Connecting research infrastructures and a wider user community across the European Research Area through access to advanced research infrastructure services

Type of action: HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions   ">General conditions 1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout Applicants are not required to include in their proposal a plan for the exploitation and dissemination of the results as the main objective of these actions is the service provision. The page limit of the application is 100 pages. described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes. Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System. 2. Eligible Countries described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide. 3. Other Eligible Conditions The following additional eligibility criteria apply due to the specific nature of this topic: Access provision activities must be included in the proposal. Please read carefully the provisions under the section “Specific features for Research Infrastructures” at the end of this work programme part before preparing your application. Due to the scope of this topic, proposals must include at least two of the ESFRI Landmarks[[See the list of ESFRI 'Landmarks' in the 2021 ESFRI Roadmap on https://roadmap2021.esfri.eu/ For ESFRI Landmarks that are not an ERIC or an international European research organisation, the beneficiary must be the legal entity hosting the infrastructure in the lead country (such legal entity is a minimum requirement to become an ESFRI Landmark).]] or European Research Infrastructure Consortia (ERICs)[[European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) | European Commission (europa.eu)]] as beneficiaries. Such beneficiaries, and the research infrastructure(s) that they operate, must be explicitly identified in the proposal. For distributed ERIC the ERIC must be the beneficiary. The Joint Research Centre (JRC) may participate as member of the consortium selected for funding as a beneficiary with zero funding, or as an associated partner. The JRC will not participate in the preparation and submission of the proposal - see General Annex B. described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. 4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes The following additions to the general award criteria apply: For the 'Excellence' criterion, in addition to its standard sub-criteria, the following aspects will also be taken into account: The extent to which the access activities (trans-national and/or virtual access) will offer access to the state-of-the-art infrastructures of European interest in the field, high quality services, and will enable users to conduct excellent research. are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual. 5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes. 6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants Beneficiaries will be subject to the additional access rights: The rules are described in General Annex G. The following exceptions apply: Eligible costs may take form of unit costs for trans-national and virtual access to research infrastructures as defined in the Decision authorising the use of unit costs for the actions involving trans-national and virtual access (see Annex 2a of the Horizon Europe Model Grant Agreement). Beneficiaries may provide financial support to third parties. The support to third parties can only be provided in the form of grants. Given the high operating costs of some state-of-the-art research infrastructures, the maximum amount to be granted to each third party is EUR 100 000, since the objectives of the action cannot be achieved otherwise. For the sake of efficiency, the FSTP calls can be combined with the calls for the access provision activities (see provisions under the section “Specific features for Research Infrastructures” of this work programme part). described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific conditions described in the specific topic of the Work Programme Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA): Application form templates — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System Standard application form (HE RIA, IA) Standard application form (HE CSA) Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations  Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA)  Standard evaluation form (HE CSA)  Guidance HE Programme Guide  Model Grant Agreements (MGA) HE MGA  Lump Sum MGA  Framework Partnership Agreement FPA  Call-specific instructions  Detailed budget table (HE LS)  Information on financial support to third parties (HE)  Information on clinical studies (HE)  Guidance: "Lump sums - what do I need to know?" Additional documents: HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 1. General Introduction HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 3. Research Infrastructures HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 15. General Annexes HE Programme Guide HE Framework Programme 2021/695 HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764 EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509 Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions  Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement