HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-14

Networking and Future Photonics Strategy (CSA) (Photonics Partnership) -

Call text (as on F&T portal)

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Expected Outcome:

Projects are expected to contribute to the following outcomes:

  • Continued coordination and strategic support to the broader European photonics ecosystem, fostering a transparent, inclusive governance model and bottom-up roadmap development.
  • Strengthened engagement across the photonics ecosystem, including industry, academia, national platforms and end-user sectors.
  • Improved alignment of regional, national and European R&I agendas, enhancing coherence and impact across funding instruments.
  • Effective monitoring and steering of Partnership-funded projects towards the achievement of Key Performance Indicators.
  • Increased visibility of photonics as a critical enabling technology for EU priorities such as the digital and green transitions, industrial competitiveness and technological sovereignty.
  • Enhanced collaboration with other European Partnerships and strategic initiatives to maximise synergies and streamline efforts.
  • Improved access to private and blended finance for photonics innovation, growth and scale-up.

Scope:

Proposals should include:

  • Development and regular updating of the European Photonics Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) and associated roadmaps
  • Coordination and monitoring of Partnership-funded R&I and CSA projects, including tracking of Key Performance Indicators and recommending corrective actions where needed
  • Outreach, advocacy, and stakeholder engagement, including alignment with national, regional, and European photonics strategies and input into broader EU policy initiatives
  • Provision of a unified communication platform for the European photonics community and strengthened public communication on the impact of photonics
  • Facilitation of collaboration with other European Partnerships, strategic initiatives, and financial institutions to identify synergies and improve access to innovation financing.

Beneficiaries that intend to transfer ownership or grant an exclusive licence must formally notify the granting authority (i.e. DG-CNECT and HaDEA) before the intended transfer or licensing takes place and the granting authority may up to four years after the end of the action object to a transfer of ownership or the exclusive licensing of results.

News flashes

2026-10-08

EVALUATION RESULTS

Call HORIZON-CL4-2026-04

Published: 12.12.2025

Deadline: 15.04.2026

Available budget: EUR 221,800,000.00

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

HORIZON-CL4-2026-04

DATA-02

DATA-03

DATA-06

EMERGING-01

EMERGING-08

EMERGING-09

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

31

6

63

4

8

41

Number of inadmissible proposals

0

0

2

1

0

0

Number of ineligible proposals

1

2

3

1

3

2

Number of above-threshold proposals

24

2

39

2

3

30

Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals

222,798,016.25 €

7,993,073.04 €

538,094,514.11 €

33,999,387.25 €

53,990,531.25 €

173,178,667.04 €

Number of proposals retained for funding

3

1

3

1

1

1

Number of proposals in the reserve list

1

1

1

1

1

1

Funding threshold [1]

14.00

14.00

14.50

12.50

14.50

14.50

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

3

1

8

0

1

2

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

7

0

5

0

1

3

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

14

1

26

2

1

25

HORIZON-CL4-2026-04

EMERGING -14

EMERGING-15

EMERGING-17

EMERGING-19

HUMAN-01

HUMAN-02

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

1

2

1

18

105

32

Number of inadmissible proposals

0

1

0

0

1

0

Number of ineligible proposals

0

0

0

2

0

3

Number of above-threshold proposals

1

1

1

12

81

19

Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals

3,043,282.50 €

999,976.25 €

1,163,306.74 €

179,979,870.75 €

387,981,592.72 €

126,943,323.25 €

Number of proposals retained for funding

1

1

1

3

6

2

Number of proposals in the reserve list

0

0

0

3

2

1

Funding threshold [1]

11.50

13.50

12.50

13.50

14.50

13.50

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

0

0

0

2

12

1

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

0

1

0

1

20

3

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

1

0

1

9

49

15

[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). For HE, to determine the ranking for ‘Innovation actions’, the score for ‘Impact’ is given a weight of 1.5.

Summary of observer report:

The two independent observers were tasked by the EC services to follow the evaluation processes of call HORIZON-CL4-2026-04 with respect to their conduct, transparency, and fairness, and to provide recommendations for process improvement. This Observers’ Report consolidates their observations and recommendations. Based on the observed Consensus Meetings and Panel Meetings, the evaluation procedures for all topics were carried with transparency, efficiency, fairness, consistency, impartiality with homogenous criteria in compliance with the applicable evaluation rules for each stage of the selection exercise (Individual Evaluation, Consensus Meetings, Quality Check, Cross-reading, Panel Meeting and Final Ranking for funding). The evaluation processes were carried out in full accordance with the Horizon Europe evaluation rules and the provided Digital Europe Programme evaluation briefings. The Call with 12 topics received 312 proposals, where 5 were inadmissible, 17 ineligible and 0 withdrawn. The number of proposals per topic varied from 1 to 105. Proposals were evaluated by 218 experts, with a satisfactory gender balance (44,5% female; 55,5% male). The majority of experts were from EU Member States and a small number from associated countries. Sixteen invited experts declined due to conflict of interest or other reasons. In conclusion, the overall assessment of all submitted proposals were executed in full transparency and compliance with the Horizon Europe applicable rules in a fair and impartial manner to select the best proposals for funding according to the topics’ specifications and expected results. The observers’ conclusion is that the scientific evaluations have been carried out in a just, transparent, and unbiased manner based on the Horizon Europe evaluation 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-CL4-2026-04 has closed on 15.04.2026

312 proposals have been submitted.

The breakdown per topic is:

HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DATA-02

31

HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DATA-03

6

HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DATA-06

63

HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-14

1

HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-15

2

HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-17

1

HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-HUMAN-01

105

HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-HUMAN-02

32

HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-01

4

HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-08

8

HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-09

41

HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-19

18

Evaluation results are expected to be communicated in July 2026.

2026-10-08
The submission session is now available for: HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-18, HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-17, HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-HUMAN-02, HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-01, HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DATA-03, HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-08, HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DATA-06, HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DATA-02, HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-12, HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-09, HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-11, HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-19, HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-HUMAN-01, HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-14, HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-15
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call topic details
Call status: Closed
Opening date: 2026-01-15 (8 months ago)
Closing date: 2026-04-15 (5 months ago)
Procedure: single-stage

Budget: 3,000,000
Expected grants: 1
Contribution: 3,000,000 - 3,000,000
News flashes

This call topic has been appended 3 times by the EC with news.

  • 2026-10-08
    evaluation results call horizon-cl4-2026...
  • 2026-10-08
    proposal numbers call horizon-cl4-2026-...
  • 2026-10-08
    the submission session is now available...
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  • 2026-08-21_06-45-44
  • 2026-04-16_06-32-55
  • 2026-03-03_06-32-24
  • 2026-02-18_06-32-02
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EC infoday info
Added 7 months ago by Alrun Hauke
Watch the recording from the Cluster 4 Info Day session here: https://youtu.be/jmIUKQvP850
Work Programme info
Added 8 months ago by Alrun Hauke
Eligibility for this topic is restricted under art. 22.6 of the Horizon Europe regulation (see [1]). 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. [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

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Timeline

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Outcome expected · 15 Sep 2026 (3 weeks ago)

Next: Grant agreement signed, 2 months from now (15 Dec 2026, estimated)

Today

Work programme published

15 Nov 2025 · est.

Call published

16 Dec 2025

Call opens

15 Jan 2026

Call closes

15 Apr 2026

Outcome expected

15 Sep 2026 · est.

Grant agreement signed

15 Dec 2026 · est.

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

    15 Nov 2025 · 10 months ago

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  2. Call published

    16 Dec 2025 · 9 months ago

    This topic was first published in TopicTree.

  3. Call opens

    15 Jan 2026 · 8 months ago

    Submissions can be made from this date.

  4. Call closes

    15 Apr 2026 · 5 months ago

    Deadline to submit a proposal.

  5. Outcome expected Estimated

    15 Sep 2026 · 3 weeks ago

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

  6. Grant agreement signed Estimated

    15 Dec 2026 · 2 months from now

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

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