HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-15

GenAI4EU: Generative AI for Virtual Worlds: Advanced technologies for better performance and hyper personalised and immersive experience (IA) (AI/Data/Robotics & Virtual Worlds Partnerships) -

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Call text (as on F&T portal)

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Expected Outcome:

Project results are expected to contribute to at least one of the following expected outcomes:

  • Realistic, creative and innovative characters, user-tailored artefacts, and Virtual Worlds for a better immersion and significantly improved user experience.
  • Smart digital assistants and 3D chatbots for a safe and inclusive navigation.

Scope:

Generative AI, at the edge and integrated in devices, will bring better performance, a more personalised and a more immersive experience for an inclusive and wider adoption of Virtual Worlds. Small and frugal AI models would enable faster inference contributing to lower latency while improving security and privacy by processing data closer to the user, preserving EU Values. Smart digital assistants will accompany users throughout their journey within Virtual Worlds, bringing new innovative communication modalities, advancing collaborative intelligence and decision-making AI capabilities.

Innovation actions proposals are expected to address:

Generative AI – Realistic and innovative Virtual Worlds for a better immersion:

Proposals should use Generative AI to build on the users’ expectations to create either safe and inclusive virtual spaces, realistic environments, or creative and beyond reality ones. They should develop dynamic Storytelling and scenarios to enable creative content that is personalised leading to unique experiences for the users or shared with other users. They should also use AI to enable generation of personalised avatars aiming to provide seamless and more realistic immersive interaction.

Generative AI – Smart digital assistance for a safe and inclusive navigation in Virtual Worlds:

Proposals should develop smart people-centered and accessible digital assistants and 3D chatbots (AI-enhanced communicating 3D avatars), to for example, enhance training and education, remove language barriers or language disorders through instant translation, including sign languages, remove barriers to persons with disabilities, offer sentiment analysis and behavioural decision support systems, enable users to adapt to various interlocutors from various cultures, languages and backgrounds, contributing to navigate in inclusive and safe Virtual Worlds, while offering users new adapted learning modalities. When relevant, proposals can capitalise on latest developments in generative AI, to bring step change in explainable collaborative intelligence and decision-making capabilities by dedicated specific research.

We consider that proposals with an overall duration of typically 36 months would allow these outcomes to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other durations.

Proposals should involve the effective contribution of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) disciplines and SSH experts, in order to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of the related research activities.

This topic is implemented as a joint effort between the co-programmed European Partnership for Virtual Worlds and the co-programmed European Partnership on AI, data and robotics (ADRA), and all proposals are expected to allocate tasks for cohesion activities with both partnerships, including the CSA HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-17: Specific support for the Virtual Worlds Partnership and the Web 4.0 initiative and the CSA HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-18: GenAI4EU central Hub.

When possible, proposals should build on and reuse public results from relevant previous funded actions. Communicable results should be shared with the European R&D community through the AI-on-demand platform, and if necessary, other relevant digital resource platforms to bolster the European AI, Data, and Robotics ecosystem by disseminating results and best practices.

Proposals should also build on or seek collaboration with existing projects and develop synergies and complementarities with other relevant International, European, national or regional initiatives.

null

Activities are expected to start at TRL 4 and achieve TRL 6 by the end of the project – see General Annex B.

News flashes

2026-10-08

EVALUATION results

Published: 15.05.2025

Deadline: 02.10.2025

Available budget: EUR 359.1 million

The results of the evaluation for each topic are as follows:

DATA-08

DATA-09

DATA-10

DATA-11

DATA-12

DATA-13

Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls)

18

3

1

4

3

76

Number of inadmissible proposals

0

0

0

0

0

3

Number of ineligible proposals

14

1

0

0

0

13

Number of above-threshold proposals

3

2

1

3

3

38

Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals

225,328,342.50 €

4,997,875.00 €

2,500,000.00 €

29,995,930.85 €

5,838,061.00 €               

310,159,620.22 €

Number of proposals retained for funding

1

1

1

1

1

5

Number of proposals in the reserve list

1

1

0

1

1

1

Funding threshold1

14.5

14.5

11.5

14

12

13.5

Ranking distribution

Number of proposals with scores lower or equal to 15 and higher or equal to 14

1

1

0

1

1

2

Number of proposals with scores lower than 14 and higher or equal to 13

1

1

0

1

1

6

Number of proposals with scores lower than 13 and higher or equal to 10

1

0

1

1

1

30

DIGITAL-EMERGING-01

DIGITAL-EMERGING-02

DIGITAL-EMERGING-03

DIGITAL-EMERGING-04

DIGITAL-EMERGING-07

DIGITAL-EMERGING-08

Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls)

4

18

40

4

28

2

Number of inadmissible proposals

1

0

1

0

1

0

Number of ineligible proposals

0

0

0

4

0

1

Number of above-threshold proposals

3

12

30

1

20

1

Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals

13,486,849.50 €

59,729,108.00 €

80,814,339.75 €

2,498,857.25 €

804,393,845.50 €

1,000,000.00 €

Number of proposals retained for funding

1

2

3

1

2

1

Number of proposals in the reserve list

1

1

2

0

2

0

Funding threshold1

13.5

14.5

14.5

13.5

15

14

Ranking distribution

Number of proposals with scores lower or equal to 15 and higher or equal to 14

0

6

6

0

5

1

Number of proposals with scores lower than 14 and higher or equal to 13

1

3

11

1

2

0

Number of proposals with scores lower than 13 and higher or equal to 10

2

3

13

0

13

0

HUMAN-14

HUMAN-15

HUMAN-16

HUMAN-17

HUMAN-18

HUMAN-19

Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls)

59

46

34

3

4

6

Number of inadmissible proposals

0

0

0

1

0

1

Number of ineligible proposals

0

1

2

0

0

0

Number of above-threshold proposals

44

35

27

1

1

2

Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals

256,818,668.15 €

169,733,280.30 €

78,286,154.25 €

2,546,117.50 €

2,998,504.92 €

5,999,006.25 €

Number of proposals retained for funding

8

4

4

1

1

1

Number of proposals in the reserve list

3

4

3

0

0

1

Funding threshold1,2

14.5

14

13.5

12.5

13.5

15

Ranking distribution

Number of proposals with scores lower or equal to 15 and higher or equal to 14

12

5

3

0

0

1

Number of proposals with scores lower than 14 and higher or equal to 13

6

5

7

0

1

1

Number of proposals with scores lower than 13 and higher or equal to 10

26

25

17

1

0

0

MATERIALS-46

MATERIALS-47

Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls)

17

70

Number of inadmissible proposals

0

0

Number of ineligible proposals

0

0

Number of above-threshold proposals

9

58

Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals

44,109,108.00 €

283,995,317.95 €

Number of proposals retained for funding

2

3

Number of proposals in the reserve list

1

1

Funding threshold1

14.5

14

Ranking distribution

Number of proposals with scores lower or equal to 15 and higher or equal to 14

2

4

Number of proposals with scores lower than 14 and higher or equal to 13

1

14

Number of proposals with scores lower than 13 and higher or equal to 10

6

40

1 Proposals with the same score were ranked according to the priority order procedure set out in the call conditions (for HE, in the General Annexes to the Work Programme or specific arrangements in the specific call/topic conditions). To determine the ranking for ‘Innovation actions’, the score for ‘Impact’ is given a weight of 1.5.

2 According to the specific conditions of HUMAN-14 and HUMAN-16, to ensure a balanced portfolio coverage, grants are awarded to not only in order of ranking [see the specific condition for each topic in the topic page]. Therefore, additional proposals are retained for funding to fulfil this condition.

Summary of observer report:

The efficiency of the procedures in this call is very good. The tools such as IER, CR, ESR and cross- reading are well suited and the usability is very effective. Harmonisation and calibration procedures are excellent. This is thanks to the superior performance of the moderators and co-moderators in panel meetings with sometimes more than 40 experts under nightmarish conditions of unstable meeting connections, failing in access and interoperability of SEP and WebEx platform. Overall, the evaluation was fair and consistent, with full compliance with the applicable rules.

We recently informed the applicants about the evaluation results for their proposals.

For questions, please contact the Research Enquiry Service.

2026-10-08

PROPOSAL NUMBERS

Call HORIZON-CL4-2025-03 has closed on 02.10.2025.

440 proposals have been submitted.

The breakdown per topic is:

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-08:        18

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-09:        3

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-10:        1

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-11:        4

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-12:        3

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-13:        76

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DIGITAL-EMERGING-01:        4

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DIGITAL-EMERGING-02:        18

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DIGITAL-EMERGING-03:        40

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DIGITAL-EMERGING-04:        4

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DIGITAL-EMERGING-07:        28

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DIGITAL-EMERGING-08:        2

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-14:    59

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-15:    46

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-16:    34

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-17:    3

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-18:    4

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-19:    6

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-MATERIALS-46:          17

HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-MATERIALS-47:          70

Evaluation results are expected to be communicated in January 2026.

2026-10-08

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 the Destination 6 ("Digital and industrial technologies driving human-centric innovation") that are relevant for the call in the Work Programme 2025 part for "Digital, Industry and Space". 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.

2026-10-08
The submission session is now available for: HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DIGITAL-EMERGING-02, HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-14, HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-16, HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-09, HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DIGITAL-EMERGING-03, HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-MATERIALS-47, HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DIGITAL-EMERGING-01, HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DIGITAL-EMERGING-07, HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-08, HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-19, HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DIGITAL-EMERGING-08, HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-12, HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-13, HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-18, HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-15, HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-10, HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DIGITAL-EMERGING-04, HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DIGITAL-EMERGING-09, HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-11, HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-MATERIALS-46, HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-17
Found 2 annotations in info base click to see
call topic details
Call status: Closed
Opening date: 2025-06-10 (1 year ago)
Closing date: 2025-10-02 (1 year ago)
Procedure: single-stage

Budget: 20,000,000
Expected grants: 5
Contribution: 4,000,000 - 5,000,000
News flashes

This call topic has been appended 4 times by the EC with news.

  • 2026-10-08
    evaluation resultspublished: 15.05.2025d...
  • 2026-10-08
    proposal numberscall horizon-cl4-2025-03...
  • 2026-10-08
    please note that due to a technical issu...
  • 2026-10-08
    the submission session is now available...
Source information

Showing the latest information. Found 7 versions of this call topic in the F&T portal.

Information from

  • 2026-02-18_06-35-01
  • 2025-10-28_15-46-16
  • 2025-07-02_03-30-38
  • 2025-06-12_03-30-21
  • 2025-06-10_03-30-11
  • 2025-05-21_03-30-08
  • 2025-05-16_03-30-08

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NCP knowledge
Added 1 year ago by Alrun Hauke
The first two sentences in the scope are to be understood as a general introduction, not as an explicit restriction that only small AI models / models operating at the edge are within scope. Nevertheless, keep in mind that projects in Cluster 4 should aim to contribute to the goals of the European Green Deal, meaning that you should try to pay attention to matters like energy-efficiency of your model and its training process.
Work Programme info
Added 1 year ago by Alrun Hauke
Eligibility for this topic is restricted under art. 22.5 and art. 22.6 of the Horizon Europe regulation (see [1]). Specifically, under art. 22.5, participation for projects under this call topic is restricted to legal entities established in EU member states, Iceland, Norway, Canada, Israel, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Under art. 22.6, any entities considered high-risk suppliers of mobile network communication equipment are expressly excluded from participating. This currently concerns companies Huawei and ZTE (see [2]) as well as any entities fully or partially owned / controlled by them. As part of the proposal submission for this topic, consortium members have to fill in the ownership control declaration (see pages 1-4 in [3] below). The coordinator has to collect these forms from all partners and submit them as a single appendix to the proposal. The ownership control declarations are examined by the EC as part of the evaluation process. If it is found that a consortium partner is established in one of the eligible countries listed above, but controlled by an entity established in a non-eligible third country, the partner in question will be asked to provide a guarantee (see pages 5-8 of [3] below) during grant agreement preparation which ensures that the EU's strategic interests are protected. The European Commission (EC) will examine this guarantee and - if approved - will forward it to the government of the eligible country of establishment of the partner for national approval. The partner in question may participate in the project only if both the EC and the respective national authority approve the guarantee. If either or both of these bodies do not approve the guarantee, the partner in question will be removed from the consortium during grant agreement preparation. [1] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2021/695/oj/eng [2] https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/communication-commission-implementation-5g-cybersecurity-toolbox [3] https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/common/temp-form/af/ownership-control-declaration_en.docx

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Timeline

Track where this call stands in its lifecycle, from work programme to grant signature, and see what's likely to happen next.

Grant agreement signed · 02 Jun 2026 (4 months ago)

All expected milestones for this call have passed.

Today

Work programme published

10 Apr 2025 · est.

Call published

16 May 2025

Call opens

10 Jun 2025

Call closes

02 Oct 2025

Outcome expected

02 Mar 2026 · est.

Grant agreement signed

02 Jun 2026 · est.

Preparation Open for submission Evaluation Grant preparation Not yet reached
  1. Work programme published Estimated

    10 Apr 2025 · 1 year ago

    Topics are listed in the Work Programme before the call opens. Spotting this early gives you a head start on partner search and proposal planning.

  2. Call published

    16 May 2025 · 1 year ago

    This topic was first published in TopicTree.

  3. Call opens

    10 Jun 2025 · 1 year ago

    Submissions can be made from this date.

  4. Call closes

    02 Oct 2025 · 1 year ago

    Deadline to submit a proposal.

  5. Outcome expected Estimated

    02 Mar 2026 · 7 months ago

    The maximum time to inform applicants of the evaluation outcome is five months after the call closes.

  6. Grant agreement signed Estimated

    02 Jun 2026 · 4 months ago

    The maximum time to sign the grant agreement is three months after applicants are informed of the outcome.

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