Horizon Europe (2021 - 2027)

Flight Test Demonstration of an Unducted Engine Architecture for SMR Aircraft

Last update: Jan 27, 2026 Last update: Jan 27, 2026

Details

Location:EU 27
EU 27
Grantmaking entity type:Development Institution
Status:Awarded
Budget: EUR 100,000,000
Award ceiling:N/A
Award floor:N/A
Sector:Energy, Laboratory & Measurement, Transport
Languages:English
Eligible applicants:Unrestricted / Unspecified
Eligible citizenships:Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, A ...
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Curaçao, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Dem. Rep. Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Commonwealth of, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Eswatini (Swaziland), Ethiopia, Faroe Islands, Fiji, Finland, France, French Polynesia, French Southern Territory, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Micronesia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, North Macedonia, Norway, Pakistan, Palestine / West Bank & Gaza, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, St. Pierre and Miquelon, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Wallis and Futuna, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Date posted: Feb 21, 2025

Attachments 17

Associated Awards

Description

Topic updates

04 April 2025

On 04 April 2025 the Collaboration Agreement for Linked Actions model document was added topics in this call. It is made available as a supporting document. It is provided for information only, as not necessary at proposal submission stage. This model may be used by beneficiaries and participants selected under the topics of Clean Aviation calls for proposals requiring the linking of actions as part of the call and topic conditions. It can be found in the additional documents section of each topic.


 

28 March 2025

On 27th March 2025 the answer to question 6 in the Finance & Admin section of Release 2 of the Q&A document was updated.


20 March 2025

On 20th March 2025 the second edition of the "Questions & Answers" document was published for this call. See the additional documents section below for details.


 

Flight Test Demonstration of an Unducted Engine Architecture for SMR Aircraft

TOPIC ID: HORIZON-JU-CLEAN-AVIATION-2025-03-SMR-02

Type of grant: Call for proposals

General information

Programme:

Call: Clean Aviation CfP 03 (HORIZON-JU-Clean-Aviation-2025-01)

Type of action: HORIZON-JU-IA HORIZON JU Innovation Actions

Type of MGA: HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG]

Status: Forthcoming

Deadline model: single-stage

Planned Opening Date: 27 March 2025

Deadline dates: 15 May 2025 17:00 (Brussels time)

Topic description

Expected Outcome:

Flight test demonstration of an installed Open Fan engine architecture at TRL6 to demonstrate a -20% of CO2 reduction at aircraft level and demonstration up to TRL 5 of enhanced performance technologies and advanced modelling capabilities for further efficiency and fuel burn improvements. See the topic description document published with this call for full details.

 

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.

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

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.

  • The Specific Clean Aviation Rules for submission, evaluation, selection, award and review procedures of Calls for Proposals are described in a document to be found by clicking ==> HERE
  • Award criteria, scoring and thresholds are described inAnnex Dof the Work Programme General Annexes
  • The CA JU Specific Evaluation Template for this Call is:Evaluation Form IA an RIA Actions
  • Submission and evaluation processesare described inAnnex Fof the Work Programme General Annexes and theOnline Manual
  • Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement:described inAnnex Fof the Work Programme General Annexes

5. Legal and financial set-up of the grants

described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Specific conditions

Note in particular Chapter 2.4.3 "Conditions and Management of the call" in the Work Programme

The winning applicants will be required to sign a Cooperation Agreement, an agreement between the consortia of the relevant CAJU Grant Agreements that sets out a framework to foster the exchange of information and/or data among and across CAJU co-funded actions and the beneficiaries on a “need to know basis”.

The Proposal Templates will be available in the submission system when it opens (late March 2025),

But to allow potential applicants to already start preparing their proposal(s) from the moment of call publications, all the necessary documents are also available here on the F&T Portal:

Proposal Application Form for this call.

MGA (Model Grant Agreement) HE General MGA v1.0

CA JU Model Consortium Agreement:

  1. PDF Version
  2. WORD Version

Clean Aviation contract template for the provision of services by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)

Potential applicants are advised to check this web page periodically in case there are any updates to the documents.

If there are any changes this will be mentioned in the "Topic Updates" section at the top of this page and also in the Q&A document.

Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA):

Additional documents:

The Full Description of Topics in this Call

Clean Aviation Work Programme 2024-25

Q&A Document: First Release (20.02.2025)

Clean Aviation Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (CA JU SRIA)

HE Main Work Programme 2023–2025 – General Introduction

HE Main Work Programme 2023–2025 – Climate, Energy and Mobility

HE Main Work Programme 2023–2025 – General Annexes

HE Programme Guide

HE Framework Programme 2021/695

HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764

EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509

Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment

EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement

Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual

Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions

Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement

Start submission

The submission system is planned to be opened on the date stated on the topic header.

Get support

Please read carefully all provisions below before the preparation of your application.

Mailbox for Submitting Questions: Clean Aviation Call Questions

The process for handling the questions is as follows:

We have a transparent approach for handling any questions (either administrative or technical) on the Call.

This consists of collecting questions as they come, developing the answers when appropriate, then publishing them on the Funding & Tenders Opportunities Portal of the European Commission for the benefit of all potential applicants.

Questions received up to 04 April 2025, 17:00 CET, will be answered, after analysis, in due time

Two releases of Q/As are foreseen:

  • A first Q/A document is released on 20 February 2025.
  • A second version of the Q/A document will be released around 20 March 2025.
  • A third version of the Q/A document will be released around 11 April 2025.

All interested parties are recommended to consult periodically the Clean Aviation JU website and the call documents on Funding & Tender Opportunities Portal of the European Commission for updates to this document and any other updates to this call.

Online Manual is your guide on the procedures from proposal submission to managing your grant.

Horizon Europe Programme Guide contains the detailed guidance to the structure, budget and political priorities of Horizon Europe.

Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ – find the answers to most frequently asked questions on submission of proposals, evaluation and grant management.

Research Enquiry Service – ask questions about any aspect of European research in general and the EU Research Framework Programmes in particular.

National Contact Points (NCPs) – get guidance, practical information and assistance on participation in Horizon Europe. There are also NCPs in many non-EU and non-associated countries (‘third-countries’).

Enterprise Europe Network – contact your EEN national contact for advice to businesses with special focus on SMEs. The support includes guidance on the EU research funding.

IT Helpdesk – contact the Funding & Tenders Portal IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc.

European IPR Helpdesk assists you on intellectual property issues.

CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk – the European Standards Organisations advise you how to tackle standardisation in your project proposal.

The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment – consult the general principles and requirements specifying the roles, responsibilities and entitlements of researchers, employers and funders of researchers.

Partner Search help you find a partner organisation for your proposal.

 
 
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grant Background

About the Funding Agency

Horizon Europe will incorporate research and innovation missions to increase the effectiveness of funding by pursuing clearly defined targets. 

The Commission has engaged policy experts to develop studies, case studies and reports on how a mission-oriented policy approach will work.

Mission areas

5 mission areas have been identified, each with a dedicated mission board and assembly. The board and assembly help specify, design and implement the specific missions which will launch under Horizon Europe in 2021.

  • Adaptation to climate change including societal transformation
  • Cancer
  • Climate-neutral and smart cities
  • Healthy oceans, seas, coastal and inland waters
  • Soil health and food

About the Sectors

Energy

Involves the production, transformation, transportation, and distribution of energy from renewable and non-renewable sources.


Key areas:
  • Renewable and non-renewable energy production
  • Energy infrastructure and distribution systems
  • Power generation and energy supply solutions

Laboratory & Measurement

Comprises laboratory facilities, equipment, and measurement activities used for scientific, technical, and analytical purposes.


Key areas:
  • Laboratory testing and analysis
  • Measurement, calibration, and metrology
  • Scientific instruments and laboratory equipment