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Horizon Europe Cluster 6 — Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources & Environment

Horizon Biodiversity: Groundwater Ecosystem Assessment

Funds €5M lump-sum projects that build sensor and lab-based methods to map, test and protect Europe's groundwater ecosystems.

OpenEuropean CommissionEU

Most people think of groundwater as just drinking water sitting underground. It's also a living ecosystem — a connected world of organisms living in the water-filled spaces between rocks and sediment, in springs, in the ground beneath riverbeds, and in cave waters. Right now, almost nobody has good tools to see what lives down there, whether it's healthy, or how much pollution it can take before i

Developing and testing new methods — including biosensors and remote sensors — to detect, characterise and assess the sensitivity of groundwater ecosystems and the organisms living in them; building harmonised, standardised methods to test how groundwater life reacts to pollutants; and proposing the biological and physico-chemical indicators a future EU groundwater ecological status standard could use.

CycleiHow often this grant runs — e.g. annually, on a rolling basis, or a one-off call.Annual
Next deadlineiThe next date applications are due. Rolling means you can apply any time.17 Sept 2026
Decision timeiTypical time from the deadline to the funder's decision.22 weeks
Project durationiHow long the funded work is expected to run.
Award typeiThe form of funding — grant, equity, loan, tax credit, etc.Grant
Match fundingiThe share of project costs you must cover yourself. 0% = fully funded.0%
Funding pooliThe total budget available across all awards in this round.€10M

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Last verified: 25 Aug 2026Funder reference: HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-BIODIV-02Source: ec.europa.eu