EU Digital Twin Ocean: Contribution to the EU DTO core infrastructure through applications for sustainable ocean management

The main goal of this opportunity is to advance the protection and restoration of marine and freshwater ecosystems across Europe. It focuses on reducing pollution, enhancing biodiversity, and developing sustainable, carbon-neutral solutions for the blue economy. Key areas include building the European Digital Twin Ocean (DTO) infrastructure, applying nature-based solutions for climate adaptation, tackling aquatic litter, and supporting innovation in fisheries and coastal restoration. The initiative covers all major EU sea basins, including the Atlantic, Arctic, Baltic, North Sea, Mediterranean, Danube, and Black Sea. Collaboration across these regions, including the EU Outermost Regions, is strongly encouraged.

• Proposals must follow specific page limits and formatting requirements.
• Projects should include partners from eligible countries.
• Any collected marine data must be shared openly through EMODnet using FAIR principles.
• Satellite data used must come from Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS services.
• Projects must target at least two new Digital Twin Ocean domain applications and demonstrate usability at different geographic scales.
• Each of the four EU sea basins must be covered by at least one use case.
• Applications must be integrated directly into the EU DTO core infrastructure and use data/services from relevant European sources.

Examples:

• A project developing a Digital Twin application to monitor plastic pollution in both the Baltic and Mediterranean seas, using satellite data from Copernicus.
• A partnership creating nature-based climate adaptation models for fisheries in the Atlantic and Black Sea, with all data shared openly via EMODnet.
• A multi-country initiative integrating coastal restoration scenarios into the DTO core infrastructure, covering the Arctic and Danube basins.

Personnel costs
Subcontracting
Travel and subsistence
Equipment (depreciation or rental)
Consumables and materials
Dissemination and communication
Access to research infrastructure
IPR and certification
Audit costs
Indirect costs (25% flat rate)
Internally invoiced services

• Budget for this Call: 12,000,000€
• Number of Grants attributed: 2
• Budget per grant: 6,000,000€

• Applicants must be from eligible countries as defined by Horizon Europe.
• Non-EU and non-Associated Countries may participate if specific funding provisions apply.
• Projects must use Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS services for any satellite-based data requirements.
• Proposals must comply with formatting and submission requirements.
• Collaboration across different EU sea basins is required, with at least one use case in each basin.
• Applicants must integrate their work directly into the EU Digital Twin Ocean infrastructure.
• Open sharing of collected marine and in-situ data through EMODnet is mandatory.