Topic updates

23 September 2025

15 September 2025
Reminder on proposal part B page limit and formatting conditions

1. Proposal part B page limit

The title, list of participants and sections 1, 2 and 3, together, should not be longer than page limit, indicated in a proposal part B template inside the Submission System. All tables, figures, references and any other element pertaining to these sections must be included as an integral part of these sections and are thus counted against this page limit.

The page limit will be applied automatically. At the end of a proposal part B template inside the Submission System you can see the structure of the actual proposal that you need to submit, please remove all instruction pages that are watermarked.

If you attempt to upload a proposal longer than the specified limit before the deadline, you will receive an automatic warning and will be advised to shorten and re-upload the proposal. After the deadline, excess pages (in over-long proposals/applications) will be automatically made invisible, and will not be taken into consideration by the experts. The proposal is a self-contained document. Experts will be instructed to ignore hyperlinks to information that is specifically designed to expand the proposal, thus circumventing the page limit.

Please, do not consider the page limit as a target! It is in your interest to keep your text as concise as possible, since experts rarely view unnecessarily long proposals in a positive light.

2.Proposal part B formatting conditions

The following formatting conditions apply (as listed in a proposal part B template inside the Submission System) and will be checked by the Agency during an admissibility check of submitted proposals.

The reference font for the body text of proposals is Times New Roman (Windows platforms), Times/Times New Roman (Apple platforms) or Nimbus Roman No. 9 L (Linux distributions).

The use of a different font for the body text is not advised and is subject to the cumulative conditions that the font is legible and that its use does not significantly shorten the representation of the proposal in number of pages compared to using the reference font (for example with a view to bypass the page limit).

The minimum font size allowed is 11 points. Standard character spacing and a minimum of single line spacing is to be used. This applies to the body text, including text in tables.

Text elements other than the body text, such as headers, foot/end notes, captions, formula's, may deviate, but must be legible.

The page size is A4, and all margins (top, bottom, left, right) should be at least 15 mm (not including any footers or headers).

Proposal part B template inside the Submission System document is tagged. Do not delete the tags; they are needed for our internal processing of information, mostly for statistical gathering. In that light, please do not move, delete, re-order, alter tags in any way, as they might create problems in our internal processing tools. Tags do not affect or influence the outcome of your application.

10 June 2025
Please note that due to a technical issue, during the first days of publication of this call, the topic page did not display the description of the corresponding destination. This problem is now solved. In addition to the information published in the topic page, you can always find a full description of destinations:

* destination 1: Achieving global leadership in climate-neutral, circular and digitised industrial and digital value chains;

* destination 2: Achieving technological leadership for Europe's open strategic autonomy in raw materials, chemicals and innovative materials;

* destination 4: Achieving open strategic autonomy in digital and emerging enabling technologies;

* destination 6: Digital and industrial technologies driving human-centric innovation,

that are relevant for the call in the Work Programme 2025 part for “Industry”. Please select from the work programme the destination relevant to your topic and take into account the description and expected impacts of that destination for the preparation of your proposal.

Towards human-centric, sustainable and resilient energy-intensive industries (Processes4Planet and Clean Steel partnerships) (CSA)

TOPIC ID: HORIZON-CL4-INDUSTRY-2025-01-TWIN-TRANSITION-39

Type of grant: Call for proposals

General information

Programme:

Call: INDUSTRY (HORIZON-CL4-2025-01)

Type of action: HORIZON-CSA HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions

Type of MGA: HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS]

Status: Forthcoming

Deadline model: single-stage

Planned Opening Date: 22 May 2025

Deadline dates: 23 September 2025 17:00 (Brussels time)

Topic description

Expected Outcome:

Proposals should contribute to the following outcomes:

• Facilitate radical workplace innovation, optimising human-machine interactions and capitalising on the added value of human workers via digital technologies;
• Contribute to the development of innovative technologies in a human-centric way while reducing the risk and negative health impacts at work;
• Incorporate new breakthrough technologies and realise new production processes with respect to human-centric design, environmental- and societal impacts and resilience;
• Improve the capacities of actors to integrate Industry 5.0 (human-centricity, sustainability, and resilience) in the technological development processes by at the same time increasing the competitiveness of the industry.

Scope:

Industry 5.0 recognises the power of industry to achieve societal goals beyond jobs and growth to become a resilient provider of prosperity. It focuses on making production respect the boundaries of our planet improving competitiveness of European process industries and placing the wellbeing of the industrial worker at the centre of the production process, while increasingly embracing digital and green technologies to remain the solution provider for all Europeans.

Coordination and support activities should address all of the following:

• Prepare an overview of the state of the preconditions for adding the Industry 5.0 perspective to energy intensive industries - this includes human-centric, gender-specific, resilience and sustainability aspects;
• Map technologies (e.g., industrial wearable, human digital twin, extended reality) integrating individual competences and increasing usability, specifically applicable to energy intensive industries sectors and processes. For example, technologies i) supporting the co-design of processes and workplaces, enhancing the remote monitoring experience and creating new capabilities for operating; ii) supporting new forms of human-machine interaction by providing real-time feedback on personal performance and holistic intuitive workplace interfaces; or iii) co-designed in accordance with user expectations and the integration of workplace experience;
• Explore through a practical assessment how the process automation technologies currently in use in Process Industries are making use of innovative the industry 5.0 technologies (the practical assessment is expected to cover several companies and at least five industry sectors);
• Develop an Industry 5.0 framework and engage with a wide range of stakeholders including labour authorities and ongoing relevant sectoral social dialogues at European level. This should include empower employees in a participatory approach for adding the industry 5.0 dimension to the industrial processes including the reduction of risk and health issues;
• Dissemination and communication of information and knowledge to stakeholders including industry, policy makers, research and education actors, civil society and general public;
• Proposals should specifically address gender, age, and disability considerations, recognising potential variations in technological adoption and impact across diverse demographic groups.

This topic implements the co-programmed European partnerships Processes4Planet and Clean Steel partnerships.

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.

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.