European research infrastructures facing global challenges

European science is accelerating. In a global context marked by shared challenges — from climate change to the development of disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence — Brussels has opened a new call under the Research Infrastructures 2025 programme, part of Pillar I of Horizon Europe. With a budget of approximately €400 million, the initiative aims to continue building a robust and sustainable network of scientific infrastructures to support high-impact research across the Old Continent.

These research infrastructures are much more than large laboratories or data centres: they form a European ecosystem encompassing cutting-edge facilities, specialised resources, and high value-added services available to scientists from all disciplines. From space telescopes to biotechnology platforms, these infrastructures enable advances that transform entire sectors and position Europe at the forefront of global knowledge.

The new call, which is already published and will close on 18 September 2025, focuses on four destinations and includes 18 topics covering both Research and Innovation Actions and Coordination and Support Actions. Among its priorities are long-term sustainability, pan-European integration, international cooperation, and the promotion of emerging technologies — all with a clear orientation towards the great societal challenges.

The programme also promotes the training of technical staff, collaboration with industry to develop new scientific tools, and the consolidation of key initiatives such as the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) and Destination Earth, which aims to create a digital model of the planet to simulate and anticipate environmental crises.

“The work programme this year represents a comprehensive effort to strengthen the European research infrastructure landscape, expanding open access capacities and fostering synergies between academia, industry, and policymakers,” explains Germán Zango, Head of the Science and Education area at Zabala Innovation. “By focusing on sustainability, international cooperation and cutting-edge technological advances, Research Infrastructures aims to improve transnational access to infrastructures, develop next-generation technologies, and ensure that European facilities continue to lead global science,” he adds.

Through Kaila — the smart platform created by Zabala Innovation that enables users to search for funding, quantify the latest innovation trends, track competitors and find partners — it is possible to trace this and other initiatives in the field of research with precision, among many others.

Destinations and topics

INFRADEV – Consolidation and evolution of the European Research Infrastructure landscape

Training technical staff in research infrastructures is key to their proper functioning and innovation. For this reason, between €1 million and €1.5 million per project is allocated to create training programmes that function as a one-stop shop, addressing specific needs, promoting mobility and continuous professional development.

The European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) projects included in the 2021 Roadmap receive financial support of between €1 million and €1.5 million per project to overcome initial obstacles such as securing funding, establishing governance structures, and defining access policies, thus facilitating their early implementation.

To ensure the sustainability and evolution of pan-European infrastructures, between €3 million and €4 million per project is allocated. The objective is to strengthen international cooperation, reorient the scope of infrastructures, and create new services that meet the demands of a broader scientific community.

The ESFRI will receive between €1.5 million and €3 million per project to improve its efficiency, visibility, and coordination capacity, assessing new applications and promoting collaboration to strengthen European competitiveness.

Lastly, preparatory actions exploring future frameworks for investment plans, sustainable access schemes, and joint technological development will receive between €1 million and €2 million per project, aiming to lay the groundwork for the future of research infrastructures.

INFRAEOSC – Enabling an operational, open and FAIR EOSC ecosystem

To advance the multi-domain federation of the EOSC, between €6 million and €8 million per project is allocated to EOSC nodes that expand this network by establishing key federation capacities, addressing technical, legal, and organisational interoperability, and developing sustainable business models.

Improving the findability, accessibility, interoperability and reuse (FAIR) of research data, both within and outside the EOSC ecosystem, will receive between €5 million and €8 million per project, destined for the development of automated and standardised tools to support the creation of FAIR digital objects from the design phase.

To promote AI readiness and machine-actionability, between €7.5 million and €15 million per project will be allocated to the development of tools and protocols that facilitate the fairification of data and support the integration of AI and machine learning into scientific workflows.

The professionalisation and training of data stewards will receive between €5 million and €8 million per project to strengthen the culture of Open Science, design coherent curricula, improve skills, and expand knowledge networks.

The use of generative artificial intelligence in scientific research is being supported with grants of between €7.5 million and €10 million per project, focusing on tools that enhance data quality and FAIRification, and encourage the integration of AI/ML in scientific processes.

INFRASERV – Research infrastructures services to support health research, accelerate the green transition and the digital transformation, and advance frontier knowledge the access to RIs

To address public health challenges such as pandemics or personalised medicine, grants of up to €10 million per project will facilitate access to cutting-edge facilities and foster international collaboration to innovate in diagnostics and treatments.

Research in advanced biotechnology, bioproduction, and climate change will receive support of €5 million per project, promoting interdisciplinarity through access to specialised infrastructures and cutting-edge data, accelerating Europe’s green and digital transformation.

To support breakthrough discoveries in physical sciences, engineering, and life sciences, up to €10 million per project will be provided, encouraging knowledge exchange, advanced experimentation and new methodologies that keep Europe at the forefront.

In addition, €5 million per project will be allocated for transnational and virtual access to curiosity-driven research, with particular attention to sustainability, inclusion, and training in data management.

INFRATECH – Next generation of scientific instrumentation, tools, methods, and advanced digital solutions of research infrastructures and foster innovation and co- creation with industry

Reducing the environmental footprint of infrastructures is a priority. Therefore, €5 million per project will be allocated to develop innovative technologies that increase resource efficiency and reduce climate impact throughout the entire lifecycle, including staff training.

The implementation of technological roadmaps will receive up to €10 million per project to foster the co-creation of technological solutions with industry, keeping Europe as a global leader in high-performance instrumentation and methodologies.

In support of the Destination Earth initiative, between €7 million and €10 million per project will be allocated to the use of artificial intelligence for local impact simulations based on digital twins, developing innovative interfaces and establishing best practices for advanced evaluations.

Finally, the creation of AI-generated digital twins for complex real-world systems will receive between €8 million and €10 million per project, aiming to revolutionise research through advanced configurations of data fusion, visualisation, and demonstrations of this technology’s transformative potential.