Excellence Hubs

Eligible costs include activities for designing and implementing a cross-border joint R&I strategy, investment planning, business model development for commercial sustainability, pilot and demonstration projects (pre-planning and conceptual design), strengthening academia-business collaboration (including joint research and knowledge transfer), skills training, visibility studies, mutual learning, staff exchanges, and engagement activities with local governments and citizens.

Financial support to third parties (SMEs/start-ups) in the form of grants up to €60,000 per third party.

Proposals will be evaluated according to standard Horizon Europe award criteria and scoring thresholds.

Priority given to geographical diversity: proposals with coordinators established in a Widening country not otherwise represented at higher rank will be prioritized.

Ranking of equally scored proposals follows the method in General Annexes Part F of Horizon Europe Work Programme.

Clarity of impact, creation of sustainable R&I ecosystems, joint R&I strategies and investment plans, engagement with key actors (academia, business, government, society), and demonstrated synergies with related EU initiatives.

No sector-specific business exclusions are mentioned, but the beneficiary and third party must comply with Horizon Europe general and financial capacity requirements.

Beneficiaries must provide evidence of business entity turnover (at least two consecutive years) during submission.

Progress and financial reporting are expected as per the Model Grant Agreement (MGA) in Horizon Europe.

Single-stage application process via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Use the standard Horizon Europe CSA application form (limit: 40 pages).

Include all required annexes including business documentation (e.g., balance sheets, business reports in EU official language).

Completed application form (max 40 pages).

Consortium should include at least two R&I ecosystems, each with required quadruple helix actors.

Demonstration of eligibility: proof of business entity turnover (for each ecosystem, at least one firm with two consecutive years operational turnover and supporting documentation).

Documentation demonstrating legal and financial capacity as required by Horizon Europe.

Detailed work plan, including strategy for synergy with relevant EU initiatives and plan for securing matching (30%) funding.