organise multi-stage competitions, provide technical and business support, and foster collaboration among major sectoral industry players and AI developers. Outcomes are expected to deliver pre-competitive solutions with a path to exploitation, impact monitoring, and sector-wide uptake.

This grant aims to support and accelerate the development and adoption of European and international standards for quantum technologies, enhancing interoperability, quality/reliability assurance, and trust in quantum systems. It strives to strengthen Europe's leadership in the global quantum standardisation landscape and ensure that European industrial and research priorities are integrated into emerging standards. Expected outcomes include the delivery of pre-normative standards and technical specifications across quantum computing, communication, and sensing; significant contributions of European stakeholders in international standardisation bodies; cross-sectoral interoperability; reduction of market fragmentation; and the creation of practical support tools for the uptake and implementation of quantum standards.

This grant aims to establish a strategic European initiative to develop scalable, modular, and interoperable photonic quantum computing platforms. Proposals are expected to address at least two major technical roadblocks limiting the advancement of photonic quantum computing, such as the lack of deterministic, high-efficiency photonic entanglement and loss-tolerant architectures for fault-tolerant scaling, and the absence of a standardized, integrated control stack combining photonic hardware, firmware, and software with reliable benchmarking. Expected outcomes include demonstration of photonic NISQ processors, delivery of a high-connectivity photonic quantum computer with up to 1,000 photonic qubits, system-level interoperability and standardization, validation of entanglement distribution, acceleration of industrialization and commercialisation, and demonstration of project results under real operational constraints. The scope requires proposals to be led by a startup with expertise in photonic quantum computing, collaborating with academic, industrial, and end-user partners to deliver coordinated R&I involving hardware, software, architecture, and application-level use cases.

This grant supports projects that advance eXtended Reality (XR), immersive and interactive technologies, urging full integration of Virtual Worlds and Web 4.0. The goal is to usher in the next generation of virtual worlds, improving immersive visualization and user-centric experiences with seamless interaction and data exchange. Focus areas include human-centric environments, use of Generative AI for personalized experiences, novel immersive visualization and interaction, interoperability of XR and immersive domains, and integration with Telco-Cloud-to-Edge Continuum. Projects are expected to establish technological standards, enable real-time intuitive user-interaction across platforms, and present demonstrators in real-world scenarios, especially leveraging industrial and societal contexts. Proposals must engage Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) expertise to increase the societal impact of research.

This grant supports the first phase of a two-phase competitive structure under Horizon Europe to benchmark the commercial viability and investment readiness of quantum-enabled navigation systems. The aim is to deliver comprehensive technical, industrialisation, and financial roadmaps for Q-INS (Quantum Inertial Navigation Systems), with validated performance milestones and commercialization plans. Projects are expected to establish evidence-based design and benchmarking packages for reduced-scale systems, aiming at applications such as maritime, aviation, space, autonomous systems, and small satellites, and are encouraged to engage end-users and prepare for future investment support by EIB/InvestEU. Funded actions are expected to last around six months, produce documented lab-validation of prototypes, and drive EU technological sovereignty in strategic navigation infrastructure.