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HORIZON EUROPE TOPIC · Research Infrastructures

Access to research infrastructure services to enable R&I addressing EU priorities and emerging challenges

HORIZON-INFRA-2027-SERV-01-02 — the expected outcomes as checkable statements, what evaluators look for in this topic, and the conditions that shape the proposal.

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ForthcomingRIADeadline 15 June 2027around EUR 6 million per project

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TopicHORIZON-INFRA-2027-SERV-01-02
StatusForthcoming
CallHORIZON-INFRA-2027-01 — Research Infrastructures 2027
Type of actionResearch and Innovation Actions
Opening9 March 2027
Deadline15 June 2027
Budgetaround EUR 6 million per project · 6 projects expected · EUR 35 million in total
Part B page limit40 pages (standard application form; check your call)
TemplateWork Programme 2026–2027 application form

Expected outcomes

The topic does not say whether all outcomes must be addressed; treat them all as relevant. The topic says: “For all areas:”

  1. EO1 More efficient access to the best research infrastructures available to researchers and innovators to conduct challenge-driven research, improve responsiveness to emerging challenges and foster innovation, irrespective of location, through a single-entry point access portal, integrated or interoperable catalogues of services and converging access conditions and selection procedures.
  2. EO2 Breakthrough and leading-edge research enabled by advanced research infrastructure services, including joint research activities, made available to a wider user community, including in emerging areas of research.
  3. EO3 A new generation of researchers trained to optimally exploit all the essential tools for their research with due attention to early-stage career researchers and researchers from widening countries and candidate countries.
  4. EO4 Cross-disciplinary fertilisations and a wider sharing of information, knowledge and technologies across scientific fields fostered by closer interactions between researchers and innovators active in and around research infrastructures, through encouraging cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary joint research activities for customised services and with due attention to research security; better management, including implementing FAIR data principle of the continuous flow of data collected or produced by research infrastructures.

What evaluators will look for in this topic

Expected outcomes

  • The topic does not say whether all outcomes must be addressed; treat them all as relevant.
  • For each outcome (EO1 to EO4), name who will use or adopt your results (a specific group, not “industry” or “society”), how they get them, and the indicator that shows the change, with baseline, target and date.
  • Use the topic's own words for each outcome, so the evaluator can tick it off.

What the scope asks for

Evaluators check the proposal against these sentences of the scope. Answer each one visibly, in the call's own words.

  • “Proposals should adhere to the guidelines and principles of the European Charter for Access to Research Infrastructures.”
  • “In addition, proposals should exploit the training potential of the successfully selected transnational access user projects by inviting researchers, notably early-stage career researchers, or research infrastructure technical staff from widening and candidate countries.”
  • “Proposals should reserve sufficient resources for this purpose and should proactively advertise these opportunities (which should be arranged after the selection of user projects and have no impact on their evaluation).”
  • “The main goal of this topic is access provision to existing services: this should be clearly reflected by the proposed activities and the allocated resources.”
  • “Data management (and related ethics issues), interoperability, as well as the connection of digital services (e.g. data services) to the European Open Science Cloud, should be addressed where relevant.”
  • “Proposals should take due account of major European or international initiatives, of major EU priorities relevant in the domain.”
  • “When appropriate, they should foster the use and deployment of (open) global standards.”
  • “Proposals should make available to researchers a wide, inclusive and comprehensive portfolio of complementary research infrastructure services of European interest, including data services, and customised workflows to enable R&I addressing the set challenge.”
  • “Proposals should include at least one ESFRI Landmark or European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) as beneficiary.”
  • “Proposals should include an outreach and engagement plan to actively advertise their services, to targeted research communities, notably from widening countries and candidate countries, and to relevant industries, including SMEs and, if applicable, provide dedicated support for the development of research partnerships and collaborations with researchers from widening countries and candidate countries.”
  • “Proposals are expected to exploit synergies and to ensure complementarity and coherence with other EU grants supporting access provision.”
  • “Proposals should include the list of services/installations opened by research infrastructures for trans-national or virtual access and the amounts of units of access made available for users.”

Conditions that shape the proposal

  • Part B, sections 1–3: 40 pages (standard application form). Text beyond the limit is not read; tables and figures count.
  • 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.”
  • Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout: “The page limit of the application is 100 pages.”
  • Other Eligible Conditions: “Subject to restrictions for the protection of European communication networks.”
  • Other Eligible Conditions: “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.”
  • Other Eligible Conditions: “Given 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” of this work programme part before preparing your application.”
  • Other Eligible Conditions: “Considering the Union’s interest to make accessible to its researchers the most advanced research infrastructures, wherever they are in the world, legal entities established in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, India, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Singapore, and USA, which provide, under the grant,…”

Impact pathway and traps

  • The scope expects pilots or demonstration. Name the sites, the partners who run them and what is measured there.
  • International cooperation is part of the scope. Explain what the non-EU partners add and how the cooperation is organised.
  • Open science or data practices are named. Make the data management plan concrete: which data, which repository, when.
  • The gender dimension is named in the topic. Show how sex and gender analysis enters the research content, not only team balance.
  • Keep outputs, outcomes and impacts apart: what you deliver, what changes when others use it, and the long-term effect.
  • Link your outcomes to the destination's expected impacts in the Work Programme. Destination impacts are long-term effects, not project deliverables.
  • Name the barriers outside the project (regulation, markets, user behaviour) that could block uptake, and what you will do if they do.
  • Section 2.3 (the summary canvas) is optional on this call; the old split into scientific, economic and societal impact is no longer required.
The scope, as published

For all areas: This topic aims at providing trans-national access (on-site or remote) and/or virtual access to integrated and customised research infrastructure services for challenge-driven research and innovation in each of the areas listed below, offered by a wide range of complementary and interdisciplinary top level research infrastructures. Proposals should adhere to the guidelines and principles of the European Charter for Access to Research Infrastructures. Access also includes ad hoc users’ training and scientific and technical support (see Specific Features for Research Infrastructures). Additional training courses, including skills for data stewardship, may also be supported to prepare the new generations of researchers to properly exploit leading-edge research infrastructures. In addition, proposals should exploit the training potential of the successfully selected transnational access user projects by inviting researchers, notably early-stage career researchers, or research infrastructure technical staff from widening and candidate countries. Proposals should reserve sufficient resources for this purpose and should proactively advertise these opportunities (which should be arranged after the selection of user projects and have no impact on their evaluation). The main goal of this topic is access provision to existing services: this should be clearly reflected by the proposed activities and the allocated resources. The improvement and development of services, relevant to the challenges, will also be supported, provided the resulting services are opened and offered already under the actions (short term R&D) and that the long-term sustainability of such services is ensured by the participant research infrastructures. Further development of new or improved services for use in the mid-term (2-3 years) may also be supported when duly justified e.g. to address well identified needs such as in the ESFRI Landscape Analysis, or in the research agendas of Horizon Europe Missions or Partnerships or for better serving the needs of open EU industrial research and innovation. Data management (and related ethics issues), interoperability, as well as the connection of digital services (e.g. data services) to the European Open Science Cloud, should be addressed where relevant. Proposals should take due account of major European or international initiatives, of major EU priorities relevant in the domain. When appropriate, they should foster the use and deployment of (open) global standards. Proposals should make available to researchers a wide, inclusive and comprehensive portfolio of complementary research infrastructure services of European interest, including data services, and customised workflows to enable R&I addressing the set challenge. Proposals should include at least one ESFRI Landmark or European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) as beneficiary. In case of a distributed ERIC, as an alternative to the ERIC participating as a beneficiary, a legal entity that is hosting ERIC facilities, resources or related services may participate as a beneficiary. Access could also be open, in accordance with the ‘Specific Features for Research Infrastructure’ section of this Work Programme, to non-associated third countries’ researchers. Research infrastructures from non-associated third countries may be involved when appropriate, including, if the proposal can demonstrate they offer complementary or more advanced services than those available in EU Member States and Associated Countries as beneficiaries or affiliated entities. Proposals should include an outreach and engagement plan to actively advertise their services, to targeted research communities, notably from widening countries and candidate countries, and to relevant industries, including SMEs and, if applicable, provide dedicated support for the development of research partnerships and collaborations with researchers from widening countries and candidate countries. Proposals are expected to exploit synergies and to ensure complementarity and coherence with other EU grants supporting access provision. Proposals should include the list of services/installations opened by research infrastructures for trans-national or virtual access and the amounts of units of access made available for users. Further conditions and requirements relating to access provisions that applicants should fulfil when drafting a proposal are given in the “Specific features for Research Infrastructures” section of this work programme part. Compliance with these provisions will be taken into account during evaluation. The integration of the gender dimension (sex and gender analysis) in research and innovation content is not a mandatory requirement. However, where applicable, proposals should mandate in their calls for access the integration of the gender dimension in the research and innovation content of the users applying to these calls. Access opportunities should be presented in the single-entry point portal of the most appropriate pilot under HORIZON-INFRA-2027-01-SERV-01. The interoperability and capacity to converge into a common portal should be considered when designing or upgrading the portals as well as the possible connection to EOSC. To ensure a holistic view from design to implementation of possible access schemes, proposals should ensure strong and continuous collaboration with the cross-domain preparatory action on access HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01-DEV-05, with the pilots under topic HORIZON-INFRA-2026-01-DEV-02, e.g. making use of the catalogues of services, navigation tool and links to key EU initiatives, and with the actions supported under topic HORIZON-INFRA-2027-01-SERV-01. This collaboration should ensure a common front page to all above actions, set up by one of the pilots, highlighting the common objectives of EU supported access, the main conditions and requirements, providing preliminary guidance on access opportunities and directing to…

Other topics in HORIZON-INFRA-2027-01

Source and attribution

Topic text from the official topic page on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal, retrieved 19 October 2026. © European Union, reused under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU (CC BY 4.0). Changes: the expected outcomes and impacts are split into numbered statements, long passages are shortened, and the evaluator checklist is GrantWise's own commentary. Your call and the Work Programme always win; check them before you submit. GrantWise is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the European Commission.