Open calls · Infrastructure · Engineering
Enhancing physical protection of critical infrastructures
European Commission · Horizon Europe · HORIZON-CL3-2027-01-INFRA-01
Deadlines
- 4 Nov 2027 Deadline in 358 days
Time of day: 17:00 Brussels time.
Who can apply
- Countries
- Applicants from any country can take part. Funding is usually limited to the EU, associated countries and listed low- and middle-income countries; sanctions apply to some.
- Who applies
- A consortium of organisations
Money
- Per project
- up to €6M per project
- Total budget
- €12M
- Expected awards
- 2
About the call
Expected Outcome:
Project results are expected to contribute to some or all of the following outcomes:
• Critical infrastructure operators and authorities have improved physical risks and hazards assessment capabilities;
• Perimeter security, access control, surveillance systems, remote sensors and other systems used by or relevant to critical infrastructure operators are capable of coping with threats from misuse of new and emerging technologies;
• Improved operational procedures, including incidents management and training curricula, are developed;
• Innovative solutions for critical infrastructure resilience are being developed, utilising recent advancements in spatial planning, security-by-design, preparedness-by-design and nature-based solutions using an inclusive approach that address diverse needs.
Scope:
Physical protection of critical infrastructure should keep up its advancement to match risks and hazards stemming from malicious use of new and emerging technologies, and evolving operational environment, as well as improve its safety and security measures against knowns and emerging threats. Following this approach entities providing essential services should reduce their vulnerability, among others, to threats from improvised explosive devices, ramming attacks, sabotage, uncooperative and hostile unmanned platforms including swarm robotics, penetration of access points by unauthorised individuals and vehicles, unauthorised access to hazardous material storage, removal of critical components, or deterioration of critical infrastructure due to age, inadequate design or changed operational conditions, including climate.
Proposals submitted under this topic should identify and analyse possible new challenges for the physical security of the critical entities and develop adequate tools, recommendations, manuals and training programmes for relevant operators and authorities. Where relevant for their scope proposals should utilise the nature-based solutions and respect principles of biodiversity. Furthermore, solutions should take into account interdependencies in the context of supply chains and their impact on physical protection.
Coordination among the successful proposals from this topic and projects funded under HORIZON-CL3-2025-01-INFRA-01: Open topic for improved preparedness for, response to and recovery from large-scale disruptions of critical infrastructures and HORIZON-CL3-2025-01-INFRA-02: Open topic for role of the human factor for resilience of European critical entities , should be envisaged in order to avoid duplication, share resources and exploit complementarities and opportunities for increased impact.
In this topic the integration of the gender dimension (sex and gender analysis) in research and innovation content should be addressed only if relevant in relation to the objectives of the research effort.
Technology Readiness Level - Technology readiness level expected from completed projects
Activities are expected to achieve TRL 6-7 by the end of the project – see General Annex B.
Text from the funder (European Commission, CC BY 4.0).
Conditions in full
"> General conditions
1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout
described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.
Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.
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2. Eligible Countries
described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide .
3. Other Eligible Conditions
In line with the “ restriction on control in innovation actions in critical technology areas ” delineated in General Annex B of the General Annexes, entities established in an eligible country but which are directly or indirectly controlled by China or by a legal entity established in China are not eligible to participate in the action.
The following additional eligibility conditions apply:
This topic requires involvement as beneficiaries of at least 3 relevant practitioners from EU Member States or Associated Countries. Depending on the specific proposal submitted, these practitioners should represent one or several of the following portfolios:
• critical infrastructure operator,
• authority responsible for critical infrastructure resilience,
• civil protection authority,
• law enforcement or private companies providing security for critical infrastructure.
For these participants, applicants must fill in the table “Information about security practitioners” in the application form with all the requested information, following the template provided in the submission IT tool.
If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data and services may additionally be used).
described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion
described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds
are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes
are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual .
5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement
described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants
The granting authority may, up to 4 years after the end of the action, object to a transfer of ownership or to the exclusive licensing of results, as set out in the specific provision of Annex 5.
Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025) [[This decision is available on the Funding and Tenders Portal, in the reference documents section for Horizon Europe, under ‘Simplified costs decisions’ or through this link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/ls-decision_he_en.pdf ]].
described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Specific conditions
described in the [specific topic of the Work Programme]
Some activities resulting from this topic may involve using classified background and/or producing of security sensitive results (EUCI and SEN). Please refer to the related provisions in…
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