Bioprospecting and optimized production of the terrestrial natural products: new opportunities for bio-based sectors

The main goal of this opportunity is to support the discovery and optimized production of natural products from terrestrial sources, driving innovation in bio-based industries. It aims to expand the variety of valuable natural compounds, reduce production costs, and speed up the development of new products for sectors such as pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, cosmetics, food and feed additives, agrochemicals, and cleaning. The initiative emphasizes sustainability by preserving biodiversity and promoting biotechnological methods that lower pressure on wild resources. Digital tools like AI and data science are encouraged to enhance biodiscovery, and projects must demonstrate the economic and environmental benefits of their approaches. International cooperation is welcome, and the scope includes both naturally sourced and collection-based biological resources.

• Explore both in situ (natural environment) and ex situ (gene banks, collections) terrestrial biological resources to discover and produce natural products relevant for bio-based sectors.

• Integrate digital technologies—such as AI, machine learning, digital twins, data modelling—to optimize biodiscovery workflows (e.g., identifying biosynthetic genes, enzyme selection, bioactivity prediction, structural elucidation).

• Demonstrate techno-economic viability through real-world demonstration activities—showcasing pilot-scale production, feasibility assessments, and industrial relevance.

• Commit to biodiversity preservation, using strategies like in vitro cultivation, reducing pressure on wild resources, and ensuring compliance with EU regulations and international agreements such as the Nagoya Protocol.

• Include sustainability assessments evaluating environmental, economic, and social trade-offs; adhere to the Do-No-Significant-Harm (DNSH) principle.

• Ensure synergies with related actions: avoid overlap with prior calls (e.g. life sciences and digital convergence topics), and align with parallel topics such as CIRCBIO‑14 (marine bioprospecting), Horizon 2020 FNR‑11, or CBE JU initiatives.

• Include a dedicated task for knowledge and methodology exchange with peers and ongoing funded projects under this topic.

• Encourage international cooperation, ensuring mutual benefits across regions and expertise.

Example projects:

• A research project using AI to identify new plant compounds for pharmaceutical use, sourced from gene-banks.
• An SME-led demonstration of fermentation-based production of natural food additives, reducing the need to harvest wild plants.
• A cross-border collaboration to develop eco-friendly cleaning agents from terrestrial microbes, with a focus on sustainability and biodiversity.

The eligible expenses for this opportunity are not specified in the provided information. For full details on what costs can be covered, applicants should consult the Horizon Europe Programme Guide and relevant annexes.

• Budget for this Call: 11.000.000€
• Number of Grants attributed: 2
• Budget per project: 5.500.000€

• Applicants must be based in eligible countries as defined in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.
• Some non-EU/non-Associated Countries may participate if they have made special funding arrangements.
• Applicants must demonstrate financial and operational capacity.
• Projects should align with the opportunity’s focus on biodiversity, sustainability, and innovation.
• Compliance with EU and international rules is required.
• Consortia or networks may be required, depending on the project type.
• Further eligibility details are available in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.