Sectoral digital skills academies: Digital Skills Academy in GenAI

Please refer to the Call for proposalsPDF section 6 for the rules concerning eligible countries, types of entities, and required consortium composition.

The eligibility rules are indicated in the Call for proposalsPDF section 6. Generally, applicants from non-EU countries can join the consortia. Entities from non-EU countries that are associated to the Digital Europe Programme (DEP) can receive funding, i.e. participate as beneficiaries or affiliated entities (see list of participating countriesPDF). Applicants from other non-EU countries that are not associated to the DEP can participate as associated partners without receiving EU funding. Some restrictions apply, as indicated under section 6: EU restrictive measures, EU conditionality measures.

The recommended consortium composition for GenAI Academy is indicated in the Call for proposalsPDF section 'Targeted stakeholders' on pages 25-26. If not further specified in the call text, the definition of a Higher Education Institution stated in the Erasmus+ Programme Guide can be applied: an institution which, in accordance with national law or practice, offers recognised degrees or other recognised tertiary level qualifications, regardless of what such an establishment is called, or a comparable institution at tertiary level which is considered by the national authorities as eligible to participate in the Programme in their respective territories.

It is too soon to say anything regarding the eligibility criteria of the next Call for the building of this Academy.

Yes, the Academy will also focus on boosting the AI and GenAI competences and job-placement of underrepresented groups in the AI workforce, particularly of women.

Yes, the Legal Entity Authorised Representative (LEAR) of any type of entity does not have to be validated at the time of application.

European Universities alliances selected under the Erasmus+ programme and other alliances of higher education institutions are indeed encouraged to participate in the consortia. No specific indications are included in the call requirements as regards the governance. This is at the discretion of the applicants taking into account the needs of the consortium.

Please refer to the Digital Europe Programme Work Programme 2025-2027 for the currently available information on upcoming calls.

Yes, an entity can participate by offering its trainings and educational content in one or several project proposals submitted for the three different topics under this Call for proposals.

The Digital Skills and Jobs Platform presents and lists the training offers, providing direct links to each of them. For more information, check out its Learning content and Learning paths sections. It is up to the project to decided which system or platform to use for hosting those trainings.

The proposals are requested to involve small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as start-ups. Participating businesses must clearly explain their contribution to the objectives of the action and should be ideally representative of key EU industries, including healthcare and pharmaceutical, manufacturing, mobility including automotive and aerospace, agriculture, cultural and creative industries, energy, telecoms, environment, robotics, defence and (cyber)security, and finance. No further requirements are included in the call and it is up to the applicants to demonstrate the operational capacity of the SMEs to implement the proposal.

Yes, the academies can offer a paid learning content.

In line with the provisions of the Grant Agreement to be signed by the selected project (please see Article 16.2 of the model grant agreement), the results of the action belong to the beneficiaries. The granting authority does not obtain ownership of the results produced under the action.

The call for proposals does not include any restrictions as to the participation of the nonprofit organizations in the proposals. We invite you to check the targeted stakeholders’ section of the call and the eligibility requirements regarding the consortium composition.

The maximum EU funding requested indicated in the call for proposals refers to the amount that can be requested by the whole consortium. The budget has to be calculated for all applicants. Please note that this call is using lump sum grant. This means that it will reimburse a fixed amount, based on a lump sum. The amount will be fixed by the granting authority on the basis of the estimated project budget and a funding rate of 50%. Please check a detailed budget table that has to be filled in by all proposals.

There is no maximum number of partners indicated in the Call for proposals. The minimum requirements are indicated in the Call for proposals section 6.

The minimum requirements of the consortium composition are indicated in the Call for proposalsPDF section 6. In addition to that, it is up to the consortium to decide the ideal composition in line with the overall design of the proposal.

Yes, as mentioned in the targeted stakeholders’ section of the call the involvement of public sector organizations in the consortium can be also considered.

The indicative number of grants for this Topic, as indicated in the Budget overview on the Topic page, is one.

Yes, entities providing educational platforms can participate in consortia in different roles, including as Beneficiaries, as long as they fulfil the eligibility criteria as indicated in section 6 of the Call for proposalsPDF. For definitions of the different participation roles, see section 13 of the Call for proposals.

The Partner Search of the Funding and Tenders Portal allows to search for potential partners for project proposals. Potential applicants can also search for a specific expertise request or expertise offer by using the Partner search announcement option which is available on the Topic page.

The STEP seal is valid for the whole consortium.

Please refer to the Annotated Grant AgreementPDF Article 6.2.A.2 'Natural persons with direct contract and seconded persons', for the detailed definition in the context of DEP grants.

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) that are not associated to the Digital Europe Programme can participate in consortia but are not eligible to receive funding. The 'list of participating countriesPDF' and other eligibility criteria is listed in the Call for proposalsPDF section 6.

Yes, one organisation can participate in more than one consortia as long as it has enough operational capacity to do so.

The type of grant in this call is "Lump Sum Grant". Therefore, as indicated in the Application Form Part B template, “Estimated Budget – Resources” is not applicable. Tables “Subcontracting”, “Purchase and equipment”, and “Other cost categories” are applicable. They should be filled in if the project budget foresees costs for subcontracting, purchase and equipment and/or other cost categories. The Application Form Part B template should not be modified. When a table is not applicable or the proposal does not foresee costs for a certain cost category, the corresponding table should be left empty or indicate "n/a" or similar.

Yes, the use of the Detailed Budget Table template is mandatory. the template can be downloaded from the Online Submission System.

The funding not provided by the European Commission can be obtained by own resources, income generated by the action (e.g. by programme fees), or financial or in-kind contributions from third parties (e.g. grants from national or private funding programmes). This funding has to be determined by the applicants.

Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP) is foreseen under the call for proposals. However, this FTSP can be used only to support financially students to participate to the programme(s), training modules (e.g. via scholarships, fee waivers or others), and especially to acquire practical experience either with members of the consortium or with companies and organisations outside the consortium.

The total amount of the EU contribution for financial support to third parties can be maximum 20% of the requested EU funding.

While cooperation with the AI Factories are encouraged, consortia should already factor in the needs in terms of computing associated with their proposed activities.

The max EU funding for the AI Digital Skills Academy call is € 7mln. That means that the total costs that need to be incurred by the partners are approx. € 14 mln. Therefore, the half of that amount will need to be funded by the applicants themselves (or funded from other sources). Please note the grant is a lump sum grant. Please consult a detailed budget table that needs to be filled in as part of the application to better understand the calculation of the lump sum.

Landing pages are created by the Digital Skills and Jobs Platform (cost covered by its service contract) and point out to external URLs (which are provided and maintained by the interested parties, in this case the GenAI Skills Academy). Therefore, the costs estimates should not include the costs of developing the landing pages of the Digital Skills and Jobs Platform but just the costs of the costs of populating it with the relevant content.

The minimum requirement for implementing and delivering a degree can be covered either by Master's or by Bachelor's degree. See Call page 18 where it states: "2) Design educational programmes(s) and trainings: a. Higher education curricula at ISCED level 6 or 7 (Bachelor's, Master's or equivalent level) leading to a degree, ...".

Please see page 19 of the Call: "Under topic 4.3 ELEVATE41: European League of Advanced Digital Skills Academies of the Digital Europe Work Programme 2025-2027, an action will develop a framework for a certification mechanism of modular learning credentials to provide a seal of quality/accreditation of excellence for advanced digital skills training. The academy is expected to coordinate with this action and pilot and implement the seal of quality/accreditation of excellence for all the training modules they offer."

This is not foreseen so far in the Call.

For this, please see details in the first Pillar of the Academy (p. 17).

Please also note that the topic 4.3 of the Digital Europe Work Programme 2025-202720, the awarded project of the ELEVATE: European League of Advanced Digital Skills Academies will develop a framework for a certification mechanism of modular learning credentials to provide a seal of quality/accreditation of excellence for advanced digital skills training.

The academy is expected to coordinate with this action and pilot and implement the seal of quality/accreditation of excellence for all the training modules they offer

The sectors mentioned in the Call text are sectors of interest for current/future EU policies. Therefore, they are recommended. The consortium is not expected to be able to cover all 12 sectors. All proposals should substantiate the choice of sectors for the Academy.

All organisations participating in a proposal must have registered in the Participant Portal and have a PIC number (either declared/non-valid status, or valid status), in order to apply. If the proposal is successful, validation of the PICs is needed only for Beneficiaries and Affiliated Entities. PIC validation is not needed for Associated Partners, Subcontractors or other participants. See Register an organisation - IT How To - Funding Tenders Opportunities and Submit a proposal — Electronic Submission System - Online Manual - Funding Tenders Opportunities for more details.

The 'List of previous projects' is an obligatory part of the proposal. The template is available within the Part B template (annex 4 to Part B). The list of previous projects must be uploaded as a separate Annex in pdf format in the online Submission system.

This part of the sentence was incomplete and was corrected to: "Detailed description and quantification of most needed AI professional role profiles and their related skills, competences and education/training paths", by a Topic update on 19 May 2025.

The Call for proposalsPDF does not specify the ISCED level for the GenAI academy under Section Scope, Pillar 1, “Technical education curricula (such as vocational training)”, therefore it is up to the consortium to decide which ISCED level(s) VET curricula it will design.

See p. 19 of the Call: When carrying out activities envisaged under pillar 1, the Academy should create synergies with and build upon already existing efforts and offers, such as the educational programmes and trainings funded under DIGITAL-SO4 on Advanced Digital Skills, the ARISA AI Skills Academy, and other Erasmus+ Programme and possibly courses offered by the European Digital Innovation Hubs, while striving to avoid duplication

The call does not provide a strict definition of GenAI. Yet, as an indication, please refer to what the AI Act defines as General-Purpose AI models. The content of the educational and training offer should also consider the analysis of needs and gaps on the market.

The main objective of this first part of the AI Skills Academy is to address the current and future AI skills gap in the EU’s strategic sectors and strengthen the pool of AI specialists, particularly in the field of Generative AI (GenAI). In alignment with the AI Innovation Package and the upcoming Apply AI Strategy, among the sectors considered of particular interest there are also cultural and creative sectors.

The consortium is highly recommended to include at least two industry partners. The consortium is encouraged to particularly involve small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as start-ups. Participating businesses must clearly explain their contribution to the objectives of the action and should be ideally representative of key EU industries, including healthcare and pharmaceutical, manufacturing, mobility including automotive and aerospace, agriculture, cultural and creative industries, energy, telecoms, environment, robotics, defence and (cyber)security, and finance.

The industry will be particularly relevant for certain actions announced in the call, such as the pilot of an AI apprenticeship programme and more generally build a diverse and rich ecosystem of stakeholders. The industry could be relevant also for supporting the creation of fellowships, scholarships ad returnship schemes.

In terms of content, the AI Skills Academy will focus on a variety of topics and levels of expertise in AI, with GenAI being a core focus. This includes but is not limited to: GenAI model development, inference processes, data science for AI and GenAI sectoral deployment and adoption. Hence, while not being a specific topic/perspective mentioned in the call, it could be part of the content of trainings and/or communication campaign.

The Academy includes a requirement to design and deliver higher education programme(s) leading to a degree. To issue a degree, in most cases, universities must undergo an accreditation process to receive a formal recognition of the education programme(s), granted by a national accreditation body. The accreditation process differs from Member State to Member State. Applicants are encouraged to check the requirements for and to start planning the accreditation/certification processes for their envisaged education and training offerings as early as possible.

As per the Call for proposalsPDF, there is no requirement to integrate green development and ecological footprint elements in the design and delivery of the educational and training programmes. However, this does not mean that the proposal cannot include these elements. Note that all applications have to comply with EU policy interests and priorities (such as environment, social, security, industrial and trade policy, etc.) and must also respect EU values.

To be designed are curricula that can be adapted for their adoption by technical education and vocational training institutions across EU Member States leading to a vocational qualification. These trainings should aim at enhancing employability through the acquisition of AI- and GenAI-related skills for ICT and non-ICT students. Input from industry partners and stakeholders, as well as EU Member States’ entities responsible for vocational training, should be included in to fine-tune the content of these trainings, in particular in view of the evolving job market demands.

The indicative duration of the project is 48 months.

For the classification of Higher Education Institutions (HEI) please consult the requirements in the individual Member States. Note that, if not further specified in the Call for proposals, the definition of a Higher Education Institution stated in the Erasmus+ Programme Guide can be applied: an institution which, in accordance with national law or practice, offers recognised degrees or other recognised tertiary level qualifications, regardless of what such an establishment is called, or a comparable institution at tertiary level which is considered by the national authorities as eligible to participate in the Programme in their respective territories.

All the Directorate Generals of the European Commission work closely together to avoid duplication of their individual initiatives. Also, the funded projects from different programmes are requested to build synergies and complementarities with other EU funding programmes and existing European as well as national initiatives. This is particularly the case for all three Digital Skills Academies. The individual academies will create synergies with other EU-wide ongoing initiatives (e.g. Erasmus+). Additionally, they will maintain constant collaboration with the EU advanced digital skills umbrella action ELEVATE (see DEP Work Programme 2025-2027) that will coordinate and foster collaboration among the academies and other relevant initiatives.

There is no specific requirement about participation of Türkiye. The eligibility criteria in terms of eligible countries and consortium composition are indicated in the Call for proposalsPDF section 6. The 'Targeted stakeholders' are indicated in the Call for proposals section 2.

The Topics of this Call for proposalsPDF focus only on Virtual Words, Quantum and GenAI.

The lump sum budget is evaluated under the award criteria ‘Implementation’, and sub-criteria ‘Soundness of the implementation plan and efficient use of resources’ (see Call for proposalsPDF section 9). To assess if personnel costs are reasonable and non-excessive, evaluators may use the Horizon Dashboard for lump sum evaluations. The dashboard shows how many person months were funded at different costs in Horizon Europe so far. This information can be resolved by country and by organisation type, showing the regional and sectoral variation of personnel costs. For each combination of country and organisation type selected, the dashboard displays the distribution between the 20th percentile and the 80th percentile. The meaning of the 80th percentile is that 80% of the person months were funded at a rate below this value. Applicants are encouraged to check if their personnel costs per month are reasonable compared with the distribution of personnel costs in the dashboard and to justify high personnel costs and/or high monthly rates in the 'Any comments' tab of the lump sum detailed budget table.

Ethical standards ought to be held across all the Academy’s activities. In particular, trustworthy AI design, development, and application, in alignment with the AI Act, should be the guiding principle for the Academies’ contents.

There will be no financial audit nor financial reporting on the self-funded amount. Reporting of Lump Sum based grants is solely technical and based on assessment of completion of activities of the project.