Pillar III: European Citizens' Hackathon Championship

Different uptake pathways can be included, as different pathways may be more appropriate for different types of innovative solutions, different challenges being addressed and so on. Societal uptake is included. However, research continuation is not considered uptake of the innovative solution.

In calls under the WIDERA Destination “Reforming and enhancing the European research and innovation system”, there are no specific conditions with respect to the involvement of legal entities from Widening countries.

Subcontracting is also allowed for the post-hackathon follow-up support that the winners of each year’s Championship receive, as for other parts of the action. In particular, the WP defines that subcontracting is not restricted to a limited part of the action for HORIZON-WIDERA-2026-06-ERA-06. However, when subcontracting is used, it should be sufficiently well described and justified in the proposal. The applicants need to explain why they are not able to carry out some tasks, and, therefore, they need to subcontract them to another entity. In the case of the post hackathon follow up support, the consortium remains responsible for the follow up plan, since this is considered a core task of the action.

While there is no strict upper limit, the consortium should remain manageable while ensuring it covers the full value chain of the competition. The call explicitly invites municipalities, regional/city councils, research organisations, and business/innovation centres.

Importantly, the consortium must go beyond event organisation. It must include partners capable of upscaling knowledge valorisation capacities. This means including entities that can support the ‘market uptake’ of solutions after the hackathon ends (e.g., investors, accelerators, industrial partners). The cities hosting the yearly European-level hackathons must be members or associated partners of the consortium.

The Championship needs to ensure a level playing field for all participants, as it awards the European Champions each year. Therefore, local organisers need to share a common methodology and criteria for implementation of the local hackathons. Some flexibility can be allowed to accommodate local needs, without creating unfair conditions for the whole competition.

Proposals should describe their contribution to the expected outcomes listed in the topic text. This contribution may be facilitated by different methods, including for example, learnings and actions for sustainability, capacity, and societal engagement, to be described in the proposal.

The themes should address ‘issues that affect people’s lives’ and be driven by societal needs. Proposals do not need to finalise all themes upfront. Instead, the proposal should outline a methodology for identifying these challenges.

According to the call, the theme of the first annual competition must be delivered for approval within 3 months of the project start. Themes for the second and third years will be agreed upon with the granting authority in months 14 and 26, respectively.

The specific added value of this call topic is the ‘transdisciplinary’ nature of the teams. Unlike standard talent competitions, this action mandates that researchers and citizens work together in joint teams.

The objective is not just innovation but increasing ‘trust in science’ and aligning R&I with society’s values. Citizens are active co-creators bringing real-world problems to the table, while researchers provide the scientific basis to solve them. Synergies should be sought with initiatives like ‘Science comes to town’, but the core differentiator is this active citizen-researcher collaboration to drive knowledge valorisation.

The call explicitly states that the goal is the ‘stronger translation of R&I results into society and economy’. Therefore, the project requires a comprehensive lifecycle approach.

It is not enough to generate ideas; the proposal must describe a plan for ‘supporting winning teams in the uptake of their solutions’. This includes mentoring, business/technical advice, and training to enter the market. The project must aim to create new businesses and startups, connecting teams with investors and industrial developers to ensure the solutions are sustainable and scalable.

The follow-up plans for supporting the winning teams in the uptake of innovative solutions is an important part of the quality of the proposals to be considered at evaluation. As stated in the topic text “Proposals should describe the plan for rolling out the competition over three consecutive years and supporting winning teams in the uptake of their solutions”. The supporting, follow-up actions are expected during the project, and can extend in the following year (or years) after the competition, so that the winners of one year are supported by follow-up actions in the following year(s).