Developing transfer functions for the Soil Monitoring Law
Horizon Europe Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’
Funding Amount
Up to €6.0M
Deadline
30/09/2025
Eligible Organization Types
Non-profit, Private Business, Research Institution, Public Institution
Trusted by
What is the Developing transfer functions for the Soil Monitoring Law Call?
Grant Description
This research action addresses the need for a harmonised EU soil health monitoring framework under the Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ and the proposed Soil Monitoring Law. It supports implementation of the EU Carbon Removal and Carbon Farming Regulation by developing, testing and validating transfer functions for all soil descriptors, integrating national and EU monitoring schemes, determining statistical methods for combining heterogeneous soil data, and producing interoperable statistics and...
Required Results for Successful Funding
Expected Outcomes
- Integrated EU soil monitoring systems delivering harmonised soil health assessments across Member States
• Interoperable soil organic carbon datasets supporting CRCF Regulation implementation and harmonised carbon farming datasheets, statistics and maps
• Validated transfer functions for all descriptors in the SML proposal, ensuring compatibility, interoperability and comparability across laboratory and field methods
• Seamless integration of national monitoring programmes, LUCAS surveys and ISO/CEN protocols into a unified EU framework
• Enhanced statistical methodologies for combining heterogeneous soil data, yielding harmonised EU-level soil health statistics and geospatial maps
• A scalable, open-access soil data infrastructure with sustainable, interoperable outputs displayed via the EU Soil Observatory
• Accelerated uptake of harmonised soil monitoring practices by land managers, policymakers and researchers through co-created, practice-ready tools and knowledge products
• Interoperable soil organic carbon datasets supporting CRCF Regulation implementation and harmonised carbon farming datasheets, statistics and maps
• Validated transfer functions for all descriptors in the SML proposal, ensuring compatibility, interoperability and comparability across laboratory and field methods
• Seamless integration of national monitoring programmes, LUCAS surveys and ISO/CEN protocols into a unified EU framework
• Enhanced statistical methodologies for combining heterogeneous soil data, yielding harmonised EU-level soil health statistics and geospatial maps
• A scalable, open-access soil data infrastructure with sustainable, interoperable outputs displayed via the EU Soil Observatory
• Accelerated uptake of harmonised soil monitoring practices by land managers, policymakers and researchers through co-created, practice-ready tools and knowledge products
Funded areas
Scope Requirements
- Deliver a coherent, integrated EU soil monitoring framework aligned with the proposed Soil Monitoring Law (SML)
• Harmonise diverse sampling, laboratory and field assessment methods across Member States via validated transfer functions
• Cover the full set of soil descriptors in the SML Directive, ensuring interoperability between national programmes, LUCAS, ISO/CEN and other protocols
• Produce harmonised EU statistics and soil health maps through rigorous statistical combination of heterogeneous datasets
• Validate methods on a pan-EU scale: sample ≥4,000 sites across ≥21 Member States representing ≥80% of EU territory (by land cover and climate zones)
• Dedicate ≥30% of project budget to field sampling and analysis
• Ensure all data and knowledge outputs are open access, sustainable and interoperable, with FAIR-by-design principles
• Demonstrate collaboration with JRC’s EU Soil Observatory and Life Cycle Assessment group
• Coordinate with existing and parallel EU-funded initiatives under the Soil Deal mission (e.g. EJP SOIL, Soil Wise)
• Employ a multi-actor approach: involve end-users and practitioners in co-creation, knowledge exchange and practical testing
• Plan for broad dissemination, including EIP-AGRI practice abstracts and engagement with rural innovation networks
• Harmonise diverse sampling, laboratory and field assessment methods across Member States via validated transfer functions
• Cover the full set of soil descriptors in the SML Directive, ensuring interoperability between national programmes, LUCAS, ISO/CEN and other protocols
• Produce harmonised EU statistics and soil health maps through rigorous statistical combination of heterogeneous datasets
• Validate methods on a pan-EU scale: sample ≥4,000 sites across ≥21 Member States representing ≥80% of EU territory (by land cover and climate zones)
• Dedicate ≥30% of project budget to field sampling and analysis
• Ensure all data and knowledge outputs are open access, sustainable and interoperable, with FAIR-by-design principles
• Demonstrate collaboration with JRC’s EU Soil Observatory and Life Cycle Assessment group
• Coordinate with existing and parallel EU-funded initiatives under the Soil Deal mission (e.g. EJP SOIL, Soil Wise)
• Employ a multi-actor approach: involve end-users and practitioners in co-creation, knowledge exchange and practical testing
• Plan for broad dissemination, including EIP-AGRI practice abstracts and engagement with rural innovation networks
Additional Conditions for Applicants
Special Conditions
- At least 30% of project budget must be allocated to sampling and analysing a minimum of 4,000 soil samples
• Sampling must cover at least 21 Member States and 80% of EU land surface area, aligned with LUCAS 2022 land cover and climate representation
• Strong mandatory collaboration with the JRC (EUSO, Soil Wise, LCA group) to access archives, data and display tools
• All project data must be managed under FAIR principles, with a “FAIR-by-design” approach for real-time feeds
• Proposals must go beyond documentation: publish code, protocols, assumptions and raw data openly
• Inclusion of gender analysis in research content is not mandatory
• Dedicated resources must be planned for coordination with other Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe” and cluster activities
• Build explicitly on results and data from previous EU initiatives (e.g. EJP SOIL)
• Follow Horizon Europe admissibility, eligibility, evaluation and financial rules (General Annexes A–G; MGA HORIZON-AG RIA)
• Use the Multi-Actor Approach: demonstrate end-user involvement from inception to exploitation, co-ownership of results
• Summarise key findings in EIP-AGRI practice abstracts and engage appropriate innovation communities
• Sampling must cover at least 21 Member States and 80% of EU land surface area, aligned with LUCAS 2022 land cover and climate representation
• Strong mandatory collaboration with the JRC (EUSO, Soil Wise, LCA group) to access archives, data and display tools
• All project data must be managed under FAIR principles, with a “FAIR-by-design” approach for real-time feeds
• Proposals must go beyond documentation: publish code, protocols, assumptions and raw data openly
• Inclusion of gender analysis in research content is not mandatory
• Dedicated resources must be planned for coordination with other Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe” and cluster activities
• Build explicitly on results and data from previous EU initiatives (e.g. EJP SOIL)
• Follow Horizon Europe admissibility, eligibility, evaluation and financial rules (General Annexes A–G; MGA HORIZON-AG RIA)
• Use the Multi-Actor Approach: demonstrate end-user involvement from inception to exploitation, co-ownership of results
• Summarise key findings in EIP-AGRI practice abstracts and engage appropriate innovation communities
Important dates
Open from: 06/05/2025
Deadline:30/09/2025
Application period has ended
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