Strengthening a European user facility for nuclear research

Closed

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Expected Outcome:
the project results are expected to contribute to all of the following outcomes:

• access to cutting-edge infrastructure for researchers and research teams from Euratom and Associated Countries to EU and international state-of-the-art nuclear research infrastructures;
• enhancing the network developed under the OFFERR project for optimised use of nuclear research infrastructures identified in the EU, thus supporting the implementation of the Euratom programme’s objectives and the establishment of the European Research Area (ERA) in the nuclear safety and radiation protection field;
• strengthened cross-border collaboration in nuclear safety and radiation protection research in the EU, a significant increase in transnational nuclear research and the fostering of shared expertise and resources;
• preservation of critical facilities, possibly increasing their number to ensure the long-term availability of key experimental facilities for research into safety, security, safeguards, radioactive waste management and radiation protection (e.g. materials testing research reactors in operation, irradiation infrastructure, hot cells and laboratories, mechanical and thermal hydraulic test facilities, light water reactor sustainability, fuel cycle research and development, advanced modelling and simulation (including digital twins) and safety of advanced reactor technology programmes) or innovative solutions and research approaches;
• synergies with ongoing initiatives to complement (wherever applicable and beneficial) on-going Euratom projects and European Partnerships (e.g. EURAD-2, CONNECT-NM and PIANOFORTE), providing open access to the most advanced research infrastructures, large-scale and small-scale facilities, and expertise. Scope:
ensuring access to EU and international research infrastructures is key to scientific progress in the nuclear field (including radiation protection, which is one of the foundation blocks of the European Research Area). Euratom support will be provided to cover the costs of transnational access for researchers or research teams from Member States and Associated States to EU and international state-of-the-art nuclear research infrastructures in other countries.
Users will be provided with access (at no cost to the researcher) to world-class nuclear research facilities; technical expertise from experienced scientists and engineers; and assistance with experiment design, assembly, safety analysis and examination.
The objective is to promote and enhance access to infrastructures that provide essential and unique services to the EU research community and are typically beyond the reach of individual laboratories. This will advance research in all the areas (except for fusion research, which is undertaken by the European Partnership in fusion research) covered in Annex I of the Council Regulation establishing the Euratom Programme.
The Commission encourages international cooperation with non-EU countries and international organisations within the scope of this action (partly in order to avoid any duplication with the OECD/NEA’s FIDES initiative), while encouraging investigating their complementarities. Support for researchers from non-EU stakeholders (including academia, research centres and industrial laboratories), non-EU countries and international organisations is envisaged where such access would be part of the promotion of international cooperation with the countries or international organisations concerned and researchers from Euratom Member States would have equivalent access to their infrastructures.
Based on the lessons learnt from former and current user facility projects, a framework and a set of common rules will be further improved for the future sustainable operation of a network of ‘Euratom User Facilities’. Dedicated support for the mobility of learners and/or linkage with the proposal submitted for topic HORIZON-EURATOM-2026-01-03 could be an advantage.
The active participation of major infrastructure operators will be required in order to achieve these objectives. The support scheme should operate through open calls and offer infrastructure access; technical expertise from experienced scientists and engineers; and assistance with experiment design, assembly, safety analysis and examination.
Proposals could pool the necessary financial resources from the participating national (or regional) research programmes with a view to implementing transnational proposals that result in grants to third parties to implement activities of this action.
The proposal should include an option for the JRC to use the future project’s operational environment (as a centralised platform supported by Euratom for facilitating the access to the JRC’s nuclear research infrastructures) for the implementation of the dedicated complementing coordination and support action between DG JRC and DG RTD on open access to the JRC’s nuclear infrastructures.

Status

Closed

Deadline

15 September 2026 (time not stated)

Opens

23 April 2026

Published

20 March 2026

Total budget

€7,000,000

Grant range

€7,000,000 – €7,000,000

Country

European Union (EU-wide)

Programme

Euratom Research and Training Programme (EURATOM)

Funder

European Commission

Official page

Open at the source portal

What applying involved

11 steps, all of them taken from this call's own documents.

This call is closed. The steps below show what applying involved, and are kept for reference only.

Understand the call

• Read the call on the source portal and download its documents
• Write the proposal against the award criteria and thresholds standard for this programme

  Described in General Annexes to the Euratom Work Programme 2026-2027, General Conditions, D — Award criteria — conditions §5b

• Check the grant's legal and financial set-up standard for this programme

  Beneficiaries may provide financial support to third parties. The support to third parties can only be provided in the form of grants. Financial support provided by the participants to third parties is one of the primary activities of this action in order to be able to achieve its objectives. The maximum amount to be granted to each third party is EUR 300 000 for actions providing access to and securing availability of research infrastructures. This maximum amount is … — conditions §6

• Check the amount you plan to request against the call's range

Check you are eligible

• Check every partner is established in an eligible country standard for this programme

  Described in General Annexes to the Euratom Work Programme 2026-2027, General Conditions, B - Eligibility. See the List of Participating Countries in Horizon Europe (including Euratom) for up-to-date information on the current list of and the position for Associated Countries. Please note that as of the date of the publication of this call, Ukraine and Switzerland are the only countries associated to the Euratom Programme, therefore eligible for funding — conditions §2

• Meet the call's other eligibility conditions

  The Joint Research Centre (JRC) may participate as member of the consortium selected for funding. Other eligible conditions are described in General Annexes to the Euratom Work Programme 2026-2027, General Conditions, B - Eligibility — conditions §3

• Be able to show financial and operational capacity standard for this programme

  Described in General Annexes to the Euratom Work Programme 2026-2027, General Conditions, C — Financial and operational capacity and exclusion — conditions §4

• Check the conditions for financial support to third parties

  Legal and financial set-up of the grants Beneficiaries may provide financial support to third parties. — conditions

Prepare the documents

• Prepare Part B of the Application Form standard for this programme

  Proposal layout: described in Part B of the Application Form. — conditions

Submit

• Check the submission and evaluation process standard for this programme

  Described in General Annexes to the Euratom Work Programme 2026-2027, General Conditions, E — Documents and F — Procedure; and the Online Manual — conditions §5a

• Submit before the closing date shown above

  The source states the closing day but no closing time — check the portal before the last day. — calls.deadline

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Other calls under Euratom Research and Training Programme (EURATOM)

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• Support for the Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform to address cross-sectoral challenges and non-power applications of ionising radiationClosed · deadline 15 September 2026 · European Union (EU-wide) · €500,000
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