← All opportunities

Horizon Europe · European Union

Unlocking a safe operating space for Antarctica and the Southern Ocean

Opens 20 Apr 2027

The EU's Horizon Europe programme expects to make 2 awards of €11 million each, from a total budget of €22 million. Applications close on 23 Sep 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 all of the following expected outcomes:

• improved multidisciplinary scientific understanding of the functioning of the Southern Ocean and the Antarctic cryosphere and associated ecosystem dynamics, in the near term (∼2030), mid-term (2050–2060) and long-term (after ∼2060), including their mutual interaction with, impact on and vulnerability to, current and future changes in the other components of the regional and global climate systems;

• important contributions made to key ocean, cryosphere, climate and biodiversity monitoring indicators that support international, regional and global assessments. Fostered development of a regional approach to polar ocean, climate and biodiversity observations, monitoring and reporting;

• informed policies for environmental conservation and climate resilience and enabled evidence-based regional, European, and global decision–making on polar ocean governance; sustained European leadership in ocean–climate–biodiversity-cryosphere science; significant contributions made to global scientific assessments (e.g. IPCC, IPBES and WOA), as well as to the UN Decades of Action of Ocean (2021-2030) and Cryospheric (2025-2034) Sciences, the Antarctica InSync programme (2027 and 2030), the International Polar Year (2032-2033), UN SDGs 13 and 14, and the European polar science coordination efforts.

Scope

Proposals should:

• resolve uncertainties, improve projections and quantifications of the future of the region, looking at changes in the near-, mid- and long-term (irreversible, abrupt and committed changes), their likelihood, timing, rate, amplitude, and impacts on the Earth’s System (decadal to millennial climate projections, global sea level, ocean circulation, global carbon budget);

• advance understanding of the complex interactions and feedbacks between the ocean, the atmosphere, sea ice, ice shelves, and land ice dynamics, considering multiple scales and processes simultaneously, with focus on the Antarctic continental shelves where conditions are or will change rapidly and on regions for bottom water formation;

• advance the knowledge of Southern Ocean dynamics and sea ice dynamics in the near-, mid- and long-term. Better understand the distribution, underlying mechanisms and impacts of changes in the Southern Ocean and sea ice to reduce uncertainties in projected future changes of large-scale ocean circulation and transport, including abrupt, irreversible change/tipping elements and thresholds, collapse of the overturning circulations, regional and global climate and weather systems. This should include extreme events and mid-latitude weather; fluxes between the ice sheet and the ocean; the future dynamics of oceanic carbon pools;

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.

Topics

Cryosphere, dynamics of snow and ice cover, sea ice, permafrost and ice sheets International Ocean Governance Marine Ecosystems Ocean Observation and Monitoring Ocean and Climate Change Polar Research AAORIA ESA ocean-climate nexus

Timing

Single-stage call. Next deadline 2027-09-23. 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