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"Horizon Europe HORIZON-CL4-2026-05-DIGITAL-EMERGING-02 Next-Generation AI Agents for Real-World Applications in the Apply AI Sectors" is currently closed and not accepting applications.
At roughly EUR 19 million per project across just two grants, this is one of the largest single-topic commitments to agentic AI anywhere in public funding, and the size itself defines the eligible field: this is a flagship-scale consortium topic, not a place for a strong individual research group.
The scope targets autonomous systems powered by large language or multimodal models capable of planning, tool use and autonomous action in real-world settings, with named research areas covering advanced planning mechanisms, memory management, reasoning capabilities, multi-agent frameworks, self-optimization and multimodal reasoning.
The framing under Apply AI is the decisive detail - the Commission is funding agents that work in specific economic sectors rather than general agentic capability research, so proposals need credible sectoral deployment partners and evaluation in real operational settings rather than benchmark performance alone.
The topic sits under the Partnership in AI, Data and Robotics, which raises the expectation of alignment with the partnership's strategic agenda and of industrial participation alongside research organisations. Practically, a consortium at this scale means a dozen or more partners spanning model developers, systems integrators, sector end users and evaluation and safety expertise, assembled over many months.
Funding is a Research and Innovation Action at 100 percent of eligible direct costs plus 25 percent flat-rate indirect costs, which is favourable but does not offset the coordination burden of a project this large.
Eligibility runs to EU member states plus Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Canada, Israel, the Republic of Korea and New Zealand, with high-risk telecom equipment suppliers such as Huawei and ZTE and entities they control explicitly excluded - a restriction worth checking against supply chain partners before committing.
The HORIZON-CL4-2026-05 call closed on 15 April 2026, with evaluation results communicated in July 2026, so this cycle is complete; teams should watch the CL4 2027 work programme for successor Apply AI agent topics and begin consortium building now given the lead time such proposals demand.
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Or search similar grants →According to the current listing, eligibility includes: Standard Horizon Europe rules apply: consortia must include at least three independent legal entities from three different EU member states or associated countries, with at least one established in an EU member state. Participation is restricted to legal entities established in EU member states and in Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Canada, Israel, the Republic of Korea and New Zealand. High-risk telecom equipment suppliers including Huawei and ZTE, and entities controlled by them, are excluded from participation. Eligible participants include universities, research and technology organisations, public bodies, SMEs, large companies and sectoral end-user organisations. The action type is a Research and Innovation Action (RIA), funded at 100 percent of eligible direct costs plus a 25 percent flat rate for indirect costs. The indicative topic budget is EUR 38,000,000 supporting 2 expected grants of approximately EUR 19,000,000 each, so proposals must be structured as large multi-partner consortia. The topic operates under the Partnership in AI, Data and Robotics and alignment with the partnership's strategic research and innovation agenda is expected. Scope covers autonomous systems powered by large language or multimodal models capable of planning, tool utilisation and autonomous action, including advanced planning mechanisms, memory management, reasoning capabilities, multi-agent frameworks, self-optimisation and multimodal reasoning applied across economic sectors under the Apply AI strategy. The HORIZON-CL4-2026-05 call closed 15 April 2026 at 17:00 CEST with evaluation results communicated in July 2026; applicants should monitor the EU Funding and Tenders Portal for successor topics in the 2027 work programme. Confirm the full requirements in the official notice before applying.
The current listing shows indicative topic budget of EUR 38,000,000 (approximately $41,800,000 USD) supporting 2 expected grants of approximately EUR 19,000,000 each (about $20,900,000 USD per project). Funded as a Research and Innovation Action at 100 percent of eligible direct costs plus 25 percent flat-rate indirect costs. Verify award ceilings, matching requirements, and allowable costs in the official notice.
The published deadline was April 15, 2026, which has passed. Check the official notice for any future application windows before investing time in a proposal.
Horizon Europe HORIZON-CL4-2026-05-DIGITAL-EMERGING-02 Next-Generation AI Agents for Real-World Applications in the Apply AI Sectors is funded by European Commission (Horizon Europe Cluster 4: Digital, Industry and Space) under the Partnership in AI, Data and Robotics. 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.
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