Pillar II: Talent ecosystems for attractive early research careers

Scope: The topic supports consortia in creating ‘talent ecosystems’, cohesive and interdependent systems, where a balanced composition of both education and training providers and employers of researchers, especially from the non-academic sector, cooperate closely to promote attractive and sustainable careers for researchers, in particular for early-career researchers, tailored to the needs of the research labour market. To facilitate the formation of a balanced consortium, the inclusion of associated partners is encouraged . The consortium is also encouraged to extend the scope of the talent ecosystem by cooperating with additional organisations outside the consortium during the course of the action. Applicants should in their proposal, clearly identify the thematic area they plan to address, choosing from the ones outlined below and specify the precise thematic scope within the selected area: Area 1. Clean Transition: Energy and transport Area 2. Health Area 3. Biotech, agriculture and bioeconomy Area 4. Digital and AI technologies Area 5. Space Researchers at organisational level and other R&I staff should be trained according to the needs of businesses, industry, and, more generally, to the needs of the labour market, while also ensuring that latest research findings are included in the curricula of early-career researchers. This should help close existing gaps between R&I talents and the labour market, ensuring that businesses and industry benefit from a substantial and highly skilled workforce, especially in emerging sectors with high demand for talent or specific R&I skills. Cooperation should create conditions for interoperable careers for researchers and for continuous and multidirectional talent circulation between the various sectors within the ecosystem. The talent ecosystems and the cooperation among participants are expected to be designed to last beyond the duration of the project and benefit researchers and other R&I staff both within the consortium and beyond. Participating organisations are expected to have received the HR Excellence in Research Award [4] or commit to applying the new Charter for Researchers and commit to its implementation (i.e., start the process towards the Award) within the grant duration, as far as relevant for their operations related to the employment of researchers [5] . This action does not support salaries and mobility of individual researchers or teams of researchers. Activities may include (non-exhaustive list) mapping challenges, developing action plans to bring the organisations in line with the Charter for Researchers, upskilling (including on the basis of ResearchComp and RM Comp ), involving the non-academic sector in the design and implementation of training programmes for researchers and other R&I staff, establishing career development and mentoring services, developing services for the well-being of researchers and other R&I staff, creating conditions for interoperable careers between countries and sectors, supporting incoming mobile researchers, networking and relationship-building to connect talent ecosystem partners, and outreach activities to attract international researchers to the ecosystem. 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 , and setting out practical measures to ensure complementarity, interoperability, user signposting and coherent communication. This should ensure that activities reinforce rather than duplicate existing European-level support. This also entails structured cooperation with the already existing pilot projects funded under HORIZON-WIDERA-2024-ERA-02-03 and this projects that will be funded under this call. Expected project duration is up to 3 years without prejudice to a longer duration if justified. [1] Council Recommendation of 18 December 2023 on a European framework to attract and retain research, innovation and entrepreneurial talents in Europe; includes Charter for Researchers, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/C/2023/1640/oj . [2] A talent ecosystem could for instance 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. [3] See projects funded under HORIZON-WIDERA-2024-ERA-02-03 . [4] https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/hrexcellenceaward . [5] The European Charter for Researchers, while being applicable to all organisations employing researchers, is particularly relevant for those organisations which, because of their size, structure, and number of researchers employed, need to have dedicated expertise, capacity, and resources to manage and implement institutional human resources strategies and policies. This is typically linked to those organisations having a human resources department.

Eligibility and submission conditions

"> General conditions 1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout 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 Applications must be submitted by a consortium including participation, as beneficiaries, of at least three independent legal entities: Each established in a different Member State or Associated Country; and two of which are established in a Member State. 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 To ensure a balanced portfolio covering different thematic areas, as outlined in the scope, grants will 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. 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. 6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025) [This [decision is available on the Funding and Tenders Portal, in the reference documents section for Horizon Europe, under ‘Simplified costs decisions’ or through this link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/ls-decision_he_en.pdf ]]. described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific conditions described in the specific topic of the Work Programme. Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA): Application form templates — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System Standard application form (HE CSA) Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations   Standard evaluation form (HE CSA)   Guidance HE Programme Guide   Model Grant Agreements (MGA) Lump Sum MGA   Call-specific instructions   Detailed budget table (HE LS)   Guidance: "Lump sums - what do I need to know?" Additional documents: HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 11. Widening participation and strengthening the European Research Area HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 15. General Annexes HE Programme Guide HE Framework Programme 2021/695 HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764 EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509 Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual   Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions   Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement

Programme context

The guiding policy framework of this destination is the Communication "A New ERA for Research and Innovation" [1] , the Council Recommendation on the Pact for Research and Innovation in Europe (Pact for R&I) [2] , and the European Research Area (ERA) Policy Agenda (2025-2027) [3] . The funded actions will strengthen the ERA by promoting the freedom of movement of researchers, scientific knowledge, and technology and by providing new evidence for better-informed policymaking. More details on the ERA policy framework are in the introduction to the WIDERA work programme 2026-2027. The EU Member States, Associated Countries, R&I stakeholders, and the Commission work together to implement the ERA. This process is steered by the ERA Policy Agenda, which identifies specific ERA Actions (time-limited initiatives) and Structural Policies (long-term policies) designed to tackle concrete challenges faced by R&I communities in Europe. This work programme is designed to support this process. The funded actions will build knowledge and capacities at the level of institutions and ecosystems to adopt reforms and practices in line with the ERA Policy Agenda, thereby contributing to the implementation of the ERA. The destination will be implemented in synergy with the European Higher Education Area and the European Education Area, especially in relation to R&I careers and institutional changes in universities and research organisations. Several call topics and other actions will also contribute to the implementation of the European framework for research careers [4] . The destination includes two calls with 13 topics in total as well as other actions, targeting a wide range of R&I stakeholders, e.g., universities, research performing and funding organisations, research evaluation agencies, networks of researchers, publishers, industry and start-ups, policymakers, local authorities, and public bodies. The effective contribution of social sciences and humanities (SSH) disciplines is encouraged under this destination, including the involvement of SSH experts, institutions, and the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise, to enhance the societal impact of project activities. The ERA Platform showcases results from Horizon Europe-funded projects, making them available to a wide range of stakeholders to facilitate progress in ERA policy areas. Applicants are encouraged to consider these results as well as propose new tools, resources, and visual material that can be featured on the platform. All topics in the 2026 and 2027 ERA calls are organised around four pillars, designed to enable the funded projects to strengthen R&I capacities across four complementary dimensions while addressing selected ERA Actions and Structural Policies. The table below summarises this approach, making it easier for applicants to choose their preferred policy area and type of activity. Each call topic title refers to its corresponding pillar. 2026 and 2027 ERA calls: pillar structure Pillar I: Institutional changes for ERA Pillar II: Ecosystems for ERA Type: coordination and support actions Focus: capacity building and support to foster adoption of ERA policies/practices within institutions. Activity types: providing tools, resources, training, services, and policy advice. Policy areas: Equity in open science Inclusive gender equality Research assessment reform Research ethics and integrity Open access policies Type: coordination and support actions Focus: building and reinforcing networks and partnerships to foster broad uptake of ERA policies/practices. Activity types: exchanging knowledge and practice, networking and cooperative actions. Policy areas: Research ethics and integrity Environmentally sustainable science Knowledge valorisation Open science practices Research careers Pillar III: Citizens and science in ERA Pillar IV: New knowledge for ERA Type: coordination and support actions Focus: connecting R&I with citizens and other stakeholders. Activity types: implementing and promoting participatory approaches, such as citizen engagement and citizen science. Policy areas: Trust in science Knowledge valorisation Citizen and societal engagement Type: research and innovation actions Focus: creating new knowledge that supports design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and practices. Activity types: conducting analyses, developing and testing new methods and practices. Policy areas: Reproducibility in research Research ethics and integrity Inclusive gender equality Research careers Global approach to R&I Proposals under this destination should set out a credible pathway to one or several of the following expected impacts: Effective and sustainable structural institutional changes aligned with the ERA priorities; Sustainable ecosystems established around the ERA priorities through enhanced cooperation, coordination and alignment; Increased trust in science and alignment of R&I with society’s needs; Strengthened evidence base for advancing the implementation of the ERA; Increased reproducibility, trustworthiness and transparency of scientific research; A more open, equitable and inclusive research and innovation ecosystem; A research ethics and integrity ecosystem continually enhanced with robust methodologies that encourage benefit sharing and prevent ethics dumping; Systemic reform of research assessment through the recognition of the diverse outputs, practices, and activities which maximise the quality and impact of research; Improved research careers and mobility, based on the European framework for research careers, fostering knowledge flows and career interoperability across sectors and countries; Stronger translation of R&I results into society and economy; Enhanced gender equality and inclusiveness, leading to research excellence and more innovative, socially relevant, and economically impactful outcomes; Increased uptake, effectiveness and impact of environmentally sustainable research; More resilient and future-proof R&I policies and long-term strategies with effectively integrated strategic intelligence and strengthened foresight communities; A more strategic, coherent, and evidence-based approach towards cooperation with China in the area of science, technology, and innovation. [1] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52020DC0628&from=EN . [2] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32021H2122 . [3] https://european-research-area.ec.europa.eu/era-policy-agenda-2025-2027 . [4] Council Recommendation of 18 December 2023 on a European framework to attract and retain research, innovation and entrepreneurial talents in Europe, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/C/2023/1640/oj .

Hivatkozott dokumentumok

Annex A Horizon Europe Programme Guide Online Manual [This [decision Standard application form (HE CSA) Standard evaluation form (HE CSA) Lump Sum MGA Detailed budget table (HE LS) Guidance: "Lump sums - what do I need to know?" HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 11. Widening participation and strengthening the European Research Area Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions