Closed

Support to the organisation and dissemination of the Transport Research Arena (TRA) conference

HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions

Basic Information

Identifier
HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-18
Programme
Cluster 5 Call 04-2025 (WP 2025)
Programme Period
2021 - 2027
Status
Closed (31094503)
Opening Date
May 6, 2025
Deadline
September 4, 2025
Deadline Model
single-stage
Budget
€2,000,000
Min Grant Amount
€2,000,000
Max Grant Amount
€2,000,000
Expected Number of Grants
1
Keywords
HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-18HORIZON-CL5-2025-04

Description

Expected Outcome:

Project’s results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

  • Successful organisation of the Transport Research Arena conference (TRA) in 2028;
  • Successful organisation of two competitions for transport research and innovation awards covering all transport modes and cross-cutting issues;
  • Conference proceedings published in recognised scientific journals;
  • Higher visibility, political and strategic relevance of the transport sector and of the EU policy in the field;
  • Enhanced dissemination, communication and valorisation of transport R&I objectives, perspectives, strategies and results;
  • More effective links and exchanges between research and innovation stakeholders, industry and policy makers, to support the development and deployment of innovative solutions in Europe and Associated Countries;
  • Increased attractiveness of transport related studies and reinforce the pursuit of excellence in European transport research and innovation, by giving recognition and visibility to the best achievements;
  • Increased visibility, interest and number of applications for the two competitions for transport research and innovation awards.
Scope:

The action will prepare and provide support to the Transport Research Arena (TRA) conference to be organised in 2028 gathering transport stakeholders for discussing political, industrial and research issues on a European and global level.

Proposals are expected to demonstrate the financial and organisational support of the national authorities interested to host the event and an economic plan covering the additional funding needs. A professional conference organiser should be included in the consortium. To ensure high political and strategic relevance, the proposals should involve Member States holding the Presidency of the European Union in year 2028.

In line with previous TRA biannual conferences, the event should address the technological and industrial developments of the transport sector (i.e., road, rail, waterborne, aviation sectors and cross-modal aspects) providing a high level, future-oriented perspective coming from politics, the industry and the research community, in response to Europe’s social needs and expectations. Specific attention should be put on a broad and balanced participation in the conference i.e., students, young researchers, women, a large number of country representatives, etc.

The action will be implemented in close collaboration with the Management and Programme Committees of the TRA, which includes the TRA 2028 conference organiser, the European Commission services, the different European Technology Platforms (ERTRAC for road, ERRAC for rail, WATERBORNE TP for waterborne, ALICE for logistics and ACARE for aeronautics and ECTP for construction), the Conference of European Directors of Roads (CEDR), the European Transport Research Alliance (ETRA) and the previous TRA conference organiser (TRA 2026) in order to maintain continuity of the event.

Proposals should address all the following aspects:

  • Support the definition of the overall planning of the conference, including the main thematic pillars of the event as well as the structuring of the technical and political sessions;
  • Contribute to the identification and selection of an appropriate conference venue and support the organisation of the conference’s logistics;
  • Provide operational support to the TRA conference organisers, such as in relation to the website and conference management IT tools (e.g., for the registration of participants, handling of speakers’ contributions, submission and selection of scientific papers, conference application);
  • Support the organisation of the demonstration activities and technical visits;
  • Assess and monitor the environmental impact of the event and propose appropriate measures to reduce and mitigate this impact;
  • Organise of two high-quality competitions for transport research and innovation awards (TRA VISION) covering all transport modes and cross-cutting issues (technological, socio-economic, and behavioural aspects) in line with the EU policy objectives for climate-neutral and environmentally friendly mobility:
    • A competition for students and young researchers with the goal of stimulating the interest among young researchers/students to develop innovative solutions in the field of transport;
    • A competition for senior researchers in the field of innovative transport concepts based on results from EU-funded projects only.
  • Proposals should plan for involving the awarded researchers in the conference programme and for promoting links between the researchers and possible career development opportunities in the field (e.g., traineeships, jobs, courses, training);
    • A very good media coverage before, during and after the event should be foreseen for both the TRA conference and for the TRA VISIONS.

Destination & Scope

This Destination addresses activities that improve the climate and environmental footprint, as well as competitiveness, of different transport modes.

The areas of rail and air traffic management will be addressed through dedicated Institutional European Partnerships and are therefore not included in this document.

This Destination contributes directly to the Strategic Plan’s Key Strategic OrientationsGreen transition’, ‘Digital transition’ and ‘A more resilient, competitive, inclusive and democratic Europe’.

In line with the Strategic Plan, the overall expected impact of this Destination is to contribute to the ‘Achieving sustainable and competitive transport modes’.

The main impacts to be generated by topics under this Destination are:

Zero-emission road transport

  1. Clean solutions for zero tailpipe emission and environmentally friendly mobility for a climate neutral and zero pollution mobility with a higher level of circularity;
  2. Affordable, user-friendly, inclusive, safe, and secure concepts and technologies that are easy to deploy, considering needs, behaviours, and socio-economic status of end-users;
  3. Increased global competitiveness of the EU transport sector;
  4. Increased responsiveness of zero tailpipe emission vehicles and systems to diverse societal interests and concerns;
  5. Use cases and concepts for zero-emission road mobility of people and goods are successfully and innovatively demonstrated.

Aviation

  1. New and updated Aviation Research and Technology Infrastructures, where the new research and technologies will be developed and tested;
  2. Increased understanding and analysis of mitigation options of aviation’s non-CO2 climate impacts. New technologies for significantly lower local air-pollution and noise;
  3. Accelerated uptake of sustainable aviation fuels in aviation, including the coordination with Member States and private initiatives.

Waterborne transport

  1. The shipping industry (shipowners, equipment manufacturers, port authorities, terminal operators, and shipbuilders) will have access to high-power low and zero emission fuel solutions by 2030, leading to lower costs, enhanced energy efficiency, risk mitigation, standardised implementation, and improved operational efficiency through data science.
  2. Port operators and ship owners will benefit from increased safety and technical standards on ammonia and hydrogen bunkering, including failure scenarios and risk mitigation;
  3. The shipping industry will benefit from lower-cost and flexible battery-based solutions as primary sources of energy, higher safety standards and broader electrification solutions;
  4. Shipowners, ship operators and port authorities will have access to OPS (Onshore Power Supply) solutions that will enable them to comply with the current and incoming legislative framework;
  5. Policy makers and shipowners will benefit from access to accurate information and assessment methods on the direct energy savings resulting from the use of wind-assisted propulsion (WAP) systems under current legislative frameworks like FuelEU Maritime, contributing to the assessment of GHG intensity of energy used on-board. Shipowners, shipbuilders, and European shipyards will have access to commercially viable, cost-efficient, and easy-to-retrofit WAP solutions deployed at commercial scale, particularly for long-distance shipping;
  6. Shipyards will have innovative holistic intelligent design tools for various retrofit solutions, enhancing the competitiveness of European shipyards and marine equipment providers;
  7. Governments, port authorities, and shipping companies will benefit from access to standardised systems and tools for monitoring air pollutants and fuel consumption of ships, enabling compliance with current and incoming regulations on ship emissions;
  8. Policymakers and enforcement bodies will benefit from innovative tools to fulfil the requirements of the Ship Sourced Pollution Directive resulting in an increased environmental protection of sea waters.

Transport related environment and health

The better monitoring of the environmental performance and enforcement of emissions regulation and biodiversity protection in order to reduce the overall environmental impact of transport (e.g., as regards biodiversity, noise, pollution and waste) on human health and ecosystems.

Eligibility & Conditions

General conditions

1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout

described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.

Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.

2. Eligible Countries

described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.

A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

3. Other Eligible Conditions

described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.

4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion

described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.

5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds

are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.

5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes

are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.

5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement

described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.

6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants

Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025). [[This decision is available on the Funding and Tenders Portal, in the reference documents section for Horizon Europe, under ‘Simplified costs decisions’ or through this link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/ls-decision_he_en.pdf]].

described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Specific conditions

Not applicable.

Support & Resources

Online Manual is your guide on the procedures from proposal submission to managing your grant.

Horizon Europe Programme Guide contains the detailed guidance to the structure, budget and political priorities of Horizon Europe.

Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ – find the answers to most frequently asked questions on submission of proposals, evaluation and grant management.

Research Enquiry Service – ask questions about any aspect of European research in general and the EU Research Framework Programmes in particular.

National Contact Points (NCPs) – get guidance, practical information and assistance on participation in Horizon Europe. There are also NCPs in many non-EU and non-associated countries (‘third-countries’).

Enterprise Europe Network – contact your EEN national contact for advice to businesses with special focus on SMEs. The support includes guidance on the EU research funding.

IT Helpdesk – contact the Funding & Tenders Portal IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc.

European IPR Helpdesk assists you on intellectual property issues.

CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk – the European Standards Organisations advise you how to tackle standardisation in your project proposal.

The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment – consult the general principles and requirements specifying the roles, responsibilities and entitlements of researchers, employers and funders of researchers.

Partner Search help you find a partner organisation for your proposal.

Latest Updates

Last Changed: September 16, 2025

The call for proposals HORIZON-CL5-2025-04 closed on 04/09/2025. 167 proposals were submitted to the call. The breakdown per topic is:



HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-01 (IA): 8

HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-02 (IA): 7

HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-03 (IA): 10

HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-04 (RIA): 12

HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-05 (IA): 9

HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-06 (IA): 5

HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-07 (CSA): 5

HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-08 (RIA): 1

HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-10 (IA): 3

HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-11 (IA): 12

HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-12 (RIA): 16

HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-13 (IA): 5

HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-14 (IA): 5

HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-15 (IA): 6

HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-16 (CSA): 4

HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-18 (CSA): 1

HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-19 (CSA): 4

HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D6-01 (RIA): 19

HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D6-02 (CSA): 1

HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D6-11 (RIA): 23

HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D6-12 (IA): 11

Last Changed: May 20, 2025
The submission session is now available for: HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-11, HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-04, HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-15, HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-05, HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-02, HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D6-11, HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-03, HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-13, HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-06, HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D6-02, HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-01, HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D6-01, HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-07, HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-19, HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-10, HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-14, HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-16, HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D6-12, HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-12, HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-08, HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-18
Support to the organisation and dissemination of the Transport Research Arena (TRA) conference | Grantalist