Sectoral digital skills academies: Virtual Worlds Skills Academy

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 Virtual Worlds Academy is indicated in the Call for proposalsPDF section 'Targeted stakeholders' on pages 33-34. 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.

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

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

The participation of students from non-EU countries is encouraged, especially from those with which the EC has ongoing international cooperation related to digital topics. In the Call for proposalsPDF, under section Scope, Pillar 3, requires explanations regarding the ways to support financially this category of students. Moreover, under Pillar 2, attracting and retaining virtual talent in the EU feature among the purposes of the ecosystem, with the mention that international partnerships to attract foreign talent are also encouraged. Attached to this mention, more information is provided on the EC international cooperation on digital skills matters under footnote no. 21.

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.

The Call for proposals section 6 indicates the minimum requirements of eligible consortium composition. It is up to the consortium to decide the optimum number of partners. The quality of the consortium is evaluated as part of the evaluation criteria 'Implementation', sub-criteria 'Capacity of the applicants, and when applicable the consortium as a whole, to carry out the proposed work.'

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

As indicated in the Call documentPDF p.34, under the "Targeted Stakeholders" section, it is highly recommended for consortia to include a minimum of 2 industry partners with headquarters in 2 different countries.

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.

As indicated in the Call document on page 34, the award criteria "extent to which the proposal addresses environmental sustainability and the European Green Deal goals, in terms of direct effects and/or in awareness of environmental effects" is NOT applicable for this topic. Therefore, applicants do not have to fill in the section “3.3 Environmental sustainability and contribution to European Green Deal goals “ of the application form Part B. This section will not be evaluated under the award criteria 3. Impact. Applicants can integrate aspects related to European Green Deal goals in other parts of the proposal.

As outlined in the Call for proposalsPDF under section Scope – Pillar 1, innovative technologies are identified as one of the three key building blocks of virtual worlds, aligning with the relevant disciplinary areas covered by the Academy. Consortia are expected to design and develop a Competence and Qualification Framework (CQF) for education and training in virtual worlds. Based on this framework, they will propose a catalogue of programmes and curricula.

It is therefore up to the consortia to select the innovative technologies they consider relevant, provided that those critical to the creation of virtual worlds—such as XR and 3D—are included. For reference, a definition of virtual worlds can be found in the EC Communication COM(2023) 442, An EU initiative on Web 4.0 and virtual worlds: A head start in the next technological transition.

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 Call for proposalsPDF document indicates all documents and information to be submitted as part of the application.

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.

The Call for proposalsPDF does not specify the ISCED level for the Virtual Worlds Academy, therefore it is up to the consortium to decide which ISCED level(s) VET curricula it will design.

Designing, developing and handling operations in virtual worlds entail the interplay among three key building blocks of virtual worlds: 1) innovative technologies (e.g. XR, blockchain, AI, data, edge computing, HPC, 3D, interactive media, computer vision, digital twins, digital identity, and big data), 2) creative subjects, and 2) social sciences and humanities. These three building blocks will be reflected as disciplinary areas in the catalogue of education and training programmes and curricula to be designed and developed by the Academy.

The consortia will define its educational offer by featuring the technologies it considers relevant - potentially including AI, WEB3 and Blockchain - alongside those critical to the creation of virtual worlds, such as XR and 3D. For reference, a definition of virtual worlds can be found in the EC Communication COM(2023) 442, An EU initiative on Web 4.0 and virtual worlds: A head start in the next technological transition.

Consortium partners will commit to acting as first adopters of the Competence and Qualifications Framework (CQF) and as promoters of its broader uptake among other institutions, with the aim of achieving EU-wide adoption. It will also be the consortium’s responsibility to propose ways to align and integrate the CQF with existing national and EU-level frameworks for both formal and continuing education.

The Competence and Qualifications Framework (CQF) for education and training in virtual worlds will focus exclusively on disciplines related to virtual worlds across the EU. It will underpin the design and development of the Academy’s catalogue of programmes and curricula.

The establishment of sectoral academies—including the Virtual Worlds Skills Academy—stems from the Commission’s strategy to address advanced digital skills gaps in high-priority areas critical to the EU’s strategic needs and technological sovereignty. (For more information, please consult the DIGITAL Work Programme 2025-2027).

The Academy’s activities will be aligned with existing EU initiatives and EU industry needs, as appropriate. In addition, the soon-to-be-launched umbrella action ELEVATE will coordinate sectoral academies and address horizontal issues such as quality standards, certification, accreditation, and skills validation. In this context, the Academy is expected to coordinate with ELEVATE to pilot and implement a seal of quality or accreditation of excellence for all training modules it offers.

The Call for proposals does not prescribe particular educational levels for this topic, thereby granting consortia the flexibility to design their programmes and curricula as they deem appropriate within the broad scope of the Academy.

Including Master’s and PhD degrees is naturally part of the expected educational offering for the higher education target group. In this context, it is important to emphasize that consortia are expected to build upon existing meaningful current academic and training programmes, which will be scaled up, enhanced, and updated to serve the objectives of the Academy.

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.

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.

All 3 Topics under this Call for proposals are expected to fund one project each. The topic DIGITAL-2025-SKILLS-08-VIRTUAL-WORLDS-ACADEMY-STEP is expected to fund one project.

The topic DIGITAL-2025-SKILLS-08-VIRTUAL-WORLDS-ACADEMY-STEP is expected to fund one project.

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.

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.