Horizon Europe Horizontal activities
Work Programme 2026-2027
Writer
Celeste Chidiac, PhD
Keywords
Microfluidic Devices, Intelligent Microfluidics, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning
Opening
Dec 2025, Jan/May/Sep 2026, Jan 2027
Deadline
Ap/Sep/Nov 2026, Feb/Sep 2027
Keywords
Intelligent Microfluidics
Deep Learning
Microfluidic Devices
Artificial Intelligence
Machine Learning
Automated Scientific Discovery
Clean Industrial Deal
AI in Science
Your microfluidic SME partner for Horizon Europe!
Horizon Europe Horizontal activities 2026-2027
Calls ordered by microfluidic relevance
We have sorted the calls for projects from Horizontal activities 2026-2027 based on the impact microfluidics can have on these calls and related topics. We are sharing our analysis in case it can help you with project funding efforts. And, of course, if our expertise can be of use to you, we would be delighted to discuss it further.
How to read the stars in terms of % of microfluidic technologies’ relevance for the call:
By microfluidic relevance, we mean the relevance of using microfluidic technologies for the topic cited. But also, to a lesser extent, what a microfluidic laboratory or SME could contribute to the topic (mainly for calls with low relevance to microfluidic technologies).
Relevance (%) | 90-100 | 80-89 | 70-79 | 60-69 | 50-59 | 40-49 | 30-39 | 20-29 | 10-19 | 0-9 |
Relevance (*) | ***** | **** | *** | ** | * | – | – – | – – – | – – – – | – – – – – |
The work programme draft can be found in the following link: Horizontal Activities
(Details for all topics are provided below, ordered by decreasing microfluidic relevance)
Discover more!
Horizon Europe Horizontal activities 2026-2027 Calls ordered by microfluidic relevance
Download Horizontal activities 2026-2027 Call Calendar
***** HORIZON-RAISE-2027-01-01 – AUTOMATED SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY (RAISE PILOT)
- Type of action: RIA
- Opening 22 Sep 2026, Deadline 02 Feb 2027
- Budget (topic, M€): 30.00 M€, Expected/project: Around 10.00, # projects: 3
Scientific focus
- Build closed‑loop experimentation that couples AI decision‑making with lab automation and robust data infrastructure.
- Retrofitting is a key idea: add the “intelligence layer” to existing labs; ensure human oversight, safety, and ethics by design.
- Deliver prototype demonstrators; raise efficiency, reproducibility, and throughput in discovery cycles.
- Prioritize software and orchestration, but allow justified equipment; promote networked labs and real-time analytics.
- Initial focus proposed in materials science, with openness to extend to other disciplines in collaboration with clusters.
Why a microfluidic partner adds value
- Microfluidic automated reactors, droplet screens, micro-chemostats, and organ‑on‑chip systems naturally enable closed‑loop AI control (fast cycles, small volumes, precise perturbations).
- Mature instrument control, valve/pump sequencing, and inline micro‑sensing allow AI agents to plan, execute, and analyze without manual intervention.
- Chip‑integrated multi‑omics sampling, optical/electrochemical readouts, and on-chip quality controls reduce data noise – critical for reinforcement‑learning or Bayesian optimization loops.
- Experience with modular lab hardware, SLAS/SiLA/LabOP‑style interfaces, and data standards helps interoperability across labs.
- Microreactor arrays accelerate the screening of materials, catalysts, electrolytes, and CCU reactions, directly aligned with the call’s demonstrator ambitions.
- Strong fit for both microfluidics SMEs (hardware, control software, data pipelines) and academic labs (method development, validation).
***** HORIZON-RAISE-2027-01-02 – AUTOMATED SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY – FOOD (RAISE PILOT)
- Type of action: RIA
- Opening 22 Sep 2026, Deadline 02 Feb 2027
- Budget (topic, M€): 3.00 M€, # projects: 1
Scientific focus
- Same automation‑plus‑AI core as above, targeted to biomass and precision fermentation and food R&D.
- Envisages closed‑loop control to optimize alternative proteins/fats, bio‑based materials, specialty carbohydrates, microbial cultures, and ingredients.
- Emphasis on data governance, resource optimization (energy/reagents), and robust, secure systems.
Why a microfluidic partner adds value
- Fermentation‑on‑chip (droplet and continuous) enables rapid strain/condition optimization with minimal media.
- Microfluidic emulsification/encapsulation controls texture, release, and stability of food ingredients; micro‑rheology readouts feed AI.
- Inline metabolite sensing, micro‑calorimetry and optical growth/viability assays close the loop for autonomous optimization.
- Academic labs bring high‑throughput micro‑bioprocess methods; SMEs supply scalable chip platforms and instrument integrations.
**** HORIZON-RAISE-2026-01-01 – THEMATIC NETWORKS OF EXCELLENCE FOR AI IN SCIENCE (RAISE PILOT)
- Type of action: RIA
- Opening 06 Jan 2026, Deadline 21 Apr 2026
- Budget (topic, M€): 15.00 M€, # projects: 1
Scientific focus
- Create a pan-EU network of excellent labs applying AI to strategic scientific domains (a materials science network is proposed).
- Co-create a strategic research agenda, run collaborative projects with explicit milestones, and ramp up community datasets, models, standards, and benchmarks.
- Extensive talent & mobility schemes; membership broadened after year 1 via open excellence-based selection.
Why a microfluidic partner adds value
- Microfluidic labs produce rich, structured experimental data ideal for AI; SMEs can spearhead benchmark datasets for automated chemistry/biology.
- Contributions to instrument APIs, data standards, and FAIR pipelines accelerate reproducibility across sites.
- Demonstrators: autonomous micro‑synthesis, chip-based screening for catalysts/electrolytes, and organ-on-chip readouts linked to AI model development.
**** HORIZON-RAISE-2026-01-02 – THEMATIC NETWORKS OF EXCELLENCE FOR AI IN SCIENCE – AGRICULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT (RAISE PILOT)
- Type of action: RIA
- Opening 06 Jan 2026, Deadline 21 Apr 2026
- Budget (topic, M€): 13.00 M€, # projects: 1
Scientific focus
- Establish a network focused on agricultural sciences and environmental pollution, sharing data, infrastructure, and AI models; build common standards and benchmarks.
- Run coordinated research addressing grand challenges defined in a shared agenda; strong links to foundation‑model efforts in the clusters.
Why a microfluidic partner adds value
- Lab‑on‑chip environmental analytics (nutrients, micro‑pollutants, AMR markers) feed high‑quality training data; portable microfluidic samplers bridge field and lab.
- Soil/plant‑on‑chip and aquatic micro‑ecosystem chips let AI test stressor/response hypotheses under controlled gradients.
- Microfluidics entities can lead to protocol harmonization and sensor/assay intercomparisons, central to the network’s standards mission.
*** HORIZON-RAISE-2026-01-03 – RAISE DOCTORAL NETWORKS FOR AI IN SCIENCE (RAISE PILOT)
- Type of action: TMA Doctoral Networks (including Industrial Doctorates and Joint Doctorates)
- Opening 28 May 2026, Deadline 24 Nov 2026
- Budget (topic, M€): 30.00 M€
Scientific focus
- MSCA‑model training networks where doctoral candidates develop AI systems/models/tools integral to domain science; all fellows receive doctoral-level training in AI‑for‑science.
- Proposals are submitted under MSCA Doctoral Networks 2026 and, if aligned, flagged for RAISE; selected networks become part of the RAISE community.
Why a microfluidic partner adds value
- Microfluidics SMEs can host industrial doctorates on lab automation, chip‑AI integration, and scientific data engineering; academic labs co-supervise fellows.
- Joint work packages can target autonomous micro‑experimentation, standardized chip data schemas, and safe AI control of fluidic instruments.
** HORIZON-CID-2026-01-02 – R&I IN SUPPORT OF THE CLEAN INDUSTRIAL DEAL: CLEAN TECHNOLOGIES FOR CLIMATE ACTION
- Type of action: IA
- Opening 18 Dec 2025, Deadline 15 Sep 2026
- Budget (topic, M€): 150.00 M€, Expected/project: 15.00 to 25.00, # projects: 8
Scientific focus
- Mature, market-ready clean‑tech demonstrations towards TRL 8, strengthening EU value chains.
- Three areas (projects may integrate several):
- Integrated net‑zero energy systems (grids, networks).
- Zero‑emission power technologies (renewable electricity/heat).
- Storage, renewable fuels & CCU (batteries, H₂, advanced biofuels, synthetic fuels).
- Strong industry‑driven consortia, clear business plans, and go/no‑go gates before demonstration.
Why a microfluidic partner adds value
- Micro‑reactors and flow chemistry accelerate catalyst/electrolyte discovery, and de-risk scale-up for batteries, power‑to‑X, and CCU pathways.
- Inline micro‑sensors for gas/electrolyte speciation, fouling, and impurity tracking support plant-level control and LCOE reduction.
- Process‑intensified micro‑heat‑exchangers and distributed micro‑electrolyser testbeds help validate components before scale‑out in NZIA‑relevant value chains.
** HORIZON-CID-2027-01-02 – R&I IN SUPPORT OF THE CLEAN INDUSTRIAL DEAL: CLEAN TECHNOLOGIES FOR CLIMATE ACTION
- Type of action: IA
- Opening 12 Jan 2027, Deadline 15 Sep 2027
- Budget (topic, M€): 140.00 M€, Expected/project: 15.00 to 25.00, # projects: 8
Scientific focus
- Same overarching aim and structure as the 2026 edition, with emphasis on electrification across end‑use sectors and scale‑up across EU energy/transport networks (e.g., hydrogen, CO₂, batteries, refuelling).
- Requires quantifiable competitiveness & GHG impacts, robust business plans, and a credible deployment pathway.
Why a microfluidic partner adds value
- Provide rapid component validation (e.g., membrane/electrolyte screening) and AI‑assisted micro‑testing to inform plant designs.
- Contribute circularity via chip‑based recycling/solvent extraction screening and material fingerprinting analytics.
* HORIZON-CID-2026-01-01 – R&I IN SUPPORT OF THE CLEAN INDUSTRIAL DEAL: DECARBONISATION OF ENERGY INTENSIVE INDUSTRIES (PROCESSES4PLANET AND CLEAN STEEL PARTNERSHIPS)
- Type of action: IA
- Opening 18 Dec 2025, Deadline 15 Sep 2026
- Budget (topic, M€): 125.00 M€, Expected/project: 15.00 to 25.00, # projects: 8
Scientific focus
- Industry-led demonstrators advancing to TRL 8 in one or more of three areas:
- Carbon cycle management (CCU/CCUS) with ≥30 % capture‑energy reduction vs. SoA and credible commercialisation/LCA;
- Clean energy use in production (electrification, hydrogen, waste‑heat use, on-site storage) with major improvements by 2035;
- Circularity & resource efficiency with ≥30 % gains by 2035 and strong LCA.
- Mandatory business & market‑readiness strategy, go/no‑go gate before demonstration.
Why a microfluidic partner adds value
- Microfluidics can de‑risk CCU chemistries (gas-liquid mass transfer, catalytic microreactors) and enable high‑throughput sorbent/membrane testing.
- Harsh‑environment micro‑sensors (corrosion, species breakthrough, trace contaminants) provide real-time plant analytics.
- Fit is supportive/enabling rather than central, given heavy pilot‑scale focus.
* HORIZON-CID-2027-01-01 – R&I IN SUPPORT OF THE CLEAN INDUSTRIAL DEAL: DECARBONISATION OF ENERGY INTENSIVE INDUSTRIES (PROCESSES4PLANET AND CLEAN STEEL PARTNERSHIPS)
- Type of action: IA
- Opening 12 Jan 2027, Deadline 15 Sep 2027
- Budget (topic, M€): 125.00 M€, Expected/project: 15.00 to 25.00, # projects: 8
Scientific focus
- Same pillars as 2026 (CCU/CCUS, clean energy in production, circularity/resource efficiency), with first-of-a-kind operational demonstrators and market-tested use cases.
Why a microfluidic partner adds value
- Provide pilot‑enabling analytics (e.g., inline micro‑chromatography/ion‑selective micro‑sensing) and process‑screening platforms that shorten time‑to‑demo; role is complementary to core large‑plant integrators.
Find all these information in the pdf below
The MIC already brings its expertise in microfluidics to Horizon Europe:
H2020-NMBP-TR-IND-2020
Microfluidic platform to study the interaction of cancer cells with lymphatic tissue
H2020-LC-GD-2020-3
Toxicology assessment of pharmaceutical products on a placenta-on-chip model
