Excellence Hubs

Open EU call topic HORIZON-WIDERA-2027-04-WIDENING-01 · HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions. Part of call HORIZON-WIDERA-2027-04: Excellence Hubs. Next deadline 2027-03-04. Topic page: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/HORIZON-WIDERA-2027-04-WIDENING-01

Expected Outcome: Excellence Hubs allow innovation ecosystems in Widening countries and beyond, to team up and create better linkages between academia, business, government and society. This will foster a place-based innovation culture in Widening countries based on a strategic agenda aligned with regional or national smart specialisation strategies, and clearly identified expectations for economic and societal impacts. Projects should contribute to the following outcomes: - Excellent and sustainable regional R&I ecosystems in Widening countries and beyond in relevant domains of cutting-edge science and innovation; - Long term joint R&I strategies underpinned by concrete action plans of European relevance; - Common investment plans for R&I, including infrastructures, leveraging national, regional and European funds as well as private capital in a synergetic manner; - R&I pilot projects alongside a joint strategy and in line with regional and national strategies, notably regional innovation strategies for smart specialisation (RIS3); - New competencies and skills for researchers, entrepreneurs and professionals in R&I intensive domains; - Strengthened linkages between science, businesses and society; - New business opportunities for SMEs, university spin-offs and start-ups, especially in deep tech areas.

Scope: The projects will foster a regional innovation culture in Widening countries, aligned with regional or national smart specialization strategies. Consortia should seek synergies and avoid overlaps with relevant initiatives such as European Innovation Ecosystems, EIC Pathfinder, the KICs of the European Institute of Innovation & Technology…