A programme of Excellent Science
As part of Pillar I of Horizon Europe, the work programme for European Research Infrastructures supports activities to consolidate, evolve, open, integrate and interconnect a world leading ecosystem of research services for researchers in Europe, encompassing both national and pan-European infrastructures. The aim is to cover the continuum of needs from the creation of fundamental knowledge to technology development and innovation, while supporting open science.
The programme aims to improve the sustainability of the research infrastructures ecosystem and synergies amongst funding sources, support human resources and skills development for an optimal functioning of research infrastructures, and reinforce the international dimension of research infrastructures in particular with regards to shared global challenges.
Another key aim of the programme is to continue enabling transnational access to research infrastructure services with two main targets: curiosity driven research, and challenge-driven research (also considering the development of new or customised services, to better serve interdisciplinary approaches). It will also promote the educational and training dimensions of access to research infrastructures.
The programme promotes collaboration in the upgrading and design of scientific instruments and tools, including through cooperation with industry and through creating research infrastructure innovation ecosystems. Reduction of the environmental footprint of research infrastructures is also a focus.
The European Research Infrastructures Work Programme
Calls in the Research Infrastructure Work Programme are under the following thematic areas, or Destinations:
INFRADEV, which aims to develop, consolidate and optimise the European Research Infrastructures landscape, and maintain global leadership.
INFRAEOSC, with the objective of enabling an operational, open and FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) European Open Science Cloud ecosystem.
INFRASERV, with the objective of offering services supporting transnational access to state-of-the-art facilities for researchers, relevant to a large research domain or in support of societal challenges and EU priorities.
INFRATECH, aiming to contribute to developing the next generation of scientific instrumentation, tools, methods and advanced digital solutions of Research Infrastructures.
INFRANET, aiming to deliver state-of-the-art network connectivity, above-the-net innovative services and operational excellence for the National Research and Education Networks. (There is no call for topics under this Destination.)
The Work Programme document outlines the expected impacts as set out by the Excellent Science strategic plan and details specific calls for proposals and their relevant conditions to apply. Review this information before beginning your application process.
Updated June 2026: calls closing on 16 June 2026 have been removed from the listings here. For archived details, see the Work Programme.
Who can apply?
Unless otherwise provided for in the specific call/topic conditions, only legal entities forming a consortium are eligible to participate in Horizon Europe actions provided that the consortium includes, as beneficiaries, three legal entities independent from each other and each established in a different country as follows:
Our European team can help you find eligible partners to form a consortium.
There may be further eligibility conditions for specific topics. Please check the Work Programme and contact our team to ensure your eligibility before applying.
- at least one independent legal entity established in a Member State;
- and at least two other independent legal entities, each established in different Member States or Associated Countries (this includes the UK).
Info day, 18 March 2026
An online info day was held on Wednesday 18 March 2026, 10am-2pm CET (9am-1pm GMT): click here for further information and to watch recordings.
INFRADEV – Consolidation and evolution of the European Research Infrastructure landscape
- HORIZON-INFRA-2027-DEV-01-01: Preparatory phase of new ESFRI research infrastructure projects. c.€1.5m-€3.5m per project for up to 9 projects.
- HORIZON-INFRA-2027-DEV-01-02: Consolidation of the research infrastructure landscape – development of complementarities, synergies and/or integration between a set of pan-European research infrastructures. c.€2m-€5m per project for up to 4 projects.
- HORIZON-INFRA-2027-DEV-01-03: Consolidation of the research infrastructure landscape – individual support for evolution, long-term sustainability and emerging needs of pan-European research infrastructures. c.€3m-€4.5m per project for up to 8 projects.
INFRAEOSC – Enabling an operational, open and FAIR EOSC ecosystem
- HORIZON-INFRA-2027-01-EOSC-01: Expanding and deepening the EOSC Federation (EOSC Partnership). c.€40m for a single project.
- HORIZON-INFRA-2027-01-EOSC-02: Strengthening the potential of the EOSC for knowledge valorisation and industry-academia collaboration (EOSC Partnership). c.€2.5m-€4m for 2 projects.
INFRASERV – Research infrastructures services
Single-stage calls opening 09 Mar 2027, deadline 15 Jun 2027
- HORIZON-INFRA-2027-SERV-01-01: Access to research infrastructures, their resources and services: large-scale pilots for more integrated scheme across (sub)domains. c.€35m per project for 3 projects.
- HORIZON-INFRA-2027-SERV-01-02: Access to research infrastructure services to enable R&I addressing EU priorities and emerging challenges. c.€6m per project for 6 projects.
- HORIZON-INFRA-2027-SERV-01-03: Connecting research infrastructures and a wider user community across the European Research Area through access to advanced research infrastructure services. c.€3m per project for 4 projects.
INFRATECH – Next gen instrumentation, tools, methods, and digital solutions
- HORIZON-INFRA-2027-TECH-01-01: Testing and optimising models of co-creation of advanced research infrastructure technologies. c.€10m-€15m per project for 2 projects.
- HORIZON-INFRA-2027-TECH-01-02: Pioneering Destination Earth for a Sustainable Future: Large-Scale Pilots and Demonstrators. c.€7m-€12m per project for 3 projects.
