NEON 2.0
Next-generation research
What should come after NEON? The questions that are still open, and the routes towards a new generation of energy and mobility research.
NEON ends in 2026. This page sets out what a next research programme could investigate, what NEON taught about running one, and where the money for it could come from. It is the starting point for the workshop on next-generation research at the closing symposium on 9 December 2026.
What NEON learned
Six years of research by more than thirty PhD candidates produced lessons that a next programme can start from instead of rediscovering.
- The technology is further than many expected. The potential of solar and wind turned out larger than several work packages assumed at the start, and they keep getting cheaper. Perovskite solar cells look likely to break through. Nearly all transport except long-distance shipping and aviation can run on electricity.
- The grid is now the bottleneck, and also the opportunity. There are many ways to connect new demand to the grid more smartly, and each is a way to ease grid congestion. Smart charging and vehicle-to-grid matter for both the energy and the mobility transition, and connecting fast chargers directly to the medium-voltage grid offers large opportunities.
- People decide what works. New technology raises psychological questions as well as technical ones. With the right approach, many people support shared and smart charging, and a few simple changes make airborne wind turbines sound less intrusive.
- Law and technology need each other. Legal scholars who learn the technology have more impact, as two symposia on energy justice that grew out of NEON showed.
- The hardest part is the system. The main challenge of the transition lies less in technology or economics than in changing social systems that grew over the past century.
NEON also learned something about itself. Interdisciplinary research was harder than planned. The weekly meetings created a community, and many PhD candidates became more aware of the societal relevance of their work, but that led to fewer joint interdisciplinary papers than hoped. And the integral model that was meant to bring all results together needed more maturity than PhD projects can deliver. Zenmo took it further outside the programme, in Holon, ISIE and LUX-NL.
Five research lines for a next programme
These lines follow from NEON's results and from what its partners now work on. They are proposals for discussion, not projects that have been agreed.
| Line | The question | Builds on |
|---|---|---|
| A shared picture of the future grid | How can grid operators, governments, companies and citizens work from one shared, measured picture of the energy system and its possible futures, so that they argue about choices instead of about facts? | Integral models, standardization; ISIE, Holon |
| Fair local flexibility | How can households, energy communities and business parks help relieve congested grids, with incentives that are effective, understandable and fair? | Demand, storage and markets; regulation; societal values; Holon |
| Mobility inside the energy system | How do electric cars, trucks and ships, charging hubs and fast chargers become part of the grid's flexibility instead of a load on it? | Electric cars and trucks; medium-voltage fast charging; smart hubs |
| Society in the loop | What makes people and institutions accept, shape and benefit from new energy and mobility systems, and what do rules and standards need to change? | The human factor; regulation; standardization; societal values |
| Breakthroughs with system value | Which emerging technologies, such as airborne wind energy, building-integrated and perovskite solar, DC grids and new storage, are worth backing once their value for the whole system is counted? | Airborne wind energy; building-integrated PV; DC grids |
How to organise it
NEON's experience suggests a few design choices for a next programme:
- A shared model and shared data from the first day. Researchers then contribute to one picture instead of each building their own model. A professional engineering team keeps that model at a level of maturity that policy makers and companies can use.
- Joint questions for pairs of disciplines. One example from NEON is a study by an energy-system modeller and a psychologist on how people's behaviour shapes the charging of electric cars. Funding such pairs on purpose makes interdisciplinary work part of the design instead of an extra.
- Different maturity levels moving together. Some lines are close to the market, others still at the proof-of-concept stage. A programme can let the more mature lines carry the less mature ones, instead of judging them all by the same yardstick.
- Living labs with the people who own the problem. Grid operators, municipalities and energy communities as co-designers of the research, not only as data providers.
The symposium panel on cross-disciplinary research and the fourth-generation university takes these questions further: what does a university look like that organises its research around a societal transition?
Funding routes
No single Dutch instrument of NEON's size and kind has a deadline before the end of 2027. NEON was funded through the NWO Crossover call of 2018, a one-off call, and the long-term programmes that came closest to it have no new round announced. A next programme therefore has to be assembled from several sources:
- Horizon Europe, the EU research programme. Its Cluster 5 (Climate, Energy and Mobility) and the Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities mission have the best-fitting topics, most of them with deadlines in 2027: distribution-grid congestion and digital twins, agent-based AI for the energy system, a community of practice for open grid-planning tools, DC microgrids for energy communities, mobility hubs, and inclusive mobility. Many of them require partners in several countries, and some require grid operators or cities as partners.
- Marie Sklodowska-Curie Doctoral Networks, the EU equivalent of a PhD-based programme like NEON, for an international network of at least three countries.
- European partnerships in which NWO and RVO fund the Dutch partners: Driving Urban Transitions and the Clean Energy Transition Partnership. Smaller projects, with foreign cities and research partners.
- NWO: the Dutch Research Agenda (NWA Samen onderzoeken), if one of its 2027 themes covers energy or mobility, thematic calls in the Knowledge and Innovation Covenant, and the Open Technology Programme for single work packages.
- Dutch innovation schemes run by RVO for company-led research and pilots, and the public-private partnership allowance through the top consortia for knowledge and innovation.
Horizon Europe ends in 2027. Its successor, proposed for 2028-2034, is still being negotiated, and no date for its first calls has been published; the 2027 calls are therefore the last EU calls for some time.
The list of calls below gives each deadline, its status, why it fits, which kinds of partners it needs and the source. Calls marked expected are not yet announced and are dated from earlier rounds. Deadlines change: always check the call page before planning around one.
Take part
The workshop Next-generation research at the symposium on 9 December 2026 asks three questions: what should the research programme after NEON investigate, which partners does it need, and how can universities organise research around a societal transition? The closing session What's next? presents what the workshops produced and the routes for funding. The symposium page has the programme and registration.
What is still open
The five research lines are proposals by the NEON team. No consortium has been formed, and none of the partners named on this site has committed to a follow-up programme. The list of calls reflects the published work programmes and call pages as of November 2026; several calls for 2027 are expected but not yet published.
✎ draftFunding routes (40)
NWO Dutch Research Agenda (NWA), thematic programming
System perspective on materials for strategic autonomy in the energy transition · research consortium, one award
EUR 3,343,000 for one funded proposal, at most 5 years.
An integrated systems view of the materials that the energy transition needs. A NEON 2.0 modelling partner could add the demand side: how much battery, grid and vehicle material each electrification path requires. A side project rather than NEON 2.0 itself.
Uncertain: The call page labels the 16 November sign-up deadline CEST; it falls in winter time (CET). The opening date was not recorded; the call is open.
✎ draftDriving Urban Transitions Partnership (DUT), with NWO as Dutch funder
DUT Call 2026 (Positive Energy Districts, 15-Minute City, Circular Urban Economies) · transnational research and innovation project
About EUR 49 million for the whole call. NWO: EUR 4 million (with the Ministry of the Interior), at most EUR 400,000 per project, for universities and research organisations only, no PhD positions (postdocs allowed). Regieorgaan SIA: EUR 1.2 million for universities of applied sciences. Projects typically EUR 1-2 million, up to 36 months.
The positive-energy-district topic on flexibility asks for coordination of electricity, heat and mobility, vehicle-to-grid, solutions for grid congestion, energy communities, market and regulatory change and social acceptance: close to a description of NEON 2.0. Small, but the fastest international first step; the pre-proposal deadline falls before the symposium.
Uncertain: Sources give the opening as 1 September 2026 (most) or 19 October 2026 (ANR). The call-text PDF still has placeholders for the total budget; the DUT page and the NWO publication give about EUR 49 million. RVO does not take part, so Dutch companies need SIA or a foreign funder.
Horizon Europe - Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions
HORIZON-MSCA-2026-DN-01-01: MSCA Doctoral Networks 2026 · doctoral network
EUR 628 million for the call; per network at most 540 person-months (about 15 three-year doctoral candidates).
The closest EU equivalent of a PhD-based programme like NEON, and Industrial Doctorates suit the company partners. With the deadline two weeks away it is realistic only for a network that is already writing; the 2027 call is the real target.
Horizon Europe - Cluster 5 (Climate, Energy and Mobility)
HORIZON-CL5-2026-11-D3-23: Data sharing to support the training and development of AI foundation models in the energy sector · Innovation Action
About EUR 10 million per project; EUR 30 million in total for 3 projects.
Use cases include congestion management, flexibility management and smart and bidirectional charging of electric vehicles. Projects must show access to large datasets at submission, so this is only realistic for a consortium with grid-operator data that is already writing.
PPS-innovatie (public-private partnership allowance, formerly TKI-toeslag)
PPS programme subsidy 2027 for TKIs · programme subsidy for TKIs; projects enter through the TKI's own calls
Ceiling set per TKI; for research organisations up to 80% for non-economic activities; about EUR 0.30 allowance per EUR 1 of private contribution to research.
The natural Dutch route for the PhD-and-company part of NEON 2.0: company contributions in cash or in kind generate the allowance, and the research fits the national mission programme on a robust, socially supported energy system. Projects starting in 2027 still go through a TKI; from 2028 a new scheme takes project proposals directly at RVO.
Uncertain: Only TKIs apply in this round. The 2027 project calls of the relevant TKIs could not be read, and the design of the scheme that starts in 2028 is not published.
✎ draftNWO - Knowledge and Innovation Covenant (KIC) 2024-2027, Mission line
Monitoring and impact assessment for societal impact and earning capacity · public-private research consortium
EUR 7 million in total; co-funding required.
Asks for system-oriented, learning-based ways to monitor and assess the impact of transitions and of mission-driven policy. Fits NEON's third barrier, quantified transition models for policy makers, with energy and mobility as the case.
Uncertain: Pre-announced for autumn 2026, but on 9 November 2026 there is no call page; the deadline is unknown.
✎ draftNWO Domain Applied and Engineering Sciences
Open Technology Programme 2027 · applied research project with users
At most EUR 950,000 per project (EUR 1.05 million with investments above EUR 150,000), up to 6 years; co-funding of 25% of costs above EUR 700,000.
Suits single NEON 2.0 work packages with industrial users, such as agent-based grid-congestion modelling, DC grids, medium-voltage fast charging, airborne wind energy or vehicle-to-grid control. The 2026 round filled up by early July, so submit early in 2027.
Uncertain: The 2027 call text is due by the end of November 2026; the rules may change.
✎ draftEIT Urban Mobility
Strategic Innovation Open Call, cut-offs 4 and 5 · innovation project with a commercial lead
Up to EUR 2 million per project, EIT pays up to 65% of costs; about EUR 12 million at cut-off 4 and EUR 6 million at cut-off 5.
Strong match on smart charging and grid congestion, freight electrification and digital twins in cities, but this is commercialisation money: a product for outside clients with a city pilot, not a PhD programme. The lead company signs an equity or revenue-share deal with EIT Urban Mobility.
Uncertain: The call manual gives cut-off 4 as 28 January 2027; the EIT portal says February 2027.
✎ draftHorizon Europe - Bridging Actions 2027 (Apply AI)
HORIZON-BRIDGING-2027-01-12: Large-scale piloting of next-generation AI-driven digital platforms for a more affordable, secure and sustainable European energy system · Innovation Action
EUR 15 million for 1 project, about 36 months.
AI platforms for grid operation and real-time coordination of distributed resources, smart charging of electric vehicles, data spaces, digital twins and open source. Strong on content, but one very large pilot consortium: NEON 2.0 partners would more likely join an existing bid than lead one.
Uncertain: The topic data give the date; the 17:00 Brussels hour is the usual one and was not read on the topic page itself.
✎ draftHorizon Europe - Cluster 5 (Climate, Energy and Mobility)
HORIZON-CL5-2027-01-D1-09: Assessing the performance of policy instruments to inform climate change mitigation action · Research and Innovation Action
About EUR 3 million per project; EUR 9 million in total for 3 projects.
Focuses on buildings and road transport, NEON's domain, and asks for the factors behind behavioural change and acceptance of policy, and for economy-wide modelling with consumer behaviour. An agent-based energy and mobility model combined with economics and political science would be a distinctive bid.
Uncertain: 2027 dates are indicative: the Commission may move the opening by about a month and the deadline by up to two months.
Horizon Europe - Cluster 5 (Climate, Energy and Mobility)
HORIZON-CL5-2027-01-D1-13: Next generation scenarios for informing climate and sustainability transitions · Research and Innovation Action
About EUR 4 million per project; EUR 24 million in total for 6 projects.
Area C asks for scenarios with policy and implementation detail that bridge modelled pathways and real-world action, including equity. Agent-based and local models can be the alternative approach. The topic is global and needs partners from low- and middle-income countries.
Uncertain: 2027 dates are indicative.
Eureka - Eurostars
Eurostars Call 12 · R&D project led by an innovative SME
Dutch share at most EUR 500,000; RVO funds 50% for SMEs and knowledge institutions and 40% for others.
For an SME-led product step, for example a digital twin for congestion or flexibility built by a Dutch modelling company with a foreign SME and a university. Not for a broad consortium with cities.
Clean Energy Transition Partnership (CETPartnership)
CETP Joint Call 2026 (modules include energy system flexibility and integrated regional energy systems) · transnational research and innovation project
NWO at most EUR 400,000 (one Dutch applicant) or EUR 600,000 (with a co-applicant); RVO HEP EUR 8 million in total, at most EUR 1 million per project for all Dutch partners together.
Strong on content: energy system flexibility, integrated regional energy systems and resilience. Closed to consortia without an accepted pre-proposal; listed here so nobody plans on it, and as the model for the 2027 joint call.
Horizon Europe - Cluster 5 (Climate, Energy and Mobility)
HORIZON-CL5-2027-02-D3-24: Large-scale operational validation and upscaling of (Generative) AI tools and models powering a next-generation digital energy system · Innovation Action
About EUR 10 million per project; EUR 20 million in total for 2 projects.
Asks for AI inside the digital twin of the energy system, validated at the edge and in swarms in an agent-based architecture, with consumer empowerment and a governance framework. It is the topic in the work programme that comes closest to an agent-based, location-based digital twin of the kind NEON and Holon developed.
Uncertain: 2027 dates are indicative. Draft work programmes used the number D3-25 for this topic; only the number given here is current.
MOOI - Mission-driven Research, Development and Innovation
MOOI 2027 rounds (2025 and 2026 themes included system integration, built environment and electricity) · mission-driven R&D consortium
EUR 78.8 million for MOOI in 2027 according to a consultancy summary of the 2027 budget; at most EUR 4 million subsidy per project, at least EUR 2 million R&D costs.
By content the best-fitting Dutch R&D call: the 2025 system-integration round covered grid congestion, energy hubs, storage and demand response, and the built-environment round covers energy systems for neighbourhoods and business parks including electric transport. Whether the system-integration round returns in 2027 is unknown; it was not opened in 2026.
Uncertain: Not announced; dates estimated from the 2025 and 2026 rounds (pre-registration mid-March to mid-April, applications early June to early September). The 2027 rounds are usually published in the Staatscourant in mid-December.
✎ draftHorizon Europe - Cluster 5 (Climate, Energy and Mobility), 2Zero partnership
HORIZON-CL5-2027-03-D5-04: Demonstration of zero-emission coaches and buses in long-distance operations · Innovation Action
About EUR 13.5 million for 1 project.
Covers optimised charging schedules, impacts on the grid and congestion, and shared charging hubs for several operators and vehicle types. Links NEON's work on heavy-duty charging and mobility hubs with grid integration.
Uncertain: 2027 dates are indicative.
EHUB - Subsidy for energy-hub research (Stimuleringsprogramma Energiehubs)
EHUB first round: scans and studies for energy hubs · small study subsidy for companies
EUR 9.6 million in total; scans of EUR 5,000-8,500 and studies of EUR 25,000-42,000 per hub.
Small and for companies only, but it creates energy-hub cases on business parks that NEON 2.0 research could model and follow. Useful to line up living labs.
Uncertain: Applicants must be at least 3 unaffiliated companies with large grid connections; research organisations are not named as applicants.
✎ draftHorizon Europe - European Research Council
ERC-2027-SyG: ERC Synergy Grant 2027 · frontier research grant for 2-4 principal investigators
Up to EUR 10 million per grant plus up to EUR 4 million extra, up to 6 years; EUR 500 million in total.
A scientific core for NEON 2.0 could fit: two to four principal investigators combining integrated, agent-based modelling of the energy and mobility transition with the social science of acceptance. Frontier research only, without company or government partners.
Uncertain: Not yet on the portal; the ERC work programme calls the dates provisional. Some university pages give wrong deadlines (November 2026, or 11 May 2026).
✎ draftNWO - Knowledge and Innovation Covenant (KIC) 2024-2027, Mission line
New materials and production processes for large-scale energy storage and conversion · public-private research consortium
EUR 7 million in total; co-funding in cash or in kind required (percentage not yet published).
Storage on time scales of hours to weeks, near the source and near electrical infrastructure, explicitly linked to grid congestion; hydrogen is excluded. Suits NEON's line on flow batteries and storage as a technology work package, with a system-model partner to value storage for congestion.
Uncertain: In preparation; the call text was expected in autumn 2026 and is not yet published, so conditions may change.
✎ draftNationaal Groeifonds (National Growth Fund)
Special round of EUR 375 million for strategic industrial policy · large industry-led programme
EUR 375 million; at least EUR 30 million and at most EUR 100 million per project.
Weak: projects must fit one of six industrial-policy programmes, none of them energy or grids, so NEON 2.0 could enter only as part of a much larger industry-led consortium on digital services such as digital twins for grids and mobility.
Uncertain: Sources disagree on the final deadline: 'towards summer 2027' (official letter) or autumn 2027 (consultancy). One news item reports EUR 375 million per year for 2027-2031, which contradicts the one-off framing in the official letter.
✎ draftDEI+ - Demonstration Energy and Climate Innovation
DEI+ 2027 main round (in 2026 it included flexibility and energy-storage pilots) · pilot and demonstration subsidy for companies
EUR 301.3 million for DEI+ in 2027 according to a consultancy summary of the 2027 budget; pilots up to EUR 25 million.
Not a research instrument but the follow-up for living labs: a company-led pilot of a flexibility or energy-hub concept, or vehicle-to-grid at a mobility hub, with NEON 2.0 research for design and evaluation. Flexibility demonstrations and grid infrastructure itself are excluded; flexibility pilots are allowed.
Uncertain: Not announced; estimated from the 2025 (28 January-28 August) and 2026 (27 January-30 July) rounds.
✎ draftLIFE programme - Clean Energy Transition
LIFE-2027-CET coordination and support actions · Coordination and Support Action
EUR 413.3 million for Clean Energy Transition over 2025-2027; actions funded at 95%; the 2027 split is not published.
For the system-level side of NEON 2.0: institutions, citizen participation, energy communities and the uptake of flexibility by grid operators, as a companion to a research grant. It funds no research, PhDs or model development.
Uncertain: Not published. Estimated from the 2025 (23 September) and 2026 (16 September) deadlines; topics unknown. Probably the last LIFE call of this budget period.
✎ draftHorizon Europe - Cluster 5 (Climate, Energy and Mobility), Batt4EU partnership
HORIZON-CL5-2027-05-D2-08: Demonstration for long-duration battery energy storage systems · Innovation Action
About EUR 9.4 million per project; EUR 18.8 million in total for 2 projects.
System-level demonstration of storage longer than eight hours, explicitly including redox flow batteries, with quantified impact on grid resilience. The natural follow-up to NEON's work on flow batteries; a technology demonstration rather than a modelling project.
Uncertain: 2027 dates are indicative.
Horizon Europe - Horizontal activities: Clean Industrial Deal
HORIZON-CID-2027-01-02: R&I in support of the Clean Industrial Deal, clean technologies for climate action · Innovation Action, industry-driven
EUR 15-25 million per project; EUR 140 million in total for about 8 projects.
Area 1 covers integrated net-zero energy systems including grids, and area 3 storage. A route to scale a single NEON breakthrough, such as DC grids, flow batteries or airborne wind energy, towards the market. Industry-driven with at most about ten participants and a business plan; not a research-consortium instrument.
Uncertain: 2027 dates are indicative.
NWO Dutch Research Agenda (NWA)
NWA Samen onderzoeken 2027 (formerly NWA Research along Routes by Consortia) · transdisciplinary research consortium
In 2026 at most EUR 7.25 million per theme, one award per theme, 4-8 years; the 2027 budget is not published.
The one large NWO instrument without mandatory private co-funding that rewards transdisciplinary work, citizen involvement and modelling of system transitions. From 2027 the routes choose eight cross-cutting themes a year; NEON 2.0 fits only if an energy or mobility theme is among them, so the lever is to take part in setting the themes.
Uncertain: Not announced. Dates are estimated from the 2025 and 2026 rounds (2026: workshops February-March, deadline 6 October). Whether an energy or mobility theme is chosen is unknown.
✎ draftClean Energy Transition Partnership (CETPartnership)
CETP Joint Call 2027 · transnational research and innovation project
Not published; in 2026 NWO gave at most EUR 400,000-600,000 and RVO at most EUR 1 million per project for all Dutch partners together.
The realistic CETP target for NEON 2.0, if the 2026 modules on energy system flexibility and integrated regional energy systems return. A good home for an international NEON 2.0 work package on local flexibility.
Uncertain: Not announced. The Commission's proposal for the next framework programme ends co-funded partnerships after 2027, so this may be one of the last CETP calls.
✎ draftCOST - European Cooperation in Science and Technology
COST Open Call OC-2027-1 (COST Actions) · research network (no research funding)
About EUR 140,000-180,000 a year for 4 years, for meetings, short research visits and training schools.
A low-cost way to build and keep a European NEON 2.0 research network on integrated energy and mobility modelling, energy communities and a just transition, ahead of the next EU framework programme. It funds no PhDs or models.
Uncertain: Not published. Estimated from the collection dates 23 October 2024, 21 October 2025 and 28 October 2026.
✎ draftHorizon Europe - Mission Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities
HORIZON-MISS-2027-04-CIT-01: Innovative microgrids for improved energy system integration and efficiency in urban contexts · Innovation Action
About EUR 7 million per project; EUR 20 million in total for 3 projects.
Low-voltage DC microgrids that let energy communities share assets and ease pressure on the city grid, with a real demonstration plus virtual demonstrations through digital twins in other cities, and work on regulation, standards and social science. Combines NEON's DC-grid research with energy communities and digital twins.
Uncertain: 2027 dates are indicative. The list of Dutch Mission cities was not re-checked.
Horizon Europe - Mission Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities
HORIZON-MISS-2027-04-CIT-03: Inclusive and climate-resilient multimodal passenger hubs enhancing modal shift towards sustainable transport and shared mobility · Innovation Action
About EUR 9 million per project; EUR 18 million in total for 2 projects.
Mobility hubs with shared and micro-mobility, inclusiveness and digital monitoring, with required social science and co-design. Follows NEON's work on smart hubs and mobility as a service; climate resilience is a mandatory new element.
Uncertain: 2027 dates are indicative. The list of Dutch Mission cities was not re-checked.
Horizon Europe - Cluster 5 (Climate, Energy and Mobility)
HORIZON-CL5-2027-06-D6-08: Enhancing Mobility for All - affordable, reliable and accessible multimodal transport for inclusive rural and urban connectivity · Innovation Action (Societal Readiness pilot)
About EUR 7 million per project; EUR 21 million in total for 3 projects.
Transport poverty, shared and demand-responsive mobility and behavioural change, with social science and citizen engagement required. Matches NEON's mobility-hub and human-factor research and its aim to make engineers and social scientists work on one problem.
Uncertain: 2027 dates are indicative.
Horizon Europe - Cluster 5 (Climate, Energy and Mobility), CCAM partnership
HORIZON-CL5-2027-06-D6-04: Holistic solutions for CCAM integration in critical scenarios · Research and Innovation Action
About EUR 5.5 million for 1 project.
Safety of automated vehicles in edge cases, user trust and the role of road authorities, quantified with simulation. Follows NEON's research on the safety envelope of automated vehicles.
Uncertain: 2027 dates are indicative.
Driving Urban Transitions Partnership (DUT)
DUT Call 2027 · transnational research and innovation project
Not published; in 2026 at most EUR 400,000 from NWO per Dutch application.
The 2027 counterpart of the 2026 call, if positive energy districts and mobility transitions remain pathways. Time to build a consortium with foreign cities after the symposium.
Uncertain: Not announced. As for CETP, the future of co-funded partnerships after 2027 is uncertain.
✎ draftEureka - ITEA 4 (software innovation)
ITEA Call 2027 · industry-led software R&D project
Dutch funding through RVO (international innovation, ITEA and Xecs): EUR 10 million in total, at most EUR 4 million per project, research rates 35-50%.
ITEA covers software for smart energy, smart cities and smart mobility, including digital twins and simulation. A route for a company-led software step out of NEON 2.0 research, with a Dutch company coordinating the Dutch part.
Uncertain: Not announced. The 2026 outline deadline was 2 November 2026; the 2027 date is estimated from that rhythm.
✎ draftHorizon Europe - Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions
HORIZON-MSCA-2027-DN-01-01: MSCA Doctoral Networks 2027 · doctoral network
About EUR 646 million for the call; per network at most 540 person-months (about 15 three-year doctoral candidates), up to 4 years.
The best match for a PhD-based NEON 2.0 across countries, and the last Doctoral Network call under Horizon Europe. Industrial Doctorates let company partners host candidates for at least half their time.
Uncertain: 2027 dates are indicative.
Horizon Europe - Cluster 5 (Climate, Energy and Mobility)
HORIZON-CL5-2027-07-D3-26: Advanced Distribution Management Systems for more efficient and flexible distribution grids · Innovation Action
About EUR 9.5 million per project; EUR 28.5 million in total for 3 projects.
Expected outcomes include effective management of congestion in distribution grids and better forecasting of supply, demand and flexibility, using digital twins, AI and, where possible, open-source software. This is the Dutch grid-congestion problem, coupled with electric vehicles, heat pumps and local generation: NEON's integrated energy and mobility angle.
Uncertain: 2027 dates are indicative. Draft work programmes used the number D3-27 for this topic.
Horizon Europe - Cluster 5 (Climate, Energy and Mobility)
HORIZON-CL5-2027-07-D3-28: Community of practice - data-driven decision-making in energy · Coordination and Support Action
About EUR 6 million for 1 project.
Builds a European community of practice around planning and simulation tools for electricity grids, with repositories of open-source tools and model results that outlive projects. A vehicle to make open models such as Holon, and shared standards such as those of ISIE, a European reference; coordination, not research.
Uncertain: 2027 dates are indicative. Draft work programmes used the number D3-29.
Horizon Europe - Cluster 5 (Climate, Energy and Mobility), European Partnership for Innovation in PV
HORIZON-CL5-2027-07-D3-17: PV-based electrification of the economy - PV systems for industrial electrification and participation in electricity markets · Innovation Action
About EUR 6 million per project; EUR 18 million in total for 3 projects.
Covers DC networks around strategic end users, explicitly including electric-vehicle charging stations, and PV in dynamic or nodal pricing and balancing markets. Follows NEON's research on DC grids, medium-voltage fast charging and solar.
Uncertain: 2027 dates are indicative. Draft work programmes used the number D3-18.
Horizon Europe - Cluster 5 (Climate, Energy and Mobility)
HORIZON-CL5-2027-07-D3-25: Advanced TSO control rooms to enhance grid observability, stability and resilience · Innovation Action
About EUR 9.5 million per project; EUR 28.5 million in total for 3 projects.
Congestion management, forecasting of flexibility, digital twins and coordination between transmission and distribution operators. Relevant for the national layer of a shared grid picture; led by transmission operators, so less of a research-consortium fit than D3-26.
Uncertain: 2027 dates are indicative.
Horizon Europe - New European Bauhaus Facility
HORIZON-NEB-2027-01-PARTICIPATION-01: The transformative potential of co-governance in the green transition of neighbourhoods · Innovation Action
About EUR 5.38 million per project; EUR 10.76 million in total for 2 projects.
Citizen participation and co-governance of neighbourhood transitions, naming open data environments and interactive modelling systems as tools. A home for participatory modelling in the Holon style and for NEON's research on public resistance and societal values.
Uncertain: 2027 dates are indicative.
Horizon Europe - New European Bauhaus Facility
HORIZON-NEB-2027-01-BUSINESS-02: Innovative models for collective community investment and ownership · Research and Innovation Action
About EUR 3.5 million per project; EUR 10.5 million in total for 3 projects.
Community and occupant ownership of local cooperative assets, validated in at least three neighbourhoods. Energy is not named, but energy cooperatives and community-owned storage or charging hubs fit, with required social science.
Uncertain: 2027 dates are indicative.