Deadline: 17-Nov-2025
The SBEP – Sustainable Blue Economy partnership has launched the 3rd call for transnational research and/or innovation projects to design, guide and support a fair and inclusive transition to a regenerative, resilient and sustainable blue economy.
The general theme of the JTC 2025 is “Digitalisation and Innovation for Resilient Marine Ecosystems Businesses, and Communities to Strengthen the EU Blue Economy’s Competitiveness”.
Research and innovation proposals submitted under the JTC 2025 are required to address at least one of the following topics: Digital Twins of the Ocean (DTOs) at sub-basin scale; Transitioning the blue economy sectors, and the development of the coexistence and the marine multi-use infrastructures; Climate-Smart Planning and managing sea-uses at the regional level; Blue Bioresources; sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, and new bio-based products; Resilient Coastal Communities and Businesses.
The call will have two phases: submission of pre-proposals in the first phase and submission of full proposals in the second phase. Only the pre-proposals submitted by transnational consortia in the first phase may be invited to submit full proposals in the second phase.
FCT has committed €1,000,000 for this call. The maximum requested funding for a consortium coordinated by a Portuguese institution is €250,000, while consortia with Portuguese participation can request up to €150,000.
The Portuguese institutions must comply with FCT Regulation No. 999/2016, as amended and republished by Regulation No. 5/2024 and corrected by Rectification Statement No. 366/2024/2. The funding may be shared among multiple Portuguese applicants within the same consortium and must align with the maximum funding limits.
Eligible costs include direct expenses such as human resources, missions, acquisition of equipment and software, consumables, third-party services, dissemination, patent-related expenses, and necessary adaptation of facilities, as well as indirect costs calculated at a flat rate of 25% of direct eligible costs.
However, salaries of staff with indefinite public contracts, construction or acquisition of real estate, fines, legal expenses, and general operating costs are among the ineligible expenses.
The proposals are strongly recommended to consider a minimum of two EU sea basins which are the Atlantic Ocean, Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and North Sea, and to assess the project proposal’s impact and potential replication or scalability on various sea basins.
Proposals can also target European regional seas such as the Adriatic Sea, Aegean Sea, Arctic, Barents Sea, and Celtic Sea, but they must be from a minimum of two different EU sea basins.
Eligible beneficiaries include higher education institutions, state and associated laboratories, non-profit R&D institutions, and companies participating in R&D projects led by non-business entities. Each project must identify a Principal Investigator and may include a Co-Principal Investigator. Projects should have a duration of up to 36 months, extendable by 12 months in justified cases.
Applications will undergo eligibility checks at both national and transnational levels. The national eligibility check will be conducted by the respective funding agencies, ensuring compliance with national regulations, while the transnational eligibility check will be performed by the Call Secretariat.
Applications will be evaluated based on their merit, alignment with the objectives, and contribution to national and EU research strategies, with final selection determined by ranking and available budget.
Each Portuguese Principal Investigator (PI) wishing to apply for funding from FCT must consult the Call Documents, review the national eligibility rules, and submit the proposal form through the application submission platform by 14h in mainland Portugal on 17 November 2025.
Within 10 working days after the submission deadline, a Statement of Commitment (SoC) signed by the Portuguese Researcher in Charge (RC) and a qualified representative of the PI must be sent to FCT. Failure to meet these requirements will result in ineligibility.
For more information, visit FCT.