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Call key data
Innovative methods for safety and sustainability assessments of chemicals and materials
Call number
HORIZON-CL4-2023-RESILIENCE-01-21
deadlines
Opening
08.12.2022
Deadline
20.04.2023 17:00
Funding rate
100%
Call budget
€ 29,000,000.00
Estimated EU contribution per project
between € 6,000,000.00 and € 8,000,000.00
Link to the call
Link to the submission
Call content
Call objectives
The Commission initiative for Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) sets a framework for assessing the safety and sustainability of chemicals and materials, which should be considered as a reference for project proposals. This topic aims at developing new methods, or improve existing methods, to support the improvement of safety and sustainability assessment.
In the EU, the legislation regulating chemical substances often includes their safety screening and testing according to the EU test methods regulation, which predominantly contains test methods harmonised under the OECD. For safety assessment, e.g., human and eco-toxicity, there is a lack of validated in vitro and in silico tools for a variety of substances and materials. An advance in alternative methods for safety assessment (e.g., New Approach Methodologies, NAMs) is needed, preferably without animal models, but also to support modelling and design of new Safe and Sustainable by Design chemicals and materials. Research should improve and harmonise screening and testing protocols/strategies and hazard/risk assessments by developing robust, reliable and faster test methods or models, including high-throughput and in silico models.
Sustainability aspects cover the entire life cycle including the design phase, raw material extraction, production, use and end-of-life. Sustainability assessment across the life cycle is in growing demand and there is the need to further develop methods for a robust assessment. The development of absolute sustainability methods that consider ecosystems carrying capacities are also needed. The integration of life cycle assessment with risk assessment is likewise a challenge. New and improved approaches are needed to increase the quality, the efficiency and the effectiveness of existing methods to drive innovation and to bridge gaps in the data for sustainability and life cycle assessment.
Proposals should consider all the following activities:
- Address a set of at least three chemicals/groups of chemicals/(advanced) materials for which the project consortium will develop new methods and models for safety and sustainability assessment along their life cycle in accordance with the Safe and Sustainable by Design Framework. Selected materials can be composed of/contain the selected chemicals. The justification for their selection should include socio-economic aspects and a gap analysis with regards to existing methods and models and their relevance to improve the current safety and sustainability assessments;
- Methods and models developed can be either for the already existing chemicals and materials or to be used during the design phase of future chemicals and materials;
- For each method or model developed an ‘in project interlaboratory’ validation should be done, and the method or model shall be shared via the most appropriate open platform, e.g., the Horizon Europe Partnership on the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals (PARC), to encourage use and feedback from stakeholders. In addition, an initial standardisation or validation dossier should be prepared and submitted to an appropriate body/initiative, e.g., the OECD, EU Reference Laboratory for alternatives to animal testing (EURL ECVAM);
- Data produced during the development process and in particular for inclusion in the validation/standardisation dossier must be FAIR and shared through available platforms (e.g., the Information Platform for Chemical Monitoring – IPCHEM). Data for the validation/standardisation dossier shall be produced according to existing guidelines and stored in standardised data formats.
International collaboration on uptake of new methods and/or models shall be enhanced involving relevant players from academia, public authorities and the private sector.
Proposals should indicate to which chapters of the Strategic Research and Innovation Plan for chemicals and materials they will contribute.
Proposals submitted under this topic should demonstrate synergies with the EU-funded projects resulting from the topic HORIZON-CL4-2023-RESILIENCE-01-22. In addition, collaboration with the European Partnership on Assessments of Risks from Chemicals (PARC) is encouraged with regards to their task on delivering the SSbD toolbox. Proposals should allocate the necessary resources for collaboration with the relevant projects mentioned above. Proposals should also build on the extensive experience from European, national or regional clusters/platforms and initiatives such as the Malta Initiative engaged in validation/standardisation of methods.
Co-operation with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) may be envisaged in areas of mutual interest with regards to new methods development and their wider uptake.
Synergies with Horizon Europe missions as relevant are encouraged.
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Expected results
- EU strategies/policies and regulations, such as the (proposed) Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, the EU Ecolabel, REACH or CLP can build on new methods and the associated data for chemicals and materials;
- Methods and data will be made available in a format which will allow existing validation networks or bodies (e.g., the EU Reference Laboratory for alternatives to animal testing (EURL ECVAM) or the OECD) or other platforms to launch a validation/standardisation process and to promote wider uptake of the new methods developed;
- Industry and public authorities have access to innovative tools for more comprehensive safety and sustainability assessment covering a wider range of chemicals and advanced materials including composites/mixtures and nanomaterials, supporting the implementation of the Safe and Sustainable by Design framework.
Eligibility Criteria
Regions / countries for funding
Moldova (Moldova), Albania (Shqipëria), Armenia (Հայաստան), 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
EU Body, Education and training institution, International organization, Natural Person, 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
The Joint Research Centre (JRC) may participate as member of the consortium selected for funding.
other eligibility criteria
Activities are expected to start at TRL 3 and achieve TRL 6 by the end of the project.
For the Technology Readiness Level (TRL), the following definitions apply:
- TRL 1 — Basic principles observed
- TRL 2 — Technology concept formulated
- TRL 3 — Experimental proof of concept
- TRL 4 — Technology validated in a lab
- TRL 5 — Technology validated in a relevant environment (industrially relevant environment in the case of key enabling technologies)
- TRL 6 — Technology demonstrated in a relevant environment (industrially relevant environment in the case of key enabling technologies)
- TRL 7 — System prototype demonstration in an operational environment
- TRL 8 — System complete and qualified
- TRL 9 — Actual system proven in an operational environment (competitive manufacturing in the case of key enabling technologies, or in space)
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 45 pages.
Call documents
HE-Work Programme 2023-2024, Cluster 4, Destination 2HE-Work Programme 2023-2024, Cluster 4, Destination 2(791kB)
Contact
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