Policy Enlarge - Funding Instrument 1 (Small Grants for Joint Regional Innovation Actions)
Funding small cross-border joint regional innovation actions that strengthen R&I cooperation, capacity and policy alignment among enlargement countries and support their integration into EU R&I actions and policymaking.
TYPE OF PROJECTS TO BE FUNDED: Small-scale cross-border joint regional innovation actions that help stakeholders from enlargement countries develop collaborative R&I projects, access EU funding opportunities, strengthen R&I management and technology transfer capacities, and contribute to evidence-based policy reforms and digital and green transformation. Supported actions should promote regional integration and prepare participants for future larger collaborative projects or activities aligned with EU priorities.
SECTORS / DOMAIN: Research and innovation cooperation, R&I management, technology transfer, capacity building and R&I policy support.
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. For Joint R&I Small-Scale Innovation Actions specifically, at least 1 entity from academia and 1 from the business sector should apply and cooperate.
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 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 exceptions stated in the call for certain large entities.
SPECIFIC TOPICS OR CHALLENGES: Eligible activities include: Joint R&I Small-Scale Innovation Actions supporting business-academia cooperation across enlargement countries; Joint Innovation Actions helping stakeholders build collaborative projects and access R&I funding programmes such as Horizon Europe; and Joint R&I Capacity Building and Policy Support through technical assistance, training, workshops and peer learning. Capacity-building and policy-support activities may address R&I management, technology transfer processes, digital skills and R&I policy reforms, including evidence-based policymaking, the Green Deal and digital transformation.
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 #1 is €8,000 per third-party project, with a strict maximum of €4,000 per individual consortium partner. Up to 15 projects are expected to be supported under Funding Instrument #1. The overall POLICY ENLARGE Open Call budget is €300,000 across all three Funding Instruments; a separate total budget allocation for Funding Instrument #1 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. Payments depend on successful completion and approval of the agreed stages and deliverables, and reductions or non-payment may apply where the required performance threshold is not achieved.
Links
Closes
03/05/2028
Max funding per project
8.000€