The Research and Innovation Foundation (RIF) wishes to remind interested parties of the possibility to submit Proposals to the Call for Proposals “Teaming for Excellence” (Topic ID: HORIZON-WIDERA-2023-ACCESS-01-01-two-stage), which is included in the Horizontal Priority “Widening Participation & Strengthening the European Research Area (Widening Participation & Strengthening the ERA)” of the EU Framework Program. for Research and Innovation “Horizon Europe” 2021-2027.

More specifically, the Teaming for Excellence Program is part of the first Unit which is about Broadening Participation and Spreading Excellence. The main objective of the Program is focused on supporting the creation of new Centers of Excellence or the serious upgrading of existing ones in countries with low performance in Research & Innovation (identified as ‘widening’ countries), based on collaborations between leading scientific institutions in Europe (advanced partners / leading institutions) and institutions (main beneficiaries) in countries with low R&D performance.

Proposals under the Teaming for Excellence Call are submitted in two stages (Stage 1 & Stage 2). For this Call, with a total Budget of 174 million Euros, the deadline for the submission of Proposals for the first stage (Stage 1) has been set as April 12, 2023, 17:00 Brussels time. For the second stage (Stage 2), the deadline for the submission of Proposals is March 7, 2024 and 17:00 Brussels time. Each Project can have a budget of 8.00-15.00 million Euros and a maximum duration of 6 years.

It is worth to mention that the Horizontal Priority “Widening Participation & Strengthening the European Research Area (Widening Participation & Strengthening the ERA)”, to which the above Call falls, is divided into two main Sections: the first Section concerns “Widening Participation and the Dissemination of Excellence” and the second Unit which concerns the “Strengthening of the European Research Area”. Through this Priority the European Commission (E.E) aims to address the inequalities presented in the community at the scientific level through measures specifically designed to support countries with low performance in Research and Innovation. It also aims to support the European Research Area’s policy priorities of boosting investment, improving access to Excellence and transferring research results to the economy, thus helping member countries to make progress on their Research Investment target and Innovation of the order of 3% of their GDP.

The RIF can support interested parties in the proposal preparation process, through the provision of advisory support and preview services. For the purposes of better planning, interested parties should send their proposal as soon as possible and no later than March 22, 2023, having contacted the  RIF in advance. For more information, those interested can contact the competent National Contact Point of Cyprus for the ‘Widening Participation & Strengthening the ERA’ Program and in particular for the ‘Teaming for Excellence’ Invitation, contact Ms Konstantina Makri (tel: 22205054, email: cmakri@research.org.cy).