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NCP Flanders has extended the duration of its short satisfaction survey to gather valuable feedback and suggestions on the NCP services. The survey is fully anonymous and is open until 9 October 2026. It is organised into three sections: NCP Flanders assistance, info sessions, and NCP Flanders website & LinkedIn. If you are not familiar with one of these sections, the survey will automatically guide you to the next section. The NCP Flanders team would greatly appreciate it if you could take a few minutes to fill in the survey and provide your opinion via this link. If you would like to get in touch with NCP Flanders, please email info@ncpflanders.be
The updated Horizon Europe Work Programme (HE WP) 2026-2027 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) was published on 29 September 2026 (available here). An overview of the changes compared to the previous version (1.0 with publication date 11 December 2025, available here) is outlined in this article. Choose Europe for Science initiative: additional funding for Postdoctoral Fellowships and Doctoral Networks In the General introduction of the HE WP and the main principles in the MSCA WP it is stated that as part of the Choose Europe for Science initiative, additional budget is being provided for MSCA in response to the significant increase in international demand for MSCA funding. The additional funding will increase the budget for the Postdoctoral Fellowships and the Doctoral Networks calls (2 times +€35 million in 2026; 2 times +€71 million in 2027). Furthermore minor increases for 2027 call budgets are implemented for COFUND (+€0.07 million), MSCA Choose Europe for Science (+€0.07 million), MSCA and Citizens (+€0.02m) and Staff Exchanges (+€0.11 million). Staff Exchanges 2027 call The call deadline has been brought forward by two days from 15 to 13 April 2027. Furthermore in line with Article 22(6) of the HE Regulation, a new eligibility restriction was added on participation of legal entities established in China if the proposed project concerns one or more of the 10 critical technology areas included in this Commission Recommendation. The verification of the eligibility against this condition will be done during the grant preparation phase. MSCA Choose Europe for Science 2027 call For the MSCA Choose Europe for Science 2027 call the EU contribution limit per beneficiary doubled from €5 to €10 million. The reference to “monthly gross remuneration" has been replaced by “monthly gross salary (net salary + employee’s taxes and contributions)". As of this call, implementing partners must be established in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country. Lastly there are some changes in the wording of the impact evaluation criterion. Doctoral Networks, Postdoctoral Fellowships, Staff Exchanges and COFUND 2027 call evaluation Also for these calls there are some changes in the wording of the impact evaluation criterion (not applicable to COFUND). This part has been omitted: The magnitude and importance of the project’s contribution to the expected scientific, societal and economic impacts. In the priority order for ex aequo proposals the environmental considerations in line with the MSCA Green Charter has been deleted. RAISE Doctoral Networks In the part that summarises the main intervention areas (MSCA actions) additional reference has been made to the HE Horizontal Activities work programme part, which includes the RAISE Doctoral Networks for AI in Science pilot (HORIZON-RAISE-2026-01-03) that provide specific support to networks with primary focus on the use of AI in science. Applications are to be submitted through the MSCA Doctoral Networks 2026 call (deadline 24 November 2026).
The updated Horizon Europe Work Programme (HE WP) 2026-2027 Widening participation and strengthening the European Research Area (WIDERA) was published on 29 September 2026 (available here). An overview of the changes compared to the previous version (1.0 with publication date 11 December 2025, available here) in the Strengthening the European Research Area (ERA) by reforming and enhancing the European research and innovation system part is described in this article. Changes to call topic HORIZON-WIDERA-2027-05-ERA-02 Under Destination: Reforming and enhancing the European research and innovation system the call topic HORIZON-WIDERA-2027-05-ERA-02 Pillar II: Talent ecosystems for attractive early research careers has undergone a number of changes. The expected EU contribution per project has been changed from €2 to €4 million to around 2 million. The indicative number of projects expected to be funded has increased from 12 to 15. In the expected outcome of the call topic, an example of a talent ecosystem has been added: it for instance could consist of a long-lasting cooperation between a cluster of companies in a certain sector and one or more academic institutions, enabling specific skills training of early-career researchers in cooperation with the companies, and facilitating talent circulation. In the scope, the main changes are the request that applicants should identify the thematic area they plan to address. Five thematic areas have been indicated: 1) Clean Transition: Energy and transport; 2) Health; 3) Biotech, agriculture and bioeconomy; 4) Digital and AI technologies; 5) Space. Another addition to the scope to ensure that activities reinforce rather than duplicate existing European-level support is that activities should demonstrate how actions will build on, connect to, make use of, promote and, where appropriate, help improve relevant ERA Talent Platform initiatives, including, EURAXESS, RESAVER, ReICO, ResearchComp and RM Comp. Furthermore, this entails structured cooperation with the already existing pilot projects funded under HORIZON-WIDERA-2024-ERA-02-03 (link to CORDIS) and the projects that are expected to be funded under this call. The evaluation procedure as described in General Annex F will be followed with the following added exceptions: To ensure a balanced portfolio covering different thematic areas, as outlined in the scope, grants are expected to be awarded to proposals not only in order of ranking, but at least also to proposals that are the highest ranked within each thematic area, provided that proposals pass all thresholds. Gender Equality Competence Facility Another change concerns bringing the Framework Contract period forward by a year for the Gender Equality Competence Facility, from 2028–2031 to 2027–2030. The indicative timetable was brought forward from Q3 to Q2.
DG Research & Innovation of the European Commission developed this guidance as part of the ERA Policy Agenda 2025–2027 and its structural policy "Upscaling knowledge valorisation capacities and activities". Knowledge valorisation is distinct from dissemination — the public disclosure of results — and from impact, which describes the change that research produces in the world. Valorisation is the deliberate activity that connects the two: transforming data, know-how, and research outputs into products, services, solutions, and knowledge-based policies that generate social and economic value. Multidisciplinary research including Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) offers valuable solutions for addressing Europe's societal challenges. By integrating knowledge across disciplines and sectors, it can provide new policy perspectives, human-centred innovations, and business ideas. However, its potential is not always translated into broader societal, economic, and political value, and uptake needs to be accelerated. The guidance is designed to help R&I projects create greater value from multidisciplinary results, including those involving Social Sciences and Humanities. It is based on a comprehensive analysis of existing best practices and offers 10 practical pathways – from research to human-centred technology, participatory innovation, entrepreneurship, organisational change, evidence-informed policy and more.
The LLM-BRIDGE Consortium has launched its second open call for an incubator or innovation partner to deliver the Venture Incubation Programme (VIP). The initiative will support early-stage European startups developing solutions based on large language models, generative AI, multilingual AI and natural language processing. The call is implemented by 28DIGITAL together with the LLM-BRIDGE partners. 28DIGITAL falls within the framework of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). The selected organisation can receive up to €60,000 in financial support to run a 12-week incubation programme. Activities will include startup onboarding, mentoring, market and business-model validation, regulatory and ethical AI guidance, investor readiness, progress monitoring and a final Demo Day. The programme may be delivered on site, online or in a hybrid format. Applicants must be established in an EU Member State or a country associated with the Digital Europe Programme and demonstrate relevant deep-tech incubation experience, operational capacity, access to mentors and infrastructure, and the ability to deliver the programme in English. Selection will include an eligibility check, independent evaluation, consensus meeting and panel ranking. Interested organisations can consult the official Open Call document and submit the application form. An online information webinar will take place on 3 November 2026, from 11:00 to 12:30 CET. The application deadline is 28 November 2026.
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The European Holocaust Research Infrastructure Implementation Phase (EHRI-IP) project was funded under Horizon Europe call topic HORIZON-INFRA-2023-DEV-01-02. The project duration was two years and came to an end in February 2026. The main objective of the EHRI-IP project was to undertake all necessary legal, financial and strategic work to have a permanent organisation or ERIC (European Research Infrastructure Consortium) fully operational by the end of the implementation phase. The project consortium consisted of 14 partners from 13 countries. Read more about the project and the contribution of Flemish partner Kazerne Dossin in this testimonial.
