Horizon Europe Funding Opportunities
Who is it for?
Horizon Europe is open to all types of organisations across Europe and the world. Horizon Europe provides funding for research and innovation across three core pillars:
- Pillar 1 – Excellent Science
- Pillar 2 – Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
- Pillar 3 – Innovative Europe
Some funding calls allow a single organisation to apply but many require a team of partner organisations to form a consortium. Usually, the consortium must be made up of at least 3 organisations from different countries.
Get in touch with your UK national contact point for advice on:
- How to apply for Horizon Europe funding
- How to form a consortium
For aerospace there are several opportunities open to UK businesses.
EIC Accelerator Challenge: Innovations for Future Mobility (Pillar 3)
The European Innovation Council (EIC) has released its 2025 Work Programme, featuring the EIC Accelerator Challenge: Breakthrough Innovations for Future Mobility. This initiative is directed at SMEs and startups in the aerospace sector, as well as other transport industries, aiming to enhance mobility and reduce environmental impacts.
The challenge prioritises advancements in design, manufacturing, and operations across multiple sectors, including aerospace, with a specific mention of aircraft and related systems. It also encompasses road vehicles, maritime vessels, and railways. Support extends to the development of sustainable fuels, particularly for sectors like aviation and maritime, and the integration of digital tools to improve efficiency, connectivity, and autonomous operations.
Funding through the EIC Accelerator includes grants of up to €2.5 million, with equity investments ranging from €0.5 million to €10 million. Larger investments may be available through the STEP Scale-Up programme.
Applications begin with a short proposal, which can be submitted at any time and will be reviewed within 4-6 weeks. Successful applicants will be invited to submit a full business plan and pitch their innovation to an EIC jury.
The definition of an SME can be found here.
For more details about the challenge or other related European initiatives you can contact the National Contact Points (NCP) for Europe who can provide expert, tailored advice.
Claire Griffin – NCP for European Innovation Council (EIC)
Telephone: +44 7517 830086
Email: NCP-EIC-Transition-Accelerator@iuk.ukri.org
Alternatively more information can be found on the EIC Accelerator webpage, or alongside the full 2025 Work Programme here.
Clean Aviation (Pillar 2)
The Clean Aviation Joint-Undertaking is supported by the European Commission’s Horizon Europe research and innovation funding programme: within Pillar II, Cluster 5: Climate, Energy & Mobility. Clean Aviation is a public-private partnership between the European Commission and the European aeronautics industry to develop technologies that will enable future aircraft to:
- cut fuel burn & related CO2 emissions by 20-30%
- cut noise levels.
The JU has recently announced its third Call for Proposals expected in February 2025. This call will feature a total EU funding of up to €380 million corresponding to a minimum of €950(1) million of total research effort to support disruptive projects aimed at decarbonising aviation.
The third Call for Proposals is centred around the following areas:
- Aircraft Concept Integration & Impact Assessment (ACI&I): €15 million
- Ultra-efficient Short-Medium Range (SMR) aircraft architectures: €205 million
- Ultra-efficient Regional (REG) aircraft architectures: €145 million
- Fast Track Areas (FTAs) for a total funding volume of €15 million. These are designed to de-risk alternative or complementary technical solutions, enabling a faster implementation process and enlarging the breadth of competencies. Priority will be given to projects that can rapidly advance impactful technologies to the development phase and are closely connected to the SMR and REG projects, encouraging the participation of universities, research centres, and SMEs.
Call 3 Upcoming Milestones
- 9 December 2024: Pre-publication of list of topics identified in the third Call for Proposals with a short abstract. See list of topics
- 30 January 2025: Pre-publication of the draft amended work programme 2024-2025 including the topic descriptions for the third Call for Proposals.
- 13 February 2025: PITCH-ATHLON (Brussels and online), hosted by Clean Aviation, where potential participants can pitch in person their ideas for Proposals and discuss them with relevant parties. Register here
- End of February 2025: Launch of the Call for Proposals.
- 4 March 2025: Online Info Day, Clean Aviation will provide guidance on preparing and consolidating proposals.
For more details about the challenge or other related European initiatives you can contact the National Contact Points (NCP) for Europe who can provide expert, tailored advice.
Louise Mothersole – NCP for transport / mobility
Telephone: +44 7584 154 679
Email: NCP-Mobility@iuk.ukri.org
SESAR3 (Single European Sky ATM Research 3) Joint Undertaking (Pillar 3)
SESAR is the technological pillar of the EU’s Single European Sky policy and a key enabler of the European Commission’s Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy. SESAR defines, develops and deploys technologies to transform air traffic management in Europe.
SESAR has announced two open calls under its Digital European Sky (DES) research and innovation programme. With a combined budget of €254 million, these calls mark the first steps in executing the new European ATM Master Plan, the comprehensive roadmap for transforming air traffic management (ATM) in Europe, published in December 2024.
- Exploratory research call (HORIZON-SESAR-2023-DES-ER-03)
With a budget of €24 million, this call focuses on disruptive technologies and innovative concepts that are in the early stages of development. The primary aim is to explore new ideas, concepts, methods and technologies that will help define future development activities in ATM aligned with the long-term vision of the Digital European Sky.
The call specifications are structured in two working areas (WA):
- Fundamental Research – Activities advancing concepts and technologies from TRL0 to TRL1
- Applied Research – Bridging fundamental research and higher maturity industrial research (TRL1 to TRL2)
- Industrial research call (HORIZON-SESAR-2023-DES-IR-02)
With a budget of €230 million, industrial research call focuses on advancing significantly the six development priorities defined in the European ATM Master Plan for industrial research in relation to Phase D and reflect the need to focus on developing the next generation platforms. These six development priorities for industrial research are:
- Transformation to trajectory-based operations.
- Transition towards high performance of air-ground connectivity (multilink).
- Future en-route and TMA ground platforms.
- Future airport platform.
- Autonomy and digital assistants for the flight deck.
- U3 U-space advanced services, innovative air mobility (IAM) and vertiports.
Key milestones for both calls
- 20 February 2025 Information Day on the calls – stay tuned for more details
- 1 April 2025 Opening for submission of proposals
- 16 September 2025 Deadline for submitting proposals
For more details about the challenge or other related European initiatives you can contact the National Contact Points (NCP) for Europe who can provide expert, tailored advice.
Louise Mothersole – NCP for transport / mobility
Telephone: +44 7584 154 679
Email: NCP-Mobility@iuk.ukri.org
Clean Hydrogen Joint Undertaking
The Clean Hydrogen Joint Undertaking is a public private partnership supporting research and innovation (R&I) activities in hydrogen technologies in Europe.
Its aim is to strengthen and integrate EU scientific capacity, in order to accelerate the development and improvement of advanced clean hydrogen applications. The three members of the Joint Undertaking are the European Union, represented by the European Commission, the fuel cell and hydrogen industries represented by Hydrogen Europe and the research community represented by Hydrogen Europe Research.
The JU has launched its latest call for proposals on 15/01/2025, with a budget of €184.5 million for projects to support the creation of cutting-edge hydrogen technologies.
The Call addresses key priorities identified by the Strategic Research Agenda within different areas of research and innovation.
19 topics available
7 topics – 40M€ funding – Renewable Hydrogen Production
3 topics – 16M€ funding – Hydrogen Storage and Distribution
3 topics – 17M€ funding – Transport
1 topic – 5M€ funding – Heat and Power
3 topics – 6.5M€ funding – Cross-cutting
2 topics – 80M€ funding – Hydrogen Valleys
For more details about the challenge or other related European initiatives you can contact the National Contact Points (NCP) for Europe who can provide expert, tailored advice.
Louise Mothersole – NCP for transport / mobility
Telephone: +44 7584 154 679
Email: NCP-Mobility@iuk.ukri.org
Or visit Call for proposals 2025 – Open – Clean Hydrogen Partnership