Second call for innovation studies for the development of generative AI models

Context

The FFplus project, funded by the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, aims to strengthen the competitiveness and innovation capacity of European SMEs by enabling them to use high-performance computing (HPC) to advance digital R&D and business processes. Through six open calls distributing over €24 million via Financial Support for Third Parties (FSTP), FFplus will fund business experiments and innovation studies, including projects on generative AI such as large language models (LLMs). 
This second open call targets SMEs and start-ups skilled in AI and HPC, supporting them in developing large-scale generative AI models to boost technological growth, innovation, and scalability across Europe.

Target Groups 

• SMEs
• Startups

Eligible Funding

• Total funding available: EUR 4 Millions
• Maximum total funding for each innovation study: EUR 300.000
• Beneficiaries will receive 100% funding of incurred, eligible direct costs necessary for the completion of experiment activities

Eligibility Criteria

• The total number of consortium partners is limited to three.
• Organisations established in an EU Member State
• Organisations established in non-EU countries: listed EEA countries and countries associated to the Digital Europe Programme where the association agreement entered into force before the submission deadline of this call are eligible to receive funding.
• Natural persons (individuals) are not eligible to receive funding.

Expected Outcomes

The proposed innovation studies are expected to:

• Demonstrate full alignment with FFplus objectives, explaining why generative AI is essential to the business challenge and why existing models are insufficient.
• Define a clear success vision showing the business impact of HPC use, set specific objectives, and outline an action plan structured around the ML lifecycle (data preparation, model development, evaluation).
• Provide a full description of training datasets, model characteristics (type, size, parameters, architecture), and expected performance, including metrics, benchmarks, and reproducibility plans.
• Identify and propose mitigation strategies for risks such as bias, hallucination, or model drift, in line with EU trustworthy AI guidelines.
• Justify resource allocation (personnel, computing, costs) and submit a comprehensive Data Management Plan addressing FAIR principles, data access, privacy, and sharing policies.
• Support FFplus in producing success stories that highlight business, societal, and environmental impact, and deliver a pre-final results and impact report by month 7 to assess eligibility for continuation.

Timeline

• Open Date: 03 December 2025
• Deadline Date: 25 February 2026 17:00 (Brussels time)
• Expected Duration of Participation: 10 months, with targeted start July 1st, 2026