Excellence Hubs
European Commission · Horizon Europe Framework Programme (HORIZON)
Posted 2 Sept 2026 · About 5 months left
In plain terms
The European Commission funds research and innovation hubs that bring together universities, businesses, government bodies and civil society in Widening countries to develop excellence in cutting-edge science and innovation. Projects receive 1.5 to 4.5 million euros, must involve at least two ecosystems from different Widening countries, and applications in English are due by 4 March 2027.
A generated summary of the donor's text; the original wording is below.
Summary
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…
Excerpt from the donor's page. The full text, annexes and forms are on the original call.
Eligible regions
- eu_only
Who can apply
- academia_research
- private_company
- government
- ngo_cso
- consortium_required
Eligibility and conditions
Show the eligibility text from the source
">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…