BattleVerse — Open Call 1 (defence simulation)
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BattleVerse
Free BattleVerse fit checkBattleVerse is a European Defence Fund research project, coordinated by CERTH, that is building a simulation ecosystem for military mission planning. Its first open call funds six-month experiments by SMEs and start-ups in three topics. The grant covers 100% of eligible costs and asks for no own contribution, but two conditions decide most applications before the writing does: who controls your company, and whether you can carry the work until 70% of the grant is paid at the end.
- Funding
- Up to €60,000 per beneficiary as a lump sum, covering 100% of eligible costs. An experiment can have up to three beneficiaries, so up to €180,000 per experiment. Total budget €1.2 million; the FAQ says the call aims to fund up to 20 beneficiaries. Payment comes in two steps: 30% once the Sub-Grant Agreement is signed by all parties, 70% after the experiment is completed and all deliverables and reports are approved.
- Eligible costs
- The guide says eligible costs include direct personnel costs, and that subcontracting (outsourcing project activities) is not eligible. The budget table in the proposal template has one column for personnel costs and one for other costs such as materials, equipment and travel. The guide also asks you to budget for the mandatory in-person sessions.
- Who can apply
- SMEs and start-ups under the EU definition, legally established in an EU Member State, Norway or Ukraine, and not controlled by an entity from any other country. You can apply alone or with up to two complementary partners. A university or research organisation can join only if the proposal explains why no suitable SME could provide that expertise. Natural persons cannot apply.
- The three topics
- Topic 1: large language models for strategic decision-making, symbolic reasoning, game theory and mission planning under uncertainty. Topic 2: multi-physics simulation for surface and submarine warfare, electronic warfare and combat across land, air or naval platforms. Topic 3: distributed AI for coordinated swarms of autonomous systems (UxVs). The guide expects every experiment to reach at least TRL 5 by its end.
- What winning commits you to
- A six-month experiment with an online kick-off in month 1, an in-person Learning Expedition in Paris in month 2, online monitoring meetings in months 3 and 5, and an in-person Final Evaluation and Hackathon in Athens in month 6. Three deliverables: the experiment design (month 1), the technical implementation with a live or recorded demonstration (month 4) and the final report (month 6). The Sub-Grant Agreement with CERTH is predefined and cannot be negotiated.
- Timeline and how you submit
- Open since 14 September 2026, closing 16 November 2026 at 17:00 CET, through the BattleVerse EMS platform only; late submissions, including those affected by force majeure, are not evaluated. The guide’s timeline shows an eligibility check on 18 November, selection by 9 December, results on 14 December, signature of the Sub-Grant Agreement between 15 December 2026 and 3 January 2027, and experiments starting on 11 January 2027. The proposal is at most 15 pages in English, in 11-point Century Gothic, plus a mandatory Declaration of Honour and Ownership Control.
- Deadline
- 16 Nov 2026(closes 17:00 CET)— 54 days remaining
- Max grant
- €60,000
- Official source
- https://battleverse-project.eu/open-calls/ ↗
Is this the right call for you? 6 conditions decide it
- 01Your company is not legally established in an EU Member State, Norway or Ukraine. The list is closed: the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Iceland are not on it.
- 02Your company is controlled by a legal entity or authority from any other country. An EU subsidiary of a US, UK or other non-eligible parent is excluded, and you must prove the opposite with a mandatory Ownership Control Declaration.
- 03There is no SME or start-up in your experiment, or you would apply as a natural person. Every experiment needs at least one SME or start-up, and at most three entities in total.
- 04Your consortium includes a university or research organisation without a justification. Non-SME partners are accepted only where no suitable SME can provide the capability, and the proposal has to explain why.
- 05Your proposal is not in English, not on the official template, missing the Declaration of Honour, or not submitted through the EMS platform before 16 November 2026, 17:00 CET.
- 06Your experiment does not address one of the three topics. The FAQ states that applications covering other topics are not eligible.
Not a match on one of these? Then this call is not the one, which says nothing about the next. Calls open continuously: the free Match Report tells you which call does fit, or tells you plainly that none of them do, and our weekly digest tells you when a call you can enter opens.
Can an EU company with a non-EU parent apply to BattleVerse?
No. Being established in an EU Member State, Norway or Ukraine is not enough: you are also excluded if a legal entity or authority from any other country controls you, following Article 9 of the European Defence Fund Regulation. You declare this in the mandatory Declaration of Honour and Ownership Control, listing your owners and their countries, and you may be asked for supporting documents such as proof of tax residence. The declaration also confirms that your infrastructure, assets and executive management sit on eligible territory for the whole experiment. A change of control after you submit, such as an acquisition or a new controlling shareholder, has to be reported and can end your eligibility.
Do you need a defence track record or a security clearance for BattleVerse?
A defence track record is not required. The guide says applicants should operate in the defence sector or demonstrate the potential to contribute to it, and it explicitly encourages companies that are active in civilian markets and want to move into defence. A security clearance is not specified in the guide. What it does say is that the project falls under the European Commission’s responsibility, that no national classified information is involved, and that your proposal must not contain classified information. If your experiment would need access to classified or restricted material, you state that and justify it in the proposal, and the project’s own security instructions then apply to that work.
Do you need a consortium for BattleVerse, or can a single SME apply?
A single SME or start-up can apply on its own. You can also bring up to two complementary partners, for at most three entities and €60,000 each, so €180,000 per experiment. A university or research organisation can only be one of those partners if you explain why no suitable SME could provide the same expertise. According to the FAQ, one consortium can apply to more than one topic but only one of its experiments will be selected, and the same organisation cannot take part in two winning proposals: if it is selected twice, it has to choose one.
What TRL do you need at the start of BattleVerse?
A starting TRL is not specified in the guide. What it states, for each of the three topics, is that proposals are expected to show the experiment can reach at least TRL 5 by the end of the six months. That sits in the topic descriptions, not in the eligibility criteria. The proposal template asks you to state your starting and final TRL, and a consistent account of it is part of the Technical Excellence score.
How much do you have to co-finance, and when is the money paid?
Nothing: the call funds 100% of eligible costs as a lump sum. The catch is timing. You receive 30% once the Sub-Grant Agreement is signed and the rest, 70%, only after the experiment is completed and all deliverables and reports are approved. Over a six-month experiment that means you carry most of the cost yourself until the end. Subcontracting is not eligible, so the work has to be done by your own team, and the budget has to include the in-person sessions in Paris and Athens.
Why are BattleVerse proposals rejected even when they score well?
Because each criterion has its own threshold. Technical Excellence and Implementation need 3 out of 5, Impact needs 4 out of 5, and the total must be at least 11 out of 15. A proposal with a strong technology and a vague impact case fails on Impact alone. Impact also breaks ties, before Technical Excellence and then Implementation. Above the thresholds, the final selection may also weigh topic distribution, geographic coverage, sector diversity and the partners’ capacity to support you, and approved proposals that are not selected go on a reserve list. The guide describes no pitch or interview stage, and anything beyond 15 pages is cut before the evaluators see it.
Verified against BattleVerse_OC1 Guide for Applicants_vFINAL.pdf (29 pages; the guide carries no printed version date, the file is dated 15 September 2026) with BattleVerse_OC1 FAQ_vFINAL.pdf, the Open Call Proposal Template and the Declaration of Honour and Ownership Control template, all four as published on the BattleVerse EMS platform (battleverse.ems-carsa.com/call/detail/1) and checked 23 September 2026. The timeline exists in the guide only as an image (Figure 1). The project website prints the opening date as 14/09/2025; the guide and the EMS platform both give 14 September 2026. The FAQ names Arial as the font; the guide and the template name Century Gothic. No applicant info session was found at the time of writing, and the guide awards no points for matchmaking. Official source: https://battleverse-project.eu/open-calls/ ↗
Two checks come before any writing. The first is control: an EU company owned or controlled from outside the EU, Norway or Ukraine cannot apply, however good the technology, and the Declaration of Honour asks you to confirm that your executive management and assets sit on eligible territory for the whole experiment. The second is cash: 70% of the grant is paid only after the six months are over and every deliverable is approved, and the budget has to carry two in-person events in Paris and Athens. If your company cannot pre-finance most of a six-month project, or your solution only loosely touches one of the three topics, this call is not worth a week of writing, because Impact has to score 4 out of 5, the highest bar of the three, and a generic AI case is unlikely to reach it. If you pass both checks, the free fit check below tells us which topic you belong in. Writing the application for a single SME is €2,450, exclusive of VAT: for a business customer elsewhere in the EU the reverse-charge mechanism applies once you supply a valid VAT number, and for a Dutch customer 21% is added. An application with partners is quoted before we start. No success fee; half on signing, half once the finished application is ready for you to file.
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