The Foundation for Innovation and Research – Malta (FiR.mt) actively aligns its infrastructure, Living Labs, and research services with emerging European research priorities. Our role is to support forward-looking consortia, public authorities, and industry partners by offering call-ready environments, data-driven experimentation, and early positioning for upcoming European programmes — including future work programmes under Horizon Europe.

Why FiR.mt Focuses on Future Calls

European research increasingly prioritises system integration, digitalisation, resilience, and societal impact. FiR.mt addresses these priorities by:

• Designing Living Labs that anticipate future evaluation criteria
• Aligning data collection, monitoring, and governance with expected regulatory and technical standards
• Supporting partners in shaping concepts before calls are published
• Translating research results into deployable, scalable solutions

This approach reduces proposal risk and accelerates impact once funding instruments are launched.

Priority Research Directions (2026–2028)

FiR.mt’s strategic focus reflects expected European research trajectories spanning sustainability, digital transformation, resilience, competitiveness, and societal well-being. Our Living Labs and research services are designed to operate across sectors, supporting interdisciplinary and mission-oriented research in line with evolving European priorities. These directions support research and innovation actions spanning climate, digital, health, societal, environmental, and industrial transitions, including mission-oriented, place-based, and coordination-focused European actions.

• Smart, resilient, and digitally enabled energy and infrastructure systems
• Monitoring, diagnostics, and optimisation of complex technical assets
• Integration of renewable energy, storage, and flexibility solutions
• Decarbonisation and circularity in industrial and built environments
• System integration across energy, transport, and industrial domains

🔹 Digitalisation, AI & Data-Driven Systems

• Edge-to-cloud digital architectures for real-world applications
• AI-assisted monitoring, forecasting, optimisation, and decision support
• Digital twins for infrastructure, environmental, and industrial systems
• Open, interoperable, and secure data platforms aligned with EU data principles
• Trustworthy, cyber-secure digital systems for critical applications

🔹 Climate, Environment & Natural Systems

• Environmental monitoring and data integration across land, urban, coastal, and marine contexts
• Climate adaptation, resilience, and risk-informed decision support
• Nature-based solutions and ecosystem restoration supported by Living Labs
• Circular economy approaches and resource efficiency
• Long-term observation frameworks supporting policy and governance

🔹 Mobility, Built Environment & Urban Systems

• Integrated mobility–energy–infrastructure concepts
• Sustainable, adaptive, and resource-efficient built environments
• Urban and regional Living Labs supporting place-based innovation
• Demonstrators addressing transport, accessibility, and infrastructure resilience
• Neighbourhood-scale experimentation linking technology, design, and governance

🔹 Health, Well-Being & Resilient Societies

• Data-enabled approaches to public health, environmental exposure, and well-being
• Resilient systems supporting emergency preparedness and risk reduction
• Cross-sector links between environment, infrastructure, and health outcomes
• Secure and reliable monitoring systems for societal resilience
• Evidence generation supporting policy and public authorities

🔹 Social Sciences, Skills & Citizen Engagement

• User-centred and participatory design of technologies and services
• Living Labs as spaces for co-creation, social innovation, and inclusion
• Gamification and digital tools for education, awareness, and skills development
• Governance innovation and stakeholder engagement
• Societal uptake, behavioural change, and long-term impact assessment

Living Labs as Cross-Cluster Enablers

FiR.mt’s Living Labs are conceived as cross-cutting research infrastructures, capable of supporting:

• Research & Innovation Actions, Innovation Actions, and Coordination & Support Actions
• Mission-oriented, place-based, and challenge-driven research
• Interdisciplinary consortia spanning technology, environment, society, and policy
• Long-term experimentation under real-world conditions

This positioning enables FiR.mt to contribute meaningfully across multiple European research domains, while maintaining coherence, data quality, and impact readiness.

Living Labs Designed for Future European Actions

FiR.mt’s Living Labs are engineered to meet the expectations of future European Innovation Actions and Research & Innovation Actions, including:

• High-resolution, standards-compliant data acquisition
• Replicable experimental setups
• Open science and FAIR data principles
• Long-term operation under real-world conditions

These environments enable partners to validate concepts early, generate credible evidence, and strengthen exploitation pathways.

From Research Results to Future Impact

FiR.mt builds continuity between ongoing projects and future European priorities.
Outcomes from current and past initiatives feed directly into:

• New research concepts and pilots
• Policy-relevant evidence and technical recommendations
• Scalable solutions aligned with European deployment strategies

This ensures that knowledge generated today remains relevant to tomorrow’s funding landscape.

Coordination, Proposal Development & Project Support

FiR.mt complements its technical and experimental capabilities with a dedicated Projects Research Management & Support Office (PRMSO), enabling partners to move efficiently from concept development to successful implementation.

The PRMSO supports European research actions across their full lifecycle, including:

• Early-stage concept shaping aligned with emerging European priorities
• Consortium building and role definition, including Living Lab integration
• Proposal structuring, implementation logic, and risk mitigation
• Coordination and project management support for multi-partner actions
• Monitoring, reporting, and compliance throughout project execution
• Exploitation, dissemination, and sustainability planning

This integrated support reduces administrative burden on partners while strengthening proposal credibility, delivery capacity, and long-term impact.

Why This Matters for Future European Actions

As European programmes increasingly emphasise implementation quality, scalability, and impact pathways, strong coordination and management capacity is essential.

FiR.mt’s combined infrastructure + coordination + project support model enables:

• Faster mobilisation once calls open
• Stronger alignment between technical work and policy objectives
• Higher readiness for Innovation Actions and large-scale demonstrators
• Improved continuity from research to deployment

Let’s Shape the Next European Research Agenda Together

FiR.mt welcomes early discussions with partners interested in future-oriented proposals, Living Lab collaboration, and strategic positioning ahead of upcoming European calls.

Explore our capabilities, discuss ideas, or connect with us to build the foundations of the next generation of European research projects.

Links to

Our Infrastructure & Living Labs

Our Voice to Humanities and Social Sciences

Active Projects

Contact: info[at]FiR.mt