Apply AI: Next-Generation Agile and Intelligent Robotics Platforms for Industrial and Service Applications (Partnership in AI, Data and Robotics) (RIA)
Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
Horizon Europe is the European Union (EU) funding programme for the period 2021 – 2027, which targets the sectors of research and innovation. The programme’s budget is around € 95.5 billion, of which € 5.4 billion is from NextGenerationEU to stimulate recovery and strengthen the EU’s resilience in the future, and € 4.5 billion is additional aid.
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
Dynamic real-world environments require a new generation of agile, cost-effective, and intelligent, and modular robot platforms able to interact in safe and effective manner with humans across diverse industrial and service applications.
These systems should be easily reconfigurable and adaptable, enabling deployment in real-time, high-performance operational contexts with minimal integration effort.
Detailed Call Description
To ensure relevance and uptake, solutions must address industrial demands for high speed, precision, and reliability, enabling deployment in real-time, high-performance operational contexts.
Emphasis should be placed on the development of robotic systems that can be seamlessly integrated into existing industrial and service workflows, enhancing productivity and operational flexibility.
In order to improve their performances, these platforms should exploit latest development in terms of new design methods, including non-rigid structures and advanced materials (e.g. composite materials), both for the main body and for manipulators and end effectors, alongside innovative actuation and sensing approaches that go beyond traditional fixed rotational or linear links.
Proposals should target robotic systems addressing high impact needs in strategic industrial and service sectors. These systems should focus on enhanced mobility, autonomy, and simplified control architectures to support safe, efficient, and flexible operation. Integration of advanced sensors (e.g. touch, proximity, vision) is essential to enable reliable human-robot interaction, especially in rare or unpredictable safety-critical scenarios, addressing current limitations of AI in such contexts.
They should also include the design of secure and efficient communication protocols to ensure interoperability between robotic systems and digital frameworks or multi-agent environments.
Collaboration with end-users and industry partners is encouraged to validate the practical applicability and impact of the proposed robotic solutions.
To ensure practical uptake, projects are expected to demonstrate clear pathways to scalability and commercial deployment, engage with industry partners and end-users for validation, adopt a safety-product approach
Coordination with HORIZON-CL4-2025-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-05, focused on soft robotics, is encouraged to maximise impact and ensure complementarity in advancing physical capabilities of next-generation robotic systems.
This topic implements the co-programmed European Partnership on AI, data, and robotics (ADRA), and all proposals are expected to allocate tasks for cohesion activities with ADRA.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
100%
Expected contribution per project: between €12.00 million and €13.00 million.
Thematic Categories
- Industry
- Information and Communication Technologies
- Information Technology
- Processing
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
- Small-Medium Enterprises and Competitiveness
Eligibility for Participation
- Associations
- Businesses
- Educational Institutions
- Large Enterprises
- Legal Entities
- Non Profit Organisations
- Other Beneficiaries
- Private Bodies
- Services Providers
- Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
- State-owned Enterprises
Eligibility For Participation Notes
In order to achieve the expected outcomes, and safeguard the Union’s strategic assets, interests, autonomy, and security, it is important to avoid a situation of technological dependency on a non-EU source, in a global context that requires the EU to take action to build on its strengths, and to carefully assess and address any strategic weaknesses, vulnerabilities and high-risk dependencies which put at risk the attainment of its ambitions. For this reason, participation is limited to legal entities established in Member States, Iceland and Norway and the following additional associated countries: Canada, Israel, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. In addition, entities established in third countries which may become associated to Horizon Europe during 2026 and 2027 may be eligible to participate in this topic if the third country is identified for this topic as an eligible country in the List of Participating Countries in Horizon Europe at the time of submission of the application[[See the List of Participating Countries in Horizon Europe available at https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/common/guidance/list-3rd-country-participation_horizon-euratom_en.pdf.]]. In any case, the association agreement to the Programme must apply by the time of the signature of the grant agreement.
For the duly justified and exceptional reasons listed in the paragraph above, in order to guarantee the protection of the strategic interests of the Union and its Member States, entities established in an eligible country listed above, but which are directly or indirectly controlled by a non-eligible country or by a non-eligible country entity, may not participate in the action unless it can be demonstrated, by means of guarantees positively assessed by their eligible country of establishment, that their participation to the action would not negatively impact the Union’s strategic assets, interests, autonomy, or security. Entities assessed as high-risk suppliers of mobile network communication equipment within the meaning of ‘restrictions for the protection of European communication networks’ (or entities fully or partially owned or controlled by a high-risk supplier) cannot submit guarantees.[[ The guarantees shall in particular substantiate that, for the purpose of the action, measures are in place to ensure that: a) control over the applicant legal entity is not exercised in a manner that retrains or restricts its ability to carry out the action and to deliver results, that imposes restrictions concerning its infrastructure, facilities, assets, resources, intellectual property or know-how needed for the purpose of the action, or that undermines its capabilities and standards necessary to carry out the action; b) access by a non-eligible country or by a non-eligible country entity to sensitive information relating to the action is prevented; and the employees or other persons involved in the action have a national security clearance issued by an eligible country, where appropriate; c) ownership of the intellectual property arising from, and the results of, the action remain within the recipient during and after completion of the action, are not subject to control or restrictions by non-eligible countries or non-eligible country entity, and are not exported outside the eligible countries, nor is access to them from outside the eligible countries granted, without the approval of the eligible country in which the legal entity is established.]]
A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects.
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
National Contact Point(s)
Research and Innovation Foundation
29a Andrea Michalakopoulou, 1075 Nicosia,
P.B. 23422, 1683 Nicosia
Telephone: +357 22205000
Fax: +357 22205001
Email: support@research.org.cy
Website: https://www.research.org.cy/en/
Persons to Contact:
Dr Angelos Ntantos
Scientific Officer
Email: antantos@research.org.cy
Mr. George Christou
Scientific Officer
Email: gchristou@research.org.cy