On 1 April 2025, the European Commission has launched a call for high-priority applied research (AR) (Digital European Sky Exploratory Research 03) to help shape the future regulatory framework for a Digital European Sky (DES). The call reflects the research topics defined by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) experts together with the EU Member States’ Advisory Body Research Group in the Aviation Authorities’ Research Agenda 2025.
The research themes sought for are among others human operator role versus automation, including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), Single European Sky (SES) airspace classification, certification of novel air traffic management (ATM) systems, methods for evaluating ATM / air navigation services (ANS) ground equipment safety, Data4Safety applications, and many more.
The deadline for submitting your proposals for a research project is 16 September 2025, 17:00 CET (UTC +2).
Digital European Sky call open for submissions
The Digital European Sky (DES) Exploratory Research 03 call (HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-ER-03-WA2-1) centres on supporting the evolution of the future regulatory framework to facilitate the implementation of the ATM Master Plan 2025 and the related actions identified in the European Plan for Aviation Safety (EPAS) 2025.
Research Agenda 2025
The Aviation Authorities’ Research Agenda 2025 contains research topics proposed jointly by EASA experts and the Member States’ Advisory Body Research Group to support the core activities of the national aviation authorities (NAAs), i.e. rulemaking, certification, approval, oversight, while preparing for future challenges, such as the DES evolution. The topic domains are aviation safety, security, environment, health, and innovation.
