Collective Action Grants

Harnessing the unique properties of marine organisms to deliver sustainable blue bio-based products is sponsored by European Commission — Horizon Europe. Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes: increased support on green bioprocessing, safe and sustainable blue bio-based products; increased understanding of safety, effectiveness and regulatory bottlenecks of blue bio-based products; increased commitment to biodiversity preservation and conservation ensuring that the biodiscovery of new compounds does not lead to unsustainable harvesting from the wild and promoting sustainable use of genetic diversity. Scope: The European industry must transition to a greener, more sustainable model to enhance its competitiveness against other business models and foster the production of novel high-value sustainable products. Achieving this requires a shift towards a bio-based system, which leverages biological processes to deliver products that contribute to climate change mitigation by reducing environmental impact and can compete with and eventually replace traditional models. For instance, the current use of hazardous chemicals in various industries, such as the textile and polymer industries, requires the development of more sustainable and environmentally friendly alternatives. In this context, the vast and largely untapped diversity of marine organisms—including fungi, algae, and invertebrates—presents a valuable source of biomolecules with unique properties. These marine-derived compounds hold significant potential across a range of applications, for example from construction materials, chemical processes to bioplastics and textiles. Supporting research and innovation in blue biotechnology fosters the transition toward greener, high-performance products across multiple industries. Proposals should address the following: develop safe and sustainable blue bio-based products, by exploring the use of the unique physical, chemical and biochemical properties of biomolecules from marine organisms (e.g., adhesion, structural organization, fluorescence, luminescence). Proposals in scope include novel adhesion agents or bonding products, biochemicals to replace hazardous chemicals, antifouling paintings and coatings, replacement for synthetic surfactants, biomarkers, biosensors, enzymes. Proposals aiming to develop molecules with important economic or societal impact are encouraged. The applications in health biotechnology, as well as the biofuel/bioenergy area are excluded, to avoid overlaps with Horizon Europe Clusters 1 and 5, respectively; incorporate the use of synthetic and engineering biology approaches and foresee the necessary links with the digital technologies and tools (AI/ML, bioinformatics); include the assessment of the costs and benefits compared to conventional alternatives in the market. Proposals should look into regulatory, market and value chain bottlenecks; assess the safety, environmental sustainability and effectiveness of the developed bio-based products derived from marine environments compared to the equivalent material on the market; develop recommendations for policy makers and industrial actors, considering the available scientifically sound assessment of risks and benefits of the developed solutions. Proposals should cover the innovation chain from research, to development, and proof of concept. Legal aspects linked to securing clear access to marine resources, including related infrastructures and bio-resources banks and collections, their sustainable use as well as access and benefit sharing aspects, should be properly considered. Marine resources can be obtained sustainably from natural environments, as well as from publicly or privately accessible collections. The harvesting or utilization of sentient marine animals, including invertebrates, must be carefully evaluated to ensure that ethical and moral considerations are adequately addressed. Proposals are encouraged to consider, where relevant, the data, expertise and services offered by European research infrastructures [1] , such as EMSO ERIC, EU-O Programme areas: Horizon Europe (HORIZON), Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness, Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment, Bio-based Innovation Systems in the EU Bioeconomy Keywords: Biochemistry and molecular biology, Cell biology, Microbiology, Chemical sciences, Computer sciences, information science and bioinformatics, Downstream applications of marine biotechnology, Enzymes, Industrial biotechnology, Marine Biotechnology, Marine Natural Products, Marine biology, Marine science, artificial intelligence, bioactive compound, bioeconomy, bioinformatics, biomanufacturing, bioprocessing, bioproduction, biosynthesis, cultivation, digital tools, enzyme, fermentation, microbiome

Fostering cooperation and integration between SSH and STEM research and innovation in the EU is sponsored by European Commission — Horizon Europe. Expected Outcome: Projects should contribute to all of the following expected outcomes: Greater integration of SSH and STEM [1] research and innovation in R&I initiatives funded at EU level, national and/or regional level, as well as in R&I policies by promoting dialogue, mutual learning and strategic cooperation among research funders and policy makers in the EU. Developing and maintaining a new, common, comprehensive ‘Monitoring and Impact Evaluation Framework’ for SSH integration in current and future EU R&I initiatives. Enhanced facilitation of knowledge exploitation and support to the cooperation between projects and stakeholders, as well as R&I policies involved in projects and other types of cross-border networks dealing with SSH and STEM research and innovation. Scope: As mentioned in the Report ‘Align, Act, Accelerate: Research, Technology and Innovation to boost European Competitiveness’ [2] , European RD&I can provide a new understanding of and solutions to tackle societal challenges. Social sciences and humanities (SSH) and Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) improve the research activities, outcomes and impacts of Horizon Europe, because they enable a greater understanding of societal and competitiveness benefits. The cooperation of SSH and STEM in through trans- and interdisciplinary science is part of a science that is excellent, as it not only delivers excellence in the technical aspects, but also in taking account different societal needs. Thus, there is need for a leading role at European level for this cooperation. Proposals are expected to create an SSH-STEM Action, that focusses on SSH-STEM monitoring, SSH-STEM facilitation and SSH-STEM promotion, at European level, which should also include all the following aspects: 1. Monitoring : Monitoring is a major aspect of the essential activities [3] . The action should create a new strategy in the first year of the project with the aim to develop and to monitor the SSH-STEM research cooperation (e.g. A.I. search tools). This monitoring strategy should meet the following requirements: Applicants should provide a clear justification of what significant steps forward they propose regarding methodology compared to previous reporting on SSH-STEM collaboration (see relevant reports), data management, analytical methods, data collection. Robust open data driven approaches are strongly encouraged. Applicants should describe what steps they will undertake to ensure the delivery of reporting on a yearly basis, which should include the data collection, data analysis, and interpretation of SSH-STEM related cooperation data (in EU-funded projects in Horizon Europe where there is SSH-STEM cooperation). 2. Facilitation and promotion : Applicants should develop guidelines for SSH-STEM cooperation and support stakeholders in their projects when SSH-STEM cooperation is possible within the project, with a focus on increasing the quality and depth of cooperation and applying cooperation where most relevant. Applicants are encouraged to propose approaches, such as training to researchers on how to best integrate either STEM or SSH into their research. In addition, applicants should take into account the collaboration within SSH sciences on their own, as well as attention for not only quantitative SSH disciplines, but also qualitative SSH. The action should organize an annual event showcasing SSH and STEM cooperation; with exchanges with / for policy makers, best practice examples and showcasing funded projects/ programs at EU, national and other levels. The action is also expected to provide a quantitative and qualitative R&D evidence base on how to ensure that policies (including funding) aimed at stimulating research & innovation are appropriate for the sectors which have the greatest potential to contribute to Europe’s competitiveness. Applicants should propose evaluation metrics for SSH-STEM cooperation within research projects. 3. SSH/ Programme areas: Horizon Europe (HORIZON), Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness, Culture, creativity and inclusive society, Social and Economic Transformations Keywords: Innovation methodologies, Knowledge management, Project management and coordination, Types of innovation, SSH-Integration, STEM, concept construction, monitoring, social sciences and humanities