The largest part of the Horizon Europe Programme is dedicated to turning the results of excellent research into innovative solutions that will improve citizens’ daily lives by tackling global challenges.
Known as ‘Pillar II: Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness’, it encourages cross-disciplinary, cross-sectoral, cross-policy and cross-border collaboration in pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals by following the principles of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and the competitiveness of the EU’s industries.
Open and upcoming calls are divided into six thematic clusters, each with its own bi-annual work programme, and a series of ‘EU Missions’, which are collected in another bi-annual work programme. The SLU Grants Office usually receives drafts of upcoming work programmes (only accessible to SLU staff), and there may be opportunities for you to provide comments. If you would be interested in doing so, please contact the Grants Office (grantsoffice@slu.se).
The thematic clusters and EU Missions are:
Each thematic cluster is divided into a series of ‘destinations’, further divided into individual topics or calls for proposals. You can read about the motivation, priorities and expected impacts for each destination in the work programmes. All projects funded under each destination should be inspired by these priorities and contribute to achieving one or more of the expected impacts
The calls are ‘top-down’, meaning that the challenge you must address has already been defined, and you should devise the best solution. Each call will indicate the maximum budget and the ‘type of action’, which means the form of the grant. There are three types of grant, all requiring collaboration between at least three partners (organisations) from three different countries – although there are usually more.
SLU is always entitled to 100% of our direct costs plus an additional 25% towards indirect costs. However, there are slightly different rules for other kinds of partners, depending on the type of grant:
For SLU, there will almost certainly be a gap between the indirect costs funded by the grant and our actual indirect costs - therefore, you must arrange co-funding.
SLU leadership currently prioritises RIAs, so you can apply for central co-funding when SLU is the project coordinator. For IAs and CSAs, or when SLU is a partner in an RIA, you may be eligible for three-part co-funding (department + faculty + central). Co-funding priorities are reviewed annually, so please make sure to check the latest list of prioritised grants, eligibility criteria, and application process in SLU’s co-funding guidelines.
All calls are announced on the European Commission’s Funding & Tenders Portal, and this is also where you create and submit your application if you are the coordinator. You will always be asked to provide SLU’s Participant Identification Code (PIC) - our PIC is 999887350. If you are a partner in another organisation’s proposal, they will create the application, and you should provide them with SLU’s PIC.
Via the F&T Portal, you can download many reference documents, including a comprehensive Horizon Europe Programme Guide, copies of the latest work programmes, and standard templates. Once you register a draft application in the F&T Portal, you will be able to download an editable version of the proposal template, which may include amendments specific to the call – make sure always to base your proposal on this version.
The application process can be one- or two-stage – this will be specified in the call text. The application consists of an online form and one or more proposal parts, which you upload as pdfs. Each partner must fill in part of the online form with administrative information. The coordinator must add other information to the online form, for example, an abstract, ethics declarations and budgetary data. They must also upload all proposal parts and submit the application.
Stage 1 applications are 10 pages long (plus the online form). Single- or second-stage applications are 45 pages long for RIAs and IAs, and 30 pages for CSAs (plus the online form). Occasionally a particular call may ask for extra information and extend the page limit (e.g. so-called 'lump-sum' projects) or ask for an additional annexe (e.g. projects including 'grants to third parties'). Make sure to check the call text carefully for such instructions. Please note that if the call text does not ask for letters of support/commitment, you must not include them, as the evaluators will disregard them. You must observe the page limit – any additional pages will be automatically removed upon submission and not seen by the evaluators.
There are strict deadlines for Horizon Europe applications indicated in each call. The submission system in the F&T Portal will close at the deadline (usually at 17:00 CET), and late submissions are not accepted. Make sure to submit your application in good time – the F&T Portal can become busy and slow in the hours before the deadline, so a last-minute submission is risky. You can submit and re-submit your application as many times as you want before the deadline, so it is a good idea to submit a version you are happy with a week early and then re-submit as you refine and make final edits. Only your final submission will be evaluated.
If you are interested in applying, the Grants Office can answer your questions and, in some cases, offer one-to-one support:
We have prepared a guide to completing the online form for RIAs, IAs and CSAs. This guidance is aimed at proposal coordinators, but you will also find helpful advice if you are participating as a partner in another organisation’s proposal and have been asked to complete part of the online form.
Please also check out our comprehensive proposal writing advice (applicable to any funder).
The European Commission offers a lot of guidance to help you understand their funding programmes and prepare your application:
All Cluster and EU Missions calls are motivated by one or more European/global strategies or policies. You must identify these from the call text and align your project with relevant priorities and targets. Here, we provide links to some of the most important for SLU:
SLU's legal affairs unit is responsible for providing support in legal and contractual matters; you can contact them via juridik@slu.se.
You will report your project expenses and results to the European Commission via their Funding & Tenders Portal.
At SLU, it is usually the department's responsibility to provide support during the implementation and administration of projects, including handling financial issues. Each department has a dedicated person with the administrative role 'project finance', with the main task of supporting the implementation and reporting of research projects.
The university administration's support for project accounting and financial reporting to funding bodies primarily comes from the Division of Financial Administration via projektekonomi@slu.se.
The Grants Office can advise you on the functionality of the Funding & Tenders Portal and appropriate templates to use (e.g. timesheets, project reporting, audits).
All Horizon Europe projects have specific data management and open access responsibilities. You can find details and guidance in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.
If you have questions or need some help with data management in your project, please book a 'Data Date' with someone from Data Management Support, or contact them at dms@slu.se.
Fiona Reid – Uppsala
Research Coordinator
fiona.reid@slu.se
+46 18-67 32 42
+46 72-2288689
Ulf Westerlund – Uppsala
Research Coordinator
ulf.westerlund@slu.se
+46 18-67 20 57
+46 72-4506696
Hallvard Wie – Uppsala
Research Advisor
hallvard.wie@slu.se
+46 18-67 12 88
+46 76-7645390