Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership Rolling Transnational Access Call to Research Infrastructures 2026-2028

The Marine Institute is delighted to announce that the Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership’s Rolling Transnational Access Call to Research Infrastructures 2026-2028 is now open. This call provides rolling access to shared Research Infrastructures at pan-European scale to reinforce capacities and support the transformation of the blue economy.

First cut-off date is:  20 June 2026 at 11:00 Central European Time. There will be regular cut-off dates scheduled every four months from 2026 to 2028.

The Marine Institute is the national funder for Ireland under this call with a total commitment of €1 million for ship-time over three years. Further information on the Marine Institute research infrastructure offered under this call, namely two research vessels (RV Celtic Explorer, RV Tom Crean) and the deepwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV Holland I) can be found at Research Vessels | Marine Institute. Please email Research Vessel Operations in the Marine Institute rv@marine.ie with any enquiries relating to availability for 2027, 2028 and 2029.

Project Leaders can apply for access to the Marine Institute research infrastructure in 2027, 2028 and 2029. Please note that there are specific eligibility rules for the Project Leader notably:
a)    An organisation from a given country is not allowed to request access as Project Leader to a Research Infrastructure run by an organisation of the same country. They cannot apply for access to a research infrastructure from their own country.
b)    The majority (> 50%) of the team members must be employed in a country other than the country that owns and operates the infrastructure.
c)    The Principal Investigator (PI) of a given entity submitting a proposal can act as PI of the Project Leader (coordinator) only in one proposal per cut-off.

Full details of the call terms and conditions are available on the SBEP website at: Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership Rolling Transnational Access Call to Research Infrastructures 2026-2028 | Bluepartnership. Applications for funding under this call should be submitted via the SBEP portal at: SBEP EPSS.