Toward a comprehensive assessment of the disturbance of marine ecosystems by anthropogenic underwater noise
Research and Innovation Action to assess and mitigate anthropogenic underwater noise impacts on marine ecosystems and services.
This call seeks projects to develop methods and tools to monitor and assess underwater noise pollution effects on marine life. It aims to support environmental authorities with indicators and mitigation strategies. The goal is to protect marine ecosystems and services, contributing to a quieter ocean.
Likely relevant for
- Marine biologists
- Environmental monitoring agencies
- Oceanographers
- Marine ecologists
- Marine policy makers
- Acoustic engineers
Project signals
What it funds
- Development or improvement of scientific methods and tools for monitoring underwater noise impacts on marine ecosystems and species at various trophic levels
- Creation or enhancement of indicators for assessing effects of noise exposure and cumulative impacts on marine organisms and ecosystem services
- Investigation and development of mitigation measures and tools to safeguard ecosystem services including carbon sequestration
- Support for Marine Strategy Framework Directive objectives and guidelines for noise monitoring and assessment
- Contribution to the High-Ambition Coalition for a Quiet Ocean to restore quieter ocean environments
Expected outcomes
- Improved understanding of continuous and impulsive underwater noise impacts on marine organisms, ecosystems, and ecosystem services with regional differentiation
- Provision of advanced methods, tools, and indicators to environmental authorities for comprehensive monitoring and assessment of underwater noise pollution
- Development of strategies and tools for effective mitigation of underwater noise impacts
- Support for achieving good environmental status for underwater noise at national, regional, and EU levels
- Contribution to restoring quieter ocean conditions in line with EU and international commitments
Who can apply / participate
- Research organisations
- Higher education institutions
- Public bodies
- Private companies
- Non-governmental organisations
- Consortium composition and eligibility to be checked in Work Programme General Annexes and specific topic conditions
- Eligible countries as per Horizon Europe Annex B and Programme Guide
- Participants must comply with admissibility, financial, and operational capacity conditions as per Horizon Europe General Annexes
- Specific consortium size and partner requirements
- Exact eligibility of non-EU/non-associated countries
Must check before shortlisting
- Eligibility of participant countries
- Consortium composition requirements
- Specific budget and funding conditions
Money
Estimated EU contribution around 10 million EUR for one grant in 2026 under this topic.
- Maximum EU contribution — 10000000EURIndicative maximum funding for a single grant in 2026
Application notes
- Single-stage submission model.
- Proposal page limits and layout as per Horizon Europe General Annexes and Application Form
- Eligibility and admissibility conditions as per Horizon Europe General Annexes Annex B and C
- Evaluation criteria and process described in Horizon Europe General Annexes Annex D and F
- Legal and financial set-up as per Horizon Europe General Annexes Annex G
- Prepare proposal according to topic scope and expected outcomes
- Submit proposal via Funding & Tenders Portal by deadline
- Ensure compliance with eligibility and admissibility criteria
- Follow evaluation and award procedures as described
- Check specific topic conditions in Work Programme
- Verify eligibility of participants and consortium composition
- Confirm budget and funding conditions before submission
Derived from official EU Funding portal source · updated 22 Jun 2026, 15:50 UTC. Use this as a shortlisting aid; the official call text remains authoritative.
Related calls
These funding calls are closely related and may be worth considering as part of the same funding landscape.
Official source text
Fine print from the EU source record. Expand when you need the original wording.
Topic description
Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes: impacts of continuous and impulsive underwater noise levels on marine organisms and ecosystems, and the related ecosystem services they provide, including cumulative impacts with other pressures, are well understood, taking into account regional differences; environmental authorities have access to advanced methods, tools and indicators enabling them to comprehensively monitor and assess the impacts of underwater noise pollution on marine species and ecosystems and to devise strategies for protecting the ecosystems services they provide. Scope: Proposals should: develop new, or improve upon existing, scientific methods and tools for comprehensively monitoring the impacts of anthropogenic underwater noise pollution on marine ecosystems and species populations at different trophic levels and taking into account regional differences; develop new, or improve upon existing, indicators for the assessment of the effects of noise exposure as well as their cumulative effects on marine organisms and ecosystems, and the services they provide, in line with methods (including threshold values) already agreed at EU level for the assessment of good environmental status for underwater noise and taking into account regional developments; investigate options for mitigation measures for safeguarding relevant ecosystem services, including carbon sequestration, and develop or improve tools to measure their impacts and efficiency. Proposals should support the objective and implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) by providing new evidence and data on the impacts of noise on marine ecosystems and related ecosystem services, in line with the MSFD guidelines for impulsive and continuous noise monitoring, and by providing evidence-based methods for the assessment of good environmental status for underwater noise at national, regional and EU level. The European Commission signed on behalf of the European Union a Declaration for a High-Ambition Coalition for a Quiet Ocean at UNOC 3 which includes actions to address underwater noise and mitigate its impact on marine life and biodiversity. With a view of supporting the implementation of this Declaration, proposals are expected to contribute to restore a quieter ocean.
Destination
This destination will support the EU Commission priorities ‘Sustaining our quality of life: food security, water and nature’ and ‘A new plan for Europe’s sustainable prosperity and competitiveness’. The implementation of the European Green Deal will continue to guide R&I in this destination. R&I actions under this destination will take forward the zero-pollution ambition, contributing to reach the 2030 targets for pollution reduction in air, water and soil, as stipulated in the zero-pollution action plan. The activities will help establishing a clean industry, contributing to the EU Clean Industrial Deal [1] , and will aim to address, among others, pollutants of concern, including of emerging concern, also in view of the environmental objectives of the European Chemicals Industry Action Plan [2] . Destination ‘Clean environment and zero pollution’ will help substituting hazardous chemicals and bringing innovation on safe and sustainable by design chemicals to ensure protection of human health and the environment. It will also continue the work on PFAS, the “forever chemicals”, started in the same destination in WP2025. It will also support the implementation of the revised Ambient Air Quality Directive [3] and the Industrial and Livestock Rearing Emissions Directive [4] . This destination will support the zero-pollution ambition in the industrial bio-based and bioeconomy sectors. The principles of the new EU bioeconomy strategy, underpinned by the principles of the circular economy, will allow for the replication value chains with improved resource efficiency and environmental performances, also enabled by innovative approaches designed in the Strategy for European Life Sciences, the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy and the upcoming Biotech Act. Furthermore, R&I activities under this destination will underpin EU water legislation and the European Water Resilience Strategy [5] by addressing water quantity and quality issues in specific sectors as well as across broader water systems, supporting EU policies and international conventions. The destination will also support the Marine Strategy Framework Directive [6] , particularly in its efforts to assess and mitigate the impacts of human activities on marine ecosystems such as contamination and underwater noise. R&I actions under this destination will aim to underpin the conclusions from the Strategic Dialogue on EU Agriculture and the Vision for EU Agriculture and Food [7] , and support the next reform of the CAP with scientific evidence. R&I actions under this Destination will encourage international cooperation, in line with the global approach on R&I. The Destination supports unlocking the unique assets for research and innovation of the EU outermost regions, in line with the EU strategy for outermost regions [8] . Expected impact : Proposals for topics under this destination should set out a credible pathway to "achieve a clean environment, ensure water resilience, and enable the transformative change necessary to reduce air, water and soil pollution to levels no longer considered harmful to health and natural ecosystems, while respecting planetary boundaries" . More specifically, they should contribute to one or several of the following expected impacts : Advancing scientific understanding and innovative solutions for identifying, preventing and mitigating pollution aim to effectively protect human health and safeguard the environment, preserving cleaner water and seas, healthier air and soil, and resilient forests. Innovative circular bio-based systems and biotechnologies are developed and made available to all stakeholders to progress towards the clean environment and zero-pollution ambition. Farmers and other actors in the food chain are empowered to make informed decisions and to apply novel strategies to prevent, reduce and remediate pollution from agriculture and the food system, contributing to the zero-pollution ambition. Effective solutions to remediate and decontaminate aquatic pollution are developed, made available and implemented contributing to reducing pollution to levels no longer considered harmful to the environment. [1] Clean Industrial Deal - European Commission [2] European Chemicals Industry Action Plan – European Commission [3] Directive - 2008/50 - EN - EUR-Lex [4] Industrial and Livestock Rearing Emissions Directive (IED 2.0) - European Commission [5] Water resilience strategy - European Commission [6] EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive - European Commission [7] Vision for Agriculture and Food - European Commission [8] COM(2022) Putting people first, securing sustainable and inclusive growth, unlocking the potential of the EU’s outermost regions.
Conditions and documents
General conditions
1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout
2. Eligible Countries
described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.
3. Other Eligible Conditions
described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion
described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds
are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes
are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.
5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement
described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants
described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Specific conditions
described in the [specific topic of the Work Programme]
Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA):
Application form templates — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System
Standard application form (HE RIA, IA)
Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations
Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA)
Guidance
Model Grant Agreements (MGA)
Call-specific instructions
Additional documents:
HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction
HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 15. General Annexes
HE Framework Programme 2021/695
HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764
EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509
Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme
Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment
EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement
Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual
Support information
Online Manual is your guide on the procedures from proposal submission to managing your grant. Horizon Europe Programme Guide contains the detailed guidance to the structure, budget and political priorities of Horizon Europe. Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ – find the answers to most frequently asked questions on submission of proposals, evaluation and grant management. Research Enquiry Service – ask questions about any aspect of European research in general and the EU Research Framework Programmes in particular. National Contact Points (NCPs) – get guidance, practical information and assistance on participation in Horizon Europe. There are also NCPs in many non-EU and non-associated countries (‘third-countries’). Enterprise Europe Network – contact your EEN national contact for advice to businesses with special focus on SMEs. The support includes guidance on the EU research funding. IT Helpdesk – contact the Funding & Tenders Portal IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc. European IPR Helpdesk assists you on intellectual property issues. CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk – the European Standards Organisations advise you how to tackle standardisation in your project proposal. The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment – consult the general principles and requirements specifying the roles, responsibilities and entitlements of researchers, employers and funders of researchers. Partner Search help you find a partner organisation for your proposal.
Raw budget overview
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