Adaptive multi-scale modelling and characterisation suites from lab to production (RIA)
European Comission
ExpectedOutcome :
Projects are expected to contribute to the following outcomes:
- Enable industry to more effectively develop new and work with existing advanced materials by building on digitally integrated and validated modelling and characterisation methods for enhanced materials knowledge along value chains.
- Accelerate the materials innovation process by allowing a better interpretation of available experimental data and by providing more effective guidance on further experiments.
- Overcome gaps in modelling and characterisation capabilities targeted at different stages in materials and production value chains by means of adapted and benchmarked suites covering all steps from materials design (including several scales, e.g. from molecular to macroscale) to product development.
- Achieve an integrated European materials platform,[1] allowing a systemic use of tools and capabilities including materials modelling, characterisation, robotics, data documentation, ontologies, artificial intelligence and machine learning, which are orchestrated to accelerate the design, development and application of chemicals, materials and related processes and manufacturing. Scope :
To support the green and digital industrial transition, there is the need to develop innovative routes to accelerate the design and production of new advanced materials, improving the circular economy and developing alternative feedstocks to support the EU’s open strategic autonomy throughout value chains (and covering all aspects of sustainability). Industrial research for materials from laboratory to production requires the extension of current knowledge on materials behaviour to the entire value chain.
To tackle this challenge, we can build on European leadership in recent advances in multi-scale modelling and characterisation.
The development of novel advanced materials requires a wide and complex range of trusted information on materials and process behaviour, along the entire life-cycle of a material, reaching far beyond the data sets generally available to industry currently. In particular, an approach is required that provides end users with highly flexible, adaptable modelling and characterisation tools as a source of data and knowledge in critical application fields. Subsequently, the validation of the developed methods will help industry to establish trust in these methods. This will also support the emerging need for adopting alternative materials as feedstock compliant with the high qualification standards and strengthen the strategic autonomy and resilience of EU’s industry.
Proposals should address the development of benchmarked, integrated suites of models and characterisation methods for critical application fields in strategic innovation markets (*) covering the different stages in materials and industrial production value chains and circularity.
In particular, proposals should address all of the following:
- Develop integrated methodologies of multi-scale and multi-technique characterisation, combined with respective multi-scale modelling and machine learning to
- improve the reliability and quality of data;
- understand scaling relationships in the behaviour of advanced materials;
- develop complex structure-property correlations in advanced materials;
- ensure complete coverage of conditions in industrial environments.
- Integrate modelling and characterisation, in particular by
- Developing modelling methods that provide the capabilities to virtually characterise materials and enhance the interpretation of the results of particular characterisation methods in order to guide and refine experiments;
- Developing accurate, validated physics-based models, in areas where these capabilities are a bottleneck, by utilising a combination of characterisation and machine learning to generate material and application specific parameters and equations (called materials relations, ref. CWA 17284[2]).
- Demonstrate the functionality of the suites for the development of certain advanced materials for the green transition.
- Validate the methodologies and provide benchmarks, i.e. clear documentation of capabilities that can serve as a standard point of reference for industrial application.
Research should build on existing standards or contribute to standardisation. Documentation and interoperability for data sharing should be addressed, based on the OntoCommons EcoSystem (OCES).
Projects should build on and seek collaboration with existing projects and develop synergies with other relevant European, national or regional initiatives, funding programmes and platforms. In particular, projects funded under this call should collaborate under the umbrella of the EMMC and EMCC and interact closely with topic HORIZON-CL4-2023-RESILIENCE-01-39 (CSA).
Specific Topic Conditions :
Activities are expected to start at TRL 3 and achieve TRL 5 by the end of the project – see General Annex B.
[1]https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/research_and_innovation/research_by_area/documents/advanced-materials-2030-manifesto.pdf
[2]https://www.cencenelec.eu/media/CEN-CENELEC/CWAs/RI/cwa17284_2018.pdf
General conditions
- Admissibility conditions: described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.
Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.
- Eligible countries: described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
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. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide .
Other eligibility conditions: described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Financial and operational capacity and exclusion: described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Evaluation and award:
Award criteria, scoring and thresholds are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual .
Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement: described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.
- Legal and financial set-up of the grants: described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Specific conditions
- Specific conditions: described in the specific topic of the Work Programme.
Documents
Call documents:
Standard application form (HE RIA, IA) — call-specific application form is available in the Submission System
Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA) — will be used with the necessary adaptations
HE General MGA v1.0 — MGA
Additional documents:
HE Main Work Programme 2023–2024 – 1. General Introduction
HE Main Work Programme 2023–2024 – 7. Digital, Industry and Space
HE Main Work Programme 2023–2024 – 13. General Annexes
HE Framework Programme and Rules for Participation Regulation 2021/695
HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764
Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment
EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement
Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual