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Call key data
Furthering the development of a materials acceleration platform for sustainable batteries (combining AI, big data, autonomous synthesis robotics, high throughput testing) (Batt4EU Partnership)
Call number
HORIZON-CL5-2024-D2-01-05
deadlines
Opening
07.12.2023
Deadline
18.04.2024 17:00
Funding rate
100%
Call budget
€ 20,000,000.00
Estimated EU contribution per project
€ 20,000,000.00
Link to the call
Link to the submission
Call content
short description
Building upon the shared data infrastructure, standards and protocols developed in the BATTERY 2030+ initiative, this call topic addresses the need of increasing the level of autonomy in the MAP-based discovery and development process. The proposal should also cover the contribution and collaboration to the BATTERY 2030+ large scale initiative.
Call objectives
- Infrastructure tools for secure remote data access, data analysis and predictive modelling: Develop a FAIR data infrastructure for raw and curated experimental and modelling data, which can be accessed remotely and securely by relevant stakeholders, including industry. Develop the software infrastructure required to operate this platform, also with regard to future reproducibility and further exploitation of the results of the research activities. The software should provide specific access right and allow remote data access, complemented by distributed workflows using software-agnostic workflow engines that provide rapid-prototyping. Inverse materials design using hybrid physics- and data-driven battery interface genome models should also be demonstrated.
- Automated high throughput characterisation and integrated experimental and computational workflows: High throughput, multimodal operando experimental techniques using standardised battery cells and established protocols should be optimised to perform effective screening of new materials and on-line diagnosis of realistic devices. A central objective is to establish, structure, operate and dynamically refine such facility platform to harmonise, mutualise and optimise the global demand for battery characterisation. This includes automated experimental and computational workflows and modules for data acquisition and multimodal/multiscale analysis. Particular attention should be paid to battery interfaces and direct observation of interfaces under dynamic conditions, which are key to improve the performances and the lifetime of batteries.
- Autonomous synthesis robotics and orchestration software: The transition from low/no automated robotics for the synthesis of battery materials requires several R&I steps towards fully autonomous systems. Within the scope of this proposed call are partially autonomous systems following standard synthesis routes for inorganic and organic battery materials, especially also multi-step and high-temperature synthesis, that so far are challenging to automate for high throughput. AI-based orchestration and optimisation software modules and packages specifically targeting battery materials and interfaces are also central to the scope.
- Inverse design and AI-assisted scale-bridging models for multiple time- and length-scale processes: To develop scale-bridging models correctly describing the multiple mechanisms occurring at atomistic scale and the mesoscopic scale on the cell level. The new model approaches should be able to incorporate data from the advanced sensing in virtual design optimisation and battery control algorithms for SoX estimation. Sensitivity analysis and uncertainty quantification of the developed SoX models is also a requirement to assess the robustness of the developed models. These models should achieve a challenge based rational balance of accuracy and computational effort. They should accurately describe the actual state of the system, but also enable diagnosis and prediction, e.g., when self-healing procedures should be initiated. Multiscale Modelling approaches should be developed for the control of safety between BOL (Beginning Of Life) and EOL (End of Life) of a battery system by different uses and diagnosing the safety state of a battery system by innovative methods.
This topic implements the co-programmed European Partnership on Batteries (Batt4EU). As such, projects resulting from this topic will be expected to report on the results to the European Partnership on Batteries (Batt4EU) in support of the monitoring of its KPIs.
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Expected results
Batteries have complex and dynamic processes taking place in and between materials and at the interfaces/interphases within a battery cell. For each new battery chemistry explored, new challenges in understanding these processes are revealed. To accelerate the finding of new materials and their combinations for both existing and future battery chemistries the iterative and fragmented trial and error approach used today needs to be replaced since it is slow and insufficient.
To accelerate the discovery of battery interfaces, materials and new sustainable concepts with high energy and/or power performance there is a need to develop a fully autonomous and chemistry neutral Materials Acceleration Platform (MAP) for battery materials and interfaces. This is a key and long-term challenge for European battery community. The aim is to integrate advanced multi-scale computational modelling, materials synthesis, characterisation and testing to perform closed-loop autonomous materials findings and interphase engineering that would accelerate by at least a factor of five the discovery of new battery chemistries with ultra-high performances.
Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:
- Develop new tools and methods for significantly accelerating the development and optimisation of battery materials and interfaces, in order to increase the competitiveness of the battery material and cell industry in Europe.
- Demonstrate a fully autonomous battery-MAP capable of integrating computational modelling, materials synthesis and characterisation of both Li-ion and beyond Li-ion chemistries.
- Scale-bridging, multi-scale battery interface models capable of integrating data from embedded sensors in the discovery and prediction process, e.g. to orchestrate proactive self-healing.
- Community wide state-of-the-art collaborative environment to access data and utilise automated workflows for integrated simulations and experiments on heterogeneous sites, e.g., exploiting European HPC architectures and Large-scale facilities in collaboration with LENS and LEAPS.
- Demonstrate a robotic system that is capable of material synthesis for inorganic, organic or hybrid compounds following standard synthesis routes via automated characterisation of intermediate and final products and autonomous decision-making.
- Deploy predictive hybrid physics- and data-driven models for the spatio-temporal evolution of battery interfaces and demonstrate inverse design of a battery material/interface.
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Eligibility Criteria
Regions / countries for funding
Moldova (Moldova), Albania (Shqipëria), Armenia (Հայաստան), Azerbaijan (Azərbaycan), Belarus (Беларусь), Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosna i Hercegovina / Босна и Херцеговина), Faeroes (Føroyar / Færøerne), Georgia (საქართველო), Iceland (Ísland), Israel (ישראל / إِسْرَائِيل), Kosovo (Kosova/Kosovë / Косово), Montenegro (Црна Гора), Morocco (المغرب), North Macedonia (Северна Македонија), Norway (Norge), Serbia (Srbija/Сpбија), Tunisia (تونس /Tūnis), Türkiye, Ukraine (Україна), United Kingdom
eligible entities
Education and training institution, International organization, Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) / Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Other, Private institution, incl. private company (private for profit), Public Body (national, regional and local; incl. EGTCs), Research Institution incl. University, Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME)
Mandatory partnership
Yes
Project Partnership
To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries:
- the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions
- the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States
- third countries associated to Horizon Europe - see list of particpating countries
Only legal entities forming a consortium are eligible to participate in actions provided that the consortium includes, as beneficiaries, three legal entities independent from each other and each established in a different country as follows:
- at least one independent legal entity established in a Member State; and
- at least two other independent legal entities, each established in different Member States or Associated Countries.
Any legal entity, regardless of its place of establishment, including legal entities from non-associated third countries or international organisations (including international European research organisations) is eligible to participate (whether it is eligible for funding or not), provided that the conditions laid down in the Horizon Europe Regulation have been met, along with any other conditions laid down in the specific call topic.
A ‘legal entity’ means any natural or legal person created and recognised as such under national law, EU law or international law, which has legal personality and which may, acting in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity without legal personality.
Specific cases:
- Affiliated entities — Affiliated entities (i.e. entities with a legal or capital link to a beneficiary which participate in the action with similar rights and obligations to the beneficiaries, but which do not sign the grant agreement and therefore do not become beneficiaries themselves) are allowed, if they are eligible for participation and funding.
- Associated partners — Associated partners (i.e. entities which participate in the action without signing the grant agreement, and without the right to charge costs or claim contributions) are allowed, subject to any conditions regarding associated partners set out in the specific call conditions.
- Entities without legal personality — Entities which do not have legal personality under their national law may exceptionally participate, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf, and offer guarantees to protect the EU’s financial interests equivalent to those offered by legal persons.
- EU bodies — Legal entities created under EU law including decentralised agencies may be part of the consortium, unless provided for otherwise in their basic act.
- Joint Research Centre (‘JRC’)— Where provided for in the specific call conditions, applicants may include in their proposals the possible contribution of the JRC but the JRC will not participate in the preparation and submission of the proposal. Applicants will indicate the contribution that the JRC could bring to the project based on the scope of the topic text. After the evaluation process, the JRC and the consortium selected for funding may come to an agreement on the specific terms of the participation of the JRC. If an agreement is found, the JRC may accede to the grant agreement as beneficiary requesting zero funding or participate as an associated partner, and would accede to the consortium as a member.
- Associations and interest groupings — Entities composed of members (e.g. European research infrastructure consortia (ERICs)) may participate as ‘sole beneficiaries’ or ‘beneficiaries without legal personality’. However, if the action is in practice implemented by the individual members, those members should also participate (either as beneficiaries or as affiliated entities, otherwise their costs will NOT be eligible.
other eligibility criteria
Activities are expected to achieve TRL 3-4 by the end of the project.
If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data and services may additionally be used).
Additional information
Topics
Relevance for EU Macro-Region
EUSAIR - EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region, EUSALP - EU Strategy for the Alpine Space, EUSBSR - EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, EUSDR - EU Strategy for the Danube Region
UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs)
Additional Information
All proposals must be submitted electronically via the Funders & Tenders Portal electronic submission system (accessible via the topic page in the Search Funding & Tenders section). Paper submissions are NOT possible.
Proposals must be complete and contain all parts and mandatory annexes and supporting documents, e.g. plan for the exploitation and dissemination of the results including communication activities, etc.
The application form will have two parts:
- Part A (to be filled in directly online) contains administrative information about the applicant organisations (future coordinator and beneficiaries and affiliated entities), the summarised budget for the proposal and call-specific questions;
- Part B (to be downloaded from the Portal submission system, completed and then assembled and re-uploaded as a PDF in the system) contains the technical description of the project.
Annexes and supporting documents will be directly available in the submission system and must be uploaded as PDF files (or other formats allowed by the system).
The limit for a full application (Part B) is 60 pages.
Call documents
HE-Work Programme 2023-2024, Cluster 5, Destination 2HE-Work Programme 2023-2024, Cluster 5, Destination 2(649kB)
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