Horizon Europe’s first calls for proposals on “ERA Chairs” and “Excellence Hubs” closed on 15 March. Both calls aroused huge interest.
For the call ERA Chairs (HORIZON-WIDERA-2022-TALENTS-01-01) the European Research Executive Agency (REA) received 90 proposals for a total requested contribution of over € 216 million. 32 projects are expected to be funded with an estimated EU contribution of € 1.5-2.5 million per project.
ERA Chairs focus on institutional changes and increase in research capacity. They support universities or research organizations from eligible countries, to attract and maintain high quality human resources and help scientists and their teams to become game changers in their field.
For the Excellence Hubs (HORIZON-WIDERA-2022-ACCESS-04-01) REA received 102 proposals for a total requested contribution of over € 465 million. 10-15 projects are expected to be funded with an estimated EU contribution of € 3-5 million per project.
Excellence Hubs are a novelty introduced by Horizon Europe. This action aims to foster innovation ecosystems in Widening countries and beyond, creating better linkages between academia, business, government and society.
The evaluation of the proposals starts next week with the support of external independent evaluators drawn from the European Commission’s database of experts.
REA will communicate results to both ERA Chairs and Excellence Hubs applicants in July, and will sign the grant agreement for successful proposals in November.
Other calls from “Widening participation and strengthening the European Research Area” can be found here. To stay updated and informed, please subscribe to the Widening newsletter.
