HORIZON-INFRA-2026-01-EOSC: Enabling an Operational, Open and FAIR EOSC Ecosystem

HORIZON-INFRA-2026-01-EOSC: Enabling an Operational, Open and FAIR EOSC Ecosystem

The HORIZON-INFRA-2026-01-EOSC opportunity was a Horizon Europe call under the Research Infrastructures part of the programme, focused on strengthening the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). The official European Research Executive Agency (REA) page describes a two-topic destination for a trusted, interoperable ecosystem for FAIR research data and services across disciplines and European institutions. The 2026 call closed on 16 June 2026 at 17:00 Brussels time. It is now a historical reference: the REA page reports that 236 proposals were submitted, including one under EOSC-01 and six under EOSC-02. There is no application window for this closed call.

The official Work Programme gives the call a total indicative budget of EUR 50 million, divided between EUR 40 million for HORIZON-INFRA-2026-01-EOSC-01 and EUR 10 million for HORIZON-INFRA-2026-01-EOSC-02. Those are call/topic budgets, not a guaranteed amount for one applicant. The relevant legal instruments, General Annexes, and topic text take precedence over this summary.

The REA page links applicants to the EU Funding & Tenders Portal for the authoritative topic records and submission forms. Because this page is archived after the deadline, the portal links below are retained for reading the 2026 call documentation, not as an indication that proposals can still be submitted.

For your use, this is not a narrow biomedical grant, one-off travel program, or personal scholarship. It is a Research Infrastructures destination, meaning proposals are expected to have infrastructure-level design and reusable value beyond a single institution.

Key details

This entry should not be used to infer that applications remain open. The official REA page records the closed deadline and submitted-proposal counts. A later related INFRAEOSC topic must be checked as its own opportunity in the Funding & Tenders Portal; the 2026 topic reference, budget, and deadline above belong only to this archived call.

What this call is designed to fund

This was not a standard curiosity-driven research project call in the usual sense. It was a systemic infrastructure opportunity. The REA summary and Work Programme framed the destination as delivering:

• a web-like environment of services and data for science,
• trusted, FAIR-aligned practices,
• easier uptake of EOSC across infrastructures and research communities.

The Work Programme material identifies this as part of Destination INFRAEOSC under the 2026-27 Research Infrastructures work programme and explicitly includes topics in this destination:

• HORIZON-INFRA-2026-01-EOSC-01: Uptake of FAIR data management and EOSC by research communities and infrastructures.
• HORIZON-INFRA-2026-01-EOSC-02: Trusted frameworks for secure and efficient data sharing in EOSC.

In practical terms, this call usually attracts projects and consortia that can do more than a simple software build. Strong candidates tend to address one or more of:

1. Data-management interoperability at scale (metadata, workflows, federation standards).
2. Cross-service integration (services from different domains and infrastructure operators working with a shared API/data contract model).
3. Community uptake strategy (how many communities and institutions will adopt the service model and why).
4. Security and trust posture (especially for sensitive or high-value research data services).
5. Sustainable service model (proof that the result can persist beyond grant closure).

Because this is an infrastructure and services route, proposals should not center only on method papers or pilot studies. Reviewers and policy teams evaluate what infrastructure effect you create, not only what you build in an isolated lab.

Who this is best for (and who it is not for)

Good fit

This call is usually most suitable for:

• Research infrastructure consortia that can coordinate data services across institutions.
• Organizations already connected to data-intensive domains (biology, social sciences, climate, materials, AI-enabled data analytics, etc.) where cross-project interoperability matters.
• National/international research entities, domain data platforms, large observatories, or federation-style initiatives that can scale.
• Teams that can show measurable community impact (adoption, integration points, service uptime/value).
• Applicants with policy and governance capability (not just technical coding capacity).

Likely weak fit

This is usually a weak match for:

• Single-lab projects that have no route to shared service operation.
• Early-stage prototypes without alignment to EOSC Federation models.
• Programs that rely only on theoretical outcomes without deployment/governance paths.
• Teams that cannot show consortium readiness or inter-organizational coordination.

The Work Programme framing emphasizes the EU-level function of these calls; therefore, a proposal that is technically good but institutionally isolated is often disadvantaged.

Eligibility and participation checks for the closed call

The REA’s general Horizon Europe guidance states that any organisation can apply when it has the operational and financial capacity to carry out the proposed tasks. For most collaborative calls, the consortium must contain at least three partner organisations from three different EU or associated countries, including at least one partner from an EU country. The exact topic record and General Annex B control the legal-entity, country, exclusion, and consortium conditions, so those documents were the required eligibility check for this call.

The INFRAEOSC Work Programme adds conditions that matter for this destination. Legal entities established in China were not eligible to participate in Research and Innovation Actions or Innovation Actions under the destination. EOSC-01 was a Research and Innovation Action aimed at increasing FAIR and EOSC uptake by multiple research communities and infrastructures. EOSC-02 was a Coordination and Support Action aimed at data-sovereignty frameworks, lawful and secure sharing, governance, provenance, and support structures. A prospective coordinator therefore needed to match its legal and operational capacity, consortium design, and proposed activities to one specific topic rather than treating the EUR 50 million total as one undifferentiated grant.

For EOSC-01, the Work Programme expected cross-research-infrastructure or cross-domain work, open science projects, alignment with EOSC policies and standards, and mechanisms for integrating results into the EOSC Federation. The topic allowed the awarded consortium to provide grants to third parties, with individual open-science grants expected to be between EUR 100,000 and EUR 250,000 for 12 to 24 months. The topic also set a maximum of EUR 750,000 for each third-party grant and required independent peer review for selecting supported third parties. These amounts describe the cascade mechanism inside a successful action; they were not a direct personal award.

For EOSC-02, the Work Programme expected frameworks for research-data sovereignty, data access and sharing policies, governance, provenance tools, classification of critical data and services, and guidance aligned with EU and national law. Its estimated EU contribution per project was EUR 3 million to EUR 5 million, within the EUR 10 million topic budget. Both topics required alignment with the EOSC Partnership and additional access, repository, or coordination obligations described in the Work Programme.

Application process and realistic timeline

The official timeline began with the launch of the Horizon Europe 2026-2027 Work Programme on 10 December 2025, followed by the call launch on 10 March 2026 and an information day on 18 March 2026. The proposal deadline was 16 June 2026 at 17:00 Brussels time, and that deadline has passed. The REA page therefore describes the later stages of this call rather than an active application route: applicants are due to be informed of selection in November 2026, grant agreements are scheduled for signature in February 2027, and successful projects are scheduled to start in June 2027.

For a record of how applicants were expected to apply, the process was:

1. Choose the correct topic. Read the INFRAEOSC destination and the two topic texts in the Work Programme. EOSC-01 concerned FAIR-data and EOSC uptake by research communities and infrastructures; EOSC-02 concerned trusted frameworks for secure and efficient data sharing. The budget, action type, expected outcomes, and special conditions differed between them.

2. Check the legal and consortium conditions. Confirm operational and financial capacity, the General Annex B conditions, country eligibility, and any topic-specific restrictions. Most collaborative Horizon Europe calls require at least three partner organisations from three different EU or associated countries, with at least one partner from an EU country. Assign a coordinator to act as the main contact with REA and document who owns technical, data-governance, legal, community, and sustainability work.

3. Build the proposal in the Funding & Tenders Portal. Create a portal profile, select the exact topic reference, and use the online form for the proposal. The application needed to connect the work plan to the topic’s expected outcomes and scope, not just describe a general EOSC platform. EOSC-01 proposals needed a credible route for cross-domain open-science work, FAIR practices, EOSC resources, and integration of results. EOSC-02 proposals needed a credible route for sovereignty, lawful sharing, governance, provenance, and secure data-management frameworks.

4. Complete the technical, impact, and implementation checks. Review the consortium’s roles, milestones, resources, open-source or repository commitments, third-party support arrangements, and coordination with the EOSC Partnership. Check that the requested amount is consistent with the topic’s expected EU contribution and that the proposal addresses independent review and conflict-of-interest requirements where cascading grants are planned.

5. Submit before the recorded deadline. The portal submission window for this call closed on 16 June 2026. No late-submission or rolling-application provision is stated on the official REA page. New applicants should not submit against this archived reference; they should locate the relevant open topic and use its own portal record and deadline.

What the 2026 application needed to include (beyond the obvious)

The exact portal forms and General Annexes controlled the required administrative material. At proposal level, the 2026 call required more than a concept, budget, and team list: applicants needed to define how their work would operate inside the EOSC ecosystem and how its benefits would persist.

Core content blocks that matter

• EOSC alignment: Show clearly that your design integrates with existing EOSC architecture or clearly justifies transitional integration.
• Community pathway: Explain how teams/institutions adopt and operate the outcome.
• Security and trust model: Include practical assumptions around access control, auditability, and responsible sharing.
• Sustainability argument: Show who maintains, updates, and scales beyond grant close.
• Measurable milestones: Include explicit adoption, interoperability, and service reliability indicators.

Typical pitfalls that cost scores and credibility

1. Overpromising architecture without governance

   • A lot of technical excellence gets downgraded if governance and coordination are thin.

2. Treating this as a technology-only procurement bid

   • This call expects shared infrastructure impact and ecosystem outcomes, not just code.

3. Under-specifying standards and interfaces

   • If you claim FAIR alignment, explain your metadata, interoperability, and reuse strategy concretely.

4. Ignoring publication schedule and role clarity

   • For multi-organization consortia, undefined responsibilities are usually a hidden review risk.

5. Late portal compliance checks

   • Portal failures and format errors are preventable with early checks.

Review logic and what evaluators usually look for

The Horizon process combines strategic and technical review criteria, but for infrastructure/mission-like topics, two practical filters are usually decisive:

• Added value across the ERA/EOSC ecosystem: can this project actually improve shared infrastructure behavior for multiple actors?
• Feasibility with real governance: are responsibilities, governance, and sustainability credible, not rhetorical?

Because the call is in a destination context, it is evaluated less on narrow novelty and more on whether it strengthens an ecosystem.

Reviewers frequently reward:

• clear integration roadmap,
• realistic pilot/test deployment plans,
• evidence-based uptake plans,
• mature coordination between technical, legal, and operations roles.

FAQ for applicants (practical)

Is this for non-EU institutions?

Possibly, if they are eligible under the participation conditions for the specific topic on the FTP topic page. Eligibility is topic-dependent and must be confirmed there.

Is there an open-date window?

The destination page describes a 2026 call with a 16 June 2026 deadline. The same call also includes detailed key dates in the REA narrative and associated Work Programme references.

What funding level can I assume?

The REA page gives a EUR 50 million total indicative budget. Use this as the global amount and avoid fabricating per-topic sub-budgets unless confirmed in official portal text.

What are the two topics?

The Work Programme table links this destination to two topics: EOSC-01 (FAIR uptake) and EOSC-02 (trusted frameworks for secure and efficient EOSC data sharing).

What should I read first?

Read in this order:

1. REA call destination page.
2. Horizon Europe 2026-27 Work Programme for the Research Infrastructures destination line references.
3. The FTP topic page for HORIZON-INFRA-2026-01-EOSC (official text, forms, and required attachments).

What remains useful for a related future call

Treat this as a policy-technical proposal, not a technical showcase. A strong submission usually combines:

• a clear scientific user problem,
• a real integration architecture,
• a well-governed consortium model,
• and a credible adoption and sustainability model.

If a related EOSC concept ends with only “our software improves data sharing,” it is missing the policy and operating layer. In this destination, the substance was shared European openness, interoperability, data governance, and durable service operation. This guidance can inform a future proposal, but it does not reopen HORIZON-INFRA-2026-01-EOSC.

Use the same logic for your written section hierarchy:

1. Problem and policy gap
2. Technical contribution
3. Community and user ecosystem plan
4. Governance and sustainability
5. Risk controls
6. Measurable results by date

Official links

• Official REA call page (main source): https://rea.ec.europa.eu/funding-and-grants/horizon-europe-research-infrastructures/enabling-operational-open-and-fair-eosc-ecosystem-infraeosc_en
• Funding & Tenders Portal call reference (official): https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/HORIZON-INFRA-2026-01-EOSC
• Horizon Europe Work Programme context (Research Infrastructures): https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/wp-call/2026-2027/wp-3-research-infrastructures_horizon-2026-2027_en.pdf

The 2026 application cycle is closed. Keep this page as an archive of its scope, eligibility signals, topic budgets, and documented outcome counts; verify any new EOSC opportunity independently before preparing an application.