Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
Horizon Europe is the European Union (EU) funding programme for the period 2021 – 2027, which targets the sectors of research and innovation. The programme’s budget is around € 95.5 billion, of which € 5.4 billion is from NextGenerationEU to stimulate recovery and strengthen the EU’s resilience in the future, and € 4.5 billion is additional aid.
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
Excellence hubs are part of the European Excellence Initiative and complement the science-oriented schemes Teaming, Twinning, ERA Chairs and the European Excellence Initiative for universities by a dedicated innovation component. Excellence hubs will focus on innovation by allowing innovation ecosystems in Widening countries and beyond, to team up and create better linkages between academia, business, government and society. This will foster a real place-based innovation culture in Widening countries based on a strategic agenda aligned with regional or national smart specialisation strategies.
This action responds to the third priority in the ERA communication on translating R&I results into the economy and will especially support R&I policies aiming at boosting the resilience and competitiveness of our economies and societies. This means ensuring European competitive leadership in the global race for technology based on excellence while improving the environment for business R&I investment, deployment of new technologies and enhancing the take up and visibility of research results in the economy and society as a whole. This action addresses regions as R&I actors since they are the place where the innovation and industrial ecosystems breathe and develop, making the links between Europe and business including SMEs and start-ups, research centres, innovation stakeholders as well as citizens.
Detailed Call Description
Projects should be established around a coherent and well proportioned package of the following core components:
- Cross-border joint R&I strategy aligned with regional smart specialisation strategies and/or European policy priorities such as the green and digital transition;
- R&I project consolidating academia business linkages and providing evidence for strategy building and investment: The research component should be developed by joint pilot research projects in a domain covered by the joint strategy that should facilitate long-term cross border and inter-sectoral collaborative links between partners notably academia and business and advancement in science and technology development with market potential. In particular R&I projects should serve the purpose to close knowledge gaps and develop evidence to underpin the development of the strategy and the investment plans. The description of R&I content should include a long-term vision beyond the state of the art of the chosen R&I domain;
- Action and investment plans for the implementation of the strategy including the development of business models for innovative products, service and processes to ensure the sustainability of the action beyond the project’s life time, leveraging national, regional and European funds as well as private (venture) capital. Investment plans may include pertinent R&I infrastructures as well as demonstrators and pilots;
- Conceptual design and pre-planning for pilots and demonstrators (if applicable) in line with the strategy and if applicable based on the outcome of the R&I component. However, the realisation of such pilots and demonstrators must be financed by other sources in particular programmes co-financed by the ERDF, INTERREG, IPA or similar.
- Accompanying measures are complementary activities that may promote knowledge and technology transfer, visibility, mutual learning and skills development especially in research and innovation management and entrepreneurship for creation of start-ups as well as citizen engagement. Mutual secondments and staff exchange within and between ecosystems should help to build trust and long-term collaborative links;
- Optional: Mentoring of an emerging place-based innovation ecosystem established in rural areas, Western Balkans or Eastern Partnership Countries including Ukraine. Legal entities from such countries and regions are encouraged to join the project as participants in order to benefit from mentoring, training, knowledge transfer even if their ecosystems are not yet developed to a full quadruple helix structure. This mentoring module does not count for the minimum condition of having at least two fully-fledged quadruple helix innovation ecosystems.
Ecosystems or individual partners from outside the Widening countries may participate in the consortium as long as they prove added value by facilitating access to excellence for the Widening countries. Proposals should convincingly demonstrate the relevance of the chosen scientific domain by its alignment with regional (in particular RIS3), national and/or European R&I strategies and policy priorities.
Excellence hubs as a new action under the widening component are complementary but different to initiatives such as Digital hubs or the EIT regional innovation scheme (RIS) because of their strategic orientation, broader scope and alignment with widening eligibility criteria.
Proposals should illustrate quantitatively and qualitatively the expected potential impact of the project and its expected results in terms of new local and international research and innovation partnerships including business, institutional and/or R&I system changes (various levels), increased research and innovation intensity (i.e., new scientific publications directly linked to the project’s area, protected intellectual assets, marketable products and solutions).
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
The Commission estimates that an EU contribution of between €2 000 000 and €5 000 000 would allow these outcomes to be addressed appropriately. For proposals also including the optional mentoring scheme, the Commission estimates that an EU contribution of up to €6000 000 would allow the outcome to be addressed appropriately.
The funding rate for the Coordination and Support Actions (CSA) is 100%.
Thematic Categories
- Education and training
- Enlargement
- New Entrepreneurship
- Public Administration
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
Eligibility for Participation
- Educational Institutions
- Other Beneficiaries
- Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
- Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
Eligibility For Participation Notes
Applicants may choose between a more regional orientation e.g., proven by a common denominator in their regional smart specialisation strategy and/or a more global orientation towards European policy priorities such as the green or digital transition.
- Proposals must be submitted by a consortium.
- Proposals must involve at least two Widening Country R&I ecosystems.
Each Widening Country R&I ecosystem must comprise four different categories of actors i.e.
- academic institutions (universities and/or non-university research centres or labs),
- business entities (active established firms with relevant revenues),
- public authorities or authorised agencies operating at regional or local level and
- societal actors (civil society organisations, associations, 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 representative 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 (no start-up) with significant and proven operational turnover. More specifically, such business entities need to provide evidence for being established for already at least two consecutive years e.g., by balance sheets and/or business reports to be annexed to the proposal.
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
National Contact Point(s)
Research and Innovation Foundation
29a Andrea Michalakopoulou, 1075 Nicosia,
P.B. 23422, 1683 Nicosia
Telephone: +357 22205000
Fax: +357 22205001
Email: support@research.org.cy
Website: https://www.research.org.cy/en/
Contact Persons:
Dr. Kalypso Sepou
Head of the departement
Email: kalypso@research.org.cy
Marsia Trillidou
Scientific Officer Α’
Email: trillidou@research.org.cy
Konstantina Makri
Scientific Officer
Email: cmakri@research.org.cy
Dr Mary Οikonomou
Scientific Officer
Email: meconomou@research.org.cy