Cluster 4: Digital, Industry and Space

The Digital, Industry, and Space cluster aims to position Europe as a technological and industrial leader in both green and digital transitions. This cluster focuses on key strategic goals: building a competitive, digital, low-carbon and circular industry; ensuring a sustainable supply of raw materials; developing advanced materials; and providing the basis for innovations that address global challenges. Additionally, this cluster emphasizes the development and deployment of cutting-edge technologies in areas such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence (including GenAI), photonics, quantum Technologies and more. The cluster is structured around six destinations to achieve these goals.

Areas of Intervention

Manufacturing technologies

Key digital technologies including quantum technologies

Emerging enabling technologies

Advanced materials

Artificial intelligence and robotics

Next generation internet

Advanced computing and Big Data

Circular industries

Low carbon and clean industries

Space including earth observation

Why apply?

Participation in Horizon Europe Cluster 4 calls offers the opportunity to contribute to cutting-edge research and innovation. Successful projects receive substantial funding and support, fostering collaboration and advancement in these critical areas by connecting with leading researchers, businesses, and organizations across Europe.

The six destinations of Cluster 4 – Digital, Industry and Space are:

Climate-neutral, circular and digitised production (TWIN-TRANSITION)

Increased autonomy in key strategic value chains for resilient industry (RESILIENCE)

World-leading data and computing technologies (DATA)

Digital and emerging technologies for competitiveness and fit for the green deal (DIGITAL-EMERGING)

Open strategic autonomy in developing, deploying and using global space-based infrastructures, services, applications and data (SPACE)

A human-centered and ethical development of digital and industrial technologies (HUMAN)

Application requirements

A consortium of at least three independent legal entities (“beneficiaries”), each established in a different EU member state or Horizon Europe associated country (e.g. Israel); at least one member of the consortium must come from an EU member state.

Funding

Grants of up to several million Euros per project, according to the specific topic description.

70% or 100% of the eligible costs + 25% overhead, depending on the type of funding mechanism. Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) and Coordination and Support Actions (CSA) will cover 100% of the expenses and Innovation Actions (IA) will cover 70% of the expenses. Nonprofit entities are always eligible for 100% of the eligible costs + 25% overhead.

Submission

Submission deadline dates are available on the “calls for proposal” webpage; applications should be submitted by 17:00 Brussels time. It is highly recommended that the proposal be submitted a few days prior to the official deadline!.

RIA/IA proposals must follow this provided template, CSA proposals must follow this provided template.

Evaluation process

Your proposal will be first evaluated and scored remotely by at least 3 EU expert evaluators, each giving it a grade of up to 5 on the three evaluation criteria: Excellence, Impact, and Implementation.

The evaluation process is expected to take 5 months after the deadline.

Co-programmed partnerships

Cluster 4 includes several co-programmed partnerships between the European Commission and mostly private (and sometimes public) partners. The open calls these partnerships issue are incorporated through the work program of Cluster 4 (indicated by “xxxx partnership” in the topic’s title). For these topics, we advise following the relevant partnership and considering applying to join as a member (partial reimbursement might be available; see ISERD support page). The co-programmed partnerships of Cluster 4 are: