Policy Enlarge - Funding Instrument 2 (Small Grants for Collaborative Uptake of Results)
Funding cross-border consortia to support the Research and Innovation, regulatory or societal uptake of results across enlargement countries through joint pilot, validation and adoption activities.
TYPE OF PROJECTS TO BE FUNDED: Small-scale cross-border projects supporting the Research and Innovation, regulatory or societal uptake of results in enlargement countries. Eligible activities include joint pilot projects demonstrating the practical application and societal benefits of R&I results in real-world settings; projects involving end-users, citizens or specific communities in the development and validation of R&I solutions; and other joint activities aimed at increasing the uptake and adoption of results.
SECTORS / DOMAIN: Research and Innovation uptake, policy and regulatory uptake, societal adoption, stakeholder validation, end-user engagement, dissemination and exploitation of R&I results.
INDIVIDUAL OR CONSORTIUM: Consortium applications are required. Each consortium must include at least 2 independent legal entities, each established in a different eligible enlargement country. Eligible participants include companies, Research Organisations and Academia Research Groups, non-profit entities, Digital Innovation Hubs / European Digital Innovation Hubs, and other relevant R&I actors.
SPECIFIC ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS: Applicants must be based in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Türkiye or Ukraine. Proposals must be submitted in English and should demonstrate a European dimension, particularly by supporting the integration of enlargement countries into EU Research and Innovation actions and policymaking. Each third party may benefit from no more than one POLICY ENLARGE Funding Instrument / Grant throughout the entire Open Call, subject to the exception stated for certain large entities such as universities or public authorities where different departments are involved.
SPECIFIC TOPICS OR CHALLENGES: Activities may include joint projects integrating research findings into policies; real-world pilots demonstrating the practical application and societal benefits of R&I results; projects involving end-users, citizens or communities in developing and validating R&I solutions; and other collaborative activities supporting Research and Innovation, regulatory or societal uptake. Expected outputs may include joint uptake roadmaps, policy briefs or recommendations, stakeholder validation reports, societal uptake plans, regulatory uptake notes, end-user or community engagement reports, practical guidance, action plans for wider adoption, dissemination and exploitation roadmaps, and joint scientific publications on the uptake of results.
PROJECTS DURATION: Up to 6 months.
BUDGET, FUNDING RATES AND PAYMENT CONDITIONS:
Funding rate: Up to 80% of the budget included in the application form. Applicants must provide the remaining 20% from their own resources as co-funding and clearly demonstrate it in the project budget.
Budget conditions / limitations: The maximum grant under Funding Instrument #2 is €8,000 per third-party project, with a strict maximum of €4,000 per individual consortium partner. Up to 10 projects are expected to be supported under Funding Instrument #2. The total POLICY ENLARGE Open Call budget is €300,000 across all three Funding Instruments; a separate total budget allocation for Funding Instrument #2 is not specified in the call guidelines.
Payments: The grant is paid as a performance-based lump sum in two tranches: 25% of the grant amount by Month 1 following approval of the Individual Follow-up Plan, and 75% by Month 6 following approval of the final deliverable. Payment depends on successful completion and approval of the agreed stages and deliverables. Projects that do not meet the required performance threshold may receive a reduced grant or no corresponding payment, in accordance with the conditions set out in the call.
Links
Closes
03/05/2028
Max funding per project
8.000€