Eligibility & Recommendations
Eligibility
For most Horizon Europe calls, you must apply as a team of at least 3 partner organisations from 3 different European Union or associated countries. Canada is now considered an associated country. At least one of the 3 partners must be from an EU country.
In addition to these 3 partners, organizations from other countries may be able to join your consortium. Successful applications tend to involve 8-12 partner organisations.
Recommendations
Register as an expert
To learn more about how Horizon Europe programs work, you can consider registering as an expert.
Experts may be asked to assist with and/or provide advice regarding:
- Evaluation of proposals, prize applications and tenders;
- Monitoring of actions, grant agreements, public procurement contracts;
- Preparation, implementation and evaluation of EU programmes and design of policies.
Partner with researchers familiar with Horizon Europe
To learn the requirements, complexities and expectations of Horizon Europe Pillar II, organizations with experience with the Horizon Europe program recommend that researchers participate on grant applications as collaborators (partners) before attempting to lead an application.
Start early
Given the complexity of establishing a consortium which includes multiple institutions in different countries, organizations with experience with the Horizon Europe program have advised that development of a competitive Pillar II application requires a minimum of six months and up to one year.
If you are interested in leading an application, it is recommended that you plan to respond to the calls for proposals which will be included in the 2025 work programmes to be released sometime this spring.
Gender and other EDI-D considerations
The European Commission is committed to promoting gender equality in research and innovation; therefore, Horizon Europe projects prefer a gender-balanced consortia. It is recommended that you integrate these principles when developing a consortium. See: Gender equality in research and innovation.
Contact
For more information about how Western researchers can apply for Horizon Europe funding calls and what kind of supports are available, please contact the Institutional Research Programs team.
