Stepping-up institutional and territorial changes towards open and responsible research and innovation
HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions
Basic Information
- Identifier
- HORIZON-WIDERA-2022-ERA-01-40
- Programme
- European Research Area
- Programme Period
- 2021 - 2027
- Status
- Closed (31094503)
- Opening Date
- January 19, 2022
- Deadline
- April 20, 2022
- Deadline Model
- single-stage
- Budget
- €5,500,000
- Keywords
- Public engagementSocietal EngagementResponsible Research and Innovation (RRI)Ethics in research and innovationResearch dataTrainingSocial sciences and humanitiesOpen ScienceResponsible Research and Innovation (RRI)Quadruple helixOpen innovationInstitutional change
Description
Projects are expected to contribute to the following expected outcomes:
- Consolidated evidence base on sustainable institutional and territorial changes towards open and responsible research and innovation;
- A central point of expertise providing services and support for research and innovation institutions, and territories, to open up to society;
- A significant number of institutions and territories in the European Research Area (ERA) become more porous to society, align with the needs, values and expectations of society, improve the excellence of their research and innovation, promote gender equality, and reduce instances of ethical misconduct;
- Reduction in disparities between institutions and territories in terms of their attention to open and responsible research and innovation.
These targeted outcomes in turn contribute to medium and long-term impacts:
- Open and responsible research and innovation practices mainstreamed throughout territorial and institutional settings;
- Increased impact of EU R&I outputs and the conversion of knowledge and ideas into products and services.
Research and innovation institutions play a key role in creating an enabling environment for opening research and innovation towards society, sharing research outputs, improving research integrity and gender equality, and promoting science education, societal engagement (such as citizen science and other forms of co-design and co-creation) and two-way science communication. At territorial level, interactions between different institutions from across the quadruple helix[1], and including societal actors such as civil society organisations and non-governmental organisations, are essential to ensuring that the processes and outcomes of research and innovation are aligned with the needs, values and expectations of society.
However, European research and innovation actors lack a consolidated evidence base and guidance based on EU investments in this area to date to support them, there are significant differences in attention to different aspects of responsibility and openness between institutions and territories, rewards and incentives at the workforce and institutional level are often misaligned or even disfavour openness to society, and there is no central point of reference or provider of services and expertise to turn to.
This action consists of three parts, all of which must be addressed:
The first involves consolidating the evidence base and develop innovative guidance and other materials, which can support institutions and territories to implement sustainable institutional changes and open up to society[2]. It should take into account and build on the learning and knowledge developed by Horizon 2020’s Science with and for Society programme[3] and potentially other sources of knowledge.
The second part involves financial support to third parties, by launching ‘cascading grant’ call(s) to support institutions and territories from across the ERA to implement sustainable institutional changes towards open and responsible research and innovation. This may require consultancy or other kinds of support services to be developed and rolled out to successful institutions. A significant number of institutional changes (e.g. 70-100 individual institutional changes) should be expected in beneficiary organisations and territories. As such, a significant proportion of the funding should be allocated to the ‘cascading grant’ mechanism. One or more call(s) for proposals should be launched, which could focus on specific disciplines, MoRRI country clusters[4], or other pertinent criteria, but with the underlying goal of reducing disparities between institutions and territories in terms of their attention to different dimensions of openness and responsibility.
The third part involves acting as a central point of expertise and support services on open and responsible research and innovation for institutions and projects under Horizon Europe and within the European Research Area. This point of expertise should have appropriate high-level visibility, and the ability to interact and support all parts of the research and innovation system (all parts of quadruple helix, disciplines, sectors). In order to achieve the expected outcomes, international networking is advised to support co-operation on the issue at global level and provide expertise in support of institutions and projects.
The action should evaluate its impacts and develop recommendations useful to policy makers and those responsible for the governance of research and innovation institutions. The action should raise awareness of the benefits of open and responsible research and innovation to organisations across the ERA. It should develop close co-operation with other relevant projects, with a view to fostering collaboration and the early sharing of knowledge and evidence.
Cross-cutting Priorities:Digital Agenda
Societal Engagement
Artificial Intelligence
Social sciences and humanities
[1]A model of cooperation between industry, academia, civil society and public authorities, with a strong emphasis on citizens and their needs.
[2]Institutional changes are characterised as: 1) a change to how the institution governs/structures itself, 2) expected to have meaningful impact within the institution concerned, 3) intended to last beyond the lifetime of funding (i.e. not one-off activities). See https://op.europa.eu/s/olV2.
[3]Particularly relevant projects to build upon were supported by: ISSI-5-2014, GARRI-1-2014, ISSI-5-2015, SwafS-04-2016, SwafS-05-2017, SwafS-05-2018-2019, SwafS-14-2018-2019-2020, SwafS-23-2020. Moreover, this action should build on the evidence base for benefits developed by the MoRRI and Super_MoRRI projects. Projects focused on implementing Gender Equality Plans under SwafS (including those supported by topics GERI-4-2014, SwafS-03-2016-2017, SwafS-09-2018-2019-2020) may also be of relevance. The RRI-Tools project, from FP7’s Science in Society programme, may also be relevant: https://rri-tools.eu/.
Destination & Scope
Introduction
Horizon Europe has a new level of ambition – to maximise the impact of EU research and innovation funding for European science, economy and the wider society. It marks a paradigm change in the design of the EU R&I Framework Programmes (FP) from an activity-driven to an impact-driven programme. Coupled to this ambition is the relaunching of the European Research Area (ERA) as described in the recently published Commission Communication entitled A new ERA for Research and Innovation (COM/2020/628 final of 30.09.2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates the importance of R&I cooperation to deliver solutions to society’s most demanding needs. Delivering Europe’s recovery is a priority as are the green and digital twin transitions. To match these challenges, a new level of ambition that links better R&I with the economy, as well as with education and training, is necessary to put the EU’s scientific knowledge to work.
The new ERA calls for deepening existing priorities and initiatives through new and stronger approaches. The green and digital transitions and the recovery call for cooperation between the Commission and the Member States. They require the setting of new priorities, launching ambitious joint initiatives and developing common approaches between policies.
To address these requirements, Destination 3 of Annex 11 of the Horizon Europe Work Programme, will support efforts to reform and enhance the EU R&I system. Destination 3 is built around four strands corresponding to the four objectives set out in the ERA Communication: 1. Prioritise investments and reforms; 2. Improve access to excellence; 3. Translate R&I results into the economy and 4. Deepen the ERA. The principle of excellence, meaning that the best researchers with the best ideas that respond best to the societal challenges obtain funding, remains the cornerstone for all investments under the ERA.
Strand 1 recognises the importance of prioritising investments and reforms to accelerate the green and digital transformation and to increase competitiveness as well as the speed and depth of the recovery. It offers support for policy makers and addresses the need for better analysis and evidence, including simplifying and facilitating the inter-play between national and European R&I systems.
Strand 2 addresses the need to improve access to excellence and to increase the performance of R&I systems, building on dedicated Horizon Europe measures as well as complementarities with smart specialisation strategies under the Cohesion Policy.
Strand 3 addresses the importance of translating R&I results into the economy. R&I policies should aim to boost the resilience and competitiveness of our economies and societies.
Strand 4 addresses the challenge of deepening the ERA and includes Open Science, Higher Education and Researchers, Citizen Science, Science Education, Gender and Ethics. It aims at underpinning a new ERA benefiting from knowledge creation, circulation and use. This empowers higher education institutions and research organisations to embrace a transformative process; where a highly skilled workforce circulate freely; where research outputs are shared; where gender equality is assured; where the outcomes of R&I are understood, trusted and increasingly used, by educated informed scientists and citizens to the benefit of society.
Expected impact:
Proposals for topics under this Destination should set out a credible pathway to contributing to the following expected impacts:
- Reform and Enhance the EU R&I system
- Prioritisation of investments and reforms, realisation of the recovery and the twin transitions
- Improved access to excellence
- Greater quality of the scientific production and stronger translation of R&I results into the economy
- Deepen the ERA
- Coordinated national and regional R&I programmes by pooling national resources and contributing to the alignment of national research and innovation policies
- Improved knowledge for policy making about the networking patterns of research support staff and research management
- Synergies between research & innovation and higher education policies and programmes
- Modernised higher education sector, benefitting from targeted transformations in higher education, research, and innovation
- Increased number of interconnected knowledge ecosystems, strong in knowledge creation, circulation and use
- Researchers benefit from attractive careers
- Inclusive gender equality is promoted in the European research and innovation system
- A more open and inclusive research and innovation system
- Increased capacity in the EU R&I system to conduct open science and to set it as a modus operandi of modern science
- Increased engagement of citizens with research and innovation
- Increased alignment of strategic research with society needs, expectations and values
- Identified synergies between second and third level education, and between education and business;
- Increased trust in science and R&I outcomes, and greater two-way communication between science and society
- Knowledge and a highly skilled workforce circulate freely
- Improved capacities within the EU R&I system to conduct open science
- A more open and inclusive research and innovation system
Eligibility & Conditions
General conditions
1. Admissibility conditions: 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 eligibility conditions: described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes
Legal entities established in non-associated third countries may exceptionally participate in this Coordination and support action.
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion: described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes
5. Evaluation and award:
- Award criteria, scoring and thresholds are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes
- Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual
- Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement: described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants: described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes
Beneficiaries may provide financial support to third parties.
The support to third parties can only be provided in the form of grants.
The maximum amount to be granted to each third party is EUR 60.000. The respective options of the Model Grant Agreement will be applied. Beneficiaries should refer to General Annex B of the Work Programme for further information and guidance.
Beneficiaries will be subject to the following additional dissemination obligations:
Beneficiaries must make proactive efforts to freely share, in a timely manner and as appropriate, all relevant results with the other grants awarded from this work programme part subject to the same additional dissemination obligations. Beneficiaries must acknowledge and incorporate these obligations in the proposal, outlining the efforts they will make towards meeting them, and in Annex I to the Grant Agreement.
Specific conditions
7. Specific conditions: described in the specific topic of the Work Programme.
Documents
Call documents:
Standard application form — call-specific application form is available in the Submission System
Standard application form (HE CSA)
Standard evaluation form — will be used with the necessary adaptations
MGA
Call-specific instructions
Essential Information for Clinical Studies
Additional documents:
HE Main Work Programme 2021–2022 – 1. General Introduction
HE Main Work Programme 2021–2022 – 12. Missions
HE Main Work Programme 2021–2022 – 13. General Annexes
HE Framework Programme and Rules for Participation Regulation 2021/695
HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764
Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment
EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement
Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual
Support & Resources
Online Manual is your guide on the procedures from proposal submission to managing your grant.
Horizon Europe Programme Guide contains the detailed guidance to the structure, budget and political priorities of Horizon Europe.
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