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This Horizon Europe Cluster 4 topic funds artificial intelligence applied directly to advanced manufacturing and production processes inside factories, and it is one of the largest dedicated AI-in-manufacturing calls open to European consortia in the 2026-2027 work programme. It sits in the HORIZON-CL4-2026-02 two-stage call, which carries a total budget of 98 million euros across three topics.
The expected EU contribution is 4 to 6 million euros per project with up to 5 projects funded.
The topic is one of a cluster of related AI and robotics manufacturing opportunities in the same work programme, and applicants should position deliberately among them rather than submitting the same concept to several: HORIZON-CL4-2026-02-DIGITAL-EMERGING-53 covers innovative AI methods and technologies for the process industries at the same 4 to 6 million euro scale with up to 6 projects and identical deadlines, while HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-08 on robotics for manufacturing and HORIZON-CL4-2026-05-DIGITAL-EMERGING-03 on next-generation agile and intelligent robotics platforms are much larger single- or double-project topics with April 2026 deadlines.
The distinction that matters here is factory-floor discrete manufacturing and production process improvement, as against the continuous process industries covered by topic 53. The call runs in two stages: stage one proposals closed 17 March 2026 and stage two proposals are due 13 October 2026.
Only consortia that passed stage one may submit at stage two, so the opportunity is effectively closed to new entrants for this round, but the topic structure and budget scale are a reliable guide to what the 2027 equivalents will look like.
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Or search similar grants →According to the current listing, eligibility includes: Standard Horizon Europe eligibility applies: proposals must come from consortia including, as a minimum, three independent legal entities each established in a different EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country, with at least one established in an EU Member State. Participants may include universities, research organisations, companies of any size including SMEs, and public bodies; UK and other associated-country entities participate under the terms of their association agreements. The expected EU contribution is 4,000,000 to 6,000,000 euros per project with up to 5 projects funded, drawn from the HORIZON-CL4-2026-02 two-stage call with a total budget of 98,000,000 euros across three topics. This is a two-stage topic: stage one proposals were due 17 March 2026 and stage two proposals are due 13 October 2026, and only proposals that passed stage one evaluation may be submitted at stage two. Proposals are submitted through the EU Funding and Tenders Portal. Applicants should verify the exact type of action, funding rate, expected outcomes and any specific conditions directly against the topic page on the Funding and Tenders Portal and the Cluster 4 work programme document before preparing a submission, as budget allocations and project counts in the work programme are indicative and can be revised. Related topics in the same work programme worth comparing are DIGITAL-EMERGING-53 for process industries and DIGITAL-EMERGING-03 and -08 for robotics. Confirm the full requirements in the official notice before applying.
The current listing shows the expected EU contribution is 4,000,000 to 6,000,000 euros per project, approximately 4,680,000 to 7,020,000 US dollars at 1.17 dollars to the euro, which is what amount_min and amount_max reflect. Up to 5 projects are expected to be funded under this topic. As a Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Action the EU contribution normally covers 100 per cent of eligible costs for all participant types, which makes the headline figure closer to the real project budget than it would be under a national co-funded scheme - a meaningful difference for industrial participants comparing this against Innovate UK or national smart-manufacturing programmes that fund only 50 to 70 per cent. The cost that consortia consistently underestimate is not financial but temporal: this is a two-stage topic, with stage one closing 17 March 2026 and stage two 13 October 2026, so roughly seven months elapse between the short first-stage proposal and the full submission, and a further several months to grant signature. Consortium-building for a multi-country manufacturing consortium needs to start well before the stage one deadline. Verify award ceilings, matching requirements, and allowable costs in the official notice.
Applications for Horizon Europe HORIZON-CL4-2026-02-DIGITAL-EMERGING-51 for AI Improved Advanced Manufacturing and Production Processes in Factories are due October 13, 2026. Build your timeline backwards from this date to cover registrations, approvals, and final submission checks.
Horizon Europe HORIZON-CL4-2026-02-DIGITAL-EMERGING-51 for AI Improved Advanced Manufacturing and Production Processes in Factories is funded by European Commission, Horizon Europe Cluster 4 (Digital, Industry and Space). Verify program details on the funder's official page before applying.
Start from the official opportunity page linked in this listing — it carries the sponsor's submission instructions.
New Approaches for Human/AI Collaboration is the human-centred AI research topic in Horizon Europe's 2027 Cluster 4 calls, funding work on how people and AI systems work together rather than on raw model capability. It is a Research and Innovation Action at 4 to 6 million euros of EU contribution per project, which makes it one of the more accessible AI topics in the work programme for mid-sized consortia that would be outmatched in the 18 to 44 million euro flagship topics. The topic's natural applicants are interdisciplinary: human-computer interaction researchers, cognitive scientists and social scientists alongside AI groups, since a proposal that treats human-AI collaboration purely as a machine learning problem tends to miss what the topic is asking for. Application areas span workplace, industrial and public-service settings where AI systems must operate alongside human judgment rather than replace it. The structure is two-stage, which materially changes the effort profile compared with single-stage topics: a short first-stage proposal is due 2 February 2027, and only those invited forward submit a full proposal by 2 September 2027. That lowers the cost of entry considerably and makes the topic worth a speculative attempt for consortia still forming, but it also means the real work lands seven months after the first deadline and consortium partners need to commit to that second round upfront. Standard Horizon Europe rules apply - at least three independent legal entities from three different Member States or associated countries, with at least one in a Member State - and RIA funding is at 100 percent of eligible costs for all participants. Confirm the topic text, budget and both deadlines on the EU Funding and Tenders Portal.
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