Experimentation and exchange of good practices for value creation

Topic updates

13 February 2025

10 October 2024

Call HORIZON-WIDERA-2024-ERA-02 has closed on the 25 September 2024.

91 proposals have been submitted.

The breakdown per topic is:

HORIZON-WIDERA-2024-ERA-02-01: 32 proposals
Evaluation results are expected to be communicated in February 2025

Experimentation and exchange of good practices for value creation

TOPIC ID: HORIZON-WIDERA-2024-ERA-02-01

Type of grant: Call for proposals

General information

Programme: Horizon Europe Framework Programme (HORIZON)

Call: Enhancing the European R&I system (HORIZON-WIDERA-2024-ERA-02)

Type of action: HORIZON-CSA HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions

Type of MGA: HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG]

Status: Open for submission

Deadline model: single-stage

Opening Date: 15 May 2024

Deadline dates: 25 September 2024 17:00 (Brussels time)

Topic description

ExpectedOutcome:

Projects are expected to contribute to the following outcomes:

• Value creation and transfer to the economy and society by increased interlinkages and cooperation between knowledge valorisation actors (academia/research; industry/SMEs; public administration/policy-makers and society/citizens);
• New solutions to societal and economic challenges by stronger uptake and deployment of research results, including through the involvement of citizens and civil society;
• Improvements of structures, strategies, practices and skills for knowledge valorisation through sustainable reforms and new initiatives in line with the ERA Policy Agenda action 7 – Upgrade EU guidance for a better knowledge valorisation, and with the European Council Recommendation on the Guiding Principles for knowledge valorisation^[1].

Scope:

To emerge stronger from the pandemic and address the challenges we are facing, such as climate change, and enable the twin transition, Europe needs to translate available scientific knowledge and research results to innovative solutions, including technological as well as non-technological and social innovations, in the market, in society and for better policy making. To bring existing good practices in knowledge valorisation to support value creation across Europe, we need more experimentation, peer learning and testing of new models as well as trying out good practices in different environments.

Replication and adaptation of best practices is a powerful way to support the design, implementation and evaluation of knowledge valorisation investments and measures that enhance the quality and extent of knowledge uptake at all levels. It involves identifying and taking inspiration from best practices developed across Europe, engaging in an exchange of experiences with peers and connecting to new partners, as well as driving and supporting the set-up of new measures or the reform of existing ones. Cross-border transfer of best practices in knowledge valorisation is challenging because the corresponding strategies, initiatives or tools need to be adapted to a different context and legal and financial framework and take into account skills and competences available in the new setting.

Researchers can play an important role in engaging with citizens and bringing research results into communities that need innovative solutions. This can contribute to making research results more adapted to the needs of citizens and communities, and strengthen the uptake of research by society benefitting both the research communities and the citizens as users and co-creators.

Proposals should address at least one of the following challenges:

1. Experimentation in knowledge valorisation, developing innovative ways to strengthen channels of valorising knowledge and research results, in particular targeting activities that engage citizens together with researchers in producing and taking up innovative solutions.. Within the scope of the topic are schemes and incentives for researchers to engage with society and for citizens and citizens’ groups to engage in knowledge valorisation and promote the co-creation of new solutions and uptake of research results. This can include means to incentivise researchers to engage with society, contributing to a stronger translation of research results to the economy and society through better adaptation to citizens’ needs and collaboration with industry, as well as co-creation of innovation schemes so that citizens’ needs are addressed from the beginning. The experimentation will highlight what works well and under what conditions and what are the barriers and opportunities for greater knowledge valorisation through the collaboration of researchers and citizens;
2. Transfer of best practices in knowledge valorisation, in the area of ‘academia-industry/SME linkages’ or ‘quadruple helix-based innovation’ (i.e., involving academia/research; industry/SMEs; public administration/policy-makers and society/citizens in an ecosystem approach). Consortia are expected to involve partners that implement one or several best practices and partners that plan to introduce a new practice or reform an existing one. The action will lead to tangible change in some or all participating entities in terms of strengthening knowledge valorisation capacities, be it at strategic and/or investment level and/or through the implementation of new or adapted instruments, tools, guidelines, trainings etc. The action can also help develop and prepare knowledge valorisation projects and investments that receive support from the European cohesion policy or the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). If support from the European cohesion policy or the RRF is sought, the concrete measures planned to be taken should be described. Inspiration for best practices can be found in the repository on the EU Knowledge Valorisation Platform.

The involvement of practitioners beyond academic institutions would allow to address the challenges appropriately.

[1]Council Recommendation (EU) 2022/2415 of 2 December 2022 on the guiding principles for knowledge valorisation, ST/14448/2022/INIT; OJ L 317, 9.12.2022.

Topic destination

Reforming and enhancing the EU research and innovation system (2023/24)

Introduction

Horizon Europe has a new level of ambition – to maximise the impact of the European Union's research and innovation funding for European science, the economy and the wider society. It marks a paradigm change in the design of the European R&I framework programmes (FP) from an activity-driven to an impact-driven programme. Coupled to this ambition is the relaunch of the European Research Area (ERA) as described in the Commission Communication “A new ERA for Research and Innovation” (COM/2020/628 final of 30.09.2020).

The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the importance of R&I cooperation to provide solutions to society’s most demanding needs. With the priority on delivering Europe’s recovery as well as on the green and digital twin transitions, a new level of ambition, linking R&I better with the economy, and with education and training, is needed to match these challenges and put scientific knowledge to work.

The new ERA calls for deepening existing priorities and creating new initiatives by strengthening the mobility of researchers and the free flow of knowledge and technology, to improve access to excellence, boost market uptake and prioritise investment and reform. Working together has been the philosophy of the ERA since its launch; however, the green and digital transitions and the COVID recovery call for more and closer cooperation between the Commission, the Member States and stakeholders. They require the setting of new priorities, launching ambitious joint initiatives and developing common approaches between policies.

To address these requirements, Destination 3 of part 11 of the Horizon Europe work programme will support efforts to reform and enhance the European R&I system. Destination 3 is built around four strands corresponding to the four objectives set out in the ERA Communication:

1. Prioritising investments and reforms in research and innovation;
2. Improving access to excellence, progressing towards excellence across the whole EU and striving for stronger research and innovation systems;
3. Translating R&I results into the economy to meet the digital and green transition objectives, and boost the resilience and competitiveness of our economies and societies;
4. Deepening the ERA, to further progress the free circulation of knowledge and to ensure an upgraded, efficient and effective R&I system.

The principle of excellence, meaning that the best researchers with the best ideas that offer the best solutions to the societal challenges obtain funding, remains the cornerstone for all investments under the ERA.

Strand 1 recognises the importance of prioritising investments and reforms to accelerate the green and digital transformation and to increase competitiveness as well as the speed and depth of the recovery. It offers support for policy-makers and addresses the need for better analysis and evidence, including simplifying and facilitating the inter-play between national and European R&I systems.

Strand 2 addresses the need to improve access to excellence and to increase the performance of R&I systems, building on dedicated Horizon Europe measures as well as complementarities with smart specialisation strategies under the Cohesion Policy.

Strand 3 focuses on the importance of translating R&I results into the economy. R&I policies should aim to boost the resilience and competitiveness of our economies and societies.

Strand 4 addresses the challenge of deepening the ERA and includes Open Science, Higher Education and Researchers, Citizen Science, Science Education, Gender and Ethics. It aims at underpinning a new ERA benefitting from knowledge creation, circulation and use. This empowers higher education institutions and research organisations to embrace a transformative process; where a highly skilled workforce can circulate freely; and where research outputs are shared; where gender equality is assured; where the outcomes of R&I are understood, trusted and increasingly used, by educated informed scientists and citizens to the benefit of society.

Expected impact:

Proposals for topics under this Destination should set out a credible pathway to contributing to the following expected impacts, focussing on those that are most relevant to the respective topic:

1. Reform and enhance of the European R&I system;
2. Prioritisation of investments and reforms, accomplish the recovery and the twin transitions;
3. Improved access to excellence;
4. High quality scientific production and stronger translation of R&I results into the economy;
5. Deepen the ERA;
6. Coordinated national and regional R&I programmes by pooling national resources and contributing to the alignment of national research and innovation policies;
7. Improved knowledge for policy making about the networking patterns of research support staff and research management;
8. Synergies between research & innovation and higher education policies and programmes;
9. Modernised higher education sector, adressing higher education, research, and innovation;
10. Increased number of interconnected knowledge ecosystems, strong in knowledge creation, circulation and use;
11. Researchers benefitting from attractive careers;
12. Inclusive gender equality is promoted in the European research and innovation system;
13. A more open and inclusive research and innovation system;
14. Increased capacity in the EU R&I system to conduct open science and to set it as a modus operandi of modern science;
15. Increased engagement of citizens with research and innovation;
16. Increased alignment of strategic research with societal needs, expectations and values;
17. Identify synergies between second and third level education, and between education and business;
18. Increased trust in science and R&I outcomes, and greater two-way communication between science and society;
19. Knowledge and a highly skilled workforce circulate freely;
20. Improved capacities within the EU R&I system to conduct open science.

General conditions

1. Admissibility conditions: described in Annex Aand 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 Bof 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 eligibility conditions: 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

5.Evaluation and award:

• Award criteria, scoring and thresholds are described in Annex Dof the Work Programme General Annexes

• Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual

• 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: described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes

Specific conditions

7. Specific conditions: described in the specific topic of the Work Programme

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To access existing draft proposals for this topic, please login to the Funding & Tenders Portal and select the My Proposals page of the My Area section.

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