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EU Research Funding Calls Worth Preparing For

The calls below span several Horizon Europe programmes and action types, from Research and Innovation Actions to Coordination and Support Actions and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. Some are forthcoming, so teams should begin scoping partners and drafting concepts well before submission windows open.

Automated Scientific Discovery: Food (RAISE pilot)

Open, closes 2 February 2027. HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions. Indicative budget: around EUR 3.0 million per grant, one grant expected (2027).

This call targets the development of closed-loop scientific experimentation systems that combine laboratory automation with computational decision-making, specifically piloted in the food domain. The emphasis on trustworthy, safe systems and functional prototype demonstrators makes it particularly relevant for consortia that can bridge wet-lab infrastructure with computational workflows. Reproducibility and efficiency gains in scientific discovery are explicit goals, giving proposals a clear impact narrative. The RAISE pilot framing signals that this is an early-stage programme shaping best practices across the broader research community.

Preparation step. Map your consortium's existing laboratory automation assets and identify which components of your experimental pipeline could plausibly close the loop between automated data acquisition and computational decision-making, since the call explicitly requires prototype functional demonstrators of that integration.

Next generation scenarios for informing climate and sustainability transitions

Opens 17 November 2026, closes 4 March 2027. HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions. Indicative budget: around EUR 4.0 million per grant, about 6 grants expected (2027).

This call asks for next-generation scenarios that serve diverse end-users, from policymakers to civil society, across multiple spatial scales, and that explicitly capture interactions between climate and non-climate objectives such as biodiversity and pollution. The connection to major global assessments including IPCC and IPBES means successful projects will need to engage with established scientific communities while also broadening representation and inclusivity. The call stresses robustness and actionability, so proposals must demonstrate a clear pathway from scenario development to policy-relevant outputs. Consortia that can integrate multiple research communities and offer genuine cross-domain coverage will be best positioned.

Preparation step. Draft a stakeholder mapping that identifies which end-user communities (policymakers, planning authorities, businesses, civil society) your scenario work will serve, and outline how your methodology will capture trade-offs between climate and non-climate objectives such as biodiversity, since the description foregrounds these interactions as a core deliverable.

Pillar I: Facilitating development of institutional open access policies through the retention of intellectual property rights

Opens 8 December 2026, closes 11 March 2027. HORIZON-CSA HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions. Indicative budget: around EUR 2.0 million per grant, one grant expected (2027).

This Coordination and Support Action focuses on helping research performing organisations develop institutional open access policies that include rights retention clauses, with particular attention to countries where open access uptake remains low. It sits within the ERA Structural Policy framework and connects directly to the European Open Science Cloud, giving it a clear policy anchor. The call also emphasises institutional repository infrastructure as a mechanism for preserving and widening access to scientific information. Organisations with experience supporting open access policy development across national or regional contexts are well suited to lead here.

Preparation step. Identify research performing organisations in lower-performing open access countries that could serve as implementation partners, and begin reviewing their current publication policies to assess where rights retention clauses are absent, since the call explicitly targets that gap as the primary intervention point.

Horizon scanning and foresight in future enabling digital technologies (CSA)

Opens 17 November 2026, closes 18 March 2027. HORIZON-CSA HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions. Indicative budget: around EUR 4.0 million per grant, one grant expected (2027).

This call asks for a forum that brings together a deliberately broad range of participants, spanning scientific disciplines, engineering, research and technology organisations, and industry sectors, to co-create visions for future enabling digital technologies. The scope includes alignment with national and regional initiatives, which means proposals should be designed to connect local innovation ecosystems rather than operate in isolation. The call also stresses iterative and multidisciplinary approaches, so governance and process design within the consortium matter as much as the technical content. European leadership in foresight is the stated ambition, making this relevant for organisations that can convene and coordinate rather than solely conduct research.

Preparation step. Design a preliminary governance model for the foresight forum that specifies how participants from academia, industry, and other stakeholder groups will engage iteratively, because the description places co-creation and multidisciplinary collaboration at the centre of what the forum must deliver.

MSCA COFUND 2027

Opens 8 December 2026, closes 6 April 2027. HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-Cofund-D HORIZON TMA MSCA Cofund Doctoral programme.

The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions COFUND 2027 call supports doctoral programmes that provide candidates with a richer mix of research-related and transferable skills through international, inter-sectoral, and interdisciplinary exposure. Participating organisations are expected to gain in global attractiveness and research training quality, making this relevant not only for universities but for any organisation seeking to strengthen its research and innovation capacity. The call's emphasis on employability beyond academia signals that programmes should be structured to include non-academic exposure as a genuine component. Consortia that can demonstrate existing inter-sectoral networks will have a structural advantage in meeting these expectations.

Preparation step. Review your institution's current doctoral training programme against the call's requirement for international, inter-sectoral, and interdisciplinary experience, and identify specific partner organisations in non-academic sectors that could provide structured secondments or co-supervision, since those elements are central to the COFUND model described.

Deadlines, budgets, and call identifiers are drawn from the EU Funding and Tenders Portal and verified against it. EU funding deadlines close at 17:00 Brussels time, so confirm the exact cutoff for each call on its dedicated topic page before finalising your submission.