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Home / Horizon Europe / HORIZON-BRIDGING-2027-01-13

EU Frontier AI Initiative: Advanced Scaling Frameworks for High-Performance AI Models (RIA) - Apply AI

Announced, not yet open · HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions · HORIZON-BRIDGING-2027-01-13

Next cut-off
16 Feb '27
in 138 days
Per grant
€15M
the call's own average
Grants expected
1
projects that will be funded
Funding rate
100%
the full cost of the action

In context of Horizon Europe

This grant€15M
The track runs to the largest grant in Horizon Europe (€100M). The median across the 359 calls we publish is €5.8M, this one is above it.

What this call funds

Expected Outcome:

This topic aims to advance the scientific and technical foundations for the scaling of AI models, enhancing the performance of training and inference processes and providing European AI labs with the methodologies required to compete at the global frontier. Project results are expected to contribute to some of the following outcomes:

  • Establishment of robust scaling laws and predictive frameworks that allow for the reliable estimation of model performance before large-scale compute investment.
  • Enhanced competitiveness of European advanced AI models through optimised dataset mixtures, refined architectures, and superior hyperparameter configurations.
  • Optimised development for frontier AI models, achieved via automated and scientifically grounded scaling methodologies.

Scope:

To maintain a leading position in AI, Europe must master the methodologies required to scale AI models’ performance, training and inference processes. Establishing a predictive methodology for AI model development ensures that limited computational resources are deployed with maximum efficiency, thereby bolstering the EU and AC’s technological sovereignty.

While previous actions have focused on training High-Performance AI models, this topic addresses the research gap in the underlying theoretical basis, methodologies and tools for predictable scaling of AI models and inference. By providing the technical foundations for high-performance systems without the costs of unguided experimentation, this action complements training-centric efforts. In this light, proposals should deliver, as an outcome of the research, a toolset designed to support the scaling of AI models.

Potential research areas include, but are not limited to:

Trimmed here, the full scope, expected outcomes and award criteria are on the official topic page ↗.

What applying costs you

ItemEstimateNote
Drafting effort6–8 weekssingle submission
Partner search4–8 weeksruns in parallel, and it is the part that slips
Time to first payment6–9 monthscut-off → evaluation → grant agreement

These are Bemzu's estimates from the call's structure (the number of stages and whether a consortium is required) not figures published by the Commission. Only the co-financing share is read from the call itself.

Where these conditions come from

Two kinds of row. Most are the sentence we read the condition from, quoted out of the call itself. Some say plainly that they are not a quotation but the programme's own rule for this type of action, the EU portal publishes a table of contents where the conditions should be, so for a Research and Innovation Action the rate comes from the rulebook rather than from the fiche.

ConditionQuoted from the call, or the rule behind it
Consortium sizeNot quoted from this call — Research and Innovation Actions under the Horizon Europe rules are at least three independent legal entities from three different Member States or Associated Countries, at least one established in a Member State.
Funding rateNot quoted from this call — Research and Innovation Actions under the Horizon Europe rules are funded at 100% of eligible costs for every participant.
MaturityTechnology Readiness Level - Technology readiness level expected from completed projects Activities are expected to achieve TRL 4-5 by the end of the project – see General Annex B.

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