Horizon Europe

A wide selection of grants for Polish entities acting as project coordinators has been envisaged in the Horizon Europe programme: Teaming for Excellence, Twinning, ERA Chair, Excellence Hubs and other instruments included in the Widening Package. They will enable creating leading Centres of Excellence, establishing cooperation with leading foreign centres, and hiring prominent scientists.

We have been the most efficient in acquiring such grants under Horizon 2020, and our success in the Teaming for Excellence programme has been widely commented across Europe. The new framework programme provides for a much higher Widening Package budget, and this means a shorter way to success.  

Poland will be welcome to all calls announced under Horizon Europe. In most cases, except for several dozen thematic calls related to the European Research Area (ERA), there will be no restrictions as to the scientific field.

Teaming for Excellence

The Widening Package under Horizon Europe will comprise calls in two areas: Widening and ERA. As regards the former, applicants from Poland will have a chance to submit proposals in following calls: Teaming for Excellence, ERA Chairs, Twinning, COST, Excellence Hubs, European Excellence Initiative, ERA Fellowships and ERA Talents. As regards the latter, several thematic calls can be expected dealing with such issues as open access, responsible research and innovation, and gender equality.

Teaming for Excellence is addressed to institutions planning to establish new Centres of Excellence or modernise existing ones. Each Teaming for Excellence project should aim at strengthening the local and national R&D ecosystem by establishing or developing modern R&D institutions to carry out world-class scientific research and innovative work.

New application and implementation rules will apply to Teaming for Excellence calls. Research activities will now be included under eligible expenses, and the instrument will no longer have two phases. Complementary funding from domestic resources, in the same amount as the Horizon Europe grant, will still be required.

Twinning and ERA Chairs

Twinning is addressed to those institutions which intend to expand their R&D potential jointly with leading European institutions. Twinning projects are implemented by international consortia with entities from widening countries acting ac project coordinators. The planned novelty will be the opportunity to implement and finance scientific research by interdisciplinary research teams.

ERA Chairs is addressed to institutions planning to appoint new research teams within their existing structures. The funding under an ERA Chairs project is intended primarily to cover the costs of hiring all members of a newly-established team. A new possibility which the applicants can explore is indicating, in their proposal, the future team manager.

First calls will be announced soon!

Support for applicants

Persons and institutions submitting proposals for Widening activities can use support through NCP_WIDE.NET – an international project financed by the European Commission. The project is a network of National Contact Points from European countries and associated countries. On the project website (www.ncpwidenet.eu) applicants can find valuable tips on how to prepare their proposal as well as learn about the most common errors.

Want to learn about the success stories of the Centres of Excellence which received Widening grants under Horizon 2020? They provide a great source of inspiration for those planning to apply for grants under Horizon Europe. Join the parallel thematic session “Widening and synergies”!