Fostering cooperation and integration between SSH and STEM research and innovation in the EU

National Contact Points (NCPs) and Members of the Horizon Europe Programme Committees must avoid any conflict-of-interest situation, even a perceived one.

Members of the Horizon Programme Committees must not participate in any form in any proposal submitted under the Work Programme part/calls where they are assisting the Commission or for which they have received privileged confidential information.

National Contact Points must follow the guiding principles and minimum standards defined in the following document (see section 8, conflict of interest): https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/ncp-guiding-principles_he_en.pdf

It is indeed expected that the consortium maintains the framework. The duration needs to be defined in the proposal. In terms of being handed over to the Commission: the proposal requires a dissemination and exploitation plan.

An SSH partner from an interdisciplinary research institute would potentially have a good background to be a project coordinator for this action, though there are other possible background that would be suitable as well.

It is important that the consortia have both SSH and STEM researchers.

The Horizon-CL2-2026-01 call is using the new lump sum web forms in the Part A section.

If your lump sum budget in Part A contains any cost items in cost category C (‘Purchase costs’) and/or D (‘Other cost categories’), please make sure to justify these items in the comments box for the participant(s) concerned in the respective work package(s) in the Part A (web forms).

The reason is that the proposal template of 2026 calls was simplified, and this information was removed from Part B, bringing it closer to the relevant budget items (i.e. table 3.1h ‘Purchase costs’ has been simplified and only major equipment costs need to be included in Part B of the proposal, while tables 3.1i ‘Other costs categories’ and 3.1j ‘In kind contributions’ are not needed anymore in the proposal Part B).

Please include justification in the comments section of the web form of the concerned beneficiary and work package, if you are in any of the following situations:

• If the sum of the costs for ’travel and subsistence’, ‘equipment’, and ‘other goods, works and services’ (i.e. the purchase costs) exceeds 15% of the personnel costs for a participant. If this is the case, justify the most expensive cost item(s) up to the level that the remaining costs are below 15% of personnel costs.
• If other cost categories (e.g. internally invoiced goods and services) are used. The full amount is to be justified.
• If in-kind contributions are used (non-financial resources made available free of charge by third parties, which must be included as direct costs in the corresponding cost category, e.g. personnel costs or purchase costs for equipment). The full amount is to be justified.

Please visit the Horizon Europe page dedicated to lump sum funding, look for the latest webinar, guidance documents or practical suggestions on the preparation of the lump sum budget.

Yes, all topics of the call Horizon-CL2-2026-01 use lump sum funding.

In this call the previous Excel annex is integrated in the Part A section of the application form.

The proposal must contain a completed detailed budget section in the Part A section. Please make sure that the table contains all participants, list of work packages, and that you complete the detailed budget calculations together with the person months for each participant per work package, besides any depreciation costs.

The new web form uses a new layout and navigation, but contains the same information as the previously used versions.

For beneficiaries receiving an operating grant, indirect costs are not eligible. Although the indirect costs are automatically calculated and added to the totals, the applicant with an operating grant should adjust the amount entered in the budget table by subtracting the indirect costs in the Requested EU Contribution. Applicants are expected to explain this in the comments section of the budget calculations. If the proposal is selected for funding, the indirect costs calculated automatically by the system will be adjusted accordingly in the requested amount.

Please read the guidance included in the proposal template (part B) of Horizon with regard to the use of generative AI tools for the preparation of the proposal af_he-csa_en.pdfPDF.

When considering the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools for the preparation of the proposal, it is imperative to exercise caution and careful consideration. The AI-generated content should be thoroughly reviewed and validated by the applicants to ensure its appropriateness and accuracy, as well as its compliance with intellectual property regulations. Applicants are fully responsible for the content of the proposal (even those parts produced by the AI tool) and must be transparent in disclosing which AI tools were used and how they were utilized.

Specifically, applicants are required to:

• Verify the accuracy, validity, and appropriateness of the content and any citations generated by the AI tool and correct any errors or inconsistencies.

• Provide a list of sources used to generate content and citations, including those generated by the AI tool. Double-check citations to ensure they are accurate and properly referenced.

• Be conscious of the potential for plagiarism where the AI tool may have reproduced substantial text from other sources. Check the original sources to be sure you are not plagiarizing someone else’s work.

• Acknowledge the limitations of the AI tool in the proposal preparation, including the potential for bias, errors, and gaps in knowledge.

Please visit the IT HOW TO related to proposal submission on webgate.ec.europa.eu.

Please refer to the guidance included in the proposal template (part B)as regards the use of generative AI tools for the preparation of the proposal: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/temp-form/af/af_he-csa_en.pdf (See point ‘Guidance on the use of generative AI tools for the preparation of the proposal’)

The applicant needs to decide who the relevant stakeholders are in their proposal.

The applicant needs to decide which R&I policies (publicly available to research) are relevant.

Despite the absence of a bullet point before the last sentence in this section, it should indeed be treated as the third expected outcome to which projects should contribute.

This is part of expected outcomes of the projects; hence, it is part of the work for the consortium.