General
Excellence Hubs allow innovation ecosystems in Widening countries and beyond, to team up and create better linkages between academia, business, government and society. This will foster a place-based innovation culture in Widening countries based on a strategic agenda aligned with regional or national smart specialisation strategies, and clearly identified expectations for economic and societal impacts.
- LV Municipal Association
- EE Municipal Association
- LV Farmers' Parliament
Assessment & Proposal
The full Excellence Hubs call text is an excellent fit for your consortium. It is a Coordination and Support Action (CSA) with a deadline of 4 March 2027 and a substantial budget of €1.5M to €4.5M per project.
Why This Call Fits Your Consortium Exceptionally Well
The call is designed for exactly the kind of multi-actor, regionally-focused consortium you have built. It requires a quadruple helix structure, meaning each regional ecosystem must include academic institutions, business entities, public authorities, and societal actors.
Your consortium already possesses all four categories:
Academic: EMÜ, TalTech
Business: Get Help Network, Prolog
Public Authorities: Municipal Associations (EE, LV, LT)
Societal: Farmers' Unions, Forest Union
Eligibility Check: The coordinator must be from a Widening country, and the proposal must involve at least two R&I ecosystems from two different Widening countries. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are all classified as Widening countries. ETKK (Estonia) can be the coordinator, and you can form a second ecosystem using your Latvian or Lithuanian partners (e.g., a Latvian university, business, municipality, and civil society organization).
Key Details for Your Proposal
Budget & Scale: €100 million total, funding 30 projects with €1.5M–€4.5M each.
Duration: Up to 5 years.
Activities: You must include a cross-border joint R&I strategy, a distinct R&I work package (but not the dominant part), investment plans, and knowledge transfer activities.
Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP): You can use this to fund SMEs and startups (up to €60k each), which is perfect for engaging smaller companies in your ecosystem.
Co-financing: The funding rate is 70%, so you must explain how the remaining 30% will be secured (in-kind contributions can count).
Timeline & Next Steps
Deadline: 4 March 2027 (single-stage submission).
Info Day: Check ETAG's website—they held an info day on 9 October 2026 specifically for Estonian applicants.
Strategic Recommendation
This call is an immediate priority. The deadline is about five months away, and the fit is exceptional. Your next steps should be:
Confirm ETKK as Coordinator.
Identify your second Widening country ecosystem (Latvia or Lithuania) and confirm partners.
Draft the concept: Focus on your platform as the "connective tissue" that links the quadruple helix actors in a circular economy or local resilience domain.
Excellence Hub Work Package Structure
Project title (working): BALANCE — Baltic Alliance for Local Circular Economy Innovation
Duration: 48 months (the call allows up to 5 years; 4 years keeps the structure tight and the budget coherent)
Coordinator: ETKK (Estonia — Widening country)
Ecosystems:
Ecosystem 1 (Estonia): EMÜ, TalTech, Get Help Network OÜ, Prolog, Association of Estonian Cities and Municipalities, Estonian Farmers' Central Union, Estonian Private Forest Union
Ecosystem 2 (Latvia): A Latvian university (to be confirmed), FAKTU LOGS, Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments, Latvian Farmers' Parliament
Optional third ecosystem (Lithuania): UAB Rinkos tyrimų centras plus a Lithuanian university and municipal association
WP1 — Project Coordination and Management
Lead: ETKK
Duration: M1–M48
Effort: Moderate (approximately 10% of total)
Purpose: Day-to-day management, financial administration, reporting, risk management, and coordination between the two (or three) ecosystems.
Tasks:
1.1 Administrative and financial management
1.2 Consortium coordination and governance
1.3 Risk management and quality assurance
1.4 Reporting to the Commission
1.5 Ethics, data protection, and gender equality compliance
Deliverables:
D1.1 Project Management Handbook (M3)
D1.2 Annual Progress Reports (M12, M24, M36)
D1.3 Final Report (M48)
WP2 — Joint R&I Strategy Development
Lead: EMÜ (Estonia) with the Latvian university partner
Duration: M1–M24
Effort: Substantial (approximately 20% of total)
Purpose: Design and adopt a cross-border joint R&I strategy aligned with regional smart specialisation strategies (RIS3) and European priorities. This is the foundation the rest of the project builds on.
Tasks:
2.1 Mapping of existing regional R&I capabilities, actors, and gaps across both ecosystems
2.2 Alignment with national and regional smart specialisation strategies (Estonian and Latvian RIS3)
2.3 Stakeholder consultation across the quadruple helix
2.4 Drafting and adoption of the joint R&I strategy
2.5 Definition of measurable indicators for economic and societal impact
Deliverables:
D2.1 Regional Capability and Gap Analysis (M9)
D2.2 Joint Cross-Border R&I Strategy (M18)
D2.3 Impact Indicator Framework (M24)
Note: This WP delivers the strategic foundation. The R&I strategy is what makes the hub a permanent asset rather than a project.
WP3 — Joint R&I Collaboration
Lead: EMÜ and TalTech (with Latvian university partner)
Duration: M12–M42
Effort: Moderate (approximately 25% of total — deliberately not the dominant part)
Purpose: The distinct research work package required by the call. It closes knowledge gaps and advances science and technology with market potential — but stays in balance with the other activities.
Research domain: AI-powered local resource mapping for circular economy resilience — directly built on your NOBABIO work.
Tasks:
3.1 State-of-the-art review and identification of the specific research gap
3.2 Development of novel methods for AI-driven synthesis of fragmented local resource data
3.3 Joint research projects between Estonian and Latvian researchers
3.4 Validation of research outputs against real regional data
3.5 Publication and open science dissemination
Deliverables:
D3.1 Research Gap Analysis and State of the Art (M15)
D3.2 Novel Methodology for AI-Driven Local Resource Mapping (M30)
D3.3 Peer-Reviewed Publications (M42)
D3.4 Open Data and Methodological Toolkit (M42)
Note: The call explicitly states the R&I component "should be in balance with the other proposed activities and not constitute the dominant part". At roughly a quarter of the effort, this WP is substantial but not dominant — which is what the evaluators want.
WP4 — Investment Plan and Business Models
Lead: Prolog (Estonia) with FAKTU LOGS (Latvia)
Duration: M12–M36
Effort: Substantial (approximately 15% of total)
Purpose: Develop investment plans to implement the strategy, including business models for commercially sustainable products and services. Leverage private investment alongside national, regional, and European funds.
Tasks:
4.1 Business model design for circular economy services in both regions
4.2 Financial modelling and sustainability assessment
4.3 Identification of funding sources — private capital, national/regional funds, EU instruments
4.4 Development of a common investment plan for the hub
4.5 Engagement with investors and financial institutions
Deliverables:
D4.1 Business Model Catalogue (M18)
D4.2 Common Investment Plan (M30)
D4.3 Investor Engagement Report (M36)
Note: This WP is what makes the hub self-sustaining after the grant ends. It also connects directly to gethelp.network's commercial model — the platform's advertising and AI packages are part of the business model being developed.
WP5 — Pilot and Demonstrator Pre-Planning
Lead: Get Help Network OÜ with municipal partners
Duration: M18–M42
Effort: Moderate (approximately 10% of total)
Purpose: Conceptual design and pre-planning for pilots and demonstrators, in line with the strategy. Critically — these must be financed by sources other than the Excellence Hub grant. This WP designs and prepares; it does not fund the pilots themselves.
Tasks:
5.1 Selection of pilot municipalities (at least two per ecosystem)
5.2 Conceptual design of circular economy pilots (local resource mapping, repair/reuse networks, bio-waste valorisation)
5.3 Technical specification and pre-feasibility assessment
5.4 Identification of follow-on funding sources for pilot implementation
5.5 Preparation of pilot funding applications
Deliverables:
D5.1 Pilot Municipality Selection and Agreement (M24)
D5.2 Pilot Conceptual Designs (M36)
D5.3 Follow-On Funding Roadmap (M42)
Note: The call says proposals should "outline how other financial resources will be accessed at a later stage". This WP produces that outline. It also pre-positions you for a follow-on Horizon or Interreg application.
WP6 — Knowledge Transfer, Skills, and Engagement
Lead: ETKK with all ecosystem partners
Duration: M1–M48
Effort: Substantial (approximately 15% of total)
Purpose: Complementary activities to promote knowledge transfer, visibility, mutual learning, skills development, and engagement with local governments and citizens. Secondments and staff exchanges foster long-term collaboration.
Tasks:
6.1 Secondments and staff exchanges between Estonian and Latvian partners
6.2 Skills development programmes for researchers, entrepreneurs, and public officials
6.3 Citizen engagement and public awareness activities
6.4 Annual cross-border Innovation Forum
6.5 Communication and dissemination (including audiovisual and creative outputs)
6.6 Policy engagement with regional and national authorities
Deliverables:
D6.1 Secondment Programme and Reports (ongoing, M6–M48)
D6.2 Skills Development Curriculum (M18)
D6.3 Annual Innovation Forum (M12, M24, M36, M48)
D6.4 Dissemination and Communication Plan and Materials (M6, updated annually)
Note: This WP is where the hub becomes visible — both to its own stakeholders and to the outside world. It's also where the "permanent asset" claim is built: secondments and forums create relationships that outlast the grant.
WP7 — Ethics, Gender Equality, and Impact Assessment
Lead: TalTech with the Latvian university partner
Duration: M1–M48
Effort: Light (approximately 5% of total)
Purpose: Ensure compliance with Horizon cross-cutting requirements and assess the hub's impact throughout the project.
Tasks:
7.1 Ethics and data protection oversight
7.2 Gender equality plan and monitoring
7.3 Impact assessment framework and continuous evaluation
7.4 Sustainability assessment of hub activities
Deliverables:
D7.1 Gender Equality Plan (M6)
D7.2 Ethics and Data Management Plan (M6)
D7.3 Impact Assessment Report (M24)
D7.4 Final Impact and Sustainability Report (M48)
Effort Distribution — Summary
| WP | Lead | Effort | Dominant? |
|---|---|---|---|
| WP1 — Coordination | ETKK | 10% | No |
| WP2 — Strategy | EMÜ | 20% | No |
| WP3 — R&I | EMÜ/TalTech | 25% | No — deliberately not dominant |
| WP4 — Investment | Prolog | 15% | No |
| WP5 — Pilot Pre-Planning | Get Help Network | 10% | No |
| WP6 — Knowledge Transfer | ETKK | 15% | No |
| WP7 — Ethics & Impact | TalTech | 5% | No |
| Total | 100% |
The design principle: No single work package dominates. The R&I component (WP3) is the largest single WP at 25%, but it is explicitly balanced against strategy (WP2), investment (WP4), pilot pre-planning (WP5), and knowledge transfer (WP6). This directly addresses the call's requirement that the R&I component "should be in balance with the other proposed activities and not constitute the dominant part of the project".
Budget Allocation — Indicative
With a project budget in the €1.5M–€4.5M range, and a 70% funding rate, the indicative split would be:
| Category | Share | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Personnel costs | ~60% | Researchers, coordinators, secondments |
| Travel and secondments | ~10% | Cross-border exchange essential |
| Equipment (if any) | ~5% | Minimal — this is a CSA, not an infrastructure project |
| Other goods and services | ~15% | Communication, events, external expertise, FSTP |
| Indirect costs (25% flat rate) | ~10% | Standard Horizon rate |
FSTP allocation: Up to €60,000 per third party, limited to SMEs and start-ups. Budget perhaps €300,000–€500,000 total for FSTP across the project, funding small innovators testing circular economy solutions in the hub.
What This Structure Achieves
For the evaluator:
All required activities are present: joint strategy, R&I component, investment plan, pilot pre-planning, knowledge transfer
The R&I component is distinct and in balance — not dominant
The quadruple helix is visible across the WPs
The 5-year vision is built into the structure
For the consortium:
ETKK coordinates — the natural role
Universities lead strategy and R&I — the natural role
Business partners lead investment and pilot pre-planning — the natural role
Municipal and societal actors are embedded across WPs — not decoration
For gethelp.network:
WP5 (pilot pre-planning) is led by you — the platform is central to the pilot design
WP3 (R&I) uses your platform as the data layer for the research
The platform is infrastructure across the hub, not a work package in itself
Concept Note / Abstract
BALANCE — Baltic Alliance for Local Circular Economy Innovation
HORIZON-WIDERA-2027-04-WIDENING-01 — Excellence Hubs
The challenge.
The Baltic region has abundant local resources — agricultural residues, forestry by-products, repair and reuse skills, community food networks, and small-scale producers — but they remain invisible to the people and institutions that could use them. Biomass is left to rot while processors import feedstock. Repair skills exist while broken goods are discarded. Local food producers operate while communities buy imported alternatives. The information that would connect supply and demand is fragmented across incompatible national systems, uncollected entirely, or simply not searchable. This is not a resource problem — it is a data and coordination problem.
The opportunity.
Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are Widening countries with strong but fragmented R&I ecosystems. Each has universities, businesses, public authorities, and civil society actors working on circular economy challenges — but they work in isolation. There is no shared strategy, no shared investment plan, and no shared infrastructure to turn local circular economy potential into economic and societal value.
The proposal.
BALANCE creates a cross-border Excellence Hub linking two Widening-country R&I ecosystems — Estonia and Latvia — around a shared domain: AI-powered local resource mapping for circular economy resilience.
The hub is built on the quadruple helix principle. Each national ecosystem comprises:
Academic institutions — EMÜ (agriculture, forestry, rural development) and TalTech (technology, AI, data science) for Estonia; a Latvian university partner for Latvia
Business entities — Get Help Network OÜ (the geolocated data platform) and Prolog (supply chain coordination) for Estonia; FAKTU LOGS for Latvia
Public authorities — the Association of Estonian Cities and Municipalities; the Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments
Societal actors — Estonian Farmers' Central Union, Estonian Private Forest Union; Latvian Farmers' Parliament
ETKK (Eesti Teabe- ja Kompetentsikeskus) coordinates the hub. ETKK is a non-profit, Widening-country entity with proven experience convening multi-actor research consortia — including the recently submitted NOBABIO Horizon Europe proposal.
The work.
The hub delivers five interlocking results over four years:
A joint cross-border R&I strategy aligned with Estonian and Latvian smart specialisation strategies and European priorities.
A joint research programme — distinct, substantial, but deliberately not dominant — developing novel AI methods for synthesising fragmented local resource data into decision-ready intelligence for regions and municipalities.
A common investment plan with business models for commercially sustainable circular economy services, leveraging private capital alongside regional and European funds.
Conceptual designs for circular economy pilots in municipalities across both countries — including local resource mapping, repair and reuse networks, and bio-waste valorisation — to be financed from follow-on sources, not from this grant.
A permanent ecosystem — secondments, skills programmes, annual cross-border forums, and citizen engagement — that persists beyond the funding period.
The infrastructure.
Get Help Network OÜ's platform is the digital connective tissue of the hub. It makes local resources — products, services, requests, and events — visible and searchable by location, category, or route. Its API layer allows municipalities and regional authorities to integrate local resource data into their own planning and resilience systems. The platform is not the deliverable; it is the instrument through which the hub's strategy, research, investment, and pilots become operational.
The impact.
By the end of the project, BALANCE will have:
A functioning cross-border innovation ecosystem that continues without EU funding
A joint R&I strategy with a concrete action plan and investment pathway
New business opportunities for SMEs and start-ups in the circular economy
Strengthened linkages between academia, business, government, and society in two Widening countries
A replicable model for other Widening regions in the Baltic and beyond
The alignment.
BALANCE directly supports the EU Green Deal, the Circular Economy Act, the Clean Industrial Deal, and the EU's long-term vision for rural areas. It advances the Widening programme's objective of building R&I capacity and participation in less-developed innovation regions. And it demonstrates, in practice, that place-based innovation ecosystems can turn local resources into European value.
Call text
Excellence Hubs
HORIZON-WIDERA-2027-04-WIDENING-01
Programme
Horizon Europe (HORIZON)
Call
Excellence Hubs (HORIZON-WIDERA-2027-04)
Type of action
HORIZON-CSA HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions
Type of MGA
HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG]
Open For Submission
Deadline model
Single-stage
Opening date
02 September 2026
Deadline date
04 March 2027 17:00:00 Brussels time
Expected Outcome:
Excellence Hubs allow innovation ecosystems in Widening countries and beyond, to team up and create better linkages between academia, business, government and society. This will foster a place-based innovation culture in Widening countries based on a strategic agenda aligned with regional or national smart specialisation strategies, and clearly identified expectations for economic and societal impacts. Projects should contribute to the following outcomes:
Excellent and sustainable regional R&I ecosystems in Widening countries and beyond in relevant domains of cutting-edge science and innovation;
Long term joint R&I strategies underpinned by concrete action plans of European relevance;
Common investment plans for R&I, including infrastructures, leveraging national, regional and European funds as well as private capital in a synergetic manner;
R&I pilot projects alongside a joint strategy and in line with regional and national strategies, notably regional innovation strategies for smart specialisation (RIS3);
New competencies and skills for researchers, entrepreneurs and professionals in R&I intensive domains;
Strengthened linkages between science, businesses and society;
New business opportunities for SMEs, university spin-offs and start-ups, especially in deep tech areas.
Scope:
The projects will foster a regional innovation culture in Widening countries, aligned with regional or national smart specialization strategies. Consortia should seek synergies and avoid overlaps with relevant initiatives such as European Innovation Ecosystems, EIC Pathfinder, the KICs of the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT), in particular the EIT Community Hubs established in Widening countries, the JRC’s ‘Partnerships for Regional Innovation’ and the Widening Dissemination and Exploitation Facility. This action supports the ERA’s third priority of translating R&I results into the economy, aiming to enhance European competitiveness in the global technology race while improving the environment for business R&I investment, technology deployment, and the uptake of research results in society.
The action targets regions as R&I actors, as they are where innovation and industrial ecosystems thrive, strengthening the connective tissue between higher education institutions, businesses, in particular SMEs and start-ups, research centres, and local communities and citizens. Regional ecosystems across the EU can drive new European strategic value chains.
Excellence Hubs are networks of innovation ecosystems in Widening countries, involving larger communities based on the quadruple helix principle. Legal entities form non-Widening countries may join if the consortium demonstrates that this is necessary to achieve the expected impacts.
Projects should include a well-balanced package covering at least the following activities:
Design and implementation of a cross-border joint R&I strategy aligned with regional smart specialization strategies and European priorities;
R&I collaboration strengthening academia-business linkages and providing evidence for strategy building and investment. The research component should be developed through joint research projects, closing knowledge gaps and advancing science and technology with market potential. The description of R&I component should include a long-term vision beyond the state of the art of the chosen R&I domain. The R&I component must be presented in a distinct work package in the proposal. The R&I component should be in balance with the other proposed activities and not constitute the dominant part of the project;
Development of investment plans to implement the strategy, including business models for commercially sustainable products and services, leveraging private investments, as well as possibly national, regional and European funds,;
If applicable, conceptual design and pre-planning for pilots and demonstrators in line with the strategy, financed by sources other than the Union contribution provided by the Excellence Hub grants. Proposals should outline how other financial resources will be accessed at a later stage;
Complementary activities to promote knowledge transfer, visibility, mutual learning, skills development, and engagement with local governments and citizens. Secondments and staff exchanges should foster long-term collaboration.
Proposals should clearly illustrate the expected impact of the project, including new local and international partnerships, institutional changes, increased R&I intensity and other relevant indicators.
Expected project duration is up to 5 years.
02 September 2026
The submission session is now available for: HORIZON-WIDERA-2027-04-WIDENING-01
Widening participation and spreading excellence (2026-27) (WIDENING-26-27)
The ERA Communication established the need to improve access to excellence as one of the four main strategic goals. Striving towards excellence requires a stronger R&I system where best practice is disseminated faster across the European Union.
The European Union’s R&I system needs to promote a more inclusive approach in which all can participate and from which all can benefit. Existing disparities between R&I leading and lagging countries should be tackled by introducing structural policy reforms. Closer links between research and innovation and institutional cooperation to produce high-quality knowledge are key to help bridge these disparities. By building on their pockets of excellence and connecting them to broader networks of excellence countries will be able to upgrade their R&I systems, and allow the European Union as a whole to advance together.
This destination will deploy a portfolio of complementary actions to build up and strengthen R&I capacities in Widening countries enabling them to advance to the competitive edge at European and international level. It will contribute to the development of pan-European innovation ecosystems. In addition, particular attention will be paid to cross-cutting objectives set for Horizon Europe, such as inclusive gender equality and open science practices.
Expected impact
Increased science and innovation capacities for all actors in the R&I system in Widening countries;
Structural changes leading to modernised and more competitive R&I systems with increased attractiveness and retention of research talents;
Mobilisation of national and European resources for strategic investments;
Higher participation in Horizon Europe and more leadership roles in collaborative projects;
Stronger linkages between academia and business and improved career permeability;
Greater involvement of regional actors in the R&I process;
Excellent talents attracted to institutions including research infrastructures;
Balanced circulation of R&I talents including intersectoral mobility, and improved gender equality and inclusiveness;
Improved linkages and increased mobility between academic and business, notably by overcoming sectoral barriers;
Free circulation of knowledge and expertise in line with ERA priorities.
General conditions
1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout
The page limit of the application is 40 pages.
described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.
Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.
2. Eligible Countries
described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.
3. Other Eligible Conditions
In order to achieve the expected outcomes, participation as coordinators to the call is limited to legal entities established in Widening countries as defined in the Horizon Europe regulation.
Proposals must involve at least two R&I ecosystems from two different Widening countries.
Each R&I ecosystem must be entirely based in a single Widening country and must comprise four different categories of actors i.e. a) academic institutions (universities and/or non-university research centres or labs), b) business entities, c) public authorities or authorised agencies operating at regional or local level and d) societal actors (e.g. civil society organisations, citizens, end users, media, cultural actors etc.).
A proposal may demonstrate involvement of a Widening country R&I ecosystem by either:
The participation, as a beneficiary, by one or more umbrella organisations, whose membership comprises the four different categories of Widening country R&I actors for the relevant Widening country; or
The participation, as beneficiaries, of individual legal entities representing each of the four categories of actors for the relevant Widening country. In the case of representative individual entities, at least one of the business entities per R&I ecosystem needs to be an established firm with turnover. More specifically, such business entities must at the time of the submission of the proposal be established for already at least two consecutive years with a proven operational turnover, i.e. by providing balance sheets and/or business reports as annex(es) to the proposal. These documents must be submitted in one of the EU official languages.
described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion
described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds
The following rules for dealing with ex-aequo applications apply: in the first place, ex-aequo proposals will be prioritised according to geographical diversity criteria, defined as proposals with coordinators established in a Widening country, not otherwise represented as coordinator by a more highly ranked proposal. The method described in Points 1), 2), 3) and 5) of General Annexes Part F (Procedure/Evaluation procedure and ranking) will then be applied to the remaining equally ranking proposals in the group. This rule establishing the priority order serves to better spread the impact of the action and to strengthen the efficiency of the ‘Widening participation and spreading excellence’ programme.
are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes
are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.
5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement
described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes. The following exceptions apply:
The following rules for dealing with ex-aequo applications apply: in the first place, ex-aequo proposals will be prioritised according to geographical diversity criteria, defined as proposals with coordinators established in a Widening country, not otherwise represented as coordinator by a more highly ranked proposal. The method described in Points 1), 2), 3) and 5) of General Annexes Part F (Procedure/Evaluation procedure and ranking) will then be applied to the remaining equally ranking proposals in the group. This rule establishing the priority order serves to better spread the impact of the action and to strengthen the efficiency of the ‘Widening participation and spreading excellence’ programme.
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants
The funding rate is 70 % of the eligible costs. An explanation should be provided in the proposal on how the remaining 30% will be secured and shared among the beneficiaries.
Beneficiaries may provide financial support to third parties. The support to third parties can only be provided in the form of grants and is limited to SMEs and start-up companies.The maximum amount to be granted to each third party is EUR 60 000.
described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Specific conditions
described in the specific topic of the Work Programme
Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA):
Application form templates — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System
Standard application form (HE CSA)
Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations
Standard evaluation form (HE CSA)
Guidance
Model Grant Agreements (MGA)
Call-specific instructions
Information on financial support to third parties (HE)
Information on clinical studies (HE)
Additional documents:
HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction
HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 14. General Annexes
HE Framework Programme 2021/695
HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764
EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509
Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment
EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement
Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual
Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions
Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement
HORIZON-WIDERA-2027-04-WIDENING-01 - HORIZON-CSA HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions | 85 000 000,00 € | 15 000 000,00 € | Single-stage | 2 September 2026 | 4 March 2027 | 1 500 000,00 € to 4 500 000,00 € | 30 |
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