Deadline Date: April 21, 2026
The European Commission is seeking applications to strengthen the management capacity of Technology Infrastructures across the European Union by attracting specialised management talent to improve skills, governance, collaboration, and service delivery to industry.
The action aims to develop a sound understanding of the competencies, skills, organisational structures, and business models required for effective management of Technology Infrastructures and their services to industry across all member states, to improve and structure training for Technology Infrastructure staff through enhanced sector-agnostic competencies, to strengthen collaboration between Research and Technology Infrastructures through peer learning and exchange of best management practices, to increase the uptake of Technology Infrastructure services by industry including SMEs, startups, scaleups, innovators, and researchers, to improve the coherence, visibility, and accessibility of Technology Infrastructure facilities and services, and to enhance the business and governance models of Technology Infrastructures.
The topic addresses challenges faced by Technology Infrastructures resulting from rapid technological developments, skills shortages, limitations in strategic planning, and constrained resources. It calls for proposals that design and implement schemes to attract management talent, including expertise from organisational sciences, capable of analysing and responding to the evolving needs of Technology Infrastructures within EU member states.
The attracted management talents are expected to assess Technology Infrastructure requirements in terms of competencies, skills, organisational arrangements, and business models in order to support more efficient and effective service delivery to industry. Based on this assessment, they will provide strategic advice to senior management and contribute to the development and delivery of training programmes aimed at strengthening staff capacity.
The training programmes developed under this action must be sector-agnostic, open-source, remotely accessible, easy to update, and aligned with existing initiatives and experiences within Research and Technology Infrastructures. Proposals should also address the enhancement of skills and career profiles of technical staff, including areas such as research security, data management, quality assurance, and other emerging operational needs, while further professionalising managerial and leadership training.
In addition, the action promotes the integration of entrepreneurial skills into training curricula to enable Technology Infrastructures to fully realise their potential as key actors within deep-tech innovation ecosystems. Strengthening transnational and multisite collaboration is a central element of the topic, supporting staff exchange, networking, and the sharing of experience, resources, and best practices in management and capacity building.
These collaborative activities are expected to contribute to the development of Technology Infrastructure ecosystems and may lay the foundations for future EU-level coordination on policy development, priority setting, and the exchange of good practices. Proposals are also encouraged to build on existing European frameworks and recognised best management practices relevant to the technology fields addressed.
The topic contributes to the broader destination of achieving technological leadership for Europe’s open strategic autonomy in raw materials, chemicals, and innovative materials, supporting industrial competitiveness, the green and digital transition, and the valorisation of knowledge. By reinforcing management capabilities and skills, the action strengthens the role of Technology Infrastructures in serving industry and advancing innovation across the European Union. The indicative funding available for this action is 2,500,000 euros per project.
For more information, visit European Commission.
