25 September 2026
Insights
Perspectives on European innovation
20 April 2026
Widening participation in Horizon Europe: how less-experienced organizations can build winning consortia
For less-experienced organizations, Horizon Europe can seem daunting. Yet widening participation is a core EU objective, and newcomers have real opportunities to succeed—especially when they approach consortium building strategically. The first step is to identify where your organization adds distinctive value. This could be regional access, community engagement, piloting capacity, niche technical expertise, or strong…
13 April 2026
Grant audits and controls 2025: common beneficiary mistakes and how to prevent corrections
As grant programmes tighten oversight in 2025, beneficiaries face greater scrutiny on how funds are managed, documented, and reported. Audits and controls are not just formalities—they are key mechanisms for ensuring compliance, transparency, and value for money. Yet many financial corrections still stem from avoidable errors. One of the most common mistakes is inadequate supporting…
6 April 2026
Widening participation calls: practical consortium strategies for less-experienced applicants
Widening participation calls are designed to bring new voices into collaborative funding landscapes, but less-experienced applicants often face a steep learning curve. For consortia aiming to build inclusive and competitive proposals, practical support structures matter as much as technical excellence. A strong starting point is partner selection. Experienced coordinators should look beyond familiar networks and…
30 March 2026
From policy priorities to project ideas: aligning proposals with the new EU Competitiveness agenda
The EU’s renewed focus on competitiveness is reshaping how organisations should design projects and frame funding proposals. For applicants, this means moving beyond strong technical ideas alone and demonstrating clear relevance to Europe’s broader economic and strategic priorities. At the heart of the new agenda are themes such as innovation capacity, industrial resilience, digital leadership,…
25 March 2026
Proposal evaluation trends in EU grants: what recent guidance suggests successful bids do better
Recent EU grant guidance points to a clear shift in how strong proposals are distinguished from merely compliant ones. While excellence, impact, and implementation remain the core evaluation pillars across programmes such as Horizon Europe, evaluators increasingly reward bids that show sharper strategic alignment, clearer pathways to results, and stronger evidence of delivery capacity. One…
21 March 2026
Partner search tactics before autumn call deadlines
As autumn call deadlines approach, partner search becomes one of the most time-sensitive parts of proposal development. The strongest consortia are rarely assembled at the last minute; they are built through focused outreach, clear positioning, and early engagement. A good starting point is to define your ideal partner profile. Identify the expertise, sector representation, geographic…
23 February 2026
AI is making proposal writing much worse
Generative AI is reshaping Horizon Europe proposal writing in a way that you never thought. This tool, apparently thought to facilitate the writing of good proposals, increases the difficulty for serious applicants. As more teams use large language models to draft and refine sections, the apparent quality of submissions is rising across the board. Language…
16 February 2026
Participate in one of our projects (currently open)
If your organization is considering participation in Horizon Europe as a partner, we invite expressions of interest in five topics we have identified as comparatively strong opportunities in our internal pipeline, based on scope clarity, topic maturity, and award structure. In Cluster 3, HORIZON-CL3-2026-01-BM-03 (Reliability of age assessment methods and alternatives and their use to…
9 January 2026
Happy Year Minus 2
We hope you enjoyed the wonderful holidays and wish you the best in 2026. The title of this article is a bit weird, and it is because 2026 will be a very special year. As you probably know, the current framework program for European grants, Horizon Europe, runs from 2021 to 2027. Therefore, we are…