Programme-level collaboration

Successful proposals will deliver on the following impact: “Common priority setting and sustainable joint activities and funding programmes among national and regional research and innovation programmes”.

The proposals funded under this topic should coordinate national and regional research and innovation (R&I) funding programmes by pooling national and regional resources and align national and regional research and innovation policies, with the overall aim to enhance collaborative R&I efforts to address global challenges.

Projects are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• Identification of common research and innovation priorities among national and regional R&I programmes, with consideration given to relevant international R&I policy developments and trends, and leading to coordinated R&I funding agendas;
• Implementation of multiannual joint calls, resulting in the funding of transnational collaborative R&I projects;
• Implementation of additional joint activities supporting technology and regulatory policy, and societal and market uptake;
• Contribution to participating states meeting global challenges, including relevant contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals.

Since the introduction of the European Research Area (ERA) in 2000 and starting with Framework Programme 6 and the introduction of the ERA-NET scheme, programme-level collaboration among EU Member States and Associated Countries and their research and innovation funding programmes has become a cornerstone of the ERA. Hundreds of networks among research funders have been created over time, serving different research needs, but always coordinating public research investments across borders and allowing researchers to apply for calls for transnational research projects funded by the participating states.

Horizon Europe introduces a new approach to incentivise programme level collaboration. Concerted R&I initiatives, which mobilise efforts and resources of public and private actors, are implemented through EU Missions and the co-funded, co-programmed and institutionalised European Partnerships. The ERA part of Horizon Europe complements this new strategic approach by providing the possibility for Member States, Associated Countries, their legal entities, including regional authorities and agencies and civil society organisations, to maintain existing and establish new collaborations on priorities of their choice, thereby continuing the spirit of the successful ERA-NET scheme, funded under Horizon 2020.

This action supports bottom-up initiatives that allow stakeholders to define new collaborations on chosen priorities, align national and regional research funding, pool resources, and ensure complementarity with the Framework Programme activities, European Partnerships, and EU Missions, thereby supporting the ERA. The action contributes to the objectives of the Pact for Research and Innovation in Europe^[1] to increase the share of national public research and development expenditure committed to the European Partnerships and EU Missions.

In order to achieve the expected outcomes, international cooperation is encouraged. The action allows to strengthen collaboration with third countries and promote shared European values and principles for research and innovation, including advancing gender equality and inclusiveness. Involvement of non-associated third countries must be clearly explained and justified in the proposal.

Successful proposals should align national and regional research funding programmes on agreed priorities common to the countries participating in the action and, where appropriate, implement joint calls for transnational R&I projects as well as other joint calls or joint activities.

Applicants should demonstrate clear commitments from participating programmes to pool resources. The necessary resources should be pooled from the participating national or regional research programmes as well as, where appropriate, leveraged from pertinent foundations, charities and transnational initiatives, with a view to implementing calls for proposals, either within the context of this action or in possible follow-up actions, resulting in grants to third parties without EU co-funding in this area.

Proposals should also demonstrate potential impact at national, regional and transnational level. Proposals should demonstrate that activities exclude overlaps with on-going actions co-funded by the EU under Horizon 2020 or Horizon Europe.

Proposals are expected to envisage a duration of up to 3 years without prejudice to a longer duration if duly justified by the ambitions and complexity of the proposed activities.

[1] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32021H2122.