← All opportunities

Horizon Europe · European Union

Sustainable aircraft circular design and additive manufacturing, towards a climate neutral aviation

Opens 15 Dec 2026

The EU's Horizon Europe programme expects to make 2 awards of €2.5 million each, from a total budget of €5 million. Applications close on 14 Apr 2027 (EU calls usually close at 17:00 Brussels time). Organisations in EU member states and Horizon Europe associated countries such as Türkiye can usually take part; the topic conditions control.

Expected outcome

Project results are expected to contribute to both of the following expected outcomes:

• Additive manufacturing including high performance polymers, composites and metals, offering significantly improved performance compared to state-of-the-art. Entire process including design / manufacturing / characterization and testing / certification.

• Sustainable aircraft circular design and manufacturing processes of individual high-value components towards further developing the innovation pipeline from system demonstration to deployment stage in the EU and Associated Countries.

Scope

This topic focuses on:

• Additive design and manufacturing of aircraft and engine structural components have already transformed the industry and are expected to be the key to the EU competitiveness. Geopolitical aspects for raw materials reinforce the importance of additive manufacturing, while the European RTOs and industry recognised that there is a substantial untapped potential towards even higher energy efficiency, savings in critical raw materials and higher quality parts. The main objective of this topic is to resolve existing challenges in the AD/AM of metal, high performance/value polymer and composite parts, related to residual stresses, non-equilibrium phase transformations, joining, defects and reproducibility among others.

• Building on previous research efforts (i.e. H2020-SUSTAINair) and EREA’s Future Sky initiatives on circular aviation, proposals should focus to real, challenging and competitive industrial use cases for circular design of individual components, joining technologies, improved maintenance and repair technologies to extend aircraft lifetime and improved recovery of high-quality recycling materials. Especially as regards engines and safety critical systems, real-time condition monitoring and inspection methods have the potential to improve repairability by determining an optimized degradation status, allowing smart repairs on-wing and on-site that reduce or postpone the need for material- and energy-intense overhauls or replacements.

Who can apply

Consortium of at least 3 independent legal entities from 3 different EU Member States or associated countries, at least one in a Member State (Horizon Europe standard rule).

Applicant categories are a starting point. The official call decides eligibility.

Timing

Single-stage call. Next deadline 2027-04-14. The portal states the exact cut-off time (EU calls usually close at 17:00 Brussels time).

How to apply

1. Read the full topic on the Funding & Tenders Portal: expected outcome, scope, type of action and the topic conditions, including any country restrictions.
2. Register each participating organisation in the Funding & Tenders Portal to get a PIC.
3. Consortium of at least 3 independent legal entities from 3 different EU Member States or associated countries (Horizon Europe standard rule; Türkiye is associated). Confirm in the topic conditions.
4. Prepare Part A (administrative forms and budget, completed in the portal) and Part B (the technical description on the official template for this type of action).
5. Submit in the portal before the cut-off time on the deadline day. Late submissions are not accepted.

From the call text

Who can apply

Not stated in the call text we hold — check the official page

Company stage

Not stated in the call text we hold — check the official page

Single applicant or consortium

Read the topic conditions on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal for eligible countries, consortium requirements, budget and the application route.

Where applicants must be based

Read the topic conditions on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal for eligible countries, consortium requirements, budget and the application route.

Where to apply

Read the topic conditions on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal for eligible countries, consortium requirements, budget and the application route.

Read the EU application guide

Where these facts come from

Official sources

Official call page

Facts on this page come from the funder’s official data, taken on 14 Nov 2026. The funder's own documents, including later amendments, always take precedence.

More from Horizon Europe