Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
The SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking is an institutionalised European partnership between private and public sector partners set up to accelerate through research and innovation the delivery of the Digital European Sky.
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
Fundamental research is typically curiosity-driven and explores new and innovative research areas for air traffic management (ATM), which are at TRL0. The objective is to bring new knowledge encouraging scientists to develop innovative ideas, concepts, emerging technologies, methods, and theories that explore the current boundary of knowledge on ATM/U-space and that have potential for the evolution of the future air traffic management / U-space system. Exploration of the potential benefits of the application of interdisciplinary methods is considered positive and in scope.
The scope under this topic covers any ATM/U-space research area not covered by the development priorities for fundamental research (FR-1, FR-2 or FR-3) described in previous topics.
The proposals shall demonstrate their innovation / breakthrough potential, justify how the scope of the proposed research is aligned to the ATM Master Plan vision and how the expected outcomes will contribute to one or more of the five key transformation levers described in the ATM Master Plan.
Detailed Call Description
The five transformation levers are described in the ATM Master Plan as follows:
- Trajectory optimisation: the proposed research shall contribute to guarantee a systematic, continuous, and precise optimisation of all aircraft trajectories throughout their lifecycle, from planning to execution, from gate to gate and within the context of congested airspace.
- Data volumes: the proposed research shall contribute to collect and process large volumes of data (e.g., aircraft performance characteristics, user preferences, real time traffic information and meteorological information throughout the network, etc.). Increased real-time sharing of secure and trusted data will enable airborne and ground systems and actors to stay interconnected and share the same situational awareness.
- Automation: the proposed research shall contribute to realise an effective teaming up of human operators and systems (i.e., human-machine teaming), which will be necessary to make best use of a large volume of data to optimise trajectories. To that end, higher levels of automation will be introduced in ATM. This requires advanced artificial intelligence (AI)-powered digital support tools, to deal safely with complex decision-making while optimising capacity and environmental performance.
- Dynamic airspace: the proposed research shall contribute to enable a near real-time configuration of the airspace with human operators and systems teaming up to meet needs of all airspace users (civil and military) and to manage capacity more efficiently. For certain phases of flight, the system will be fully automated and able to handle both nominal and non-nominal situations.
- Role and function of human operators: the proposed research shall contribute to the gradual evolution of the role and skills of the human operator (e.g., air traffic controllers, air traffic safety electronic personnel, flight crew and operators, etc.), as well as the emergence of new roles.
When relevant and regarding civil military collaboration, the proposed research shall contribute to enhance military access to the airspace and to the ability to protect confidentiality and critical information of military air missions. In addition, it could address the coordination with civilian aviation authorities enabling effective contribution to operations in multinational coalitions and the adaptation of Military systems and CNS capabilities to ensure civil military interoperability. The military implications of U-Space and higher altitude operations (HAO) could also be included.
Call Total Budget
Thematic Categories
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
Eligibility for Participation
- Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
Eligibility For Participation Notes
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.
Beneficiaries will be subject to the following additional dissemination obligations:
- beneficiaries must make proactive efforts to share, on a royalty-free basis, in a timely manner and as appropriate, all relevant results with the other grants awarded under the same call;
- beneficiaries must acknowledge these obligations and incorporate them into the proposal, outlining the efforts they will make to meet them, and into Annex I to the grant agreement.
Beneficiaries will be subject to the following additional exploitation obligations: for the purpose of complying with the objectives set in Council Regulation (EU) 2021/2085, the SRIA and the European ATM Master Plan,
- beneficiaries must make available for reuse under fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory conditions all relevant results generated, through a well-defined mechanism using a trusted repository;
- if the purpose of the specific identified measures to exploit the results of the action is related to standardisation, beneficiaries must grant a non-exclusive licence to the results royalty-free;
- if working on linked actions, beneficiaries must ensure mutual access to the background to and to the results of ongoing and closed linked actions, should this be necessary to implement tasks under the linked actions or to exploit results generated by the linked actions as defined in the conditions laid down in the biannual work programme and in the call for proposals.
Beneficiaries must acknowledge these obligations and incorporate them into the proposal, outlining the efforts they will make to meet them, and into Annex I to the grant agreement.
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
EU Contact Point
SESAR 3 JU – Helpdesk: info-call@sesarju.eu