Pillar II: Talent ecosystems for attractive early research careers

This grant aims to create and enhance talent ecosystems across Europe to support attractive and sustainable early research careers. Projects will foster improved research career mobility, employability, well-being, and skills development for researchers and other R&I staff, in line with the European framework for research careers and the European Charter for Researchers. Close and coordinated cooperation between public and private sector organizations is supported to establish conditions for researcher career interoperability, enable career development opportunities, and attract both international and European diaspora talents. Supported activities include mapping challenges, developing organizational action plans aligned with the Charter for Researchers, upskilling, designing and implementing training programs in partnership with non-academic sectors, establishing career development and mentoring services, and outreach to attract international researchers. Talent ecosystems may be sector-specific or cross-sectoral, and are required to be sustainable beyond the project's duration. The action does not support individual researchers’ salaries or mobility.

Check your compatibility

Agency	HORIZON (EU)
Region	EU
Country	N/A
Legal form	Company, NGO, Government organization, Other
Start date	8 Dec 2026
End date	11 Mar 2027
Max funding	Expected minimum contribution per grant: 2,000,000 EUR, Expected maximum contribution per grant: 4,000,000 EUR
Budget	29,000,000 EUR for this grant action in 2027
Coverage	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.

Grant application conditions

Eligible Applicants	Applications must be submitted by a consortium including at least three independent legal entities Each participant entity must be established in a different EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country At least two entities must be established in an EU Member State
Geographical Eligibility	A consortium must include participants from different EU Member States or Associated Countries. Certain non-EU/non-Associated Countries may participate if they make funding available for their participants.
Legal Form Eligibility	Applicants may include public or private organizations (including companies, NGOs, government organizations, and others) that employ or train researchers.
Award and Evaluation Criteria	Detailed award criteria, scoring, and thresholds are described in the respective annexes of the Horizon Europe Work Programme.
Organizational Commitment	Participating organizations are expected to have received the HR Excellence in Research Award or commit to applying and implementing the European Charter for Researchers during the grant period.
Project Duration	Expected up to 3 years, longer if justified.
Other	Proposals must adhere to the admissibility and eligibility conditions described in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide, including page limits and required application layouts.
Documentation	https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/HORIZON-WIDERA-2027-05-ERA-02

Eligible expenses

Evaluation criteria

Business exclusions

Reporting

Application process

Application requirements