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Overview
Cluster 6 es la parte de Horizon Europe, el programa de investigación e innovación de la UE dotado con 95.500 millones de euros, que financia la transición ecológica de cómo Europa produce alimentos, gestiona la tierra y el agua, y convierte los recursos biológicos en valor. Respalda proyectos colaborativos (un «consorcio» es una asociación de organizaciones de distintos países que trabajan sobre una misma subvención) en siete temas: biodiversidad y ecosistemas, sistemas alimentarios justos y saludables, economía circular y bioeconomía, contaminación cero, acción climática en tierra y mar, comunidades rurales y costeras, y gobernanza medioambiental y soluciones digitales. El programa de trabajo 2026-2027, adoptado el 11 de diciembre de 2025, cuenta con un presupuesto indicativo de aproximadamente 1.250 millones de euros (1.248 millones), con cerca de 691 millones en convocatorias que cierran en 2026. Dos cosas cambiaron de forma sustancial en este ciclo: las subvenciones a tanto alzado (un único pago fijo en lugar de la justificación de costes desglosados) son ahora la opción por defecto para alrededor de la mitad del presupuesto, y la Comisión recortó el número de temas en torno a un 35 % respecto a 2023-2024 —convocatorias menos numerosas y más grandes—, al tiempo que redujo la propuesta estándar RIA/IA a 40 páginas. La mayoría de las subvenciones son Acciones de Investigación e Innovación (RIA) financiadas al 100 % de los costes elegibles, con contribuciones de la UE habitualmente de entre 3 y 15 millones de euros por proyecto. Esto no es dinero para startups: es financiación de investigación multinacional para universidades, institutos de investigación, empresas, organismos públicos y ONG que quieran llevar la ciencia agroalimentaria, biobasada y medioambiental del laboratorio al campo.
Las cifras son aleccionadoras.
Is this for you?
- Consortium of ≥3 legal entities from 3 different countries (≥1 in an EU member state)
- Universities, research institutes, companies of any size, NGOs, farmer and fisher organisations
- Agri-food, bioeconomy, biodiversity, water, zero-pollution, forestry, rural and coastal topics
- Research ending around TRL 4-5 (RIA) or pilots and demos ending TRL 6-8 (IA)
- Based in an EU member state or Horizon Europe associated country
- Lone startup wanting non-dilutive scale-up cash → EIC Accelerator
- Deep-tech team allergic to consortium admin → EIC Pathfinder or EIC Transition
- Near-market environmental roll-out with no research dimension → LIFE programme
- On-farm investment or rural business support → CAP rural development funds (EAFRD)
Companies join as partners all the time — but coordinating a Cluster 6 project is heavy administration. First-timers usually slot into a consortium led by an experienced university or research organisation rather than coordinate themselves.
Call destinations
Cluster 6 is organised into seven destinations — thematic groupings that each contain specific call topics. You apply to a topic (identifiers like HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-BIODIV-01) as a consortium of at least 3 independent entities from 3 different countries, at least one in an EU member state, for a Research and Innovation Action (RIA) or Innovation Action (IA) grant. Many 2026 topics are two-stage: a short first-stage proposal (closed 16 April 2026) filters who writes the full proposal for the September second stage — and each destination has its own September date, so check yours on the Funding & Tenders portal.
Funds research and innovation that understands, protects and restores biodiversity — from species decline to ecosystem-service valuation — and brings nature into economic decision-making.
RIA/IA consortium grants; single-stage closes 17 Sep 2026, two-stage second stage 23 Sep 2026
Backs the transformation of the food chain from farm to fork: sustainable primary production, healthier diets, food safety, and fairness for producers and consumers.
RIA/IA consortium grants; 2026 single-stage closed 14 Apr, two-stage second stage 15 Sep 2026
Funds circular and bio-based value chains — turning biological resources and waste streams into materials, chemicals and products that replace fossil inputs.
RIA/IA consortium grants; single-stage closes 17 Sep 2026, two-stage second stage 23 Sep 2026
Targets pollution at source — soil, water and air — with monitoring, prevention and remediation technologies aligned to the EU zero-pollution ambition.
RIA/IA consortium grants; single-stage closes 17 Sep 2026, two-stage second stage 29 Sep 2026
Funds climate solutions grounded in natural systems: land use, oceans and freshwater as carbon sinks and climate buffers.
2026 round closed 14 Apr 2026 — next openings per the 2027 work-programme cycle
Strengthens the places people live — rural competitiveness, coastal resilience, local services and community-led innovation.
2026 round closed 14 Apr 2026; e.g. rural competitiveness topics under HORIZON-CL6-2026-02-COMMUNITIES
The Green Deal's data layer: environmental observation, digital twins, and governance tools that make the other destinations' work usable by policy and industry.
Next single-stage opens 25 Aug 2026; two-stage second stage 30 Sep 2026
Success rates — the honest picture
Roughly 1 in 5 applications gets funded. A sharp, evidence-backed proposal is what separates the funded from the rejected.
| Call cycle | Proposals | Funded | EU money awarded | Success rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 calls (deadline spring 2023) | 568 | 135 | €897M | 23.8% |
| 2024 calls (deadline Feb 2024) | 733 | 91 | €501M | 12.4% |
| 2025 calls (deadline Sep 2025) | 1,406 | partial — full results expected imminently | €948.9M budget | results pending (two-stage final due end-July 2026) |
Budgets, not quality, set the pass mark: the 2024 cycle had €396M less money and 165 more proposals than 2023, and the success rate halved. For 2025: 1,406 proposals were submitted by the September 2025 deadline competing for a €948.9M budget; single-stage results were notified from December 2025, and two-stage final results are expected by end-July 2026 — REA has not yet published the full award announcement as of 20 July 2026.
Eligibility
- 1Las convocatorias estándar del Cluster 6 exigen un consorcio de al menos tres entidades jurídicas independientes, cada una establecida en un Estado miembro de la UE o país asociado a Horizon Europe distinto, con al menos una en un Estado miembro de la UE.
- 2Los tipos de socio elegibles incluyen universidades, organizaciones de investigación y tecnología, grandes empresas, pymes, organismos públicos, ONG y organizaciones internacionales.
- 3La mayoría de los temas son Acciones de Investigación e Innovación (RIA) orientadas a niveles de madurez tecnológica de aproximadamente 2-6; las Acciones de Innovación (IA) se sitúan más cerca del mercado y las Acciones de Coordinación y Apoyo (CSA) financian el establecimiento de redes y la coordinación en lugar de investigación nueva.
- 4Las Acciones de Investigación e Innovación y las Acciones de Coordinación y Apoyo se financian al 100 % de los costes elegibles, mientras que las Acciones de Innovación se financian al 70 % (100 % para las entidades jurídicas sin ánimo de lucro).
- 5En los temas a coste real se añade una tasa fija de costes indirectos del 25 % sobre los costes directos elegibles para cubrir gastos generales. En los temas a tanto alzado —ahora la norma para aproximadamente la mitad del presupuesto 2026-2027— no hay justificación de costes elegibles: propones una suma fija para paquetes de trabajo definidos y el 25 % de gastos generales ya está incluido en esa suma. Las condiciones de la convocatoria de cada tema especifican qué modelo se aplica.
- 6Cada propuesta debe responder a un identificador de tema abierto concreto y cumplir su alcance, sus resultados esperados y las reglas de presentación de una o dos fases.
Standard Cluster 6 actions (Research and Innovation Actions and Innovation Actions) need a consortium of at least three independent legal entities: one established in an EU member state, plus two others each in a different member state or associated country. Affiliated entities do not sign the grant agreement and do not count towards this minimum — a common modelling error in corporate groups. Only Coordination and Support Actions and programme co-fund actions may be submitted by a single entity.
The 2026–2027 General Annexes list the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Canada, New Zealand and South Korea among countries associated to Horizon Europe, so their entities count towards the three-country minimum and receive funding. The UK is associated to the entire programme except the EIC Fund (equity), which is irrelevant to Cluster 6. Entities from countries still negotiating association are treated as associated only if the agreement applies by grant signature — a real risk for project planning.
Many Cluster 6 topics carry the multi-actor approach as a formal eligibility condition: the proposal must demonstrate genuine co-creation with the end-users of results — farmers, foresters, fishers, aquaculture producers, advisors, food and bioeconomy businesses, civil society — from idea development through dissemination, including 'practice abstracts'. A consortium of universities with a token stakeholder board fails this test and is ineligible, regardless of scientific quality.
Chinese universities administered by or under the supervision of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) are ineligible for any action under the 2026–2027 Cluster 6 work programme. Certain flagged topics go further, excluding Chinese entities in any capacity — as beneficiaries, affiliated entities, associated partners, subcontractors or in-kind contributors — with exceptions only case-by-case. Check each topic page before adding a Chinese partner.
Where the coordinator's requested grant is €500,000 or more, the Commission checks financial capacity during grant preparation, using the balance sheet, profit-and-loss account and indicators including dependency on EU funding. Public bodies and grants under €60,000 are exempt. An unsatisfactory result can mean pre-financing in instalments, no pre-financing, joint and several liability of affiliated entities, forced replacement of the entity — or rejection of the entire proposal at the last hurdle.
Public bodies, research organisations and higher-education establishments from member states or associated countries must have a published Gender Equality Plan (with dedicated resources, monitoring and training) in place at grant signature — an eligibility condition, not a recommendation. Separately, several 2026 two-stage Cluster 6 topics use blind first-stage evaluation: disclosing your organisation's name or identity in the abstract or Part B breaches the submission conditions.
Where you need to be
Your project should sit at TRL 2–6 when you apply. The eligible band is highlighted below.
- 1Basic principles observedScientific research begins to be translated into possible applications - the underlying idea is observed and reported.
- 2Technology concept formulatedYou move from 'this phenomenon exists' to a specific concept for how it could solve a real problem, on paper.
- 3Experimental proof of conceptEarly lab experiments show the concept actually works in principle.
- 4Technology validated in labThe components are put together and tested in controlled laboratory conditions.
- 5Technology validated in relevant environmentThe technology is tested in conditions that resemble the real world, not just the bench.
- 6Technology demonstrated in relevant environmentA working prototype is demonstrated in a realistic setting - the pilot stage.
- 7System prototype demonstration in operational environmentA full prototype is proven in the actual operational environment it is built for.
- 8System complete and qualifiedThe technology is finished and qualified through test and demonstration.
- 9Actual system proven in operational environmentThe technology is fully deployed and proven in real commercial use.
The money — collaborative grants, 100% funded
Cluster 6 pays grants — no repayment, no dilution. Research and Innovation Actions (RIA — earlier-stage research, typically ending around TRL 4-5, technology readiness level) reimburse 100% of eligible costs. Innovation Actions (IA — demonstrations and pilots, ending TRL 6-8) reimburse 70% for for-profit companies and 100% for non-profits. Everyone then adds a flat 25% of direct costs for overheads. For an SME in an RIA, that is effectively 125% of your direct project costs covered.
This is top-down funding. The 2026-2027 work programme (adopted 11 December 2025) prescribes topics across seven destinations — biodiversity, food systems, circular bioeconomy, zero pollution, climate, rural/coastal communities, and governance — each with a fixed budget of roughly €10-18M funding two to three projects. A brilliant proposal outside the topic text is rejected regardless of quality; one 2026 topic even states that developing technologies above TRL 4 is out of scope.
Many 2026-27 topics use lump-sum grants (authorised by the Commission Decision of 7 July 2021): the total is fixed per work package at grant signature, and you are paid as work packages are completed and accepted — no timesheets, no cost statements, no financial audit of actual costs. It shifts the negotiation to the budget table in your proposal, so get the work-package pricing right before you submit.
Cluster 6 runs annual calls but 2026 has two submission waves. The April 2026 two-stage stage-1 and first single-stage deadlines (14–17 April) have now passed. A further set of single-stage topics under HORIZON-CL6-2026-01 closes 17 September 2026, and HORIZON-CL6-2026-03 opens 25 August 2026 — new proposals can still be submitted before October. Second-stage deadlines for consortia invited through the April stage-1 screen fall around 23 September 2026. Calls stay open about five months; single-stage proposals run to a 45-page limit, first-stage outlines to 10 pages.
How to apply — step by step
- 1Find the call topic and build a consortium2-4 months to scope and form the consortium
Identify a specific Cluster 6 topic in the Work Programme on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal, then assemble an eligible consortium — for most Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) and Innovation Actions (IA) that means at least three independent legal entities from three different EU Member States or Associated Countries. No one evaluates this stage; the Commission only checks eligibility later. Partner-finding and scoping is where most of the calendar goes.
- 2Submit the proposal on the Funding & Tenders Portal3-6 months to write Part B
The coordinator submits electronically through the Portal before the call deadline: Part A (structured administrative forms, partners, budget) plus Part B (the technical narrative, capped at roughly 45 pages for RIA/IA, covering Excellence, Impact and Implementation). Two-stage topics require a short first-stage proposal (around 10 pages, Excellence and Impact only) before a full second-stage submission. There is a single hard deadline with no second chances.
- 3Independent expert evaluation and ranking~5 months from deadline to results (time-to-inform)pass rate Topic-dependent; many Cluster 6 topics fund well under 1 in 5 eligible proposals
At least three independent external experts appointed by the granting authority (the Research Executive Agency, REA) score the proposal against three weighted criteria, followed by a consensus meeting and panel ranking. Proposals must clear per-criterion and overall thresholds to be fundable; ranked lists then run down until the topic budget is exhausted. Cluster 6 is highly oversubscribed, so a passing score does not guarantee funding.
- 4Grant agreement preparation and signature~3 months after results (≈8 months total)
Successful coordinators are invited to grant agreement preparation, where REA validates each partner's legal and financial status (via the Participant Register / PIC) and finalises budget, work packages and start date. The signed grant agreement is the binding contract; the Commission targets roughly 8 months from call deadline to signature (time-to-grant).
What evaluators look for
Excellence
Soundness, ambition and credibility of the proposed research/innovation: clarity of objectives, how far it goes beyond the state of the art, and the quality of the methodology, including interdisciplinarity and open-science practice where relevant.
- Clarity and pertinence of objectives, alignment with the topic
- Ambition and degree of novelty beyond the state of the art
- Soundness of the methodology and concept
Impact
Credible pathway to the topic's expected outcomes and wider scientific, economic, environmental and societal impacts, plus a convincing plan to disseminate, exploit and communicate results. Weighted 1.5 for Innovation Actions, reflecting their market focus.
- Credibility of the pathways to the expected outcomes and impacts
- Scale and significance of contributions to the topic's expected impacts
- Quality of the dissemination, exploitation and communication measures
Quality and efficiency of the implementation
Whether the work plan, resources and consortium can actually deliver: coherence of work packages and milestones, appropriateness of effort and budget, and the capacity and complementarity of the partners.
- Quality and effectiveness of the work plan and risk management
- Appropriateness of allocated resources and budget
- Capacity and complementarity of the consortium
Documents you'll need
The legally binding text of every Cluster 6 topic for 2026–2027 — if it is not in here, it is not funded.
- Contains:
- All Cluster 6 calls for 2026 and 2027 — HORIZON-CL6-2026-01 through HORIZON-CL6-2026-04 plus their two-stage variants — with full topic descriptions, expected outcomes, indicative budgets, multi-actor approach conditions and deadlines. Adopted by Commission Decision C(2025) 8493 of 11 December 2025.
- Length:
- 356 pages (read your topic's 3–5 pages plus the call overview)
- Why:
- This is the source document evaluators score you against: your proposal must answer the specific expected outcomes written here, not the topic title. It also tells you whether your topic pays a lump sum (a fixed amount agreed up front) or actual costs.
- When:
- Read your topic's pages first, before anything else. Key cut-offs inside: 16 Apr 2026 (first stage of two-stage topics), 17 Sep 2026 (single-stage) and 23 Sep 2026 (second stage), all at 17:00 Brussels time.
The Commission's plain-language rulebook for the whole programme — who can apply, how proposals are structured and how they are judged.
- Contains:
- Eligibility and country rules, proposal structure, evaluation criteria and procedure, open science obligations, gender equality plan requirement, dissemination and exploitation rules, international cooperation and a section on guarding against foreign interference in research.
- Length:
- 61 pages
- Why:
- It translates the legal texts into instructions an applicant can act on. Most avoidable rejections — wrong consortium composition, missing gender equality plan, ignored open science rules — are covered here in plain English.
- When:
- Read once before you start writing, then keep it open while drafting Part B.
The live portal page for the first 2026 Cluster 6 call — topic list, status, submission system and partner search in one place.
- Contains:
- Every topic under HORIZON-CL6-2026-01 with live open/closed status, deadlines, budget, topic-specific conditions and documents, the electronic submission service, and partner-search announcements from other organisations. Swap the call identifier in the URL for the sibling calls HORIZON-CL6-2026-02, -03 and -04.
- Length:
- Web page, not paginated
- Why:
- Proposals can only be submitted through this portal, and topic-level updates or FAQ answers are posted here first — the PDF work programme does not change, but the portal page does.
- When:
- Bookmark on day one; check weekly for updates and again in the final fortnight before each cut-off.
The exact template your proposal must follow, for both Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) and Innovation Actions (IA).
- Contains:
- The administrative Part A web forms (participants, budget, ethics, security) and the Part B narrative template with its three sections — Excellence, Impact, Quality and Efficiency of the Implementation — each mapping one-to-one onto an evaluation criterion, plus the work package, deliverable and milestone tables.
- Length:
- 54 pages (template plus instructions)
- Why:
- Page limits and section structure are enforced by the submission system; drafting in this skeleton from the start avoids a painful restructuring in the final week. The file on the portal was generated on 29 January 2026, so it reflects the 2026 call setup.
- When:
- From the first day of drafting — write directly into the Part B structure.
The actual form evaluators fill in when scoring your proposal — the closest thing to seeing the exam paper in advance.
- Contains:
- The 0–5 scoring scale with definitions for each mark, the thresholds (3 per criterion, 10 overall), and the special two-stage rules: at first stage only Excellence and Impact are scored, each with a higher threshold of 4.
- Length:
- 9 pages
- Why:
- Writing to the marking scheme is the cheapest score improvement available. For the 16 Apr 2026 first-stage cut-off, knowing that only Excellence and Impact count — at threshold 4 — should reshape how you spend your 10 pages.
- When:
- Before outlining Part B, and again when reviewing the near-final draft section by section.
The mandatory Excel annex for lump-sum topics — cost estimates per beneficiary and per work package, with filling instructions built in.
- Contains:
- Linked sheets for the beneficiary list, work package list, one cost sheet per beneficiary (personnel, subcontracting, purchases, indirect costs) and depreciation, which together calculate the lump-sum breakdown that feeds the Part A budget table.
- Length:
- Multi-sheet workbook, not paginated
- Why:
- Many Cluster 6 2026 topics state that 'eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum' — the work programme mentions lump sums 184 times — and for those topics this table is a compulsory annex to Part B, scrutinised during evaluation.
- When:
- Start at consortium budget negotiation, well before the deadline — collecting per-partner, per-work-package figures is the slowest part of any lump-sum proposal.
Article-by-article commentary on the grant agreement you will sign if funded — the authority on what costs are eligible.
- Contains:
- The Commission's official interpretation of every grant agreement article: personnel costs and day-equivalent rules, subcontracting versus purchases, reporting and payments, audits, intellectual property and amendments.
- Length:
- 431 pages (use as a lookup reference)
- Why:
- Budget mistakes made at proposal stage become audit findings four years later; the AGA is where cost eligibility questions are settled definitively.
- When:
- Consult — never read cover to cover — while budgeting, and intensively during grant agreement preparation if your proposal succeeds.
The Commission's participant guide to lump-sum grants — how they are proposed, evaluated, managed and paid.
- Contains:
- The full lump-sum lifecycle: how to fill in the detailed budget table, how evaluators assess cost estimates, how payments are triggered by completing work packages rather than by reporting actual costs, and what happens when work packages finish late or incomplete.
- Length:
- 42 pages
- Why:
- Directly relevant to Cluster 6's 2026 calls, where many topics pay a fixed lump sum instead of reimbursing actual costs — a different game with no financial reporting or cost audits, but harder up-front budget scrutiny.
- When:
- Read before budgeting any lump-sum topic; it changes how you should slice work packages.
The step-by-step operating manual for the portal itself — registration, roles, submission and grant management.
- Contains:
- How to register your organisation and get a PIC (Participant Identification Code), assign roles, complete Part A forms, upload Part B, handle validation errors, and manage a grant after signature.
- Length:
- Web manual, not paginated
- Why:
- The administrative mechanics trip up first-time applicants more often than the science does; this is the only authoritative walkthrough of the submission system.
- When:
- When registering your organisation (do this weeks early — PIC validation takes time) and during the final submission week.
The Commission's searchable database of official answers on proposals, evaluation, lump sums and grant rules.
- Contains:
- Official answers filterable by topic — proposal submission, evaluation, lump-sum funding, costs, consortium changes — kept current by the Commission's support services.
- Length:
- Web page, not paginated
- Why:
- Faster and more authoritative than forum folklore for edge cases the guides do not cover; answers here reflect current Commission practice.
- When:
- Whenever a specific question arises that the Programme Guide and AGA do not settle; check before emailing the helpdesk.
Typical Budget Breakdown
2026 Deadlines
- 12 Feb 202612 Feb 20262026 two-stage calls open
The three two-stage calls (HORIZON-CL6-2026-01/02/03) opened on the Funding & Tenders Portal; a single-stage call with September deadline opened 17 Apr 2026.
- 14–16 Apr 202614–16 Apr 2026First-stage deadlines (passed)
Short outline proposals due — some topics evaluated blind. A separate January-opened single-stage round also closed 14–15 Apr 2026.
- T+3 months after stage 1 (≈ Jul 2026)T+3 months after stage 1 (≈ Jul 2026)First-stage results; invitations to stage 2
Official Horizon Europe standard: two-stage applicants are informed around 3 months after the first-stage deadline.
- 25 Aug 202625 Aug 2026Final 2026 call opens
A further 2026 call under the governance destination opens, with deadline 26 Nov 2026.
- 15–30 Sep 202615–30 Sep 2026Full-proposal deadlines
Single-stage deadline 17 Sep 2026; second-stage deadlines 15 Sep, 23 Sep and 30 Sep 2026 depending on the call. All at 17:00 Brussels time.
- T+5 months (≈ Feb 2027)T+5 months (≈ Feb 2027)Evaluation results out
Horizon Europe's standard time-to-inform: result letters around 5 months after the final submission deadline; 30 days to request an evaluation review on procedural grounds.
- T+8 months (≈ May 2027)T+8 months (≈ May 2027)Grant agreement signature
Grant preparation in between: entity validation, financial-capacity check, Gender Equality Plan verification, budget and Annex 1 finalisation.
- After signatureAfter signaturePre-financing paid
Normally 160% of average EU funding per reporting period, minus a 5–8% deduction into the Mutual Insurance Mechanism; projects usually start after signature.
After you're funded
Cluster 6 grants are managed by the European Research Executive Agency (REA), the Commission's grant-management arm. You get a project officer who monitors delivery through periodic technical and financial reports and project reviews — there is no EIC-style Business Acceleration Services package, no coaching, no investor matchmaking. The network you build is the consortium itself.
The consortium signs one grant agreement with the Commission. Pre-financing lands after signature, further instalments follow accepted periodic reports, and the balance comes at the end. The coordinator receives every payment and redistributes it under the consortium agreement — which is why that document, signed before the grant, is worth negotiating carefully.
If your topic is lump-sum (a large share of 2026-27 topics are), payment is triggered by completed and accepted work packages — no cost statements and no ex-post financial audits of actual costs. Actual-cost projects still face full financial reporting and the possibility of audit years after the project ends.
Horizon Europe grants carry open-science obligations — open access to peer-reviewed publications and a data management plan — plus a plan for exploiting and disseminating results that the project officer tracks in every reporting period. Your intellectual property stays yours, but sitting on results is not an option.
Practical notes
Cluster 6 projects are collaborative by design: the standard Horizon Europe minimum is three independent legal entities from three different EU or associated countries, and in practice winning consortia run far larger. Universities and research and technology organisations (RTOs) usually coordinate, because they have grant offices that can absorb the paperwork; companies typically join as partners supplying technology, demonstration sites or routes to market. Many Cluster 6 topics also use the 'multi-actor approach', which obliges consortia to include practitioners — farmers, foresters, advisers, food businesses — as genuine partners, not just survey subjects. The fastest way in for a startup is to be the exploitation partner an academic coordinator is missing: use the Funding & Tenders Portal partner search against a specific topic identifier, and watch the calendar — consortia for the 2026 calls began assembling around the January 2026 info days, months before any deadline.
Every EU and associated country runs National Contact Points (NCPs) — government-funded advisers for each Horizon Europe cluster. They will, at no cost, tell you whether your idea fits a Cluster 6 topic, review draft proposals, explain budget and eligibility rules, and circulate partner-search requests through their European network. The directory on the Funding & Tenders Portal lets you filter by country and by 'Cluster 6' to find the right person. For a first-time applicant this is the single highest-value free resource in the system; consultants charge thousands of euros for what an NCP does gratis.
The 2026 Cluster 6 calls split into single-stage and two-stage tracks, all submitted electronically through the Funding & Tenders Portal. Two-stage first deadlines have already passed (14–16 April 2026, per REA): applicants filed a short outline proposal, and only those scoring well are invited to submit the full proposal at the second stage. Second-stage deadlines run through September 2026 — 15 September for food systems, 23 September for biodiversity and for circular economy and bioeconomy topics, with other destinations closing in late September. Single-stage topics in biodiversity, circular bioeconomy and zero pollution close on 17 September 2026, and the Soil Mission single-stage call on 23 September 2026. A further governance call opens 25 August 2026. If you missed April's first stage, the single-stage September topics are the live route in.
Horizon Europe works to published service standards: applicants are normally informed of evaluation results within five months of the call deadline, and successful consortia sign grant agreements within eight months of it. For the September 2026 Cluster 6 cut-offs, that points to results in early 2027 and signed grants by roughly mid-2027. Two-stage applicants should note the clock restarts at each stage — first-stage filers in April 2026 learned their fate before the September second-stage deadline. Budget your runway accordingly: no money moves until the grant agreement is signed.
Who's been funded
Mobilises 86 partners from 29 countries to shift Europe from linear food chains to circular food systems within planetary boundaries.
Builds the evidence base and policy recommendations to unlock the cross-sectoral potential of the European bioeconomy.
Funds the National Contact Point network that gives applicants free, country-level help with Cluster 6 proposals.
Shows regional bioeconomy clusters in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe can drive bio-based innovation and resilient local economies.
Pilots circular solutions — regenerative agriculture, local food systems, reusable packaging — in cities and regions.
Key Features
Official links & resources
- HORIZON-CL6-2026-01 call page — first-stage deadline was 17 April 2026 (closed for new applicants); second-stage full proposals due 17 September 2026 (invited applicants only)
- Cluster 6 overview — European Commission (Research and Innovation)
- Horizon Europe work programmes 2026–27 (index of official documents)
- Cluster 6 Work Programme 2026–27 (PDF, published 11 December 2025)
- Horizon Europe Programme Guide (PDF)
- Cluster 6 info days, 22–23 January 2026 — event page with recordings
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Las convocatorias estándar del Cluster 6 exigen un consorcio de al menos tres entidades jurídicas independientes de tres Estados miembros de la UE o países asociados distintos, con al menos una en un Estado miembro de la UE. Las empresas que se presentan en solitario deberían fijarse en el EIC Accelerator.
Las contribuciones de la UE suelen ser de entre 3 y 15 millones de euros por proyecto. Las Acciones de Investigación e Innovación y las Acciones de Coordinación y Apoyo se financian al 100 % de los costes elegibles; las Acciones de Innovación al 70 % (100 % para las entidades sin ánimo de lucro). En los temas a coste real se añade un 25 % fijo para costes indirectos/gastos generales; en los temas a tanto alzado (ahora alrededor de la mitad del presupuesto 2026-2027) recibes una única suma fija por el trabajo completado, con los gastos generales ya incluidos.
Las convocatorias HORIZON-CL6-2026-01 usan el 16 de abril de 2026 (primera fase de las convocatorias de dos fases), el 17 de septiembre de 2026 (propuestas completas de una sola fase) y el 23 de septiembre de 2026 (segunda fase de las convocatorias de dos fases). Confirma la fecha exacta de tu tema en el portal de Financiación y Licitaciones.
La mayoría de los temas son Acciones de Investigación e Innovación orientadas aproximadamente a TRL 2-6: desde un concepto validado hasta un sistema demostrado en un entorno relevante. Las Acciones de Innovación empujan más cerca del mercado, mientras que las Acciones de Coordinación y Apoyo financian el establecimiento de redes en lugar de investigación nueva.
Tres cosas importan a los solicitantes: la financiación a tanto alzado es ahora la opción por defecto para aproximadamente la mitad del presupuesto (una suma fija por trabajo definido en lugar de la justificación de costes desglosados), el número de temas se recortó en torno a un 35 % respecto a 2023-2024 (convocatorias menos numerosas pero más grandes) y la propuesta completa estándar de Acción de Investigación e Innovación / Acción de Innovación está ahora limitada a 40 páginas.
No. Las subvenciones de Horizon Europe son no dilutivas y no reembolsables. Conservas tu capital, y la propiedad intelectual se rige por el acuerdo de consorcio, no por la UE.
El programa de trabajo 2026-2027, adoptado el 11 de diciembre de 2025, tiene un presupuesto indicativo de aproximadamente 1.250 millones de euros (1.248 millones), con cerca de 691 millones en convocatorias que cierran durante 2026.
Espera los resultados de la evaluación en torno a cinco meses después del plazo y la firma del acuerdo de subvención en aproximadamente cinco a ocho meses, tras lo cual se libera el primer pago de prefinanciación.
Related Programmes
Horizon Cluster 5
Open call budgets of €223M and €263M; per-project grants are set per topic (commonly several million euros for large RIA/IA projects)
View programme →Horizon Cluster 4
€2M–5M per project
View programme →EIC Accelerator
Up to €12.5M blended (up to €30M equity-only via STEP Scale-Up)
View programme →Innovation Fund
€1.8M to €216M per project
View programme →STEP Platform
EIC STEP Scale Up: €10-30m per company (equity only); EIC STEP Defence Scale Up: €10-30m per company (equity only, deadline 28 Oct 2026)
View programme →Explore Further
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