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Joint Call for Proposals for Research and Innovation Projects European Partnership
DRIVING URBAN TRANSITIONS
DUT Call 2025
Co-funded by the European Commission (Grant N° 101069506)
CALL TEXT
Revisions of the Call text
If the Call text has been updated, the changes are tracked in the table below.
Date | Update in Call text
July 1 2025 | NAs for NWO SIA and NCBR have been updated
July 9 2025 | NAs for ANR, DLR, FFG, F.R.S.-FNRS, FZJ-PtJ and MHESR have been added, NA for HRZZ has been updated
July 28 2025 | NA added for AEI, NAs updated for NWO and FIO/VLAIO
September 1 2025 | NAs added for CCDRC, CVTI SR, ETAg, FCT, FORMAS, IFD, KAIA, LCS, LMT, MUR-ERDF, SNSF, SWEA, TA CR, TÜBITAK, UEFISCDI NA updated for FFG

Contents
1 | Introduction | 2
| 1.1 | Structure of the Call text | 2
| 1.2 | Background to urban challenges addressed through the DUT Partnership | 2
| 1.3 | Available budget and funding scheme | 3
2 | Scope and topics of the Call for proposals | 3
| 2.1 | Aims, approaches and recommendations for proposals | 3
| 2.2 | Types of research and innovation (R&I) activities to be supported | 5
| 2.3 | Call topics | 7
| | 2.3.1 | 15-minute City Transition Pathway (15mC TP) | 7
| | 2.3.2 | Circular Urban Economies Transition Pathway (CUE TP) | 11
| | 2.3.3. | Positive Energy Districts Transition Pathway (PED TP) | 15
3 | Eligibility criteria and guidelines for applicants | 20
| 3.1 | Consortium: who can participate and apply | 20
| 3.2 | What can be applied for? | 22
| 3.3 | Preparing and submitting an application | 22
| 3.4 | Summary of the transnational eligibility criteria | 23
| 3.5 | National/regional specific eligibility rules | 23
| 3.6 | Eligibility check | 24
| 3.7 | Fallback Procedure | 24
4 | Assessment and selection procedure | 24
| 4.1 | Pre-proposal stage (stage 1) | 24
| 4.2 | Full proposal stage (stage 2) | 25
| 4.3 | Right to object a decision, redress procedure | 26
| 4.4 | Time schedule | 26
| 4.5 | Evaluation criteria | 26
| 4.6 | Conflicts of interest (Expert Panel) | 27
5 | Project implementation | 28
| 5.1 | Consortium agreement | 28
| 5.2 | Project monitoring and reporting | 28
| | 5.2.0 | Programme activities | 28
| | 5.2.1 | Mandatory project events | 29
| | 5.2.2 | Reports and summaries for the general public | 29
| | 5.2.3 | Support for the DUT Knowledge Hub(s) | 29
| | 5.2.4 | Support for Mission Innovation “Urban Transitions Mission” participation | 30
| 5.3 | Publications and dissemination | 30
| | 5.3.0 | Communication Strategy | 30
| | 5.3.1 | Acknowledgements | 30
| | 5.3.2 | Open science practices, data management and data sharing | 31
| 5.4 | Personal data protection | 31
| 5.5 | “Do No Significant Harm” (DNSH) principle | 31
6 | Contact details and other information | 31
| Annex A: Specific Funding Agencies’ Budgets and Rules of Eligibility | 33
| Annex B: Data Management | 84
| Annex C: Definitions of strategic and applied research and innovation | 85
| Annex D: Urban Living Labs | 86
| Annex E: Glossary | 88
1

Introduction
The aim of this Call for proposals is to support transnational research and/or innovation projects that help cities tackle urban challenges and transition towards a climate neutral and resilient future for all. Projects should contribute to one or more of the three Transition Pathways: the 15-minute City (15mC), Circular Urban Economies (CUE), and Positive Energy Districts (PED). These pathways provide a holistic and systemic approach to tackling urban challenges, fostering innovation and enabling cities to implement sustainable solutions.
It is the fourth Call of the DUT Partnership co-funded by the European Commission (EC) under the Horizon Europe framework programme.
The projects selected within this Call will be funded directly by national/regional Funding Agencies from the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Republic of Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Tunisia and Türkiye
Each proposal must involve, at least, three partners from three countries on this list that are eligible for funding by their respective national/regional Funding Agency. At least two of those partners must be from countries eligible for EC Co-Fund (see transnational eligibility rules in section 3.4 for details).
The added value of transnational collaboration should be clearly stated.
Out of the countries listed above, only Funding Agencies from the following countries are eligible for EU Co-Fund (EU Member States and Associated Countries to Horizon Europe): Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Republic of Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands and Türkiye. The Call is open to a wide range of scientific disciplines and welcomes interdisciplinary approaches.
Projects are expected to adopt a transdisciplinary and preferably co-creative approach involving stakeholders from the early stage of the project design. The participation of a municipality or local authority in the project consortium is mandatory (see section 3.4 for transnational eligibility rules). Applicants are invited to consider users' needs in the identification of the project goals.
This document describes the objectives, scope, and topics of the Call, rules for participation and procedures for proposal development and project implementation.
Further information on this Call (mandatory templates to use when applying, link to the submission platform, etc.) can be found on the DUT Website.
1.1

Structure of the Call text
This Call text is structured as follows:
- • Section 2 describes the aims and topics of the Call.
- • Section 3 presents the eligibility criteria for an application, as well as the instructions for submission.
- • Section 4 covers the assessment and selection procedure and presents the evaluation criteria.
- • Finally, Section 5 describes the implementation of the project regarding the consortium agreement, project monitoring and programme activities.
1.2

Background to urban challenges addressed through the DUT Partnership
Cities and urban areas are the nexus for the transformations required if the European Union (EU) is to achieve the targets of the European Green Deal (EGD) and to fulfil commitments related to the United Nations (UN)’ Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), UN-Habitat’s New Urban Agenda, the Urban Agenda for the European Union, and the Paris Agreement (COP21). Additionally, they play a crucial role in implementing initiatives, such as the European Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission (Cities Mission) and the New European Bauhaus (NEB) initiative.
The DUT Partnership aims to address these challenges with an integrated approach to offer decision makers in public authorities including municipalities, companies and, more generally, society, solutions to enact and enable necessary urban transformations. Furthermore, the DUT Partnership, through research and innovation (R&I) projects, aims to develop skills and tools (including technology) that facilitate urban change, boost urgently needed urban transformations, and bring existing and new knowledge and evidence into action.
The DUT Partnership accelerates urban transitions through three thematic areas – known as Transition Pathways (TPs), which focus on key dimensions of urban transitions: urban mobility (the 15-minute City Transition Pathway (15mC TP)), urban energy (the Positive Energy Districts Transition Pathway (PED TP)), and urban resources and greening (the Circular Urban Economies Transition Pathway (CUE TP)).
While each TP has its distinct thematic focus, they function as interconnected sub-programmes, ensuring that urban transitions are app in a comprehensive and integrated manner.
- • The 15-minute City Transition Pathway (15mC TP) addresses challenges of urban mobility, logistics, public space and proximity-based policies to promote implementation of climate neutral, resilient neighbourhoods for all. It draws on research and innovation projects to showcase a diverse mosaic of approaches that drive mobility transitions. The 15mC TP aims to enable analysis, development and testing of ideas, tools and innovations for 15-minute cities within co-creative and transdisciplinary settings.
- • The Circular Urban Economies Transition Pathway (CUE TP) aims to foster urban places, communities and neighbourhoods that are sustained by circular resource flows and enhance the wellbeing of their inhabitants and ecosystems. It encourages urban planning and design characterised by regenerative urbanism, favouring the combination of circular principles, urban greening, and equal access to urban spaces and resources.
- • The Positive Energy Districts Transition Pathway (PED TP) aims to develop innovative solutions for planning, large-scale implementation, and replication of PEDs across Europe’s urban and peri- urban areas. By combining energy efficiency, renewable energy production, and energy flexibility at the local level, PEDs offer and contribute to affordable energy systems, affordable quality housing, and competitive, resilient and inclusive local economies for cities through energy communities, contributing to European goals such as the SET Plan and the EU Mission on Climate-neutral and Smart Cities.
For the DUT Partnership to maximise impact for European and global policies, these three TPs are to be considered in an integrated manner. Evidence will be created with and for city administrations, municipalities, businesses and society, aiming at all kinds of innovation and capacity building needed to transform our neighbourhoods and urban areas into climate neutral, liveable, healthy, socially and economically attractive and well-being places. The DUT Partnership offers a framework for innovation, demonstration and preparation of larger scale translation of innovative and people-centred solutions and approaches into local urban settings. Therefore, these insights and solutions generated by the DUT Partnership might also support the Cities Mission implementation, empowering local authorities and stakeholders with the knowledge and tools needed to achieve the ambitious goal of delivering 100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030.
The aim of the call is to consolidate and enlarge a portfolio of R&I projects that address the challenges identified in the three TPs. Proposals are invited to address a specific challenge in one of the three TPs. Proposals addressing subjects from across different TPs can be submitted and are welcomed, though this is not mandatory
1
The evaluation will consider the specificity of the projects addressing several Transition Pathways.
. All proposals are asked to choose a main TP and may indicate which other TP(s) are involved, if any.
1.3

Available budget and funding scheme
The total available budget for this Call is approximately EUR 44 M of budget committed by the participating Funding Agencies. Additionally, the EC will support this Call through Horizon Europe (co- funded action DUT – Grant Agreement number 101069506) with a co-fund of up to 30% of the eligible Funding Agency budget for the 2024 and 2025 DUT Partnership Calls.
The national/regional Funding Agencies (outlined in Annex A), which are partners of the EC grant under the DUT Partnership project, are ineligible for funding under this Call.
Each national/regional Funding Agency will provide funds directly to their eligible beneficiaries in accordance with the agencies’ rules and regulations.
Tables 1 and 2, provided in Annex A, give an overview of the national and regional budgets dedicated to this Call by each Funding Agency and of their positioning on which topics they can fund and who they can fund.
Table 3, provided in Annex A, presents the funding rules and guidelines for each national/regional Funding Agency.
2

Scope and topics of the Call for proposals
2.1

Aims, approaches and recommendations for proposals
Focus on urban areas, in the context of achieving climate neutral and resilient cities
Projects are expected to be focused on urban areas (including peri-urban areas) and their issues and challenges. Where appropriate, they may also consider the effects and impact on other territories like rural areas or consider urban-rural relationships.
Transdisciplinary, involvement of “stakeholders”, practitioners, citizens and inhabitants, community groups, and NGOs
The complex societal challenges addressed in the DUT Partnership also ask for knowledge on and insight in transition, innovation and implementation processes, acceptance of new systems and services, and insight in mid- and long-term behaviour of stakeholders.
Therefore, collaboration and co-production of knowledge with research users and, in particular, professionals in companies and governments, advocacy groups, citizen and inhabitant groups or NGOs (grouped under the generic name of “stakeholders” below), is highly relevant.
All projects must clearly engage stakeholders and demonstrate user needs relevant to the project goals (see the evaluation criteria in section 4.5.
Stakeholders might, for example, be involved in the choice of the topic of the proposal, in the design and advising on the project and/or in carrying out parts of the work programme. Therefore, consortia submitting proposals to this Call are asked to describe how stakeholders are involved in the project (such as, throughout the various stages of project design, implementation, analysis and dissemination). The extent of involvement may vary according to the context of the project proposed and national/regional regulations of participating Funding Agencies.
Stakeholders may be associated with the project as full partners or as cooperation partners that do not directly receive funding but can contribute to the project in various forms (in steering committees, as advisors, as providers of data, etc.). See Annex A for individual funder rules.
Projects are expected to take a transdisciplinary and preferably co-creative approach from the early project formulation stages.
Scientific disciplines and interdisciplinary approaches
This Call is open to a very wide range of scientific disciplines. Please consult Annex A to find out which disciplines are funded by your Funding Agency.
Moreover, the complexity of urban sustainability usually requires interdisciplinary approaches to analyse challenges and find solutions. Projects should mobilise the necessary disciplines required to address all aspects of the issues they wish to tackle.
Inclusion of diversity (including gender dimension) or specific population considerations
Applicants must integrate diversity considerations in submitted proposals, as well as consider underrepresented populations in the planned research (see also the Evaluation Criteria in section 4.5).
This includes not only diversity distribution and gender balance in the consortium composition, but also the inclusion of diversity perspectives and analysis in the R&I activities where this is relevant
2
A project is considered diversity (or gender) relevant when it concerns individuals or specific groups of people and/or when its findings may affect individuals or specific groups.
.
Transnational benefit
Projects should support collaboration that goes beyond individual national efforts and demonstrates sharing, operationalising and transferring of existing knowledge, resources, and research facilities to mutual, transnational benefit. Clear added value of the transnational consortium should be demonstrated and, if relevant, the added value for national investments.
Connection to earlier transnational European, national, regional, local research and innovation actions
The projects funded in this Call are expected to build on existing knowledge and experience as achieved in earlier relevant transnational European, national, regional and local R&I programmes, pilots, test implementations and field labs
3
This does not necessarily mean earlier projects by one of the applicants, but refers to projects and knowledge in general.
. In the proposal, it is necessary to indicate how projects are positioned with respect to the state-of-the-art.
In particular, projects are expected to articulate how they go beyond the current state-of-the-art and leverage results from previous or ongoing transnational European, national, regional and local R&I initiatives, such as relevant projects in the Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe programme (including Cities Mission calls among others), JPI Urban Europe Calls, NetZeroCities Pilot Cities Programme, LIFE programme, Climate Adaptation Mission calls, etc.
Outputs and outcomes of the projects, broader impacts of the proposed activity
The Call Secretariat recommends that establishment of potential long-term partnerships, leveraging of existing knowledge networks and project co-design between researchers and stakeholders be essential components of the proposed projects.
Additionally, it is recommended that outputs be targeted towards decision-making (including public and private spheres, as well as communities) and innovations (technological, organisational and institutional, as well as social).
The proposals are expected to clearly present:
- • how stakeholders will be engaged and contribute to the project and will be involved in the dissemination and use of the results;
- • their plan for broadly communicating and disseminating outputs and outcomes, to enhance scientific and technological understanding and transfer their results to end users; and describe their strategy for longer-term utilisation of project outcomes;
- • how project measures might support the effective implementation of related urban strategies and action plans, e.g. Climate City Contracts for projects with an EU Mission Label.
The projects are also asked to contribute to, and through their results, feed into the dissemination and valorisation activities of the DUT Partnership (see section 5.3 – Programme activities).
2.2

Types of research and innovation (R&I) activities to be supported
This Call is open for proposals referring but not limited to: strategic urban research, applied urban research, urban innovation (see definitions in the table below). Different Funding Agencies have the possibility to fund different parts of the R&I landscape. Table 1 in Annex A indicates the research types that will be funded by each Funding Agency.
The combination of different research types within one project (with potential differentiation at work package level) is possible, as long as the involved Funding Agencies’ eligibility rules are fulfilled.
While some project aspects (purpose, intended impact, roles and level of stakeholder involvement) depend heavily on a project's positioning with respect to R&I activities, it is worth noting that all TPs (and all subtopics) are open to both the research oriented and the innovation oriented approach. Therefore, the assessment framework accounts for differences between the approaches by applying specific sub- criteria (see section 4.5).
To help ensure a balanced portfolio of funded projects covering the R&I landscape, applicants are asked to identify and indicate which of the following approaches is the best fit for their project, depending on the main purpose of their proposal:
- • a more “research-oriented approach” (ROA) to support projects aimed at producing knowledge, analysing data, better understanding and modelling phenomena, and developing expertise and tools that will be useful to stakeholders, practitioners and policymakers. This R&I orientation (called ROA moving forwards) welcomes proposals mainly focused on strategic and/or applied research;
- • a more “innovation-oriented approach” (IOA) to support projects aimed at developing or improving practical, operational solutions – technological and organisational – for companies, local communities and authorities in charge of urban transport and urban planning, as well as management and testing of such solutions. This R&I orientation (called IOA moving forwards)
- •
welcomes proposals mainly focused on applied research and innovation
4
If this Call was focused on technological research and development (which is not the case), we would have been talking of TRLs between 1 and 4 for ROA and above 4 for IOA.
. Figure 1: positioning of the ROA and IOA with respect to research and innovation
Note: This figure only applies to the definitions used by the Call Secretariat (which are used to position applications on the Expert Panels, etc.). Specific Funding Agencies may have different definitions/criteria – therefore, Applicants must familiarise themselves with the National Annexes (see Annex A) of the Funding Agencies involved in their proposal.
For proposals combining both research and innovation aspects, the project coordinator must choose the R&I approach that is the most relevant considering the main objective and major novelty brought about by their project.
Alignment is expected between the type of activities (ROA/IOA) and the type of partner contribution indicated.
Definitions of strategic research, applied research and innovation (research types) The key characteristics of the three stages of R&I activities are defined as follows: > “strategic urban research” is defined as research activities driven by the desire to know, understand, and explain how cities function and interact across domains and sectors. Strategic urban research by this definition encompasses qualitative, as well as quantitative approaches, and examples can be found in any academic discipline. The subject of this type of research can be a specific aspect of a city or a city in its entirety, or even a network of related cities. Strategic urban research can be theoretical, comparative or case specific. For this research approach, the primary goal is to expand on common knowledge about how cities function. In line with this, it places a high value on traditional scientific methods and publication in peer reviewed journals. In many cases, this type of research should still have value to end users so they should be engaged where appropriate. > Understanding of how cities function (within the scope of the Call Topics) is essential to be able to achieve effective (policy) intervention. Achieving this through knowledge creation is often referred to as “applied urban research” (corresponding to industrial research in the GBER 5 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=legissum:0802_4 ). Applied urban research in this context is about how city officials, citizens and inhabitants, practitioners and others can influence and interact with a city, with the purpose of improving or adapting it, in some respect. In applied urban research, there is good opportunity to involve citizens and inhabitants, and representatives from non-academic institutions (NGOs, advocacy groups, citizen and inhabitant organisations, companies, public authorities...) in projects, to bring a practitioners’ perspective to co-produce knowledge relevant for user stakeholders. Applied urban research is designed to be tangible and applicable to such a degree that the results are likely to have an impact on actual decisions and policy. Apart from publication in peer reviewed journals, knowledge exchange activities such as policy briefings, policy seminars and other events targeted at stakeholders are important, as well as dissemination in popular media. > While strategic and applied urban research are both focused on producing knowledge, “urban innovation” (corresponding to experimental development in the GBER) takes things one step further and promotes the actual creation or advancement towards new policies, practices, services, products or processes – such as integrated systems, tools, services and data – in such a manner that the first impact already takes place during the project phase. Initiatives should therefore have a focus on experimentation, testing, demonstration, evaluating and disseminating results, and are always carried out in close collaboration with stakeholders. Policies, practices, processes, services or products being developed could be of commercial value, but equally welcome is innovation directed at public governance, management and operation (societal value). Urban innovation should be carried out in close collaboration with stakeholders.
For more details, see Annex C.
The following table provides some key characteristics of the two R&I approaches.

Table 1: Characteristics of the two R&I approaches
Characteristics | Research-oriented approach (ROA) | Innovation-oriented approach (IOA)
Desired impact | Advance towards answering the questions: • “How do cities really function?” in a way that can be generalised and add to the universal body of knowledge about cities and serve as a foundation for future research. • “What works, when attempting to improve cities?” in a way that can be generalised enough to serve as useful knowledge for decision makers and practitioners. | Advance towards the development, implementation, demonstration, testing, evaluation and uptake of approaches for new products, services, policies, practices and processes, with potential for improving economic, social or environmental sustainability in cities.
Importance of generating results fit for publication in reputable academic journals | Very important | Encouraged
Methodological approach | Rigorous scientific method including methodological advancement | Systematic, proven approach
Foundation of work on evaluation and analysis of empirical observations | Encouraged | Required
Involvement of stakeholders | Involved at least as advisors | Directly involved in the workload
Role for applying Urban Living Labs (see Annex D) | Welcomed | Encouraged
Role for policy research | Fits well | May fit
Valorisation of project results delivering factual impact (facts and figures) | Provision of insights to an important societal issue, production of useful, impactful knowledge in terms of facts and figures for stakeholders/decision makers/practitioners | Market potential and quantitative impact of the project or capacity to respond to a demand or need (including societal needs)
Interdisciplinary approach | Encouraged | Encouraged
Academic disciplines expected in project | All welcome (especially from social sciences, arts and humanities)
Preference for qualitative and quantitative methods | Both welcomed | Both welcomed
Background of evaluators for project assessment | Knowledgeable researchers from universities and Research and Technology Organisations (RTOs) with topic relevant disciplinary background and expertise, researchers with strong experience on utilisation of research results, representatives of companies, cities and other relevant stakeholders.
2.3

Call topics
The Call topics descriptions are structured according to the three TPs: CUE, 15mC and PED. For each TP, three topics are defined as focus areas for this year’s Call. Since urban transition issues are intrinsically interconnected, a proposal may address several topics, from one or more TP. Whilst, crosscutting projects, which combine topics from more than one TP, are encouraged, each project must choose one TP topic that is closest to their subject as a guide. The proposal will be evaluated on the criteria of its main TP. Crosscutting characteristics will be considered in the assessment.
2.3.1

15-minute City Transition Pathway (15mC TP)
The 15mC TP topics in this call emphasise the “Shift” and “Avoid” strategies
6
“Shift” emphases the shift to low- or zero-carbon mobility, while “Avoid” is about reshaping cities around principles of proximity, thereby reducing demand for (high-carbon, long-distance) transport as well as trip length. Together, they embed a combined approach integrating land-use and transport planning.
of mobility policy. They invite proposals to drive governance and social innovations, apply technology and develop business models to advance evidence, tools and policies for inclusive, sustainable and resilient urban mobility. Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary projects are particularly encouraged, aiming to engage diverse stakeholders and co-creation approaches for a just transition. Over the years, the 15mC TP aims to develop a portfolio of innovations, tools and approaches. These will result from DUT-funded projects, tested in local case studies and living labs and ultimately serve as practical models showcasing feasible ways to promote urban mobility transitions.
The 15mC topics in Call 2.025 are
- • Next steps for multimodal urban mobility, building on travel experience
- • Reimagining parking – transforming urban parking policies
- • Mobility policymaking in context of radical contestation
15mC Topic #1: Next steps for multimodal urban mobility, building on the travel experience
CHALLENGE DESCRIPTION
Shifting to inclusive, sustainable and resilient mobility in European urban areas remains a significant challenge. While recent years have shown progress and frontrunner examples – particularly on sustainable mobility services and active travel – many questions persist on how to meet mobility needs of diverse city populations, while contributing to climate neutrality, affordability and attractiveness. In times of environmental urgency and financial constraints, innovative approaches and creative use of existing land- use, infrastructure and resources are essential. This topic focuses on strategies to improve sustainable transport options by integrating different modes and enhancing the perceived quality and experience of door-to-door travel. There is a growing need to explore how the daily travel experience can become more meaningful, enjoyable, and worthwhile – not only to increase the appeal of sustainable mobility, but to ensure that it is genuinely accessible and attractive to diverse users.
SCOPE
At the core of this topic stands urban public transportation and its connection to active and shared mobility to reduce dependency on private cars. It seeks ideas, concepts and supporting evidence to develop and enhance multimodal transport-integrating public transport (train, trams, bus, ferry etc.) with active mobility (walking, cycling, including safe bicycle parking) and shared services (cargo bikes, micromobility, car and ride sharing).
Proposals submitted in this topic should address key levers, gaps and barriers in connecting sustainable transport modes, including aspects of physical infrastructure, station or vehicle equipment, institutional procedures and (digital) tools that facilitate integration and information. They are invited to explore adapting mobility offers to evolving preferences and habits and develop strategies to engage communities, particularly vulnerable groups, as well as local businesses and housing associations in co-creating multimodal solutions. Transport mode integration, public space use and place-making should be considered together, focusing on quality of stay, health, safety and attractiveness as well as climate change adaptation, rethinking public transport stops and multimodal hubs as anchors points for urban mobility transitions.
This topic encourages proposals that build on the concept of worthwhile travel time, improving the overall door-to-door travel experience and working towards an integrated understanding of mobility modes from the perspectives of transport users themselves (including commuters, caregivers, students and school children, older adults, and those with limited mobility). One central aspect of this concept are travel activities, the ability to do something more than just travelling (e.g. to read a book, exercise, rest or enjoy the view). Understanding these additional desired activities and potential positive outcomes is part of the challenge of uncovering what worthwhile travel time means for different groups. Proposals are invited to capture the diverse experiences of different groups and their perception on selecting, accessing and using a transport mode, as well as exploring their specific needs (e.g. of students and school children, older adults or people with limited mobility) or addressing the complexity of connected trips (e.g. of caregivers or commuters) to improve transport offers.
Proposals submitted under this topic should address one or several of the following issues:
- • Which innovative methods (e.g. travel diaries, participatory mapping, passive sensing) can be used to collect nuanced, real-world data on people’s door-to-door travel experiences across modes and contexts?
- • How can diverse needs and perspectives of transport users on worthwhile travel experience from door-to-door be best leveraged for and integrated into planning high-quality, multimodal urban mobility systems?
- • Which strategies, policies and approaches support efficient integration of public transport, active and shared mobility, and last-mile solutions? How can infrastructural, legal, and digital barriers be overcome?
- • How can multimodal integration be best achieved in different varying contexts and cities of different sizes, paying special attention to “smooth” transfers between modes (e.g. efficiency, safety, bicycle parking etc.)?
- • How can needs and perspectives of local communities, business and associations be integrated into co-designing and implementing neighbourhood-oriented multimodal solutions?
- • How can mobility hubs and transport stops increase to local attractiveness, climate adaptation, and public space quality and serve as neighbourhood anchors?
EXPECTED OUTPUTS
Rather than focusing on isolated technical solutions, projects are expected to approach this topic through systems thinking, place-based and human-driven strategies related to this topic. Project outcomes should be both impact-oriented and process-driven, aiming to be as concrete and user-centred as possible.
Projects should clearly define their expected outputs in relation to the chosen question. Expected outputs include, but are not limited to:
- • Concepts and instruments to collect data on travel experience and satisfaction facilitating multimodal mobility in urban areas.
- • Analysis and design frameworks to incorporate diverse user needs into multimodal mobility planning, based on door-to-door worthwhile travel experience.
- • Strategies, approaches and recommendations to implement integrated multimodal urban transport systems.
- • Transferable case studies demonstrating implementation of high-quality, door-to-door multimodal services in various contexts and city sizes.
- • Approaches to participatory design and co-creation of neighbourhood-oriented mobility solutions.
- • Place-making strategies connected to local multimodal hubs and transport stops.
15mC Topic #2: Reimagining parking – transforming urban parking policies
CHALLENGE DESCRIPTION
Throughout the 20^{th} century, cities prioritised car infrastructure, dedicating vast street space to accommodate vehicles. Since essentially every car trip starts and ends in a parking space, parking plays a crucial role in urban mobility transitions. The scale of parking is massive, with parking occupying 10–20% of street space, where cars remain stationary 95% of the time. This extensive use of space reinforces car dominance and conflicts with visions of sustainable, vibrant and healthy neighbourhoods. Therefore, topic #2 aims to address this imbalance, supporting cities in navigating the complexities of parking policies.
SCOPE
Many European cities have gained comprehensive experience in regulating and managing on-street parking, but implementation varies depending on city size, local context and available resources. This topic explores strategies for effective parking management, examining existing evidence as well as innovating new methods and data to inform decision-making (e.g. dimension and availability of private and public parking). A better understanding of private parking spaces, particularly in large garages, can help identify ways to shift on-street parking to (already built) off-street locations, while pursuing the objective to generally reduce parking as a necessary condition for lowering car dependency. Additionally, innovative approaches can support the diversification of private garages by integrating shared mobility options, bicycle parking, and e-charging infrastructure.
Given that policies and infrastructure for on-street parking shape public space for decades, proposals should take an ambitious approach, embedding parking strategies within broader urban mobility plans and addressing connected regulations and tools for implementation, ensuring policies are fair, transparent and effective. Monitoring, evaluation and adaptation mechanisms play a key role in refining public policies over time, while growing demands for delivery zones and e-mobility charging infrastructure must also be considered.
Recognising that urban space is inherently scarce, the dynamic management of the kerbside presents an opportunity to optimise space allocation based on evolving needs. By making kerbside access regulation clearer and ensuring compliance, cities can manage space more efficiently, allowing for flexible arrangements that accommodate deliveries, ride-hailing short-term parking and more as well as non-mobility related uses (e.g. temporary uses such as outdoor gastronomy, parklets, social and cultural happenings). Proposals should seek to co-design solutions that align dynamic kerbside management with broader urban transition goals, ensuring scalability and ease of implementation.
While most parking policies focus on existing urban areas, mandatory parking provisions in new urban developments remain a crucial regulatory tool. Many cities enforce minimum parking requirements, mandating a specific number of parking spaces per unit or floor area, which contributes to reinforcing car dependency. This topic invites proposals to assess the impacts of such regulations, identify successful cases that deviate from minimum requirements and explore innovative policy alternatives that better integrate public transport, cycling infrastructure and shared mobility services.
Finally, this topic invites exploration of the general trend towards larger and heavier vehicles – often referred to as “car obesity” or “car spreading”. Proposals should define and evidence this topic, as well as impacts on urban areas and develop strategies to address and discourage this trend in the public interest.
Project proposals submitted under this topic should address one or several of the following issues:
- • How can integrated and ambitious parking management strategies best promote fair and supported urban mobility transitions reducing dependency on privately owned cars and parking dominance in urban space?
- • Which data, methodologies and (unusual) partnerships are required to inform the transformation of urban parking dynamics?
- • Which mechanisms can improve monitoring, evaluation, and adaptation of parking policies?
- • Which effects, co-benefits and potential rebounds can be generated by parking management, depending on varying contexts of urban areas?
- • Which models and incentives can encourage a shift from on-street to (already built) off-street parking, while aiming at lowering dimension and impact of parking in urban areas?
- • How can dynamic kerbside management optimise urban space allocation for different mobility and non-mobility related uses?
- • How can cities reform minimum parking requirements to lower car dependency, prioritise and promote sustainable transport options?
- • Which evidence and instruments can support addressing and discouraging the trend towards larger and heavier vehicles in cities?
EXPECTED OUTPUTS
Rather than focusing on isolated technical solutions, projects are expected to approach this topic through systems thinking, place-based and human-driven strategies related to this topic. Project outcomes should be both impact-oriented and process-driven, aiming to be as concrete and user-centred as possible.
Projects should clearly define their expected outputs in relation to the chosen question. Expected outputs include, but are not limited to:
- • Case studies of parking management strategies and instruments across different city sizes, contexts and stages of implementation.
- • Transferable and adaptable tools for implementing integrated parking strategies that rebalance the current street space distribution to support sustainable, vibrant and healthy neighbourhoods.
- • Approaches and methodologies to improve the level of nuanced, dynamic data on urban on- and off-street parking.
- • Pilots exploring partnerships and collaboration between public and private stakeholders to implement models reducing on-street parking and repurposing large private garages.
- • Governance models and tools for dynamic kerbside management to optimise space allocation for diverse needs.
- • Innovative policy frameworks for existing parking regulations, lowering car dependency and incorporating sustainable transport options.
- • Instruments to address and discourage the trend towards larger and heavier vehicles in cities.
15mC Topic #3: Mobility policymaking in context of radical contestation
CHALLENGE DESCRIPTION
Ambitious strategies and policies often fail when they lack political support or face strong opposition. The impact of digital platforms has boosted this dynamic by propelling the loudest voices, creating echo chambers, but also by amplifying misinformation. Since mobility policies directly affect urban space and daily life of city dwellers and visitors, they have become a central arena to increasingly polarised public debates. This topic seeks to better understand the underlying motives behind radical contestation of mobility policies, develop pragmatic strategies to address these and counter misinformation, while advancing participatory approaches to urban mobility policymaking that create space for constructive dialogue and compromise.
SCOPE
Urban mobility policies often entail complex challenges and conflicting interests, e.g. between personal freedom and the public good. While heated public debate represents a core democratic process, recent years have shown that misinformation can fuel radical opposition, distorting discussions and obstructing necessary change. In this tense climate, even the anticipation of backlash can lead to policy paralysis, reinforcing a cycle of political inaction and contestation. There is a growing demand to address misinformation and radical contestation and their impact on urban mobility policymaking.
Proposals under this topic are encouraged to build capacity among policymakers and develop practical tools to navigate increasingly polarised public discussions. This may include identifying essential but controversial policies for urban mobility transitions (e.g. low emission zones, reduction of parking), analysing and learning from both successful and failed policy implementation at local, regional and national level. Furthermore, applicants are invited to examine recent instances where misinformation has driven radical contestation of urban mobility policies, analysing the spread and consequences of such narratives as well as appropriate counters.
Understanding the underlying needs and drivers of contestation – including cultural and traditional identity, perceived customary rights or rejection of structural change – is crucial, as is co-creating conditions of acceptability and compromise. Proposals should explore how to differentiate legitimate concerns and expectable trade-off of interests from misinformation-fuelled opposition and develop targeted approaches to engage in debate. This includes providing policymakers with effective communication strategies to reframe public interest of mobility policies from a people-centred perspective, convey tangible policy (co-)benefits and craft targeted messaging and narratives, especially for sceptical groups.
Furthermore, proposals are encouraged to advance participatory approaches to urban mobility policymaking, creating space for constructive dialogue and compromise. This could involve testing and applying empathetic engagement tools that bring in underrepresented groups, while preventing public debate be dominated by the loudest voices. This topic aims to build on governance and institutional innovation and highlight the power of partnerships with key stakeholders (e.g. schools, businesses, community leaders, and influencers) to improve transparency, strengthen public trust and facilitate policy implementation.
Project proposals submitted under this topic should address one or several of the following issues:
- • Which lessons can be drawn from case studies of misinformation-fuelled contestation in urban mobility policy?
- • Which tools and strategies can help policymakers navigate polarised debates and effectively counter misinformation?
- • How can policymakers distinguish between legitimate concerns and misinformation-driven resistance?
- • How can methods and approaches to communicate mobility policies be informed by a deeper understanding of underlying needs and drivers of contestation?
- • How can participatory processes empower diverse stakeholders, including underrepresented groups, and strengthen partnerships for more inclusive and constructive debate?
- • Which good practices for co-designing local mobility measures that encourage open dialogue and compromise can be developed further?
EXPECTED OUTPUTS
Rather than focusing on isolated technical solutions, projects are expected to approach this topic through systems thinking, place-based and human-driven strategies related to this topic. Project outcomes should be both impact-oriented and process-driven, aiming to be as concrete and user-centred as possible.
Projects should clearly define their expected outputs in relation to the chosen question. Expected outputs include, but are not limited to:
- • Comprehensive analysis of spread, impact and counters to misinformation and radical contestation in urban mobility policymaking.
- • Practical tools, guidelines and training programmes to equip policymakers with strategies to understand underlying needs and drivers of contestation and support in countering misinformation.
- • Methodologies and effective communication strategies to build trust, increase acceptance and tailor messaging to different target audiences.
- • Mobility scenarios and storytelling to illustrate real-life impact of mobility policies on urban quality of life.
- • Innovative participatory tools to strengthen engagement and partnerships with key stakeholders.
- • Good practices and frameworks for co-designing urban mobility policies that foster open dialogue and mitigate polarisation.
2.3.2

Circular Urban Economies Transition Pathway (CUE TP)
The CUE TP aims to foster urban places, communities and neighbourhoods that are sustained by circular resource flows and enhance the wellbeing of their inhabitants and ecosystems. It encourages urban planning and design characterised by regenerative urbanism, favouring the combination of circular principles, urban greening, and equal access to urban spaces and resources.
The CUE topics in DUT Call 2.025 are focused around:
- • Resilience aspects of combining green and social infrastructure,
- • Circular benefits and challenges for sustainable tourism, and
- •
Public procurement to foster urban greening and circularity.
CUE Topic #1: Resilient green and social infrastructure
CHALLENGE DESCRIPTION
Green infrastructure – natural areas, parks, waterway corridors, urban food systems, and integrated green-blue spaces – provides critical urban services like stormwater management, reduction of heat stress, biodiversity, food production, and climate mitigation and adaptation, as well as serve as vital communal resources. These multifunctional spaces enhance urban resilience, and are important for urban water cycles, short food supply chains, biodiversity, ecological stability, and climate mitigation and adaptation, whilst also enhancing community wellbeing, health and social cohesion. When designed as accessible to people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities, they have the potential to foster interaction and shared experiences, in providing opportunities for physical activity, social connection, spiritual needs and an escape to nature.
The potential of social infrastructure and its role in urban sustainability transitions is often undervalued. Budgetary constraints and economic rationalisation are often prioritised. However, social infrastructure, which includes cultural and community infrastructure as well as public spaces, is integral to urban life, connecting communities, and offering opportunities for socioecological interventions and interactions. It is essential for the functioning of society and fosters social interactions that make life in cities liveable and worthwhile. This is integral to social cohesion, and avoiding existing patterns of inequality and exclusion, in favour for a more just urban transition. Such spaces can include community housing, universities, schools, preschools, libraries, sports, leisure and recreation facilities, spiritual and religious centres, museums and cultural institutions, cafes and restaurants.
Challenges arise when urban development treats this infrastructure separately, missing opportunities for integrated solutions, fostering circularity. By not considering this infrastructure’s combined environmental, social and economic benefits, urban planning risks overlooking the full potential of this infrastructure to drive climate mitigation and resilience, and social equity. This topic underscores the need to emphasise the combined social, cultural and environmental roles and benefits of green and social infrastructure, highlighting its pivotal contribution to climate mitigation and resilience, social equity and urban transitions.
SCOPE
Proposals under this topic must seek innovative approaches to integrating green and social infrastructure into urban contexts. Projects should consider how green infrastructure offers opportunity for improved community wellbeing and health by providing inclusive and accessible spaces for physical activity, sport, leisure, recreation, relaxation, spiritual experiences and social interaction, contributing to social equity. Similarly, it is crucial that projects focusing on social infrastructure solidly integrate green elements to enhance biodiversity and ecological resilience in urban areas. The emphasis of this topic is on the benefits of combining the ecological and infrastructural qualities of green spaces, along with the socially cohesive qualities of social infrastructure, to create multifunctional spaces that address social, cultural and environmental challenges, fostering integrated and sustainable communities. Furthermore, proposals can address how inclusively designed and well-maintained green infrastructure promotes urban resilience by mitigating heat islands, improving air quality, supporting local ecosystems, as well as increasing biodiversity, food production and security, clean water and healthy soil in a way that can also mitigate climate change.
Moreover, it is crucial to focus on how targeted investments and policies can unlock the potential of underutilised social infrastructure spaces, transforming these into hubs for community engagement and ecological restoration. The long-term success of green infrastructure that depends on integrated governance and management approaches and coordinated efforts across different sectors and stakeholders is also important to this topic. Collaboration among policymakers, urban planners, architects, designers, cultural and creative sectors, advocacy groups and local communities is essential for designing and maintaining integrated infrastructure that balances social, cultural and environmental priorities.
Proposals submitted under this topic should address one or several of the following questions:
- • Enhancing biodiversity and public use: How can prioritising specific plant and animal species in urban green spaces enhance biodiversity while ensuring accessibility and functionality for public use?
- • Supporting health and wellbeing: How does well-designed green and social infrastructure, for example, improve physical and mental health, reduce loneliness, and promote social interaction and community engagement?
- • Combining ecological and social purposes: What strategies and governance models can effectively combine green and social infrastructure to create multifunctional spaces that serve both ecological and social needs?
- • Governance and management for sustainability: What effective management practices, internal organisational reforms, cross-sector collaboration and participatory planning practices are necessary to ensure sustainable and resilient urban ecosystems?
- • Nature-based solutions (NBS) for climate mitigation and adaptation: How can NBS, such as wetlands restoration and flood resistant green spaces, help cities mitigate and adapt to climate change towards climate neutrality, while serving social functions?
- • Inclusive and resilient design: How can green urban spaces be designed to be inclusive, ensuring accessibility for all socioeconomic groups and people of all abilities, and at all locations? How can resilient spaces be co-created using design and artistic practices?
EXPECTED OUTPUTS
Rather than focusing on isolated technical solutions, projects are expected to approach this topic through systems thinking, place-based and human-driven strategies related to this topic. Project outcomes should be both impact-oriented and process-driven, aiming to be as concrete and user-centred as possible.
Projects should clearly define their expected outputs in relation to the chosen question. Expected outputs include, but are not limited to:
- • Approaches for the design and management of green areas, and community and cultural spaces, for enhanced social and ecological benefits.
- • Creating innovative planning and design models and frameworks for integrating green and/or social infrastructure in urban planning and design to improve biodiversity, resilience and accessibility.
- • Advancing community-centred solutions and strategies for fostering local participation and ensuring inclusive, socially cohesive resilient urban spaces.
- • Producing policy, governance and management recommendations for policymakers on governance models and financing mechanisms, to support transformative resilient and inclusive infrastructure initiatives.
- • Developing climate adaptation and mitigation strategies using NBS that enhance urban resilience, towards climate neutrality and against extreme climate events and other climate change impacts, whilst allowing for social functionality and accessibility.
- • Designing methods for the co-creation of inclusive, accessible, green and climate neutral urban spaces.
CUE Topic #2: Sustainable tourism – circular benefits and challenges
CHALLENGE DESCRIPTION
Many regions and cities across Europe face increasing pressure from tourism. Furthermore, there is opportunity to build sustainable tourism practices before this pressure occurs and reaches a damaging level. While tourism is a vital contributor to local economies, generating employment opportunities and income flows, it also creates significant challenges. These include rising costs of housing and food, gentrification, strains on local infrastructure, land use pressures, increased waste production, impacts on culture and heritage, as well as environmental degradation.
This topic explores how these effects of tourism impact and influence the quality of life for local populations and environments. This topic not only considers the existing effects on urban areas already under pressure from tourism, but also the opportunities for urban areas rising in tourist popularity or those seeking to develop tourism in a sustainable way (i.e. prevention of and learning from adverse effects). A key challenge is identifying how circular and green solutions can help mitigate such issues, fostering sustainable and inclusive tourism practices.
SCOPE
Tourism provides both opportunities and challenges for local communities. Identifying desirable tourism models and assessing impacts holistically are key to achieving a balance that benefits all stakeholders. Proposals under this topic must address the multifaceted challenges of sustainable tourism in both existing urban areas and new developments. Projects should focus on innovative solutions, instruments, strategies and regulations, incentives (such as tax incentives), at local, municipal and regional level. Project should, furthermore, focus on addressing rising housing and food prices, gentrification, waste management, infrastructure provision, as well as the environmental impacts and other challenges of tourism, and related real estate developments; whilst ensuring tourism benefits are equitably distributed across local communities.
Under this topic there is also the possibility to identify circular solutions that can reduce waste from tourism by promoting sustainable practices such as refillable packaging, local recycling systems and responsible consumption in tourist hotspots. The topic also emphasises the importance of promoting slow and eco-conscious tourism models that can decrease the environmental footprints, while fostering deeper cultural exchanges and supporting local and indigenous communities so that the identity of the urban environment belongs to the local population and is not lost to the negative effects of tourism. Tourism provides both opportunities and challenges for local communities and identifying tourism models and holistic impact assessment is key to achieving a balance that benefits all stakeholders. This topic also emphases that strengthening the integration of local food systems into tourism services can enhance proximity food chains, creating direct connections between producers and tourism stakeholders while reducing supply chain emissions.
Proposals submitted under this topic should address one or several of the following questions:
- • Gentrification, housing and food prices: How can cities and regions tackle tourism-driven gentrification, and rising housing and food prices, whilst maintaining local affordability, creativityand social, economic and cultural vibrancy.
- • Innovative policies for sustainable tourism: What innovative policies, strategies and regulatory frameworks can ensure affordable housing while balancing vibrant tourism economies and equitable distribution of visitor flows at a local level?
- • Equitable distribution of tourism benefits: How can tourism benefits be more equitably distributed across local communities, ensuring shared economic and social gains?
- • Supporting local entrepreneurship in tourism: What tourism models can promote community-driven entrepreneurship, revenue sharing and participatory planning practices to counter real estate speculation and overtourism?
- • Sustainable tourism practices: What sustainable practices can reduce tourism-related waste and integrate circular economy principles, such as refillable packaging, local recycling systems and responsible consumption?
- • Integrating local food and sustainable sourcing: How can tourism businesses strengthen links with local food producers and overcome logistical challenges to promote sustainable food sourcing and support regional economies?
EXPECTED OUTPUTS
Rather than focusing on isolated technical solutions, projects are expected to approach this topic through systems thinking and place-based strategies related to this topic. Project outcomes should be both impact-oriented and process-driven, aiming to be as concrete and user-centred as possible. Projects should clearly define their expected outputs in relation to the chosen question. Expected outputs include, but are not limited to:
- • Evidence-based recommendations for policymakers, local governments and businesses.
- • Innovative models and strategies that can be piloted or implemented in tourism destinations.
- • Practical tools and frameworks for integrating circular urban economy principles into tourism.
- • Case studies and best practices from various tourism hotspots in Europe and globally.
- • Approaches to align tourism goals with the goals that benefit local community.
- • Policy recommendations that address tourism-driven gentrification in a neighbourhood.
CUE Topic #3: Public procurement to foster urban greening and circularity
CHALLENGE DESCRIPTION
Urban areas face increasing challenges, including biodiversity loss, resource depletion and climate change. Urban development processes contributing to these challenges are complex. Multiple parties are involved in these processes which can take a long time, and where risks and returns are distributed. Public agencies play a crucial role in creating multiple sustainable values, such as urban greening and circularity in these processes. Public procurement, which accounts for a significant share of municipal budgets in Europe and beyond, remains an underutilised tool for driving sustainable urban transitions. Despite their potential, procurement strategies often lack clear circularity criteria, cross-sectoral collaboration, and the capacity to support NBS and resource efficiency. This topic focuses on how public procurement can 1) preserve and enhance biodiversity and mainstream NBS in cities, tackling the adverse effects of climate change and improve ecosystem health, and/or 2) close material loops and advance urban sustainability through circularity. In both aspects, procurement is a pivotal mechanism and tool for achieving green and circular urban transitions.
SCOPE
Public procurement has vast untapped potential to drive circularity, social sustainability and urban greening in urban development processes. Proposals should explore innovative approaches as to how public procurement can be leveraged strategically across various sectors and resource flows, and authorities enhancing urban greening, improving social equity conditions, reducing waste generation and emissions, and promoting circular practices and climate resilience. Projects shall also focus on procurement policies that promote reuse, recycling and waste, and tackle how a clear definition of circularity in procurement criteria is needed to ensure its effective implementation.
Projects should also focus on building capacity and peer-learning and exchange knowledge bases, that will empower urban authorities, procurement officers, planners, practitioners (e.g. engineers, architects, private sector) and civil society, to lead by example and implement truly transformative procurement strategies. Emphasis is placed on balancing local and resilient supply chains, as well as procurement strategies that establish flexible, resilient networks that balance local sourcing with regional and international supply chain diversification. Regarding, green infrastructure and urban resilience, projects should focus on procurement strategies that consider sustainable landscaping and design that reduces water consumption (promoting drought resistant plants and water circularity strategies), noise and air pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions, and enhances the urban environment’s contribution to public health and wellbeing and climate neutrality. Projects should harness creativity and innovation, embracing distinctiveness by fostering, for instance, local craftsmanship, circular business models, and ‘slow consumption’ trends, reinforcing local and cultural identity while advancing sustainability and climate neutrality goals. Projects should consider the social impact of procurement procedures and how they can promote greater community involvement and commitment, provide support for marginalised groups and aid in generating local employment.
Pilot projects, experimental urban spaces and participatory design approaches should be incorporated into procurement strategies. Research should focus on developing frameworks and tools that demonstrate how procurement policies can drive urban sustainability.
Proposals submitted under this topic should address one or several of the following questions:
- 1.
Prioritising reuse and recycling in procurement: How can public procurement prioritise, for example, construction, materials, design, engineering and/or urban planning, products and services designed for reuse, repair and recycling to reduce waste and conserve resources?
- 2.
Fostering local and resilient supply chains: What role can public procurement play in fostering local, resilient supply chains that support circular urban practices and sustainability?
- 3.
Encouraging circular innovation in suppliers: What incentives can be implemented to encourage suppliers to innovate and adopt circular urban economy practices, such as using secondary materials and remanufactured goods relating to the built environment?
- 4.
Mitigating urbanisation’s effects on biodiversity: What architectural and design practices can help mitigate the adverse effects of urbanisation on biodiversity, and how can procurement processes support these practices?
- 5.
Integrating NBS into procurement: What NBS criteria can be incorporated into procurement processes to address urban challenges and mitigate the impact of urbanisation on biodiversity?
- 6.
Collaboration for circular economy goals: How can cross-sector collaboration between public authorities, researchers, and creative industries unlock innovative solutions that align procurement strategies with circular economy goals, ensuring systemic impacts across waste streams and material flows in the built environment?
- 7.
Social and community benefits: How can procurement for urban greening and circularity benefit diverse social groups, promote greater community involvement, as well as support marginalised groups, and foster local employment generation?
EXPECTED OUTPUTS
Rather than focusing on isolated technical solutions, projects are expected to approach this topic through systems thinking, place-based and human-driven strategies related to this topic. Project outcomes should be both impact-oriented and process-driven, aiming to be as concrete and user-centred as possible.
Projects should clearly define their expected outputs in relation to the chosen question. Expected outputs include, but are not limited to:
- • Policy guidelines and recommendations for embedding urban circularity and sustainability in public procurement processes.
- • Best practice frameworks and models for integrating lifecycle assessments, nature-based solutions and circular urban economy principles in procurement.
- • Toolkits and resources to support capacity building and training for public procurement professionals.
- • Case studies including examples of successful circular urban procurement initiatives with measurable and impact-oriented outcomes (e.g. facts and figures).
- • Strategies for enhanced urban resilience, and circularity, and reduced waste, improved resource efficiency, and strengthened local supply chains.
- • Approaches to enhance biodiversity preservation and increase adoption of NBS to mitigate the effects of urbanisation.
- • Recommendations for improved social impact in procurement procedures, greater community involvement, support for marginalised groups, and generation of local employment.
- • Strategies to promote stimulation of local urban economies through circular business models and sustainable consumption trends.
2.3.3.

Positive Energy Districts Transition Pathway (PED TP)
The PED TP aims at supporting the planning, implementation and replication of PEDs throughout Europe. As a concept, the PED concept supports the vision of future urban energy systems, by both optimising energy efficiency and facilitating the generation of renewable energy, from the scale of city districts down to individual buildings. Moreover, urban districts following the PED approach will be able to support the regional or national energy system through the smoothing of energy production peaks, management of demand and facilitating the exchange and storage of energy. Beyond these technical characteristics, PEDs enable the combination of energy efficient buildings and their associated district grids with architectural and social innovation. Public involvement in its design plays a key role in the successful realisation of a PED, with public administrations, real estate developers, utilities and the public at large, functioning as supporting pillars. Through their combined efforts, these actors enable a PED to raise the quality of life in the city, contribute to the Paris Agreement targets and enhance cooperation between stakeholders in any urban governance system.
At the core, we define PEDs as follows (PED Framework Definition):
Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) are energy-efficient and energy-flexible urban areas that produce local renewable energy, achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions and play an active role in the energy system for achieving overall climate neutrality.
The PED topics of DUT Call 2025 focus on the linking PED solutions in wider context to support mainstreaming and scaling of the concept in a multi-level perspective. A strong focus is on exploring innovative solutions in light of their socio-economic impact and providing evidence for social and socio-economic benefits of PED development.
The PED topics in DUT Call 2.025 are:
- • Driving a just transition: PED strategies in social and subsidised housing
- • Ensuring positive socio-economic impact: PEDs in local economies and energy markets
- •
PEDs in urban heating and cooling strategies
For topics with a stronger technological focus, the Clean Energy Transition Partnership (CET Partnership) Call 2025 is recommended.
PED Topic #1: Driving a just transition: PED strategies in social and subsidised housing
CHALLENGE DESCRIPTION
Urban housing strategies are central elements of urban development and, as we face a substantial housing crisis across Europe, have increasingly become a key question for ensuring liveability and social equality in European cities: How can we ensure availability, affordability and sustainability in cities’ housing stocks? Accounting for 25% of the total EU energy consumption, comprehensive housing strategies are a key lever for the urban energy transition, both in terms of regeneration/refurbishment of existing homes and new developments. By integrating housing and energy strategies in PEDs, cities can achieve a balance of environmental responsibility, economic feasibility, and improved quality of life for residents. Varying according to the national or local contexts, public, semi-public and non-profit housing providers play a key role in driving sustainable and just transition processes. Social or public housing may act as a catalyst for both environmentally sustainable development and improving energy affordability for low-income groups. By integrating housing and energy strategies, cities can make meaningful progress toward climate neutrality, while enhancing the quality of life for their residents. The focus of this topic lies on the public or semi-public housing sectors (social housing, subsidised housing end similar), as they are key actors in ensuring a just transition in addressing accessible housing also for low-income groups, and, with more simple ownership structure, need to be frontrunners and provide good practice for the private housing market in performing the energy transition. Furthermore, such housing providers
Including the PED concept in respective strategies can have large-scale impact in terms of reaching climate goals and energy transition goals, as above-mentioned housing providers typically have a large portfolio of new developments and existing structures in different context of a city or country. Such strategies may have positive impact on both housing affordability and local community-building through energy communities. Energy Communities may serve as a lever for added social infrastructure and inclusion strategy in residential areas and housing estates, promoting collaborative aspects especially in low-income areas and contributing to the quality of life of the residents.
This topic aims at addressing housing, energy and climate crises by exploring combined housing and energy strategies, enhancing energy and housing affordability, mobilising central stakeholder groups and promoting community aspects and quality of life for all residents involved.
SCOPE
Proposals under this topic must seek innovative approaches of integrating PED principles in housing strategies, with a focus on in public / social / subsidised / non-profit housing. In particular, proposals should address the following aspects:
Embedding PED principles in urban housing strategies: PEDs must be integrated into urban housing strategies by ensuring new developments meet net-zero standards and retrofitting of existing buildings significantly contributes to the energy transition and net-zero standards. Proposals need to explore innovative solutions for adapted regulations, financial incentives, and policy alignment, including energy-efficient housing mandates, stakeholder engagement and innovative financing models. As for financing models, smart combinations of public funding, subsidies, and green financing need to be explored as essential drivers for investment. Additionally, PEDs should connect to broader energy networks, enabling peer-to-peer energy trading, demand response, and storage solutions for greater efficiency, climate resilience and climate neutrality.
The role of housing providers and scalability of strategic approaches: Public housing providers, housing associations and property owners are key to PED adoption but face financial, technical, and resident engagement challenges. Proposals need to explore their specific roles in planning, implementing, managing and monitoring innovative energy solutions in their respective contexts, specifically focusing on their direct communication and engagement of residents. Public buildings and district heating can lead by example, integrating private homes into shared systems. Ensuring a just transition, concrete suggestions for innovative financing models and a fair distribution of the costs for the transformation process need to be provided. Furthermore, there are significant differences between European countries regarding the role of the public housing sector or housing associations. Proposals need to seek context-sensitive applied approaches, consider a wide range of ownership models and identify scalable solutions for different contexts.
Social equity & community engagement: Proposals need to find innovative approaches and solutions for ensuring the PED benefits are accessible to all, including low-income and vulnerable groups, especially by providing evidence for reduced energy costs and therefore reduced risk for energy poverty. Suggested solutions should actively involve residents in planning and implementation and allow for an active role of residents in Energy Communities. Innovative approaches for social equity and community engagement need to go beyond price policies and seek to develop strategies for socially inclusive public space and social infrastructure that builds on community activities and active engagement of different social groups. Proposals should work on integrating PED strategies into holistic neighbourhood development and develop approaches for fostering public acceptance of local energy initiatives through measures for strengthening local community-based projects, creating more inclusive and sustainable urban transitions.
Context-sensitive and scalable technologies: Proposals need to identify and demonstrate effective technological solutions for integrating PED elements into housing strategies. This includes comprehensive energy efficiency strategies, both in terms of building aspects and behavioural aspects, in new developments, and in existing structures. This furthermore includes collective heating solutions, such as geothermal and solar district heating with seasonal storage, electrification strategies, aligning PEDs with mobility strategies by integrating electric and shared or smart technologies and digital solutions, as the latter play a crucial role in energy optimisation and demand-side flexibility.
Proposals submitted under this topic should address one or several of the following questions:
- • How can PED principles be effectively integrated into both new housing developments and the refurbishment of existing residential stock?
- • What regulatory and financial mechanisms are necessary to overcome barriers to PED adoption in the housing sector?
- • How can housing strategies leveraging PEDs address social equity concerns while ensuring energy transition goals are met?
- • How can residents, especially low-income groups, effectively and actively be engaged in the process?
- • How can a reduction of energy costs for residents (end-users) be ensured and what evidence can be provided?
EXPECTED OUTPUTS
Rather than focusing on isolated technical solutions, projects are expected to approach this topic through systems thinking and place-based strategies related to this topic. Project outcomes should be both impact-oriented and process-driven, aiming to be as concrete and user-centred as possible. Projects should clearly define their expected qualitative and/or quantitative outputs (including facts and figures) in relation to the chosen question. Expected outputs include, but are not limited to:
- • Development of scalable models for embedding PED principles into public, social, and subsidised housing strategies.
- • Development of adaptable PED models suited to diverse urban contexts, ensuring replicability across different European cities.
- • Policy recommendations and innovative financing mechanisms to support PED adoption in housing.
- • Practical frameworks for public housing providers, housing associations and similar housing providers to implement and manage PED solutions, including resident engagement strategies.
- • Demonstration of PED solutions in terms of energy efficiency strategies, local energy generation and flexibility services reducing energy costs, mitigating energy poverty, and ensuring accessibility for low-income groups.
- • Strategies for fostering Energy Communities, enabling resident participation in planning and implementation, and ensuring fair benefit distribution.
- • Deployment of collective heating systems, electrification strategies, and integration of mobility and smart technologies.
- • Strategies for strengthening local community projects and engagement initiatives, as well as for improving neighbourhood-oriented quality of life trough added social infrastructure, quality public space and similar to enhance public trust and support for renewable energy transitions.
PED Topic #2: Ensuring positive socio-economic impact: PEDs in local economies and energy markets
CHALLENGE DESCRIPTION
PED development has a transformative impact on local energy markets, driving innovation, sustainability, and economic efficiency. The shift from centralised energy production to localised renewables requires rethinking grid connectivity, energy distribution, and market structures. Localised production should enhance energy security, affordability, and resilience against geopolitical risks. This topic aims to explore the (positive) impact of PEDs for local energy markets, affordability of energy prices and overall increased resilience. This includes the assessment of market effects of decentralised energy generation, market effects of PEDs as energy trading platforms (energy communities), effects on Demand-Response Mechanisms through integration of smart technologies and IoT, effects on market stability through enhanced storage options, etc.
A multi-level perspective needs to be addressed: PEDs, while improving grid resilience, cannot single-handedly shift energy markets, which are influenced by national and transnational policies. Regulatory and incentives structures are necessary to enable PEDs and local energy markets to function effectively. The integration of local energy markets into the overall market design, the impact of PED development on energy grids and the future role of Distribution System Operators (DSOs)are key questions to be further explored, as well as multi-commodity approaches for power grids and heating/cooling systems. Proposals need to address and demonstrate the impact of adapted local energy markets on local communities in terms of social interactions, behavioural aspects and local jobs. Equally, the impact on the local economy in terms of local socio-economic indicators need to be addressed and detailed.
SCOPE
Proposals under this topic must explore the transformative impact of PEDs on local and regional energy markets and seek innovative approaches to provide evidence for environmental, economic and social benefits the energy market transformation. Proposals should aim to demonstrate how PEDs can drive innovation, improve local economies, and stabilise energy markets while fostering sustainable energy transitions at the local level. In particular, proposals should address the following aspects:
Decentralised energy generation and market effects: Proposals need to demonstrate the added value of decentralising the energy system via PEDs by investigating the market impact of optimised energy efficiency (buildings, infrastructure) and how decentralised renewable energy production and flexibility services within PEDs influence local energy markets, energy pricing, and affordability, while enhancing energy security and resilience against geopolitical risks. Furthermore, by applying a multi-level perspective, proposals need to explore and provide innovative approaches for the balance between national and local levels in terms of (market) regulatory frameworks, incentives, and similar.
Socio-economic impact on local communities: Proposals need to explore the socio-economic effects of PED development on local communities, including behavioural shifts, social interactions, and the creation of local jobs and economic opportunities. Furthermore, proposals need to assess the role of PEDs as energy trading platforms, particularly through energy communities, and their impact on local energy distribution and economic efficiency.
Grid resilience and market stability: Proposals need to examine the effects of PEDs on the resilience of energy grids, and how the integration of local energy systems into national and transnational grid structures can promote energy stability. This includes exploring the role of DSOs and the future role of power grids, heating, and cooling systems (link to PED topic 3). Furthermore, proposals need to evaluate the potential of enhanced energy storage solutions within PEDs to contribute to market stability and facilitate the transition to decentralised energy models.
Demand-response and smart technologies: Proposals need to explore the integration of smart technologies, IoT, and demand-response mechanisms within PEDs, focusing on how these systems can optimise energy consumption, improve grid stability, and contribute to market flexibility.
Regulatory and incentive structures: Proposals need to investigate the need for adapted regulatory frameworks and incentive structures to support the integration of PEDs into broader energy market designs and ensure fair and effective market operation.
Proposals submitted under this topic should address one or several of the following questions:
- • How do PEDs impact local energy markets, including energy pricing, affordability, security, and economic efficiency? How do PEDs need to be designed to ensure positive impact on energy markets?
- • How can PEDs be effectively integrated into national and transnational energy markets, considering regulatory and incentive structures?
- • What role do smart technologies play in optimising energy efficiency and consumption, improving grid stability, and enhancing market flexibility?
- • How can PEDs strengthen energy grid resilience and stability through decentralised energy generation, energy storage solutions, and integration with existing infrastructure?
- • What are the socio-economic impacts of PEDs on local communities, including job creation, social interactions, and economic opportunities?
EXPECTED OUTPUTS
Rather than focusing on isolated technical solutions, projects are expected to approach this topic through systems thinking and place-based strategies related to this topic. Project outcomes should be both impact-oriented and process-driven, aiming to be as concrete and user-centred as possible. Projects should clearly define their expected qualitative and/or quantitative outputs (including facts and figures) in relation to the chosen question. Expected outputs include, but are not limited to:
- • Evidence on how optimised energy efficiency, decentralised renewable energy production and flexibility services within PEDs impact local energy markets, energy pricing, affordability, and energy security, as well as recommendations for optimising these effects.
- • Innovative approaches for balancing local and regional energy markets with national and transnational energy frameworks, including regulatory and incentive structures to ensure effective market operation.
- • Analysis of the socio-economic effects of PEDs on local communities, including the creation of local jobs, economic opportunities, and behavioural shifts in social interactions within the community.
- • Assessment of PEDs as energy trading platforms and energy communities, with clear evidence of their impact on local energy distribution, economic efficiency, climate neutrality and community engagement.
- • Insights into the integration of smart technologies, IoT, and demand-response mechanisms within PEDs, demonstrating how these technologies optimise energy consumption, improve grid stability, and market flexibility, reduce emissions and air pollution and contribute to climate change mitigation.
- • Understanding of the role PEDs play in enhancing grid resilience, including how local energy systems can be integrated into national and transnational grids, and the future role of DSOs in this transition.
- • Evaluation of enhanced energy storage solutions within PEDs and their potential to stabilise energy markets, facilitating the transition towards decentralised energy models.
- • Recommendations for adapting regulatory frameworks and incentive structures to support the integration of PEDs into broader energy market designs, ensuring fair and effective market operations that foster local economic and energy resilience.
PED Topic #3: PEDs in urban heating and cooling strategies
CHALLENGE DESCRIPTION
Integrating PEDs in urban heating and cooling strategies offers substantial potential to improve energy efficiency, reduce emissions, enhance urban sustainability and lead to net zero and climate neutral cities. PEDs can optimise urban district heating and cooling networks by supplying surplus renewable energy or utilising waste heat from local industries and buildings, shared infrastructure reduces redundancy and enhances system efficiency across neighbourhoods. PEDs incorporate technologies such as geothermal systems, heat pumps, solar thermal systems, and heat recovery systems to provide sustainable heating and cooling solutions. As part of climate adaptation strategies, developing feasible cooling strategies, including passive cooling, is an emerging challenge in many parts of Europe.
Heating and cooling solutions should be accessible to all, including low-income families. Collective heating/cooling systems, when combined with extensive renovation support, can ensure an inclusive transition. Energy strategies should consider economic barriers and ensure cost distribution is fair. This topic aims to explore the function and benefits of PEDs for heating and cooling strategies and its potential for the overall decarbonisation, as well as its scalability and replicability potential. Local, regional and national differences in the organisation of heating and cooling networks (central vs. decentral existing systems) need to be considered and operationalised.
Local governments need to take a proactive role in enabling infrastructure for heating and cooling networks. More policy alignment at the EU and national levels is needed to create incentives and regulatory frameworks for effective implementation for multi-energy approaches and network flexibility
SCOPE
Proposals under this topic must explore innovative ways to integrate PED elements into urban heating and cooling strategies to enhance energy efficiency, reduce emissions, and ensure sustainable and inclusive energy solutions. Proposals should address the technological, economic, and regulatory challenges related to heating and cooling within PEDs, ensuring their scalability and replicability across different urban contexts. In particular, proposals should address the following aspects:
Optimisation of district heating and cooling networks: Proposals need to investigate how PEDs can enhance the efficiency of urban heating and cooling networks by leveraging surplus renewable energy, waste heat recovery, and shared infrastructure to reduce redundancy and improve system-wide performance. Furthermore, existing innovative solutions regarding an applied mix of passive design (insulation, shading, natural ventilation, etc.) and active technologies (heat pumps, district heating, electric/microwave boilers, etc.) need to be explored and further developed in an innovative way. Specifically, regarding the growing need for cooling strategies, there are lessons to be learned and explored from existing traditional cooling methods in hotter climates.
Integration of renewable and low-carbon technologies: Proposals need to explore applied and context-specific technological heating & cooling solutions (role of geothermal systems, heat pumps, solar thermal systems, heat recovery technologies in delivering sustainable heating and cooling solutions within PEDs, etc.).
Fair and inclusive access to heating and cooling: Collective heating and cooling systems, when combined with extensive renovation support, can ensure an inclusive transition. Proposals need to develop strategies to ensure low-income and vulnerable communities benefit from collective heating and cooling solutions, with a focus on cost-effective renovations, fair cost distribution, and financial support mechanisms to prevent energy poverty.
Scalability and replicability of PED heating and cooling models: Proposals need to assess how different local, regional, and national heating and cooling systems (centralised vs. decentralised) impact PED integration and propose adaptable strategies for different urban settings. Considering context specificities in terms of analysing existing infrastructure, local policies and regulations, availability of RES, socio-economic aspects and similar, proposals should deliver scalable and actionable solutions that contribute to the decarbonisation of urban heating and cooling while ensuring social inclusivity, economic feasibility, and environmental benefits.
Regulatory and policy considerations: Proposals need to examine how existing policies, incentives, and market structures can be adapted to facilitate PED-based heating and cooling solutions, including the role of public-private partnerships and regulatory frameworks that support collective energy systems.
Proposals submitted under this topic should address one or several of the following questions:
- • How can PEDs optimise district heating and cooling networks by leveraging surplus renewable energy, waste heat recovery, and shared infrastructure to improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions?
- • What is the role of renewable and low-carbon technologies (e.g., geothermal systems, heat pumps, solar thermal systems, and heat recovery) in delivering sustainable and scalable heating and cooling solutions within PEDs?
- • How can fair and inclusive access to heating and cooling be ensured, particularly for low-income and vulnerable communities, while addressing economic barriers and preventing energy poverty?
- • What are the key factors for scaling and replicating PED-based heating and cooling models across different urban contexts, considering variations in centralised vs. decentralised systems and regional infrastructure?
- • How can regulatory frameworks and policy incentives be adapted to support the integration of PEDs into urban heating and cooling strategies, and what role can public-private partnerships play in enabling this transition?
EXPECTED OUTPUTS
Rather than focusing on isolated technical solutions, projects are expected to approach this topic through systems thinking and place-based strategies related to the topic. Project outcomes should be both impact-oriented and process-driven, aiming to be as concrete and user-centred as possible. Projects should clearly define their expected qualitative and/or quantitative outputs (including facts and figures) in relation to the chosen question. Expected outputs include, but are not limited to:
- • Technical solutions and models for optimising district heating and cooling networks within PEDs, incorporating energy efficiency and passive design solutions, surplus renewable energy, waste heat recovery, and shared infrastructure.
- • Demonstration projects or pilot cases showcasing the integration of renewable and low-carbon technologies in urban heating and cooling strategies.
- • Guidelines and best practices for ensuring fair and inclusive access to heating and cooling, addressing affordability, renovation support, and cost distribution strategies.
- • Scalability and replicability frameworks that outline adaptable PED heating and cooling models for different urban contexts (centralised vs. decentralised systems).
- • Policy recommendations and regulatory frameworks to support PED-based heating and cooling, including public-private partnership models and incentive structures.
- • Socio-economic impact assessments evaluating the effects of PED-based heating and cooling solutions on energy poverty, community well-being, and urban sustainability.
3

Eligibility criteria and guidelines for applicants
This Call includes both a set of transnational requirements common for all Applicants (i.e. transnational eligibility criteria), as well as national/regional requirements for Applicants participating in a consortium (namely specific Funding Agency rules which apply to Applicants that claim funds from a specific Funding Agency, see Annex A for guidance and agency web links with further information).
All funded partners in this Call will be funded by their national/regional Funding Agencies, in accordance with their respective national/regional eligibility criteria. Please note that a specific national/regional Agency may not be able to fund all types of organisations and/or TPs and/or research activities.
Applicants must pay careful attention to the relevant national/regional funding rules indicated in Annex A and contact the relevant national/regional contact person with any queries to avoid any issues related to national/regional eligibility.
The term “proposal” is used both for the pre-proposal (first stage of the selection procedure) and the full proposal (second stage of the selection procedure).
3.1

Consortium: who can participate and apply
Definitions: applicants, main applicant, co-applicant, principal investigator
- •
Applicants are defined as organisations/institutions/companies (i.e. legal entities) that apply for funding. Applicants can be but are not limited to:
  - ○ research organisations (higher education institutions including universities, university colleges; research institutes or other entities with research undertakings),
  - ○ companies and commercial organisations,
  - ○ urban government authorities (such as local and regional government institutions, municipalities and municipal organisations, city authorities, urban public administrations, infrastructure and service providers),
  - ○ consumers and civil society representatives (e.g. local and community organisations, non-governmental organisations, not-for-profit organisations, advocacy and activist groups, citizens’ representatives, neighbourhood initiatives, social innovators, social entrepreneurs, etc.).
  - ○ From the culture and creative sectors (e.g. artists and designers).
- • The Main Applicant is the entity responsible for coordinating and managing the project (i.e. project coordinator). It will be the contact point with the DUT Call Secretariat on behalf of the whole consortium and is responsible for the administrative management of the complete project. The Main Applicant is responsible for overseeing the project activities and ensuring that the work programme is on track.
- • Co-applicants are Applicants other than the Main Applicant, eligible for funding from a Funding Agency. There may be more than one Co-applicant from any participating country. In some cases where there is more than one Co-applicant from one country, the responsible Funding Agency may require one of them to be identified as the National Contact Point (NCP); this is done by the Main Applicant, by nominating a partner as such.
- • Cooperation Partners are partners that are ineligible for funding from Funding Agencies (e.g. partners from countries not participating in this Call or ineligible for funding by any of the Funding Agencies, or are eligible but want to participate without receiving funding), but may be included in a project as Cooperation Partners if a) they finance their activity from other sources and (b) the
consortium in general fulfils the requirements on the number of eligible applicants from participating countries. A clear description/indication of the role and form of engagement of these Cooperation Partners should be included in the proposal. A written commitment (Letter of Intent) from Cooperation Partners, participating with their own funding or with an in-kind contribution should be submitted with the full proposal. It should be noted that Cooperation Partners do not count toward the minimum of three eligible applicants from at least three participating countries outlined in the transnational eligibility rule 1 below.
- • Partners generically refers to Main and Co-applicants and Cooperation Partners.
- • The Principal Investigator (PI) is defined as the person who is the lead investigator for an Applicant.
Eligibility rules for the consortia and Applicants
- −
Transnational eligibility rule 1: Each proposal must be submitted by a consortium consisting of at least three eligible Applicants from at least three different participating countries (see Annex A). Only Applicants eligible for funding by the participating Funding Agencies
7
see Annex A.
from the following countries are eligible to apply as Main Applicant or Co-applicant: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Republic of Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Tunisia and Türkiye. In addition, at least two of the eligibleApplicants must be from different EU Member States (MS) or Associated Countries (AC)to the Horizon Europe eligible for EC co-funding in this Call: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Republic of Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands and Türkiye
All legal entities must be independent from each other to be considered as different applicants
8
For instance, a company located in three participating countries and eligible for funding by the respective Funding Agencies will not be considered as three independent applicants and will count for only one applicant.
. Please pay careful attention to the specific Funding Agencies’ rules regarding eligibility of applicants in Annex A since not all Funding Agencies can support all types of Applicants.
Ineligible Applicants (e.g. from other countries or ineligible to receive funding from a participating Funding Agency) may participate as a Cooperation Partner.
- − Transnational eligibility rule 2: The Main Applicant (project coordinator) must be eligible to be funded and request funding by its national/regional participating Funding Agency.
- –
Transnational eligibility rule 3: A Principal Investigator (PI) must only participate in a maximum of two proposals
9
Some Funding Agencies may impose stricter participation rules, such as no participation in more than one pre-proposal. The potential applicants are invited to read the National Annexes and check this kind of eligibility rule with the Funding Agency’s contact person.
, and only once as the PI of a Main Applicant. If the DUT Call Secretariat, in charge of checking transnational eligibility, identifies the same person as PI in more than two pre-proposals, or as PI of the Main Applicant of more than one pre-proposal, all pre-proposals/full proposals in which they are a PI, will be declared ineligible.
- –
Transnational eligibility rule 4:
Consortia must include at least one urban government authority
10
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Glossary:Local_government#:~:text=Local%20government%20consists%20of%20all,agencies%20of%20social%20security%20funds.
(city, municipality or entity providing key urban services
11
Key urban services include sanitation, energy, water, transport infrastructure and transportation, education, health services, emergency services and (public) housing.
, so long as this entity is owned by a local government (confirmation of this by the local government may be requested by the Call Secretariat)) either as a Main Applicant, Co-applicant, or Cooperation Partner depending on the national/regional eligibility criteria.
Recommendations for the consortia composition
Consortia may include partners active across several positions within the research and development system (i.e., innovation, applied research, strategic/fundamental research) and across disciplines (natural sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities, engineering, etc.). Moreover, consortia should include preferably at least one representative from companies and commercial organisations, consumers or civil society, either as a Main Applicant, Co-applicant, or Cooperation Partner, depending on the national/regional eligibility criteria.
Typically, small to medium sized consortia (involving funding requests to 3-5 Funding Agencies on average per proposal), are expected. However, there is no upper limit, and consortia may involve as many partners as necessary for a convincing proposal, ensuring that all participants have a justified role. Each partner within the consortium should clearly add value to the objectives of the proposed project.
Depending on the nature of the project, each partner in the consortium must demonstrate how they will exploit the expected results.
Consortia are expected to be balanced between countries, both in terms of number of partners and distribution of budget and no individual Applicant or Cooperation Partner may represent more than 50% of the workload calculated in terms of person-months.
Consortia must integrate gender balance and other diversity aspects in the dedicated section of the proposal (see the Evaluation Criteria in section 4.5).
It is also possible to include “widening” countries, as long as they are participating in the Call (see Annex A for a list of participating Funding Agencies). Please note that all consortium partners should serve a purpose that enhances the proposal; therefore, it is only recommended to add a widening partner (or any partner, for that matter) if their tasks provide a clear benefit to the success of the project.
Also, Applicants should take into account the budgets and expected number of projects of all involved Funding Agencies (listed in Annex A of this document) when building the project consortium. A Funding Agency that receives to many applications will likely encounter budget issues, which may lead to most of those Applicants being eliminated due to financial constraints.
3.2

What can be applied for?
This section presents the eligibility rule and the recommendations concerning the duration and funding request of a project.
- − Transnational eligibility rule 5: Project duration: Projects may be funded for a maximum of 36 months.
Funding recommendations
There are no fixed minimum or maximum limits for a project size. Medium sized projects with a total budget request from all involved Funding Agencies in the range of EUR 1-2 M are typically expected, though total project costs can be lower or higher.
However, funding limits exist for many Funding Agencies. Annex A indicates the budget available from each Funding Agency and corresponding funding rules and limitations (namely maximum amount per project or per Applicant, or a range of funding demands expected from one proposal).
In the proposal, a justification of the requested budget is required. The estimated budget must be given in euros only and be tabulated according to the proposal template provided. All costs must be eligible according to the Funding Agencies’ rules (see Annex A). In case of doubt, Applicants should consult their respective Funding Agencies.
3.3

Preparing and submitting an application
This section presents the eligibility rules and the recommendations for preparing and submitting a pre-proposal/full proposal. It also presents what is not allowed and what may be exceptionally allowed in terms of modifications between the pre-proposal and the full proposal stage.
- −
Transnational eligibility rule 6: Language and mandatory forms.
Pre-proposals/full proposals must be prepared in English using the designated mandatory proposal form. Proposals written in other languages will be ineligible.
The proposal form should be filled in completely.
Pre-proposals and full proposals must respect the total number of pages using a standard font size and normal page margins as indicated on the proposal form.
- −
Transnational eligibility rule 7: Submission.
Pre-proposals and full proposals must be submitted on the UEFISCDI electronic submission system, UDiManager
12
A PIC (Participant Identification Code) number for each Partner is necessary to submit a (pre-)proposal.
(www.uefiscdi-direct.ro), before each associated deadline:
  - • the Call for pre-proposals is open until 17 November 2025, 13:00 (CET).
  - • In March 2025, applicants will be invited to enter the second stage of the procedure: the Call for full proposals will close on 23 April 2026, 13:00 (CEST).
An online help document with guidelines for submission will be provided, detailing the procedures and duties of the Main Applicant and of other consortium partners.
It is not possible to resubmit or revise the pre-proposal/full proposal after the submission deadline, unless it pertains to corrections to technical administrative details and is requested by the Call Secretariat.
- − Transnational eligibility rule 8: Only pre-proposals invited to submit a full proposal will be eligible in the second stage of the selection procedure. If a Main Applicant decides to submit a full proposal rejected at the end of the first stage, this full proposal will be declared ineligible.
- −
Transnational eligibility rule 9: No fundamental changes initiated by the applicants alone between the pre-proposal and the full proposal will be accepted. Namely:
  - ○ the project objectives stated in the pre-proposal cannot be changed,
  - ○ the Main Applicant (and its PI) must stay the same, except in case of force majeure,
  - ○ the consortium (co-applicants) should stay the same (with the exception of the Inclusion possibilities allowed explicitly by the Call Secretariat, see below in section 4.1),
  - ○
only minor changes on the funding demand per Funding Agency can be allowed (except in the case adding Inclfusion Procedure partners).
13
Please contact your national/regional Funding Agency
  - ○ changes in the consortium structure requested as part of the Fallback Procedure (see section 3.7) are considered modifications requested by the Call Secretariat and are therefore exempt from this rule.
The Call Secretariat may allow such modifications in exceptional cases, if duly justified.
Modifications requested by a Funding Agency do not count as changes between the pre-proposal and the full proposal stages.
By submitting a pre-proposal/full proposal, applicants agree that it will be forwarded to all Funding Agencies, which are receiving a request to provide funding for that proposal.
Some Funding Agencies require submission of information on a national/regional level as well (see Annex A).
3.4

Summary of the transnational eligibility criteria
- > Only transnational projects will be funded; consortia must include at least three independent legal entities applying for funding from three different countries that have Funding Agencies participating in the Call. In addition, at least two eligible Applicants within a consortium must be from different EU MS or AC eligible for EC co-funding in this Call (see Annex A for a summary). Please note: Proposals which no longer fulfil this rule due to a consortium change requested by the Call Secretariat as part of the Fallback Procedure (see section 3.7) must add a new partner through the Inclusion Procedure (see section 4.1) before the full proposal submission deadline.
- >
The project coordinator (Main Applicant) must be eligible to be funded by its national/regional participating Funding Agency and request funding.
One person must only participate in a maximum of two proposals as a PI, and only once as the PI of a Main Applicant
14
National/regional rules may be more restrictive regarding this eligibility criterion.
.
- > Each consortium must include at least one urban government authority partner, either as a Main Applicant, Co-applicant or Cooperation Partner, depending on the national/regional eligibility criteria.
- > The duration of a project must not exceed 36 months.
- > Pre-proposals/full proposals must be written in English and respect the template form (in terms of overall size, limit of pages and characters). The template form must be filled in completely.
- > Pre-proposals/full proposals must be submitted on the UEFISCDI electronic submission system (UDiManager) before the corresponding deadlines indicated in this document.
- > Only pre-proposals invited to submit a full proposal are eligible in the second stage.
- > No fundamental changes between the pre-proposal and full proposal, initiated by the applicants alone, will be accepted.
3.5

National/regional specific eligibility rules
In addition to the transnational rules and procedures laid out in the previous section, there may be specific Funding Agencies’ rules (e.g. Funding Agencies’ eligibility criteria for certain organisations, co-funding requirements, national/regional evaluation rules, submission of additional documents or information on a national/regional platform, etc.). Please note that there are also limitations regarding the types of research or innovation activities that different Funding Agencies are able to support.
It is strongly recommended to check these national/regional rules with the contact person at the respective Funding Agency (see Annex A) before submitting a proposal.
3.6

Eligibility check
The DUT Call Secretariat will verify the eligibility of the pre-proposals/full proposals according to the transnational eligibility criteria described in the previous section.
The participating Funding Agencies will perform an eligibility check for compliance according to their funding rules.
Both transnational and Funding Agencies’ eligibility criteria must be met for a proposal to be declared eligible at either stage.
In the case a Co-applicant(s) is (are) ineligible, the proposal may still be eligible if and when the eligibility criteria are met by the proposal without this (these) partner(s).
If a proposal is “eligible”, this does not mean that it will be awarded funding, only that the proposal will be admitted to the evaluation procedure.
3.7

Fallback Procedure
This Procedure is meant to provide an additional means to avoid losing projects due to high oversubscription rates of individual Funding Agencies. It does not replace the already established Inclusion Procedure (section 4.1), but rather works hand in hand with it. The Procedure consists of the following process:
During the Stage 1 Selection meeting, the Call Steering Committee (CSC) will select all pre-proposals that can be invited to the second stage without reaching an oversubscription greater than 4 (or 3, for Funding Agencies not eligible for EC Co-Funding, see section 1 or Annex A for a summary) in any Funding Agency, following the recommendation of the Expert Panels. Additionally, as part of the Fallback Procedure, the CSC checks the different ranking lists to select all pre-proposals which have not already been selected for invitation, and which fulfil the following criteria:
- • The pre-proposal must be fundable according to the Expert Panels (see section 4.5);
- • The pre-proposal must include applicants from only one Funding Agency with an oversubscription rate higher than 4 (or 3, for Funding Agencies not eligible for Co-Funding, see section 1 or Annex A for a summary);
- • All applicants from this Funding Agency will be removed from the consortium;
- • These applicants must not include the Main Applicant;
- • The cumulated person months contributed by these applicants must not exceed 25% of the overall project person months;
- • If the removal of these applicants results in a project with funded applicants from less than three countries or less than two EU MS or Horizon Europe AC countries, meaning if the proposal is no longer transnationally eligible according to the Transnational Eligibility Rule 1, the removed applicants must be replaced with one or more funded applicants from a different eligible country via the Inclusion Procedure;
- • If the pre-proposal proceeds without the removed applicants, the oversubscription rates for all other involved Funding Agencies must not be higher than 4 (or 3 for Funding Agencies not eligible for Co-Funding, see section 1 or Annex A for a summary) as well;
All Main Applicants will be informed at the same time, therefore removing (and replacing) the applicants in question will be part of the writing process of the full proposal.
The Fallback Procedure is not mandatory – should a consortium choose that they do not wish to proceed without the applicants in question, they can choose to not submit their revised full proposal. Additionally, depending on any contracts/agreements already signed within the consortium in question, the applicants in question may also refuse to be removed/replaced (which would also lead to the pre-proposal remaining unchanged and being removed from the Call).
After Stage 2 of the Call has closed, the Call Secretariat will examine the affected full proposals as part of the transnational eligibility checks and declare those which have not removed the applicants in question ineligible. Full proposals which no longer fulfil Transnational Eligibility Rule 1 will also be declared ineligible.
4

Assessment and selection procedure
For this Call for proposals, a two-stage procedure will be adopted.
4.1

Pre-proposal stage (stage 1)
In the first stage, consortia are invited to submit pre-proposals.
A pre-proposal includes a description of the partners, concise project description not exceeding the page limits indicated in the template (exceeding this limit will render the pre-proposal ineligible for funding), and budget indications with limited details fulfilling national/regional requirements.
Transnational evaluation
The pre-proposals declared to be eligible according to the transnational and national/regional criteria will be assessed by an Expert Panel. The Panel will consist of recognised international experts in relevant fields, academics, as well as practitioners and innovators, who can assess the scientific, in addition to the innovative and practical value of the pre-proposals. The Panel will be appointed by the Funding Agencies. No external referees or reviewers will be part of the assessment at this stage.
The Expert Panel will assess the pre-proposals using the evaluation criteria described in section 4.5. Each pre-proposal will be assessed by at least three Expert Panel members. The Expert Panel will meet to discuss all pre-proposals, to produce an assessment report for each pre-proposal and ranking lists to advise the Funding Agencies responsible for the selection of pre-proposals.
The outcome of the Expert Panel’s work will consist of six ranking lists, each corresponding to one specific TP and one specific R&I approach (ROA or IOA):

Table 1: Characteristics of the two R&I approaches
TP | Research-oriented approach (ROA) | Innovation-oriented approach (IOA)
PED TP | Ranking list PED + ROA | Ranking list PED + IOA
15minC TP | Ranking list 15mC + ROA | Ranking list 15mC + IOA
CUE TP | Ranking list CUE + ROA | Ranking list CUE + IOA
Selection of the pre-proposals invited to the second stage
The decision for the invitation to submit a full proposal in the second stage will be conjointly taken by the participating Funding Agencies (acting as a CSC) and will be based on these six ranking lists and the following other criteria that will be used to arbitrate between the ranking lists.
These criteria will aim to ensure that:
- 1.
the invited pre-proposals represent national/regional funding requests that do not exceed 4 times (3 times for Funding Agencies not eligible for Co-Fund, see section 1 or Annex A for a summary) the available national/regional budget of each Funding Agency;
- 2.
a maximum of countries participating in the Call are represented in the proposals accepted in the second stage;
- 3.
a good representation (in terms of the number of proposals) of the three TPs and of both types of R&I approaches will be included in the second stage.
Invited consortia will then have the opportunity to elaborate their ideas to full proposals (second stage).
An overall assessment of the quality of their pre-proposals will be provided to all consortia that were declared formally eligible in Stage 1. The report can be accessed on the UDiManager (please note that only the Main Applicant of each consortium receives a message when the report is available).
Inclusion procedure
It is possible that invited consortia will be explicitly allowed by the DUT Call Secretariat to integrate, in their full proposal, additional partners requesting funds from specific Funding Agencies, if these Funding Agencies are underrepresented in the proposals invited to the second stage.
This addition of applicants shall be done in a way that is compatible with all the national eligibility conditions already indicated in the Call Text and the internal regulations of the respective Funding Agencies.
This inclusion option between the pre-proposal stage and the full-proposal stage shall be conducted in close cooperation with the respective Funding Agencies with the aim of allowing as many countries as possible to be involved in the funding of the transnational projects.
The additional Co-applicants may not effect a significant change to the proposal’s original aims, impact
and main tasks, but should enhance the original focus.
This possibility does not invalidate the consistency requirements between pre-proposal and full proposal stage outlined at the end of section 3.3.
4.2

Full proposal stage (stage 2)
Transnational evaluation
Full proposals deemed eligible (as described in sections 3.4, 3.5 and 3.6) according to the transnational and national/regional criteria will be assessed by an international Expert Panel, as in the first stage.
Each full proposal will be evaluated by at least four independent experts.
The Expert Panel will meet to discuss all proposals, to produce an assessment report for each full proposal and ranking lists of full proposals to be considered for funding by the Funding Agencies.
The outcome of the Expert Panel will be six ranking lists, as in stage 1, each ranking list corresponding to a specific TP and a specific R&I approach (ROA or IOA).
Decision for funding
Based on the ranking lists made by the Expert Panel and taking into account the available budgets of the Funding Agencies, the Funding Agencies meeting in a CSC will jointly decide which projects will be recommended for funding. The final formal funding decision will be taken by each Funding Agency afterward, following its national/regional procedure.
Taking into account the available budgets of the Funding Agencies, this CSC recommendation will be based on the identification of the optimal choice of projects to be funded, arbitrating between projects from different ranking lists, and also between any projects equally ranked within the same ranking list
15
No gap will be left in each ranking list. When going down the ranking list, if a project cannot be funded with the available budget, no project ranked below will be funded.
, according to the following objectives:
- 4.
optimising both the total number of projects funded and the total number of participating countries/regions involved in these projects;
- 5.
ensuring both a good representation (in terms of the number of projects) and balanced success rates between the three TPs and between the two R&I approaches;
- 6.
ensuring that the EC co-funding will be used as efficiently as possible but also distributed as fairly as possible among the participating countries eligible for EC co-funding.
A written statement on the evaluation of each full proposal will be sent by the Call Secretariat to the Main Applicants. The Call Secretariat will inform the Main Applicants of projects that have been recommended for funding on the subsequent contracting procedure.
4.3

Right to object a decision, redress procedure
Applicants will have no possibility to rebut and appeal against, at a transnational level, the Expert Panel’s evaluation or the decision taken by the CSC.
However, the Call does not preclude rules and legal frameworks that prevail at national/regional level. Therefore, even though an objection on a transnational level is not possible, it may be possible on a national level, depending on the national/regional legal framework. To voice an objection or redress please contact your respective Funding Agency.
If the decision were to be challenged by a specific party, it will be dealt by the concerned Funding Agency at the national/regional level according to its applicable domestic laws on the matter.
The result of the redress procedure is not Call-wide.
4.4

Time schedule

Table 3: Time schedule for DUT Call 2025
Date | Description
17 November 2025 | Deadline submission of pre-proposals
December 2025 | Eligibility check
February 2026 | Meeting of Expert Panel to assess pre-proposals
March 2026 | Invite applicants to submit full proposals
23 April 2026 | Deadline submission of full proposals
May 2026 | Eligibility check
June 2026 | Meeting of Expert Panel to assess full proposals
July 2026 | Funding recommendation by the CSC
July 2026 | National funding decisions and announcement of results to Main Applicants
September 2026 – January 2027 | Start of the projects
2027 | Kick-off meeting
4.5

Evaluation criteria
Pre-proposals and full proposals will be assessed according to specific evaluation criteria by using a common evaluation form. Some sub-criteria are specific to the R&I approach (ROA or IOA). Each consortium is responsible for choosing the approach that best fits the objectives and positioning of their proposal.
The criteria will be used for both evaluating the pre-proposals and the full proposals. Criteria with asterisk
*
are used only for the evaluation of full proposals.

Table 4: Evaluation criteria for DUT Call 2025
Excellence – Intellectual Merit | 5 points
7. Clarity and pertinence of the objectives 8. Credibility of the proposed approach and soundness of the concept 9. Added value of transnational cooperation 10. Clarity and feasibility of the project design and of the proposed methodology* 11. Identification of risks and mitigation plan*
Sub-criteria adapted to ROA: • Originality, contribution to new strategic knowledge, progress beyond the state of the art | Sub-criteria adapted to IOA: 12. Innovativeness of the approach compared to existing solutions
Impact and User Engagement (societal and broader impacts of project results) | 5 points
13. Relevance to the Call topic(s) (see expected outcomes in each topic description) 14. Integration of diversity and gender perspectives in the project plan and goals when applicable; alternatively, please instead include an explanation as to why it is not applicable to your proposal 15. Engagement of stakeholders (e.g. communities, cities, policymakers, regulators, NGOs, or industry) 16. Effectiveness of the proposed measures for the dissemination and/or exploitation of project results (*) both at the transnational and the regional levels
Sub-criteria adapted to ROA: 17. Potential of the project to provide insights to an important societal issue and produce useful knowledge for stakeholders* | Sub-criteria adapted to IOA: 18. Market potential of the project and/or capacity to respond to a demand or a need*
Quality and Efficiency of Project Implementation | 5 points
19. Composition, quality and suitability of experience and expertise of the consortium to address the project goals (including interdisciplinarity, cross-sectorial collaboration, and co-creation aspects where relevant) 20. Complementarity and balance of substantial contributions of partners of the consortium 21. Feasibility and appropriateness of timescale 22. Global value for money (costs are realistic and reasonable with respect to the ambition of the project and the expected results and impact) 23. Appropriateness of costs allocation and justification of requested resources (staff, equipment, etc.)* 24. Appropriateness of the allocation of tasks and workloads, ensuring that all participants have a valid role and adequate resources in the project to fulfil that role * 25. Appropriateness of the management structures and procedures, including risk, quality and innovation management as well as data concerns, for example GDPR risks, risks associated with access to data, etc.* 26. Consideration of regulatory and ethics issues, when necessary* 27. Consideration of data management issues (if applicable to the proposal), such as access to data, data processing, data quality, etc., for example by providing a Data Management Plan*
Evaluation scores will be awarded for each of the three main criteria and not for the individual sub-criteria. Sub-criteria are aspects that the experts will consider in the assessment of that criterion.
A scoring system from 0 to 5 will be used to evaluate each proposal with respect to each evaluation criterion, using the following definitions for the scores:

Table 5: Scoring system for DUT Call 2025
Points | Explanation
5 | Excellent. The proposal successfully addresses all aspects of the criterion.
4 | Very good. The proposal addresses the criterion very well, but small improvements are possible.
3 | Good. The proposal addresses the criterion in question well, but certain improvements are necessary.
2 | Fair. The proposal generally addresses the criterion, but there are significant weaknesses that need corrections.
1 | Poor. The proposal shows serious weaknesses in relation to the criterion.
0 | Failure. The proposal fails to address the criterion in question or cannot be assessed because of missing or incomplete information.
The Expert Panel will have the ability to use half marks in their evaluation.
The thresholds for a project to be considered for funding will be 3 for individual criteria and 10 for the overall score.
4.6

Conflicts of interest (Expert Panel)
All necessary measures will be taken by the Call Secretariat to ensure the absence of conflict of interests (CoIs) of Expert Panel members with respect to the proposals they will have to assess.
The Expert Panel members (reviewers) will be asked to formally declare that no CoIs exist at any time of their evaluation duty and will sign a non-disclosure agreement concerning all documents and the entire process. In case of breaching the rule of no CoI, the member will be discharged from participation in the Expert Panel.
The Call Secretariat will perform a first check of potential CoIs before sending the proposals to the reviewers. Reviewers are bound to indicate after receiving the proposals whether there is a CoI with any of the consortium partners of the proposals they have been asked to assess. Reviewers will sign a formal declaration that they do not participate in the Call nor have any conflicting interests regarding the consortium partners of the projects that they reviewed.
5

Project implementation
This Call is part of the DUT Partnership that includes various joint programme activities (e.g. knowledge sharing, networking) described in this section.
Projects funded via this Call will become part of the DUT Partnership R&I portfolio. Participants of projects funded via this Call are expected to actively participate in the programme activities and to consider this in the planning of their project proposal by including budget to participate in the programme activities.
5.1

Consortium agreement
Each funded project is required to have a signed consortium agreement (CA) between all partners within six months following the start of the project
16
Some Funding Agencies may have stricter rules; please check your national/regional agency’s National Annex.
.
For projects involving enterprises, the signature of the CA is needed prior to the start of the project: see Article 27 of the EC Framework for State aid for research and development and innovation.
The CA must address, as a minimum, the following topics:
- 28.
Internal organisation and management of the consortium
- 29.
Sharing of risks and results
- 30.
Dissemination and exploitation of results
- 31.
Intellectual property arrangements
- 32.
Settlement of internal disputes.
Additional national/regional Funding Agencies’ regulations concerning the requirement for a CA, including the date of the signature, may also apply.
The DESCA model may be a helpful starting point in designing the CA. Please note that the DESCA model CA was written for Horizon Europe projects with the EC acting as the sole Funding Agency. Thus, several of the paragraphs need to be adapted as DUT Joint Call projects have different Funding Agencies for the respective project parts carried out in the different countries.
5.2

Project monitoring and reporting
Project monitoring and reporting will be in accordance with the respective Funding Agency’s rules.
In addition to the Funding Agency’s requirements, the consortia are expected to deliver progress reports to the Call Secretariat, in English, on an annual basis, including a description of their transnational cooperation and a publishable summary of the project status. A reporting template will be provided on the programme website.
A detailed survey must be completed by the Main Applicant together with the annual joint reports. This survey includes key performance indicators for project progress and their contribution to the overall aim of the Call.
The Call Secretariat will publish detailed guidelines to assist projects with their transnational reporting duties.
5.2.0

Programme activities
To foster exchange between the projects, dissemination and communication to stakeholders, decision makers and the general public, and to refine and identify challenges and objectives for future Calls, the
DUT Partnership has established a multi-layered scheme of mandatory activities, opportunities and support for projects.
Time and budget (including travel expenses) of a maximum of EUR 30 000 should be reserved by the consortium as a whole for these programme activities.
5.2.1

Mandatory project events
Three project events are foreseen to foster exchange between all projects of this Call. A project kick-off will be organised in 2026, a mid-term event in 2027 and a final event in 2028/2029. Active participation of the funded projects is mandatory, e.g. by preparing short project presentations and/or posters.
In addition, funded projects should plan to contribute to at least one DUT event per year. Examples of such events includes cross-project meetings to deepen reflections on project results; participation in stakeholder dialogues; workshops to reflect research results; and conference sessions to promote and discuss science policy issues regarding sustainable urbanisation.
Municipalities who are partners in funded projects should plan to take part in the DUT City Panel. The DUT City Panel is a collaborative platform facilitating co-creation, consultation, exchange, cooperation and engagement with cities relating to the strategic priorities of the DUT Partnership. More specifically, the DUT City Panel supports cities in their transition challenges, strengthening existing skills and tools to boost urban change and transformation towards climate neutral, liveable and inclusive cities. Involving the experience, needs and requirements of municipalities in DUT through the City Panel is essential to develop challenge driven and innovative solutions. Further information on the DUT City Panel can be found here: DUT City Panel – DUT Partnership
5.2.2

Reports and summaries for the general public
All consortia of funded projects are expected to prepare regular popular science summaries (on an annual basis) of the project contents and updates for programme activities and publications by the EC and the DUT Partnership (e.g. for brochures, (digital) newsletters, websites).
At the end of each project, projects are expected to submit an additional publishable report, meant for the general public. A template for this report will be provided by the Call Secretariat.
Information on the projects and its partners, including summaries, abstracts, contact information, publishable reports and general information on the project may be published by the DUT Partnership, its partners, the EC or any entity contracted by them. All partners of a consortium grant rights of use to the aforementioned entities.
The Call Secretariat will publish detailed guidelines and templates to assist projects with these duties.
5.2.3

Support for the DUT Knowledge Hub(s)
In order to capitalise on the project results and facilitate their translation and transfer to practitioners, it is required that approved projects participate in the activities of the DUT Knowledge Hub(s). The main objectives of the Knowledge Hubs are to support the projects, to gather a community around a specific theme and to strengthen the links between the different actors (cities, stakeholders, research, innovation).
Each project must be represented by an expert who will spend at least 5 person-months on Knowledge Hub activities.
The experts, together with the management team of the Knowledge Hub(s) and the specific TP programme management, will work on one or more of the following themes and challenges:
- − Contributing to the strategic development of the TP;
- − Synthesis results, collaboration with other projects;
- − Science policy briefs, participation in specific events;
- − Communication to the scientific community and stakeholders;
A mandatory work package summarises these standard activities. It remains the responsibility of each project to nominate the expert who will best represent their project, deliver the project outputs and participate in the writing of supporting materials (policy recommendations, white papers, etc.) This expert must be nominated with their name and contact details, and resources (budget and staff) for this role should be indicated.
Description of expected work:
- 1.
Meet and discuss across projects, to find synergies, overlaps, new insights, and inspiration. Achieved by an ongoing exchange between Project Experts and DUT Partner Experts through meetings and online written exchange.
- 2.
Extract results and synthesise insights from projects for its translation into support materials and project-specific innovation portfolio cases. The projects’ results, learnings and insights will be translated into support materials such as policy briefs, webinars, toolkits, white papers, or similar formats that synthesise learnings, tools, and insights from DUT projects on a specific topic.
- 3.
Transfer insights, learnings and produced materials for internal and external dissemination. The insights, learnings and materials produced will be disseminated to stimulate transfer from science to policy and practice. Each project plays a key role in transferring materials to relevant target groups.
Deliverables and month of delivery:
- 1.
Inputs for innovation portfolio (description of innovative solution(s), with relevance for achieving sustainability and liveability in cities, enabled by DUT, and with potential for scaling). (M18)
- 2.
Summary of learnings and results from year 1 (one pager) (M12)
- 3.
Summary of learnings and results from year 2 (one pager) (M24)
- 4.
Summary of learnings and results from year 3 (one pager) (M36)
5.2.4

Support for Mission Innovation “Urban Transitions Mission” participation
The DUT Partnership, helping co-lead the Mission Innovation “Urban Transitions Mission” (MI UTM), aims to support the internationalisation and integration of DUT-funded projects in the international city knowledge and learning hub. MI UTM delivers urban pathways to net-zero enabled by clean energy and systemic innovation across all sectors and in urban governance.
MI UTM facilitates the dissemination and communication of project results at international level, while providing a platform for cities to exchange and have interactive learning together. The main aims of this opportunity are to support the projects on global collaboration and capacity building, gather a community around a specific topic and enhance the links between the different actors (cities, stakeholders, research, innovation).
Within this Call, projects are invited to participate in the activities and formats of the MI UTM, by nominating at least one city representative to act as the project representative for MI UTM.
The projects are invited to allocate project budget to the participation in MI UTM activities. We estimate that two person-months should be sufficient for this role.
The city representatives acting as project representative in MI UTM could work on one or more of the following topics and formats:
- • Engaging in knowledge-transfer and capacity building opportunities with UTM cities to accelerate their journey to net-zero, resilient and inclusive futures through dedicated tailor-made trainings and knowledge sharing offers in seven main research clusters (Transport, Energy, Water, NBS, Governance, Finance, Data & Scenarios).
- • Access and engage in an online global platform for knowledge exchange (the UTM Centre), that provides cities with direct access to good practices, expert advice, integrated solutions, peer-learning opportunities and guidance for each step of their city climate journey.
- • Co-creating and co-hosting of thematic sessions in the framework of international events; contributing and participating in an annual UTM Global Innovation Summit
By joining the UTM cohort cities can also access:
- • A globally designed framework helping cities to strengthen their own climate plans and strategies, prioritise actions, and reap the benefits of systemic approaches to reach their net-zero target.
- • Direct support to identify needs-based solutions in partnerships with the UTM Global Innovation Alliance of partners, including national policymakers, private sector, financial institutions and international organizations.
- • Pilot opportunities to apply innovation, test and scale up solutions in partnership with the UTM's Global Innovation Alliance.
- • Curated access to technical assistance, signposting of funding and investment, and blended finance, through a dedicated helpdesk.
5.3

Publications and dissemination
5.3.0

Communication Strategy
To ensure efficient communication and dissemination of results and outcomes, it is encouraged that all proposals include communication activities in connection to final results and deliverables from each of the project work packages (WPs).
A communication plan is a mandatory deliverable in year 1. Thus, each project shall have dedicated budget and personnel for communication, with at least one person assigned as the ambassador for communication activities (such as a WP leader). Communication activities may include, but are not restricted to, promotion of the project activities (events, webinars, seminars, publications), speaking at external events, writing key messages targeting the project's audience, and sharing results with the wider DUT community. Templates and guidelines for the communication plan will be provided by the Call Secretariat/DUT communication team at the kick-off event.
It is up to the consortium to implement these activities in a way that best fits their proposal. Please note that not all Funding Agencies may fund communication costs (meaning it might be reasonable to exclude certain project partners from this work) – please check Annex A for national/regional rules.
5.3.1

Acknowledgements
Projects must ensure that all outcomes (e.g. publications) of transnational projects include a proper acknowledgement of DUT Partnership, the EC, and the respective Funding Agencies.
The Call Secretariat will publish detailed guidelines and templates to assist projects with these duties.
5.3.2

Open science practices, data management and data sharing
The DUT Partnership strongly promotes open science and communicating the open science principles to the research community, as well as to other stakeholder communities (FAIR principles).
DUT encourages funded projects to openly share research data and digital outputs to stimulate new approaches to the collection, reuse, analysis, validation and management of data and information, thus, increasing the transparency of the research and innovation process and robustness of the results.
However, the DUT Partnership also recognises that not all data can be shared openly, and that there will be legitimate reasons to constrain access. For detailed information on the requirements regarding data management within this Call, please see Annex B.
Wherever possible, funded projects are expected and obliged to provide open access to research outputs (e.g., publications, data, software, models, algorithms, and workflows) through deposition in trusted repositories.
Projects are expected and obliged to share either a link to a trusted repository or the files themselves of their research outputs with the Call Secretariat.
Costs of open access publications are eligible costs for many Funding Agencies involved in this Call and therefore sufficient budget should be reserved for open access publications where eligible. Details on whether or not these costs are eligible can be found in the respective Funding Agencies’ National Annex (see Annex A).
5.4

Personal data protection
The provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) shall be complied with by the Call Secretariat and the Funding Agencies participating in the organisation of this Call with respect to the processing of personal data. Depending on the country and the participating Funding Agency, different national laws might apply, and different electronic systems will be used regarding the processing of personal data.
By submitting an application, the Applicants consent to the use, processing and retention of their personal data
17
Last name, first name of the persons involved, date of birth, professional contact information, degree(s), position (current and previous), fields of activity, place of work, organisation, address(es), curriculum vitae, ORCID number, name and reference of projects, pre-proposals, full project proposals (scientific document, administrative and financial appendix).
, in accordance with article 6.1 (e) & (c) of the GDPR (2016/679) and for the purposes of:
- 33.
processing and evaluating the application where processing shall be lawful only if and to the extent that processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller;
- 34.
administering any subsequent funding award;
- 35.
managing the relationship between the Applicants and the Funding Agencies;
- 36.
analysing and evaluating the Call;
- 37.
providing aggregate data to national and European surveys and analyses on the funded projects;
- 38.
and complying with audits that may be initiated by the Funding Agencies and the EC (or its agencies).
In addition, by submitting an application, the Applicants agree to share their personal data with funders based outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and with reviewers (some of which may be based outside the EEA) in relation to the above activities.
Funders and reviewers may link the data that Applicants provide in the application with national, bibliographic or external research funding data which is available through public subscription based databases (e.g. Scopus, Web of Science, etc.) or other national/open datasets.
5.5

“Do No Significant Harm” (DNSH) principle
The R&I activities and projects funded within the DUT Partnership are obliged not to support or carry out activities that make a significant harm to any of the six environmental objectives as defined in Article 17 on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment (EU Taxonomy Regulation).
6

Contact details and other information
General information on the Call
Updated information on this Call and all relevant documents/templates are published on the DUT Partnership Website.
If you have questions on the general Call process and proposal submission, please contact the Call Secretariat.
DUT Call Secretariat
Elena Simion (UEFISCDI – Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding), Amina Ghorbel and Pascal Bain (ANR – Agence Nationale de la Recherche), Maria Rachele Nocera (MUR – Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca)
Email address of the Call Secretariat: Call@dutpartnership.eu
Contact points of participating Funding Agencies
For questions regarding specific Funding Agencies’ rules and additional forms please check Annex A: Specific Funding Agencies’ Budgets and Rules of Eligibility” first. Additional information can be obtained by contacting the indicated national contact persons at the participating Funding Agencies.
ANNEX
A:

SPECIFIC FUNDING AGENCIES’ BUDGETS AND RULES OF ELIGIBILITY
The following tables are presented to give some guidance to the applicants when considering the consortium building process and to make it easier to read the specific Funding Agencies’ rules.
Please consult Table 3 for the detailed eligibility criteria for each Funding Agency.

Table 1: Participating Funding Agencies: budget, RDI activities, topics and organisations eligible for funding
Country / Region | Funding agency | total budget [M EUR] | 15minC | CUE | PED | Types of RDI activities eligible for funding | Maximum funding per project/project applicant/main applicant [K EUR] | Indicative mean or range of funding demand per project expected [K EUR] | Anticipated number of projects | Universities and research organisations | Municipalities | Business organisations and companies | NGOs and similar
Austria | FFG | 3.5 | 2.0 | | 1.5 | – Applied research | 400 | N/A | 18–20 | yes | yes | yes | yes
– Innovation | 500 | yes | yes | yes | yes
Belgium / Wallonia-Brussels | F.R.S.-FNRS | 0.3 | Yes | Yes | | – Fundamental research | 300 | 300 | 1 | Yes | No | No | No
Belgium / Flanders | VLAIO | 0,8M€ | X | X | X | – | 800k€ | Indicative below 500k€, contact us if higher is needed | – | NO | YES only if in collaborat ion with Flemish company | YES | YES if economic activities
Belgium / Flanders | VLAIO | 0,6M€ | X | X | X | – practice-oriented research | 440k€ | 300k€ | 2 | YES for specific univers ity colleges, and integra ted university educations | NO | NO | NO
Belgium / Flanders | FWO | 0,75 | 0,75 | Basic/Strategic research | 0,25 | / | 3 | Yes | No | No | No
Belgium / Brussels Capital Region | Innoviris | 1 Million | | | | – Strategic Research – Applied Research – Experimental Development (Innovation) | N/A | 300.000 | 3–4 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes
Croatia | Croatian Science Foundation (HRZZ) | 0.4 M€ | X | X | X | – Strategic (basic) research activities | 0.2 M€ | 100% | 2 | Yes | | |
Czech Republic | TACR | 0.7 | 0.35 | – | 0.35 | – Applied Research | 175 | 150–175 | 3–4 | yes | yes | yes | yes
Denmark | IFD | 2 (pending final approval) | X | X | X | – Strategic research – Applied research – Innovation | 300 per partner 500 per project | 200–500 | 8–10 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes
Estonia | ETAG | 0.3 | yes | | | – Strategic research – Applied research | 150 per project or 300 per project if Estonian partner is Main Applicant | N/A | 1 | yes | yes | yes | yes
Finland | BF (AP) | 3.00 | | | | – Applied research – Innovation | N/A | 200–500 | 4–6 | yes | no | yes | no
France | ANR | 3.00 | | | | – Strategic research – Applied research | 500 | 200–350 | 8–10 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes
Germany | DLR | 3.0 | 3.0 | – | – | – Strategic research – Applied research – Innovation | 500/350/400 | 100–500 | 6–8 | yes | yes | yes | yes
Germany | FZJ-PtJ | 0.67 | | | 0.67 | – Applied research – Innovation | 330/330/330 | 100–330 | 1–2 | yes | yes | yes | yes
Hungary | NKFIH | 1.00 | | | | – Strategic research – Applied (industrial) research – Innovation/Experime ntal development – Feasibility Study | 300 k EUR/project 150 K EUR/partner (if the Hungarian partner is the main applicant – 200 k EUR) | 0–300 k€ | 3–6 | yes | yes, as partner of a main applicant | yes | yes
Italy | MUR-ERDF | 1.00 | | | | – Industrial/Applied research – Experimental development – ROA/IOA (TRL 4–7 indicatively) | • MINIMUM funding request: € 100.000,00 per project • MAXIMUM funding request: € 200.000,00 per project • MAXIMUM funding request: € 300.000,00 per project in case the applicant is the Project Coordinator of the transnational Consortium | | n/a | Yes | | Yes |
Korea, Republic of | KAIA | 1.5 | 1.5 | – | – | – | 30 | 20 | 5 | Yes | Yes (non fundable) | Yes | no
Latvia | LCS | 0.6 | | | | – TRL9 is not funded – Normally TRL1–4 is preferred stage – Experimental development is associated with limitations | 0,1M per year per Latvian partner = grant of 0.3M for a 3-year project, 0.2M for a 2-year project to a partner | | 2–3 | Yes | No | Yes | no
Lithuania | LMT | 0.30 | yes | yes | yes | – Strategic research – Applied research | 0.25 | 0.15– 0.25 | 1–2 | yes | yes, as partners of main applicant | yes, as partners of main applicant | yes, as partners of main applicant
The Netherlands | NWO | 4,000,000 EUR | X | X | X | – Strategic research | Up to 325,000 per project | Up to 325,000 per project | 12 | X | | |
The Netherlands | Taskforce for Applied Research – SIA | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | – Applied Research | 300 / 300 | 200–300 | 3–5 | UAS only | yes, as cooperati on partner of main applicant | yes, as cooperati on partner of main applicant | yes, as cooperati on partner of main applicant
Poland | NCBR | 2.3 | 0.76 | 0.76 | 0.76 | – Basic research (the eligible costs of fundamental research may comprise a maximum of 10% of total eligible costs of the project) – Industrial/Applied research, – Experimental development | – up to 250 K EUR per project if a single applicant from Poland (research organisation or enterprise) applies for funding up to 450 K EUR per project if a group of entities from Poland applies for funding | n/a | approx . 5 to 9 | yes | yes (only as a part of group of entities) | yes | yes (only as a part of group of entities)
Portugal / Centro Region of Portugal | CCDRC | 500 000€ | Yes | Yes | Yes | – Strategic research – Applied research – Innovation | Maximum funding per project with regional participation (to share between all regional/national entities participating): 100 000€ – Maximum funding per project with a regional coordination (to share between all regional/national entities participating): 200 000€ | 100 000€ – 200 000€ | 3–5 | yes | Yes, as long as in cooperati on with an ENESII | Companie s: No Business organisati ons: yes, as long as in cooperati on with a company or a Higher Education Institution | Yes, as long as in cooperati on with an ENESII
Portugal | FCT | 0.50 | YES (Only 15m C Topic #1) | YES (all topics) | YES (all topics) | • Research-Oriented Approach – Project type of partner contribution: A – Applied Research; F – Fundamental Research | Maximum funding per project: • 200 000,00€ (main applicant) 100 000,00€ (project applicant) | | 4/5 | YES | YES | YES | YES
Romania 1 The budget may be subject to changes during the running of the call | UEFISCDI | 1,000,000 | X | X | X | – Strategic research – Applied research • Innovation | 200.000 EUR for Romanian participant(s) as partner(s) in a consortium; 250.000 for the Romanian participant(s) – if the project is coordinated by a Romanian entity | | 4–5 | X | Under condition s | X | X
Slovakia | Centrum vedecko- technických informácií Slovenskej republiky (CVTI SR) Slovak Centre of Scientific and Technical Information (SCTI) | 1,8M EUR | 0,6M EUR | 0,6M EUR | 0,6 M EUR | – Strategic urban research – Applied urban research – Urban innovation | The maximum funding amount per Slovak partner in international projects is 300,000 € (if the Slovak partner is the main applicant – 400 000€). The maximum funding amount per project for all Slovak partners, if the project has two or more Slovak partners, is 600,000 €. | 100K EUR-600K EUR | 3–6 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes
Slovenia | ARIS | 0,40 | | | | – Strategic research | 150 | 150 | 2–3 | yes | no | no | no
Spain | AEI | 1.00 | | | | – Strategic research – Applied research – Innovation | 175–362 | N/A | 7–8 | Yes | No (see national annex) | No (see national annex) | No (see national annex)
Spain | CDTI | 0,6 | yes | yes | yes | – Applied Research – (TRL 4–7) | n/a | 250 | 3–6 | no | no | yes | no
Sweden | Formas | – 2.5 | – | – Yes | – | – Basic research – Applied research – Innovation | – | – 300k Euro per project (400k Euro per | – 6–8 | – Yes | – Yes | – Yes | – yes
| | | | | | | | project if the Main Applicant is Swedish). | | | | |
Sweden | SWEA | – 1.5 | – | – | – 1.5 | Applied research – Innovation | – N/A | – N/A | – 5–6 | – X | – X | – X | – X
Switzerland | SNSF (AP) | 1.1 + 0.25 | | | | – Strategic research – Applied research | For a 3-years project: 400‘000 CHF / applicant For a 2-years project: 266‘667 CHF / applicant | N/A | 2–3 | yes | no | no | no
Tunisia | MHESR (AP) | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | – Strategic research – Applied research – Innovation | 100 | 100 | 5 | Yes | no | no | no
Türkiye | TUBITAK | 1.65 M EUR | x | x | x | – Strategic research – Applied research – Innovation – | – 230.000 EUR per project (excluding PIP&OC), – Per partner – Higher education institutions, training and research hospitals and public institutions and organisations (including city, metropolitan and district municipalities) (excluding PIP&OC) – 100.000 EUR – 125.000 EUR (if the applicant is main applicant) – Private entities: 230.000 EUR * PIP&OC: Project Incentive Payment and Overhead costs | 230.000 | 5–6 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No

Table 2: Transition Pathways and topics coverage (X) by the Funding Agencies
Country / Region | Funding Agency | 15minC TP | CUE TP | PED TP
Topic 1 | Topic 2 | Topic 3 | Topic 1 | Topic 2 | Topic 3 | Topic 1 | Topic 2 | Topic 3
Austria | FFG | X | X | X | | | | X | X | X
Belgium / Wallonia-Brussels | F.R.S.-FNRS | X | X | X | X | X | X | | |
Belgium / Flanders | VLAIO | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X
Belgium / Flanders | FWO | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X
Belgium / Brussels Capital Region | Innoviris | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X
Croatia | HRZZ | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X
Czech Republic | TACR | X | | X | | | | | X | X
Denmark | IFD | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X
Estonia | ETAG | X | X | X | | | | | |
Finland | BF (AP) | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X
France | ANR | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X
Germany | DLR | X | | | | | | | |
Germany | FZJ-PtJ | | | | | | | | | X
Hungary | NKFIH | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X
Italy | MUR-ERDF | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X
Korea, Republic of | KAIA | X | X | X | | | | | |
Latvia | LCS | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X
Lithuania | LMT | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X
The Netherlands | NWO | | X | X | X | | X | X | X | X
The Netherlands | Taskforce for Applied Research -SIA | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X
Poland | NCBR | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X
Portugal / Centro Region of Portugal | CCDRC | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X
Portugal | FCT | X | NO | NO | X | X | X | X | X | X
Romania | UEFISCDI | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X
Slovakia | CVTI SR | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X
Slovenia | ARIS | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X
Spain | AEI | X | | X | X | X | | X | X |
Spain | CDTI | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X
Sweden | Formas | | | | X | X | X | | |
Sweden | SWEA | | | | | | | X | X | X
Switzerland | SNSF (AP) | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X
Tunisia | MHESR (AP) | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X
Türkiye | TUBITAK | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X

Table 3: List of Funding Agencies for DUT Call 2025
Country | Funding Agency
Austria | Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG)
Belgium/Wallonia-Brussels Federation | Fund for Scientific Research – FNRS (F.R.S.-FNRS)
Belgium / Flanders | VLAIO
Belgium/Flanders | The Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO)
Belgium / Brussels Capital Region | Innoviris
Croatia | Croatian Science Foundation (HRZZ)
Czech Republic | Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TA CR)
Denmark | Innovation Fund Denmark (IFD)
Estonia | Estonian Research Council (ETAG)
Finland | Business Finland
France | Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR)
Germany | Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR)
Germany | Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH
Hungary | National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NKFIH)
Italy | MUR
Latvia | LCS
Lithuania | Research Council of Lithuania (LMT)
Korea, Republic of | Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement (KAIA)
The Netherlands | Dutch Research Council (NWO)
The Netherlands | Taskforce for Applied Research SIA (Regieorgaan SIA)
Poland | The National Centre for Research and Development (Narodowe Centrum Badań i Rozwoju)
Portugal | Comissão de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento Regional do Centro, I.P
Portugal | Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)
Romania | Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding (UEFISCDI)
Slovakia | Slovak Centre of Scientific and Technical Information (CVTI SR)
Slovenia | Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (ARIS)
Spain | Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI)
Spain | Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico y la Innovación (CDTI)
Sweden | The Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (FORMAS)
Sweden | Swedish Energy Agency – Energimyndigheten (SWEA)
Switzerland | SNSF (Swiss National Science Foundation)
Tunisia | Ministry Of Higher Education And Scientific Research (MHESR)
Türkiye | The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK)
Austria – Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG)
(a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria:
Information type | Details
Contact Point | Teresa Losek (PED, general enquiries) E–mail: teresa.losek@ffg.at Tel: +43 (0)5 7755-5075 Linda Lackner (PED, general enquiries) E-mail: linda.lackner@ffg.at(PED, general enquiries) Tel: +43 (0)5 7755-5049 Dietrich Leihs (15minC) E–mail: dietrich.leihs@ffg.at Tel: +43 (0)5 7755-5034
Funding commitment | EUR 3,500,000 (EUR 2,000,000 for the 15mC Transition Pathway, EUR 1,500,000 for the PED Transition Pathway)
Anticipated number of projects to be funded by the funding partner | 18–20
Maximum funding per awarded project | • Applied research (Kooperatives F&E-Projekt der Industriellen Forschung): maximum EUR 400,000, minimum EUR 100,000 per project • Innovation / Implementation (Kooperatives F&E-Projekt der Experimentellen Entwicklung): maximum EUR 500,000, minimum EUR 100,000 per project
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | In general, universities, research institutes, SMEs and large companies, cities, municipalities and NGOs (legal entities) are eligible for funding. The complete eligibility criteria and definitions may be found in the national guidelines.
Eligible topics | • 15minC Transition Pathway: all topics (1–3) • PED Transition Pathway: all topics (1–3)
Eligible type of research and TRL | Applied research (Kooperatives F&E-Projekt der Industriellen Forschung; TRL 2-4), innovation / implementation (Kooperatives F&E-Projekt der Experimentellen Entwicklung; TRL 5–8)
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | National application via eCall is mandatory: • Submission deadline pre-proposals: November 19th, 2025 at 12.00 (CET) • Submission deadline full proposals: April 28th, 2026 at 12.00 (CEST)
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency | All Austrian partners in one project must select the same research type. For the research types “Applied research” and “Innovation/Implementation” at least one business enterprise that receives funding is mandatory as a partner in any transnational consortium involving Austrian partners. It is not mandatory for this enterprise to be located in Austria. Participation (as the main applicant, a co-applicant or a cooperation partner) of an Austrian municipality or municipal (directly or indirectly owned) company is desirable (though not mandatory). In case of a cooperation partner, an LoI must be submitted (via eCall) in the full proposal stage. For consortia that do not yet have an established connection to such a partner, the Salzburger Institut für Raumordnung & Wohnen (SIR) offers to put applicants in contact with city administrations of the Austrian pioneer cities. For this purpose, SIR provides an information sheet, which must be completed and sent to the following contact persons by September 30, 2025: • Nina Mostegl (nina.mostegl@salzburg.gv.at) • Mathias Stadler (mathias.stadler@salzburg.gv.at Consortia that are already in contact/cooperating with a communal partner do not have to contact SIR and should instead contact this partner directly. At least one Austrian partner must actively partake in the learning environment, provided in the framework of the „Pionierstädte“ programme. • The costs for this activity (approximately € 2,000 per project year) are fundable.
Eligible costs | • Personnel costs • Overhead costs (flat rate) • Use of R&D infrastructure • Costs of materials • Third-party costs • Travel costs • Costs for participation in the „Pionierstädte“ programme learning environment For detailed information see the “Kostenleitfaden”
Website with additional information | Driving Urban Transitions Call 2025
Additional information | Further details may be found in the national call text. For projects awarded funding, scientific and financial reporting via eCall on an annual basis is mandatory. We highly recommend to contact us during the preparation of the proposal.
(b) Funding rates:
Organisation type | Basic research | Industrial / Applied Research | Experimental development / Innovation
Large Enterprises | N/A | 55% | 35%
Medium Enterprises | N/A | 70% | 50%
Small Enterprises | N/A | 80% | 60%
Universities, public research organisations | N/A | 85% | 60%
Public authorities | N/A | 80% | 60%
Associations without economic activities, NGOs | N/A | 80% | 60%
Belgium/Wallonia-Brussels Federation – Fund for Scientific Research – FNRS (F.R.S.-FNRS)
(a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria:
Information type | Details
Contact Point | Dr. Florence Quist – international@frs-fnrs.be- +32 20 504 9351
Funding commitment | 300.000 euros
Anticipated number of projects to be funded by the funding partner | 1
Maximum funding per awarded project | 300.000 euros
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | All eligibility rules and criteria can be found in the PINT-MULTI regulations.
Eligible topics | Only Research Oriented Approach (ROA) 15mC topics 1, 2 and 3 CUE topics 1, 2 and 3
Eligible type of research and TRL | Basic research TRL: 1–3
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | Applicants to F.R.S.-FNRS funding must provide basic administrative data by submitting an administrative application on e-space within 5 working days after the general deadline of the DUT call to be eligible. Please select the “PINT-MULTI” funding instrument when creating the administrative application. Proposals invited to the second stage will be able to complete the pre-proposal form and provide information for the full proposal upon validation by the F.R.S.-FNRS.
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency | N/A
Eligible costs | • Personnel costs • Small equipment • Operational costs • Subcontracting All eligibility rules and criteria can be found in the PINT-MULTI regulations. Please note that personnel costs (Article III.6) have an annual average cap of 80,000 euros for this call. Please note that personnel costs (Article III-B.18) have an annual average cap of 80 000 € for this call. For “overhead” costs: Operating expenses: up to 1% within the budget granted. This percentage should be included in the requested operating budget. Personnel: up to 2% outside of the granted budget. This percentage will be paid upon reimbursement of expenses to institutions by the F.R.S.-FNRS.
Website with additional information | https://www.frs-fnrs.be/fr/calendrier-des-appels
Additional information |
(b) Funding rates:
Organisation type | Basic research | Industrial / Applied Research | Experimental development / Innovation
Large Enterprises | | |
Medium Enterprises | | |
Small Enterprises | | |
Universities, public research organisations | 100% | |
Public authorities | | |
Associations without economic activities, NGOs | | |
Belgium / Flanders – FIO / VLAIO
(a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria:
Information type | Details
Contact Point | Veerle Desmet veerle.desmet@vlaio.be +32 2 432 43 02
Funding commitment | 800.000€ (companies & municipalities) and 600.000€ (university colleges)
Anticipated number of projects to be funded by the funding partner | /
Maximum funding per awarded project | Indicative <500.000€ (companies & municipalities, contact us if higher is needed) and 440.000€ (university colleges)
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | Eligible partners are Flemish enterprises and non-profit organisations (with legal entity, economic activities and valorisation in Flanders). Scientific partners can be involved as subcontractors in these project. Applicants should demonstrate their viability and financial soundness regarding their own contribution to the project. NEW since 2023: Eligibility for local authorities IF in cooperation with a Flemish enterprise, check conditions https://www.vlaio.be/nl/media/2361 NEW since 2024: Eligibility for university colleges, and for integrated university educations specifically targeted at enterprises and non-profit organizations.
Eligible topics | All
Eligible type of research and TRL | Applied research, experimental development; practice-oriented research; TRL 3–7
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | Additional templates to be completed can be found on the VLAIO website. These templates are mandatory to check the eligibility and must be sent to VLAIO on the date of call deadline. We kindly ask the applicants to apply for a meeting with VLAIO as soon as possible and ultimately 2 weeks before the deadline to check the eligibility aspects.
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency | Please note that VLAIO does not allow multiple funding; the principal investigator should clearly state how the proposed project differs from other granted projects. There will be an information session (in Dutch!) on September 11^{th} at 10 a.m., please check our website for further details.
Eligible costs | • Staffing costs • Overhead costs (max. 25k€ per FTE) • Operational costs • Third-party services • Investment costs
Website with additional information | www.vlaio.be
Additional information | – Industrial development projects: https://www.vlaio.be/nl/subsidies-financiering/ontwikkelingsproject – Industrial research projects: https://www.vlaio.be/nl/subsidies-financiering/onderzoeksproject – Local authorities in cooperation with a Flemish enterprise: https://www.vlaio.be/nl/media/2361 – University colleges, and integrated university educations: https://www.vlaio.be/nl/vlaio-netwerk/tetra
(b) Funding rates:
Organisation type | Basic research | Industrial / Applied Research | Experimental development / Innovation
Large Enterprises | n/a | 50–65% | 25–40%
Medium Enterprises | n/a | 60–70% | 35–50%
Small Enterprises | n/a | 70% | 45–60%
University colleges, and integrated university educations | n/a | 92.5% | 92.5%
Universities, public research organisations | n/a | As subconstrator/partner with an eligible partner | As subconstrator/partner with an eligible partner
Public authorities | n/a | 80% | 80%
Associations (and NGOs) without economic activities | n/a | Only as subconstrator with an eligible partner | Only as subconstrator with an eligible partner
Belgium / Flanders – The Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO)
(a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria:
Information type | Details
Contact Point | Name: Toon Monbaliu (FO and general) Tel: +32 (0)2 550 15 70 Name: Kristien Peeters (SBO) Tel: +32 (0)2 550 15 95 E-mail: Europe@fwo.be
Funding commitment | 750.000 EUR
Anticipated number of projects to be funded by the funding partner | 3
Maximum funding per awarded project | 250.000 EUR per project/consortium (incl. overhead)
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | The FWO integrates two of its national/regional funding channels within this multilateral framework. The choice of the FWO funding channel depends on the type of project the researchers from Flanders wish to undertake (i.e. more fundamental in nature (FO) vs. strong emphasis on valorization potential (SBO)). The scope and the eligibility of institutions and its researchers can be verified in the relevant chosen funding channel documents and regulations, which can be consulted on the FWO website: – FWO Research Projects (FO) – Strategic Basic Research (SBO) Or by contacting the FWO contact points mentioned above.
Eligible topics | The FWO funds all transition pathways and its (sub)topics that are mentioned in the call text, if they fit the integrated FWO funding channels (i.e. ‘FO’ or ‘SBO’).
Eligible type of research and TRL | Basic/strategic research –-> TRL range: from 1 to 5 (end TRL)
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | ! IMPORTANT! A mandatory administrative application on the pre-proposal submission deadline, via the personal FWO e-loket of the PI from Flanders, is an essential part of the application process. ○ For fundamental research projects (FO) select the application type: ‘Research projects – European programme fundamental research’. ○ For strategic basis research projects (SBO) select the application type: ‘Research projects – European programme strategic basic research’. In case the consortium includes more than one partner requesting funding from FWO, a single online form should be submitted by the main PI (promotor(-spokesperson)) itself, containing all relevant information for the different FWO applicants. The deadline to submit this administrative application to the FWO is identical to the deadline of the joint transnational call (pre-proposal stage). Failure to comply with these requirements can lead to ineligibility. To ensure the eligibility of the proposal, it is recommended to consult the FWO administration (‘Contact Points’ mentioned above) at least one week in advance.
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency | ○ Participation in this call does not interfere with the ‘regular/national’ project submission framework and is consequently not taken into account for calculating the max. available number of new applications and running projects combined. However, researchers can only participate within two different international consortia in this call and only once as the PI of a Main Applicant (i.e. coordinator). ○ Projects aiming at the development of a spin-off company are not eligible in this context. This potential ‘route’ should not be mentioned in the FWO pre-registration form, as such. ○ The project duration is limited to 36 months, which implies the funding has to be budgeted and spent accordingly. An automatic prolongation and using positive (financial) balances after the end is not applicable in this framework. As such article 28 of the FWO Research Projects and article 14 of the Strategic Basic Research (SBO) regulations do not apply here. ○ The PI, for each of the participating institutions applying for FWO funds, must hold an appointment that fully covers the duration of the research project. – Linked to the above, when it comes to the FWO research project regulations (FO) : article 10, §7 is not applicable in this call. I.e. supervisors (-spokespersons), or consortium partners in this context, who are granted emeritus status during the calendar year of submission of the project application or during the duration of the project execution, are not eligible.
Eligible costs | ○ The FWO foresees a budget of 750.000 EUR in total, which guarantees at least three projects. The respective funding channel regulations apply (see links to national rules above: ‘Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution’ section), unless specified otherwise, and both are capped at max. 250.000 EUR per project/consortium (incl. overhead, for which the calculation method diverges per funding channel – see explanation below). ○ For the overhead calculation, and even though the overhead rates differ, the fundamental (FO) and strategic research projects (SBO) use the same approach. More specifically, a structural overhead rate should be applied on the project costs, with an overhead rate of 6% for ‘FO projects’, and a 17% overhead rate for ‘SBO projects’. Some practical examples: · FO: the sum of all costs (personnel, consumables, travel, subcontracting, etc.) amounts to 200.000 EUR, then the overhead will amount to 12.000 EUR (6% of 200.000 EUR) and the total requested cost is 212.000 EUR. This total requested cost may never exceed the max. available amount of 250.000 EUR. · SBO: the sum of all costs (personnel, consumables, travel, subcontracting, etc.) amounts to 200.000 EUR, then the overhead will amount to 34.000 EUR (17% of 200.000 EUR) and the total requested cost is 234.000 EUR. This total requested cost may never exceed the max. available amount of 250.000 EUR. Overhead should be mentioned in the DUT budget tables, but it should not be inserted in the national/regional FWO pre-registration form on the FWO E-loket (see ‘Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level’ section).
Website with additional information | Horizon Europe Cofund-partnerships
Additional information | It is strongly advised to contact the FWO contact points mentioned above, in order not to jeopardize any research projects/consortia.
(b) Funding rates:
Organisation type | Basic research | Industrial / Applied Research | Experimental development / Innovation
Large Enterprises | / | / | /
Medium Enterprises | / | / | /
Small Enterprises | / | / | /
Universities, public research organisations | 100% | / | /
Public authorities | / | / | /
Associations without economic activities, NGOs | / | / | /
Belgium / Brussels Capital Region – Innoviris
(a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria:
Information type | Details
Contact Point | Gaëlle HUBERT E–mail: ghubert@innoviris.brussels
Funding commitment | EUR 1.000.000
Anticipated number of projects to be funded by the funding partner | 3–4
Maximum funding per awarded project | N/A
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | Innoviris can fund private and public enterprises, regional administrations, municipalities, associations, and research organisations. Associations, municipalities and public administrations must submit at Innoviris an official document called “declaration of activities». This document will be analysed and will allow to determine the eligibility and funding level. Regional criteria for funding: 1. Brussels projects need to fulfil specific regional eligibility and funding criteria: • The applicant must have at least one place of business in the Brussels Capital Region • Regional beneficiary will perform a research or innovation activity in the project (coordination and/or dissemination only are not eligible) • The project will be innovative and will present the positive impact on the regional economy or society, by valorisation of results in the Region • Regional Beneficiary has not received public funding for the same activities and has fulfilled the obligations in the context of previous grants allocated by the Region • The R&D work may not have started before the application for funding is submitted • All applicants and partners should demonstrate their viability and financial soundness regarding their own contribution to the project and the implementation of the results. As a Brussels company or qualified as an economic actor: you must be financially stable (equity greater than 50% of capital) and have sufficient liquidity to finance your share of the project. 2. A project that significantly harms the social and environmental objectives of the Region cannot receive financial support. 3. Note: it is recommended (but not obligatory) that a public actor from the Brussels Region be involved in the project (urban administration, municipality, etc.) They can participate as co-applicant or cooperation partner.
Eligible topics | All
Eligible type of research and TRL | • Strategic Research • Applied Research • Experimental Development (Innovation)
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | The proposal of the Brussels participants needs to be submitted, using the regional templates, to Innoviris by the same deadline as the international submission for every phase (pre-proposal and full-proposal). These templates are mandatory to check for the regional eligibility. We recommend that the applicants contact Innoviris as soon as possible and ultimately 2 weeks before the deadline to check the eligibility aspects. A dedicated web page and regional application template is published at https://innoviris.brussels/program/driving-urban-transitions-a-sustainable-future-dut
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency | Eligibility of associations, administrations and municipalities will be analysed by Innoviris. Therefore, every interested association or administration or municipality must submit at Innoviris an official document called “declaration of activities”. This document will be analysed and will allow to determine the funding level.
Eligible costs | Please check detailed eligible cost categories at: https://innoviris.brussels/general-accounting-directives ! New accounting directives 2024
Website with additional information | https://innoviris.brussels/program/driving-urban-transitions-a-sustainable-future-dut (available in FR, NL and EN) https://ncp.brussels.
Additional information | When preparing your project, you can contact: – Innoviris for any questions relating to the eligibility criteria and the submission process: Gaëlle Hubert ghubert@innoviris.brussels, scientific advisor in charge of European programs for Innoviris. – The NCP for a preliminary reading of your project and/or the search for partnerships: Camille Dehestru cdehestru@hub.brussels
(b) Funding rates:
Organisation type | Strategic/Basic research | Industrial / Applied Research | Experimental development / Innovation
Large Enterprises | 65% | 65% | 40%
Medium Enterprises | 75% | 75% | 50%
Small Enterprises | 80% | 80% | 60%
Universities, public research organisations | 100% | 100% | 100%
Public authorities | 100% | 100% | 100%
Associations without economic activities, NGOs | 100% | 100% | 100%
Croatia – Croatian Science Foundation (HRZZ)
(a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria:
Information type | Details
Contact Point | Iva Spoljar Saric E-mail: iva@hrzz.hr Tanja Lukanovic E-mail: tanja@hrzz.hr
Funding commitment | EUR 400,000
Anticipated number of projects to be funded by the funding partner | 2
Maximum funding per awarded project | EUR 200,000
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | Private and public higher education institutions and research institutes.
Eligible topics | All topics within all three Transition Pathways are eligible.
Eligible type of research and TRL | HRZZ will fund only strategic (basic) research.
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | Croatian applicants do not need to submit (pre)proposals at the national level. However, they are strongly recommended to contact the HRZZ at the pre-proposal and full proposal stage.
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency | Eligible applicants are: ▪ Higher education institutions ▪ Scientific institutes ▪ Other research-oriented institutions that employ at least five PhD holders under employment contracts lasting more than one year.
Eligible costs | Eligible costs according to the national rules outlines in the Guidelines for Applicants to the Calls of the Croatian Science Foundation in 2025. These include: 1. Research costs, 2. Equipment costs, 3. Dissemination, training and collaboration costs, 4. Open Access publication costs, 5. Indirect costs and 6. Salary costs for senior assistants employed on the project.
Website with additional information | https://hrzz.hr/programi/medunarodna-suradnja/ https://hrzz.hr/wp-content/uploads/Upute-za-prijavitelje-na-natjecaje-Hrvatske-zaklade-za-znanost-u-2025.pdf
Additional information | /
(b) Funding rates:
Organisation type | Basic research | Industrial / Applied Research | Experimental development / Innovation
Large Enterprises | | |
Medium Enterprises | | |
Small Enterprises | | |
Universities, research organisations | 100% | |
Public authorities | | |
Associations without economic activities, NGOs | | |
Czech Republic – Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TA CR)
(a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria:
Information type | Details
Contact Point | Ondřej Kusbach Email: ondrej.kusbach@tacr.cz Tel.: +420 770 127 549
Funding commitment | EUR 700 000 (PED: EUR 350 000, 15mC: EUR 350 000, financial allocation can be transferred from one transition pathway to another if needed and available)
Anticipated number of projects to be funded by the funding partner | 4
Maximum funding per awarded project | EUR 175 000 per project
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | • Universities • Research institutes • SME’s and large companies • NGOS • Municipalities TA CR excludes the disbursement of individual aid to an enterprise: • against which a recovery order has been issued which is unpaid • meeting the definition of an “undertaking in difficulty” • which has not met the obligation to publish the financial statements for the years 2021, 2022, 2023 in the respective register – the so-called "Veřejný rejstřík” • which has not disclosed its ownership structure in the so-called “Evidence skutečných majitelů”
Eligible topics | 15mC topics 1 and 3 PED topics 2 and 3 Projects with Czech applicants have to be submitted into 15mC and PED Transition Pathways (i.e. 15mC or PED have to be the main Transition Pathway). Czech applicants that have submitted the proposal with CUE being the main Transition Pathway will be considered as not eligible for TA CR funding.
Eligible type of research and TRL | Applied research (industrial research and experimental development) TRL: 3–9
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | Mandatory forms to be submitted The Czech applicants are requested to submit: • A Sworn statement of the applicant • Completed “TACR Application Form” Excel file (submitted by the main Czech applicant only) 1 Applicants who will not submit this mandatory form (if relevant) via databox before the deadline will be considered as not eligible for TA CR funding. • if the applicant plans to achieve the “N” type of result, the "Confirmation of the Certification authority for N (NmetS, NmetC, NmetA) results" needs to be attached • if the applicant plans to achieve the “Patent” type of result, patent search must be substantiated • Sworn statement of the composition of the consortium (submitted by the main Czech applicant only if there is Czech enterprise in the project consortium). All mandatory documents to be found on TA CR website. Deadline for submitting all documents is the same as the deadline for submitting pre-proposals. All documents proving the eligibility of the Czech partner stated above shall be submitted via the TACR data box (TACR data box ID: afth9xp). Project start and end Please note that following national legislation, Czech applicants shall start within 120 days from the funding decision being communicated by the Call Management (60-day period to enter into a contract + 60-day period to start the project).
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency | Eligible projects for TA CR • the project meets the definition of applied research • the research results correspond to the national rules and are applicable / exploitable. (The project proposal has to include a clear description of the exploitation plan and results.) • the aim of the project has to be relevant to the overall aim of the funding programme SIGMA • the declared share of industrial research and experimental development corresponds to the activities of the Czech partner described in the project proposal • the requested funding meets the national regulations for aid intensity Supported results Projects that achieve at least one of the following types of results can be supported in this Call. The type of the result has to be clearly described in the project proposal: • P – patent • G – technically realized results – prototype, functional sample • Z – pilot plant, proven technology • R – software • F – results with legal protection – utility model, industrial design • 2 For these types of results and related research data, "open access" must be ensured in the international call. For other types of results where access is technically easy (a chapter in a professional book, etc.), open access is especially welcome and recommended. N – Certified methodologies and practices, treatment, conservation methods, procedures and specialized maps with professional expert content • O – Miscellaneous • H – results reflected in non-legislative directives and regulations binding within the competence of the respective provider and results reflected in the approved strategic and conceptual documents of the state or public administration Intellectual Property Rights The applicants are required to enter into a contract with their foreign partners (sign the so-called Consortium Agreement) which will define the conditions of cooperation on the project where, among other things, they specify the method of allocating rights to the research results, as well as adjustment and management of the rights imported or created during the project's implementation, which are necessary to address the project. Submission of financial and scientific reports at the national/regional level Czech beneficiaries must follow the rules of TA CR for reporting on the project (i.e., submission of interim- and final reports and reports on the implementation of the results). Publicity obligations While promoting the project and its results Czech beneficiaries must follow the publicity rules of TA CR.
Eligible costs | Eligible costs are: • personnel costs (including scholarships) • subcontracting costs (max. 20% of total eligible costs throughout the whole project period) • other direct costs (write-offs, protection of intellectual property, operating expenses, travel costs, consumables) • indirect costs (overheads) – full cost/flat rate Specific categories of eligible costs are defined under Article 18 of the General Terms & Conditions .
Website with additional information | ERA-NET Cofund Scheme on TA CR website (in Czech) ERA-NET Cofund Scheme on TA CR website (in English) National research programme SIGMA (in Czech) National research programme SIGMA (in English)
Additional information | “Guide for Czech applicants” and all mandatory forms will be available on TA CR website (in Czech).
(b) Funding rates:
Organisation type | Basic research | Industrial / Applied Research | Experimental development
Large Enterprises | N/A | 50–65% | 25–40%
Medium Enterprises | N/A | 60–75% | 35–50%
Small Enterprises | N/A | 70–80% | 45–60%
Universities, public research organisations | N/A | up to 100% | up to 100%
Public authorities | N/A | same as enterprises | same as enterprises
Associations without economic activities, NGOs | N/A | same as enterprises | same as enterprises
Denmark – Innovation Fund Denmark (IFD)
(a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria:
Information type | Details
Contact Point | Mathias Holm Tveen E-mail: mathias.holm.tveen@innofond.dk Tel: +45 6190 5073 General mailbox: internationale@innofond.dk
Funding commitment | MEUR 2 (pending final approval)
Anticipated number of projects to be funded by the funding partner | 8–10
Maximum funding per awarded project | The maximum requested funding amount per Danish partner is 300.000 €. The maximum requested funding amount per project, if the project has more than one Danish partner, is 500.000 €. Maximum requested funding rates between 25–90% apply, according to the Guidelines for International Collaborations.
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | All Danish organizations directly involved in activities in the projects are eligible as applicants to Innovation Fund Denmark.
Eligible topics | All topics are eligible.
Eligible type of research and TRL | All TRL levels are eligible.
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | Approximately 2–4 weeks after the deadline for pre-proposals, Danish applicants will be directly invited to submit the project proposal with annexes to the national e-grant system. At that point, non-public organizations will also be requested to submit additional financial declarations. You can find more in advance about these declarations as well as the templates on our website, under ‘Documents’. • All non-public organisations will be requested to upload a ‘No undertaking in difficulty’ declaration and a “Financial and legal declaration”. • In addition, SME’s will also be required to upload an ‘SME declaration’. • Only if requesting de minimis funding, then a ‘de minimis aid compliance form’ is required.
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency | Please see section above.
Eligible costs | • Salaries • Travel • Subcontracting • Materials • Communication and knowledge sharing • Other expenses • Any overhead, if applicable For more details see IFD’s Guidelines for International Collaborations.
Website with additional information | For general information, FAQ, etc., please visit: Innovation Fund Denmark – International Collaborations Website For the full rules and conditions from Innovation Fund Denmark, please see: Guidelines for International Collaborations
Additional information | IFD encourages Danish applicants to include academic partners as well as relevant public authorities, utility providers or private enterprises in the project.
(b) Funding rates:
Maximum funding rates (incl. overhead) and overhead rates: please refer to the Guidelines for International Collaborations (pp. 11–14).
Estonia – Estonian Research Council (ETAG)
(a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria:
Information type | Details
Contact Point | Priit Kilgas priit.kilgas@etag.ee +372 5909 4883
Funding commitment | EUR 300,000
Anticipated number of projects to be funded by the funding partner | 1
Maximum funding per awarded project | EUR 150,000 if Co-applicant or EUR 300,000 if Estonian partner is the Main Applicant (Project Coordinator)
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | 1. Project Participants 1.1 The Host Institution may be any legal entity that is registered and located in Estonia and has an Estonian bank account. Restrictions to eligible institutions and applicants may however be stated in the general call conditions which also apply to Estonian participants. The Host Institution (the final recipient) is the institution to which the grant will be allocated. After the submission deadline (in case of two-stage application, after the preproposal deadline) and upon the notice from the Funding Organisation, the Host Institution must confirm to the Funding Organisation in writing that the Estonian sub-project can be carried out on their premises in Estonia and that they will employ the Principal Investigator during the duration of the sub-project, should the project receive funding. If the Host Institution is an undertaking, the State aid and de minimis aid regulations must be taken into account. 1.2 The Principal Investigator (PI) is a researcher who acts as the Estonian team leader in the project proposal. He/she will be responsible for how the grant is used and how the Estonian part in the project is executed. The PI must be clearly identified in the proposal. The Principal Investigator: 1.2.1 must have an updated public profile in the Estonian Research Information System (ETIS) by the submission deadline (in case of two-stage application, by the preproposal deadline); 1.2.2 must hold a doctoral degree or an equivalent qualification. The degree must be awarded by the submission deadline (in case of two-stage application, by the preproposal deadline) at the latest; 1.2.3 must have published at least three articles that comply with the requirements of Clause 1.1 of the ETIS classification of publications, or at least five articles that comply with the requirements of Clauses 1.1, 1.2, 2.1 or 3.1, within the last five calendar years prior to the proposal submission deadline (in case of two-stage application, prior to the preproposal deadline). Patents are equalled with publications specified under Clause 1.1. A monograph (ETIS Clause 2.1) is equalled with three publications specified in Clause 1.1 if the number of authors is three or fewer. If the applicant has been on maternity, paternity, or parental leave, in compulsory military service, or if there have been other exceptional circumstances (e.g., serious illness), they can request the publication period requirement to be extended by the relevant period of time. If the Principal Investigator has received the PhD degree outside Estonia, its correspondence to an Estonian doctoral degree must be recognised by either the Estonian ENIC-NARIC Centre or the Host Institution in accordance with the Regulation of the Government of the Republic of April 6, 2006, No. 89 "Evaluation and academic recognition of documents proving foreign education and the name of the qualification awarded in the foreign education system terms and conditions of use". The Funding Organisation may ask for a relevant Evaluation Report. If several Estonian institutions participate in a proposal, all institutions must have a Principal Investigator who meets the national eligibility requirements.
Eligible topics | 15mC Topic 1: Next steps for multimodal urban mobility, building on the travel experience 15mC Topic 2: Reimagining parking – transforming urban parking policies 15mC Topic 3: Mobility policymaking in context of radical contestation
Eligible type of research and TRL | • Strategic (basic) research • Applied research TRL: 1 to 6
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | No
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency | In case of a positive funding decision the Host Institution, the Principal Investigator and the Funding Organisation will enter into a trilateral agreement.
Eligible costs | 2. Budget 2.1 The budget contains costs directly related to the implementation of the project (direct costs) and indirect (overhead) costs. The direct costs must be used to carry out the project and be separately identifiable. 2.2 Direct costs: 2.2.1. Personnel costs are monthly salaries (along with all state taxes, contributions, and compensations arising from law) of the project participants, calculated according to their commitment and in proportion to their total workload at their Host Institution. 2.2.2 Other direct costs are: – travel costs that may cover expenses for transport, accommodation, daily allowances and travel Insurance. If the project is funded from the European Regional Development Fund (Mobilitas 3.0) resources, travel costs are eligible only for travels abroad; – consumables and minor equipment directly and fully related to the project; – publication and dissemination of project results; – organising meetings, seminars or conferences (e.g. room rent, catering, equipment rental and related costs); – fees for participating in scientific forums, conferences and other events directly and fully related to the project; – patent costs; – all other costs that are identifiable as clearly required for carrying out the project (e.g. translation, copy editing, webpage hosting, postage costs etc.) and are directly and fully related to the project. 2.3. Indirect costs (overhead) are costs that cannot be identified as specific costs directly linked to the performance of the action and/or should cover the general expenses of the Host Institution related to the management of the grant. Office consumables and costs for equipment and services intended for general use (e.g., phone bills, copy service, printer) should be covered from the indirect costs. Indirect costs are 15% of the personnel costs of the Estonian sub-project. 2.4. Subcontracting costs are direct costs. Subcontracting costs should cover only additional or complementary research related tasks (e.g. analyses, conducting surveys, building a prototype, etc.) performed by third parties. Subcontracting costs should not be included in the overhead calculation. The activities and budget should be described in the proposal. Core project tasks should not be subcontracted. Subcontracting costs may not exceed 15% of the total costs of the Estonian sub-project. 2.5. Double funding of activities is not acceptable (i.e. the same cost item may not be reimbursed twice). 2.6. If several Estonian institutions participate in one proposal, the sum of their requested budgets may not exceed the maximum contribution of the respective national Funding Organisation indicated in the call documents.
Website with additional information | ETAG webpage
Additional information | 3. Exclusion from the scope of the ERDF (Mobilitas 3.0) funding Following the restrictions laid down in Article 7 of the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council No 2021/1058 of 24 June 2021 on the European Regional Development Fund and on the Cohesion Fund research and other activities related to fossil fuels and their use, as well as other activities not eligible as per Article 7 of the Regulation, cannot be funded from the European Regional Development Fund (Mobilitas 3.0) resources. 4. State Aid If the Host Institution is an undertaking, EU Regulations on State aid and de minimis aid must be taken into account when requesting funding. An undertaking is any entity, be it a natural or a legal person, engaged in an economic activity, regardless of its legal status and the way in which it is financed. See the National Eligibility Criteria on ETAG website for further details: ETAG webpage 5. Grant Agreement If a positive funding decision is made, the Funding Organisation enters into a grant agreement with the Host Institution and Principal Investigator. Information on the transnational project must be entered into ETIS once the agreement has been signed. The Consortium Agreement should be signed six months after the grant agreement has been signed at the latest. If one year has elapsed and the Consortium Agreement has not been signed, the next instalment of funding will not be paid out. 6. Research Involving Human Subjects or Animal Testing If human research or animal testing are intended in the project, a positive resolution by the Human Research Ethics Committee or the Authorisation Committee for Animal Experiments must be submitted to the Funding Organisation by the start of the relevant activities. 7. Nagoya Protocol By applying for funding by the Funding Organisation, the applicants commit to consider the relevance of the Nagoya protocol for their research, and to submit the Due Diligence Declaration, if applicable.
(b) Funding rates:
Organisation type | Basic research | Industrial / Applied Research | Experimental development / Innovation
Large Enterprises | 100% | 100% | N/A
Medium Enterprises | 100% | 100% | N/A
Small Enterprises | 100% | 100% | N/A
Universities, public research organisations | 100% | 100% | N/A
Public authorities | 100% | 100% | N/A
Associations without economic activities, NGOs | 100% | 100% | N/A
Finland – Innovation Funding Agency Business Finland (BF)
(a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria:
Information type | Details
Contact Point | Kaisa Holma kaisa.holma@businessfinland.fi Mika Finska mika.finska@businessfinland.fi
Funding commitment | EUR 3,000,000
Anticipated number of projects to be funded by the funding partner | 4–6
Maximum funding per awarded project | No maximum amount
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | Eligible applicant partners are: • Companies of any size and research organisations, and • Domiciled in Finland If one or more Finnish research institutions participate in the consortium, the consortium must also have at least three company partners, of which at least two must be Finnish export-oriented companies. It is recommended that at least one of the Finnish companies participate as a partner applying for funding. Companies can also participate as self-financed partners. Partners applying for funding need to fulfil Business Finland general funding criteria. Following criteria are applied to companies ao. • Finnish business ID, genuine business activities in Finland and created value accumulates in the Finnish company • No financial and tax irregularities, no sanction listed owners • Financial resources required for internationalization • Versatile expertise and team, employs at least two persons full-time in Finland • Aiming to grow in the international market • Competitive edge on the international market and sufficient export potential
Eligible topics | All
Eligible type of research and TRL | Applied research, experimental development, research together with companies TRL: 3–8
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | Stage 1: Submission not required to Business Finland. Stage 2: A Project Consortium invited to submit a full proposal must submit a national funding application using Business Finland online service by the same deadline as for DUT Submission Platform UDiManager. Applicants failing to comply with this requirement are considered not eligible for funding.
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency | Business Finland general funding criteria as well as general terms and conditions are applied. The criteria of Business Finland R&D funding are applied to funding of companies. The criteria of Business Finland Co-Innovation funding are applied to funding of research organizations. For further information please check national funding call information on Business Finland webpages. Please contact Business Finland for guidance as early in the process as possible.
Eligible costs | According to Business Finland general funding terms and conditions for research organisations and companies' R&D projects, eg. • Salaries and wages • Indirect personnel costs • Overheads • Travel expenses • Equipment, materials and supplies • Purchased services
Website with additional information | Business Finland webpages
Additional information | Funding awarded is grant. Stated funding rates are maximums. The funding rates for companies will be assessed and defined during application processing based on the share of industrial research costs of the project budget.
(b) Funding rates:
Organisation type | Basic research | Industrial / Applied Research | Experimental development / Innovation
Large Enterprises | N/A | max 50% | max 50%
Medium Enterprises | N/A | max 60% | max 60%
Small Enterprises | N/A | max 60% | max 60%
Universities, public research organisations | N/A | max 80% | N/A
Public authorities | N/A | N/A | N/A
Associations without economic activities, NGOs | N/A | N/A | N/A
France – Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR)
(a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria:
Information type | Details
Contact Point | Name: Pascal Bain Head of the SPICE Scientific Department Pascal.bain@agencerecherche.fr Name: Amina Ghorbel Scientific Project Manager amina.ghorbel@agencerecherche.fr
Funding commitment | 3 000 000 €
Anticipated number of projects to be funded by the funding partner | 8 to 10
Maximum funding per awarded project | 500 000 € per project as a maximum in exceptional and highly justified cases. However, ANR expects typical funding requests per project to range between 200 000 and 350 000 €, depending on the number of ANR-funded partners involved and whether the coordinator of the project is funded by ANR or not.
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | Please consult the ANR Funding regulations and the Appendix for applicants to ANR on the ANR website for detailed information https://anr.fr/DUT-2025 Within this framework, public research organisations (such as Universities, EPST or EPIC) as well as private entities (such as companies, NGOs and foundations) and public authorities may be eligible (provided that at least one French public research organisation requesting funding to ANR is involved in the consortium).
Eligible topics | All Call Topics of DUT are eligible for ANR: – Positive Energy District (PED) – 15-minute City (15minC) – Circular Urban Economy (CUE)
Eligible type of research and TRL | ANR funds basic research and applied research projects. Experimental development and innovation activities, if not excluded, should be minor activities compared to basic and industrial research activities.
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | No for the pre-proposal stage. For the full-proposal stage, partners requesting funding from ANR will have to submit the proposal also on the ANR submission platform.
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency | A project proposal cannot be similar in whole or in part to another proposal submitted for a call currently being evaluated by ANR (all calls for proposals and evaluation stages considered) or already funded by ANR. The similarity between two projects is established when these projects (in their entirety or in part) describe identical main objectives or result from a simple adaptation. The minimal funding per partner by ANR is 15 000 €. Companies with economic difficulties are excluded from ANR subventions. To test if you do not fall in this category, you can use the Excel tool available at https://anr.fr/fileadmin/documents/2021/Simulation-financement-ANR-EED-2021.xls Partners from countries subject to sanctions applicable to the research field by the European Union authorities are excluded from this call for ANR. ANR will declare Partners requesting its support ineligible if they apply with Partners established in these countries. At the date of publication, these exclusions concern Partners from the following countries and territories: Russia, Belarus, Ukrainian territories out of control of the Ukrainian government. This list may evolve in case of new sanctions decided by the European Union.
Eligible costs | ANR funds basic, industrial research and experimental development activities. The eligibility of costs and rates of funding depend on types of partners, consortia composition and types of research activities. See ANR funding regulations for more details: https://anr.fr/fr/rf/
Website with additional information | A specific web page on the ANR web site is published at the opening of the Call, with details for potential applicants to ANR.
Additional information | It is highly recommended to contact the national contact persons during the preparation of the project. Depending on the consortium composition, a Consortium Agreement may be mandatory for ANR at the funding stage for successful applications. Please refer to the ANR funding regulations for more details: https://anr.fr/fr/rf/ A DMP (Data management plan) must be transmitted to ANR and updated during the course of the project. Please refer to the ANR funding regulations for more details: https://anr.fr/fr/rf/ If applicable, Declarations of Due Diligence for the financed projects (Nagoya Protocol) must also be transmitted to ANR in due time. In keeping with the French “PPST” policy (Protection of the national scientific and technological potential), applicants to ANR should consult their local “FSD” (security and defense officer) regarding their project before applying. Applications to ANR may be forwarded to the HFSD of the French Ministry of research and higher education for screening. A negative appraisal by the HFSD will cause ANR to reject the proposal.
(b) Funding rates:
Organisation type | Basic research | Industrial / Applied Research | Experimental development / Innovation
Large Enterprises | 30% | 30% | 25%
Medium Enterprises | 45% | 35–45% | 35–45%
Small Enterprises | 45% | 35–45% | 35–45%
Universities, public research organisations | see ANR funding regulations https://anr.fr/fr/rf/ | see ANR funding regulations https://anr.fr/fr/rf/ | see ANR funding regulations https://anr.fr/fr/rf/
Public authorities | see ANR funding regulations https://anr.fr/fr/rf/ | see ANR funding regulations https://anr.fr/fr/rf/ | see ANR funding regulations https://anr.fr/fr/rf/
Associations without economic activities, NGOs | see ANR funding regulations https://anr.fr/fr/rf/ | see ANR funding regulations https://anr.fr/fr/rf/ | see ANR funding regulations https://anr.fr/fr/rf/
Germany – DEUTSCHES ZENTRUM FUER LUFT – UND RAUMFAHRT E.V. (DLR)
(DLR Projektträger – the project management agency)
(a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria:
Information type | Details
Contact Point | Dr. Konstanze Ameskamp E-mail: konstanze.ameskamp@dlr.de Tel.: +49 228 3821 2608 Dr. Carmen Richerzhagen E-mail: carmen.richerzhagen@dlr.de Tel.: +49 228 3821 2090
Funding commitment | EUR 3,000,000
Anticipated number of projects to be funded by the funding partner | 6–8
Maximum funding per awarded project | EUR 500,000 A maximum of two German partners per project will be funded. Maximum funding per awarded project partner (project applicant): EUR 350,000. Maximum funding per awarded project coordination (main applicant): 400,000. For universities this includes 20% lump sum (“Projektpauschale”). Minimum funding per project partner: EUR 100,000
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | Proposals may be submitted by Germany-based universities, non-university research institutes, civil society organisations, public authorities, municipalities, commercial companies.
Eligible topics | 15-minutes City Pathway topic 1
Eligible type of research and TRL | strategic (basic) research applied research experimental development
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | Preproposals (Projektskizzen): No submission at national level. Proposals (Projektantraege): Submission via national application system “easy-online" (applicants selected for submission of a proposal will be contacted by DLR).
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency |
Eligible costs | Personnel costs (Personalausgaben / -kosten) Operational costs (Verwaltungsausgaben / -kosten) Indirect costs (Gemeinkosten) Subcontracting (Vergabe von Aufträgen) Travel costs (Dienstreisen) Investment costs (investive Maßnahmen)
Website with additional information | Applicants are strongly advised to consult the BMFTR guidelines on eligible costs(Richtlinien für Zuwendungsantraege (AZA/AZK).
Additional information | Participation (as the main applicant, a co-applicant or a cooperation partner) of German non-academic organisations, e.g. municipalities, business organisations and companies, NGOs and similar, is desirable (though not mandatory). Projects will be funded under the BMFTR funding priority “Social-Ecological Research”.
(b) Funding rates:
Organisation type | Basic research | Industrial / Applied Research | Experimental development / Innovation
Large Enterprises | N/A | 50–65% | 25–40%
Medium Enterprises | N/A | 50–75% | 25–50%
Small Enterprises | N/A | 50–80% | 25–60%
Universities, public research organisations | Up to 100% | Up to 100% | Up to 100%
Public authorities | N/A | Up to 100% | Up to 100%
Associations without economic activities, NGOs | N/A | Up to 100% | Up to 100%
Germany – Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH
(a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria:
Information type | Details
Contact Point | Markus Bastek Tel: +49 2461 61 85437 Dr. Isabelle Loll Tel: +49 2461 61-85255 E–mail: ptj-dut@ptj.de
Funding commitment | EUR 670,000
Anticipated number of projects to be funded by the funding partner | 1–2
Maximum funding per awarded project | A maximum of two German partners per project will be funded: • Maximum funding per awarded project partner: EUR 330,000. • Minimum funding per project partner: EUR 50,000. • Maximum funding per awarded project (for the maximum of two project partners together): EUR 330,000. The distribution of funds between the two partners is left up to them. Minimum funding per awarded project (for the max. two project partners together): EUR 100,000.
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | Proposals may be submitted by Germany-based universities, non-university research institutes, SME’s and large companies, public authorities, NGOs and similar.
Eligible topics | Only applications for the topic 3 of the PED Pathway will be eligible (topics can be combined): • PEDs in urban heating and cooling strategies
Eligible type of research and TRL | Applied research and experimental development TRL: 6-8 at the end of the project
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | No submission of preproposals (Projektskizzen) at the national level. Submission of proposals (Projekt-Anträge) via the national application system easy-online (Applicants selected for submission of a proposal will be informed about the direct link for submission)
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency | The projects must fit thematically compatible with the mission and programme objectives of the area “Quartiere” (chapter 2.3.2 Quartiere) of the currently effective 8th Energy Research Programme of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE). Municipial relevance and their recognisable project participation are further requirements and eligibility criteria. Proposals must provide sound cost calculations break-downs and clear exploitation plans. Proposals must show significant progress on state of the art and science and compared to nationally funded projects.
Eligible costs | • Personnel costs • Operational costs • Equipment and instruments costs • Additional overheads and other operating costs • Subcontracting • Travel costs Applicants are strongly advised to consult the BMWE guidelines on eligible costs (Richtlinien für Zuwendungsanträge (AZA/AZK).
Website with additional information | N/A
Additional information | Shorter deadlines apply to the notification for the conclusion of the cooperation agreement. Instead of after 6 months, notification of this must be provided after only 4 months. Applicants may refer to the contact point at PTJ Projektträger (see above) for further advice. We recommend that applicants regard the BMWE strategy: actual Energy Research Programme of the Federal Government
(b) Funding rates:
Organisation type | Basic research | Industrial / Applied Research | Experimental development / Innovation
Large Enterprises | up to 50% | up to 50% | up to 25%
Medium Enterprises | up to 50% | up to 60% | up to 35%
Small Enterprises | up to 50% | up to 70% | up to 45%
Universities, public research organisations | up to 100% | up to 100% | up to 100%
Public authorities | up to 100% | up to 100% | up to 100%
Associations without economic activities, NGOs | up to 100% | up to 100% | up to 100%
Hungary – National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NKFIH)
(a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria:
Information type | Details
Contact Point | Ms. Barbara Kiss ncp@nkfih.gov.hu
Funding commitment | EUR 1,000,000
Anticipated number of projects to be funded by the funding partner | 3–6
Maximum funding per awarded project | 300 k€/ awarded project (max. 150 k€/partner, if the Hungarian partner is the main applicant 200 k€)
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | Universities, research institutions, enterprise-based research organizations, enterprises (non-research type), non-profit research organizations, urban/local authorities (as partners of research-oriented main applicant)
Eligible topics | All
Eligible type of research and TRL | All types of research: strategic (basic) research, applied research, experimental development/innovation. TRL: 1–9
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | Only applicants selected for funding based on the full proposal evaluation scores are required to submit their application to NKFIH, see: https://nkfih.gov.hu/palyazoknak/nkfi-alap/horizont-europa-europai-partnersegek-magyar-szervezetek-tamogatasa-2024-121-he-partnerseg/palyazati-felhivas
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency | The maximum allowable travel cost per (Hungarian) consortium member is 5% of the total eligible costs. Additionally, the overhead rate per (Hungarian) consortium member, excluding services, is 20% of the total eligible costs.
Eligible costs | Personnel (temporary, permanent), subcontracting and services, including travelling, consumables, equipment, coordination, travel, communication and dissemination, overhead (20%), overhead for travel related activities (5%)
Website with additional information | https://nkfih.gov.hu/palyazoknak/nkfi-alap/horizont-europa-europai-partnersegek-magyar-szervezetek-tamogatasa-2024-121-he-partnerseg/palyazati-felhivas
Additional information |
(b) Funding rates:
Organisation type | Basic research | Industrial / Applied Research | Experimental development / Innovation
Large Enterprises | 100% | 65% | 40%
Medium Enterprises | 100% | 75% | 50%
Small Enterprises | 100% | 80% | 60%
Universities, public research organisations | 100% | 100% | 100%
Public authorities | n.a. | 65% | 40%
Associations without economic activities, NGOs | 100% | 100% | 100%
Italy – MINISTERO DELL’UNIVERSITA’ E DELLA RICERCA (MUR)
a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria
Information type | Detail
Contact Point | Rachele Nocera Rachele.nocera@mur.gov.it Silvia Reale silvia.reale@est.mur.gov.it
Funding commitment | 1 M EUR Structural Funds/ERDF [MUR-ERDF]
Anticipated number of projects to be | –
Maximum funding per awarded project / per partner | • MINIMUM funding request: € 100.000,00 per project • MAXIMUM funding request: € 200.000,00 per project • MAXIMUM funding request: € 300.000,00 per project in case the applicant isthe Project Coordinator of the transnational Consortium
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | MUR-ERDF Eligible beneficiaries are the following legal entities carrying out research activities in the regions Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Puglia, Sardegna, Sicilia: • SMEs (legally registered in the Register of Companies) The following entities are also eligible, provided they are in partnership with one (or more) eligible SME: • Universities/Higher education institutions (State universities/HEI and legally recognized universities as defined in L. 29 July 1991, n. 243) and their consortia; • Public and private research institutions provided their articles of association and/or bylaws (or equivalent documentation) indicate that they primarily conduct research activities; • Research organizations (public and private), as defined by the EU Regulation on State aid for research, development, and innovation pursuant to Article 2, paragraph 83 of Commission Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014 of 17 June 2014; • Large Enterprises IMPORTANT NOTICE: Other specific eligibility requirements or restrictions may apply to applicantssupported by MUR-ERDF. Further details will be included in the “Avviso integrativo nazionale”.
Eligible topics | All topics
Eligible type of research and TRL | • Industrial/Applied research • Experimental development ROA/IOA (TRL 4–7 indicatively)
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | Additional National application: In addition to the project proposal which shall be submitted at European level, Italian participants are requested to submit a additional national application to MUR, through the national web platform, available at the following link: https://banditransnazionali.mur.gov.it/ [NEW PLATFORM – ACCESS WITH “SPID”] The national additional application must be submitted by the same deadline established in the international joint call. Participant who does not submit national documentation by the deadline are considered not eligible for funding. Additional information is available at the web page dedicated to the DUT Joint Call 2025: http://www.ricercainternazionale.miur.it/era/european-partnership-2021-27/driving-urban-transition.aspx It is recommended to contact the National Contact Persons already in early stage of project preparation. The admission to funding is subject to the adoption of the necessary accounting and administrative measures for the allocation of the resources.
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency | Applicants shall: • Not be in default with regard to any other funding received from the Ministry of University and Research. • Not have requested or received any other funding for the same project. • Be compliant with Italian Legislative Decree No. 159 of 6 September 2011, as amended and supplemented. • Not be subject to bankruptcy proceedings as per Article 5, paragraph 4, letter b) of Ministerial Decree 1314/2021, nor be classified as an "undertaking in difficulty" according to the definition under point 18 of Article 2 ("Definitions") of Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014. • Be compliant with obligations under contributory and social security regulations (DURC). Applicants shall demonstrate their viability and financial soundness regarding their own contribution to the project. For any private entity,if the following financial criteria, calculated using the data reported in the last approved balance sheet, are not fulfilled, the applicant can be funded only if a bank guarantee is provided: a) CN > (CP – I)/2 Where: • CN = net assets (Capitale netto) • CP = sum of the costs of all the projects for which public funding has been requested by the participant during the year • I = sum of the contributions received, approved or requested for the same projects b) OF/F < 8% Where: • OF = financial charges (Oneri finanziari) • F = turnover (Fatturato)
Eligible costs | Costs incurred during the lifetime of the project under the following categories are eligible: • Personnel • Contractual research (subcontracting, consulting and equivalent services etc.) • Instruments and Equipment • Buildings and land • Indirect Costs/Overheads (“Spese generali”) calculated at 20% flat rate of all direct costs
Maximum amount of requested funding | 200.000,00 EUR per project 300.000,00 EUR per project in case the applicant is the Project Coordinator of thetransnational Consortium
Website with additional information | http://www.ricercainternazionale.miur.it/era/european-partnership-2021-27/driving-urban-transition.aspx
Additional information | National Reporting Funded participants will be requested to submit financial and scientific reports to MUR. Applicable laws and rules: (http://www.ricercainternazionale.miur.it/evidenza/normativa-prog-internazionali.aspx): • Decreto legge n. 83/2012 • Decreto Ministeriale n. 1314 del 14 dicembre 2021
b) Funding rates
Maximum funding percentages:
Structural Funds (MUR-ERDF)
| Basic research | Industrial/Applied Research | Experimental development / innovation
SME; Universities; Public Research Institutions; public and private research organisations; Large enterprises | not funded | 70% | 25%
Latvia – Latvijas Zinātnes padome (LCS)
(a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria:
Information type | Details
Contact Point | Name: Maija Bundule E–mail: Maija.Bundule@lzp.gov.lv Tel: +371- 26514481 Uldis Berkis
Funding commitment | 0,6M EUR
Anticipated number of projects to be funded by the funding partner | 2–3
Maximum funding per awarded project / per partner | 0,1M per year per Latvian partner = grant of 0.3M for a 3-year project, 0.2M for a 2-year project to a partner
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | Only the following legal entities can participate: Research institutions registered in the Latvian Registry of Scientific Institutions, e.g. – Research Institutes – Universities And must have the status of Research and knowledge dissemination organization (Regulation EC 651/2014) 2) Business enterprises entered into the Latvian Commercial registry as companies, assumed they are eligible to do the specific research and have specific capacity and resources to do the research in Latvia and have their main activity in Latvia. Limitations to support intensity of EU legislation apply (Regulation 651/2014) together with financial reporting requirements, this is state aid. Two previous statements with sworn auditor’s approval should be provided and they must reflect the correspondence to the regulation as well as prove the evidence of previous scientific activity and presence of capacity. Enterprises not having closed two annual financial periods are not eligible.
Eligible topics | All topics are eligible, but LCS funds only research, not training nor implementation
Eligible type of research and TRL | • TRL9 is not funded • Normally TRL1–4 is preferred stage • Experimental development is associated with limitations
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | No national phase
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency | Support is provided according to Provisions Nr 259, 26.05.2015 of the Latvian Cabinet of Ministers http://likumi.lv/ta/id/274671-atbalsta-pieskirsanas-kartiba-dalibai-starptautiskas-sadarbibas-programmas-petniecibas-un- tehnologiju-joma These provisions should be respected without exceptions. Annual financial and scientific reporting is mandatory. To receive funding by LCS, Consortium agreement duly signed should be presented. Application for the state aid must be submitted before the start of the project which is stated in the consortium agreement. Recipient of funding must operate through an account opened at a Latvian bank.
Eligible costs | Personnel costs incl. taxes; • Consumables; • Subcontracts (up to 25% of direct costs), needs detailed justification, includes all external services, project core activities cannot be subcontracted; • Equipment (only depreciation costs during project directly attributable to project tasks); • Replaceable and fully consumable during project elements of equipment; • Travels (according to travel plan); ○ Indirect costs (up to 25% of direct costs excluding subcontracting).
Maximum amount of requested funding | Support is provided according to Provisions Nr 259, 26.05.2015 of the Latvian Cabinet of Ministers http://likumi.lv/ta/id/274671-atbalsta-pieskirsanas-kartiba-dalibai-starptautiskas-sadarbibas-programmas-petniecibas-un-tehnologiju-joma Maximum requested funding is 0,1M per year per partner. For a 36 month project this means 0.3M for a Latvian partner, for a 24 month project – 0.2M for a Latvian partner. Maximum number per proposal of Latvian partners requesting funding is two.
Website with additional information | www.lzp.lv
Additional information | Support is provided according to Provisions Nr 259, 26.05.2015 of the Latvian Cabinet of Ministers http://likumi.lv/ta/id/274671-atbalsta-pieskirsanas-kartiba-dalibai-starptautiskas-sadarbibas-programmas-petniecibas-un- tehnologiju-joma These provisions should be respected without exceptions. The maximum hourly rates should respect the Provisions. The requirements in the provisions to specific applicant groups must be respected. Latvia cannot fund implementation support, nor training activities. Applicants for State aid must send before the call deadline (both 1st and 2 nd stages) to the e-mail address lzp@lzp.gov. lv, stating the acronym and the title of the project, applicant name and registration number, the following document: a certification that the applying entity does not correspond to the criteria laid down in laws and regulations to be subject to insolvency proceedings at the request of the creditor. It must be electronically signed by valid legal representative (s). Upon request applicants for State aid must provide all requested documents to evaluate the financial situation and financial viability. Undertakings in difficulty are not eligible for funding. (Regulation 651/2014) In case of State aid the undertakings are assessed for eligibility at each of the application stages and at the conclusion and during execution of the contract with LCS for project funding. If the eligibility criteria are not fulfilled, project funding can not be approved or continued.
(b) Funding rates
Maximum funding percentages:
| Basic research | Industrial/Applied Research | Experimental development/innovation, no TRL9
Large Enterprises | DUT calls do not cover basic research | According to the Regulation 651/2014. Enterprises must demonstrate capacity and correspondence to specific research type
Medium Enterprises
Small Enterprises
Universities, public research organisations | Up to 100%
Public authorities | Not funded
Associations without economic activities, NGOs | Not funded
Lithuania – Research Council of Lithuania (LMT)
(a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria:
Information type | Details
Contact Point | Name: Asta Aleksandraviciene E–mail: asta.aleksandraviciene@lmt.lt Tel: +370 676 18 297
Funding commitment | 0.30 M Euro
Anticipated number of projects to be funded by the funding partner | 1–2
Maximum funding per awarded project | 0.25 M Euro
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | The proposal must be submitted by the main applicant – an eligible Lithuanian higher education and research institution (which is listed in the Register of Ministry of Education, Science and sports of Republic of Lithuania). A legal entity of Lithuania can be a partner of the main applicant.
Eligible topics | All
Eligible type of research and TRL | Type of research (strategic (basic) research, applied research) TRL: 1–6
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | Not required
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency | The applicant who intends to act as a principal investigator (PI) has to be a scientist (researcher holding at least a Ph.D. degree). A person may submit only one proposal for the same Call as PI or other primary project implementer. Work scope of each primary project implementer within the project must be at least 20 hours of project time multiplied by the duration of the project in months. For more information about Lithuanian conditions for funding, please consult the call text in Lithuanian and the national contact point.
Eligible costs | Only costs generated during the lifetime of the project, related to project are eligible: personnel, travel, consumables, subcontracting, equipment, overheads (up to 20% from direct costs).
Website with additional information | https://lmt.lrv.lt/lt/veiklos-sritys/mokslo-finansavimas/tarptautinio-bendradarbiavimo-priemones/europos-partnerystes-era-net-ir-kitos-koordinavimo-veiklos/dut/
Additional information | n.a.
(b) Funding rates:
Organisation type | Basic research | Industrial / Applied Research | Experimental development / Innovation
Large Enterprises | 1 Eligible to fund only as a partner of the main a | | –
Medium Enterprises | | | –
Small Enterprises | | | –
Universities, public research organisations | 100 | 100 | –
Public authorities | | | –
Associations without economic activities, NGOs | | | –
Korea, Republic of – Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement (KAIA)
(a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria:
Information type | Details
Contact Point | Yoo Choi yoochoi@kaia.re.kr +82 31 389 6540 Kayoung Kim global@kaia.re.kr +82 31 389 6496 Heewon Lee global@kaia.re.kr +82 31 389 6585
Funding commitment | EUR 1,500,000 (2,500,000,000 Korean Won)
Anticipated number of projects to be funded by the funding partner | 5
Maximum funding per awarded project | EUR 300,000 (500,000,000 Korean Won)
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | In general, universities, research institutes, SME’s and large companies, non-profit organisations founded according to the civil law are eligible for funding. The complete eligibility criteria and definitions may be found in the National Research and Development Innovation Act and the relevant enforcement decree in the following website: (https://www.law.go.kr/LSW/eng/engMain.do?eventGubun=060124)
Eligible topics | • 15minC Transition Pathway: all topics (1–3)
Eligible type of research and TRL | • Strategic research: TRL 1–2 • Applied research: TRL 3–5 • innovation / implementation: TRL 6–8
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | Official Submission to DUT: • Submission deadline pre-proposals: November 17th, 2025 at 13:00 (CEST) • Submission deadline full proposals: April 23th, 2026 at 13:00 (CEST) Korean applicants (only for full proposal) will be invited to upload the International Application along with the standard required documents and evidences to the Korean national R&D management system(IRIS): (https://pms.iris.go.kr) • Submission deadline full proposals to Korean R&D system (IRIS): April 30th, 2026 (Korea Standard Time)
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency | Please check the Korean National R&D Innovation Act and the relevant manual found at the following site: (http://www.kaia.re.kr/portal/bbs/list/B0000050.do?option1=2&menuNo=200131)
Eligible costs | • Personnel costs • Operational costs (Research activities) • Indirect costs (according to the defined rate) • Others Cost items shall be allocated in compliance with the Korean National R&D Innovation Act and the relevant manual found at the following site: (http://www.kaia.re.kr/portal/bbs/list/B0000050.do?option1=2&menuNo=200131)
Website with additional information | KAIA website: (https://www.kaia.re.kr) Driving Urban Transitions Call 2025 (https://www.dutpartnership.eu)
Additional information | Korean applicants should begin their projects by September 2026, regardless of the start date of their consortium
(b) Funding rates:
Organisation type | Strategic / Basic research | Industrial / Applied Research | Experimental development / Innovation
Large Enterprises | Up to 50% | Up to 50% | Up to 50%
Medium Enterprises | Up to 70% | Up to 70% | Up to 70%
Small Enterprises | Up to 75% | Up to 75% | Up to 75%
Universities, public research organisations | Up to 100% | Up to 100% | Up to 100%
Public authorities | Up to 100% | Up to 100% | Up to 100%
Associations without economic activities, NGOs | N/A | N/A | N/A
The Netherlands – Dutch Research Council (NWO)
(a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria:
Information type | Details
Contact Point | Silke Heijma, programme officer, (+31) 70 344 06 56 Siebert Wielstra, programme officer, (+31) 70 349 46 67 dutp@nwo.nl
Funding commitment | € 4,000,000 The budget for this Call for proposals is made available by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and the Ministry of Housing and Spatial Planning.
Anticipated number of projects to be funded by the funding partner | 12
Maximum funding per awarded project | € 325,000
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | NB For Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS), please refer to the national annex of Taskforce for Applied Research SIA. An application for funding from NWO may consider the following roles: • National main applicant (mandatory): the applicant who leads the application to NWO and is the foreseen national project leader, in case a project is granted. • National co-applicant (optional): national applicants in addition to the national main applicant with an active role and responsibility in realising the project and requesting funding from NWO. National main applicants Researchers may submit an application as a national main applicant if they have a tenured position (and therefore a paid position for an indefinite period 1 Researchers employed at a TO2 institute may also submit as a main national applicant provided that they have at least a salaried position for a limited period of time. or a tenure track agreement at one of the following research organisations: • universities as referred to in Article 1.8 paragraph 1 of the Higher Education and Scientific Research Act and universities listed in the Policy Rules for Universities located in the Kingdom of the Netherlands; • university medical centres by which is meant academic hospitals as referred to in Article 1.13 paragraph 1 of the Higher Education and Scientific Research Act; • institutes affiliated to the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) or NWO; • TO2 institutions; • Netherlands Cancer Institute; • the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen; • Naturalis Biodiversity Center; • Advanced Research Centre for NanoLithography (ARCNL); • Princess Máxima Center. Persons with a zero-hour employment agreement or with a contract for a limited period of time (other than a tenure track appointment) may not submit a proposal. It could be the case that the applicant’s tenure track agreement ends before the intended completion date of the project for which funding is applied for, or that before that date, the applicant’s tenured contract ends due to the applicant reaching retirement age. In that case, the applicant needs to include a statement from their employer in which the organisation concerned guarantees that the project and all project members for whom funding has been requested will receive adequate supervision for the full duration of the project. Such a statement should be submitted in the full proposal stage. The national main applicant employed by a TO2 institute whose employment ends before the intended completion date of the project for which the grant is being applied for must also attach such a statement. Applicants with a part-time contract should guarantee adequate supervision of the project and all project members for whom funding is requested. National co-applicants Researchers interested to apply as a national co-applicant, i.e. together with a national main applicant, may submit as a national co-applicant if they have a tenured position (and therefore a paid position for an indefinite period*) or a tenure track agreement at one of to the research organisations listed under ‘National main applicants’ or at other research organisations as referred to in Article 1.1, paragraph 4 of the NWO Grant Rules 2024 that meet the following cumulative conditions: • be established in the Netherlands; • be a foundation, association or legal entity governed by public law (“publiekrechtelijke rechtspersoon”); • have as its primary goal the independent conduct of its own fundamental research or industrial research or with widely disseminating the results of those activities through teaching, publications or knowledge transfer; • be able to state that the organisation keeps separate accounts with regard to economic/non-economic activities and that undertakings with decisive influence on the organisation do not enjoy preferential access to the organisation's results. Please note: Prior to the submission of an application, NWO assesses on the basis of the above-mentioned conditions whether an organisation complies with Article 1.1, paragraph 4 of the NWO Grant Rules 2024 and may therefore participate as a national co-applicant. NWO performs this assessment to preclude the granting of prohibited state aid. The organisation of the prospective national co-applicant must provide the following documents no less than 10 working days prior to the submission deadline for pre-proposals (meaning no later than 3 November 2025, 14:00:00 CET) by email to dutp@nwo.nl: • a recent extract from the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce; • the deed of incorporation or current articles of association; • the latest available annual accounts accompanied by an audit statement; • the completed form ‘Declaration research organisation’, available on the funding page of this Call for proposals on the NWO website. Other relevant documentation may be added. NWO may request additional information if the above documents are not sufficiently conclusive to determine whether the organisation may act as a national co applicant. If the organisation of the prospective national co-applicant does not submit the necessary documents for this assessment in time, NWO cannot accept the organisation as a national co-applicant. If the addition of new co-applicants to the consortium is allowed in the full proposal and these new co-applicants are not affiliated to a research organisation listed above, these conditions will also be checked for this organisation/these organisations. The documents listed above as a requirement in the pre-proposal stage must then be submitted by email no less than 10 working days before the submission deadline for full proposals (meaning no later than 10 April 2026, 14:00:00 CEST).
Eligible topics | CUE 1 – Resilient green and social infrastructure CUE 3 – Public procurement to foster urban greening and circularity 15mC 2 – Reimagining parking – transforming urban parking policies 15mC 3 – Mobility policymaking in context of radical contestation PED 1 – Driving a just transition: PED strategies in social and subsidised housing PED 2 – Ensuring positive socio-economic impact: PEDs in local economies and energy markets PED 3 – PEDs in urban heating and cooling strategies
Eligible type of research and TRL | Strategic research
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | This is not necessary, however please note applicants are required to submit a mandatory NWO budget form to dutp@nwo.nlby the submission deadline in the full proposal stage.
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency | An application for NWO funding has one national main applicant, responsible for scientific and financial management. National co-applicants within an application for NWO funding are allowed. • A researcher may only request NWO funding for one project (part of a European consortium) in this Call for proposals, either as main applicant or co-applicant within an application for NWO funding. • Researchers employed at a university in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, umc or a research organisation, as referred to in Article 1.1, first paragraph, subparagraphs c to h of the NWO Grant Rules 2024 may not apply for a scientific or post-doc position for themselves.
Eligible costs | The available budget modules are listed below: Personnel • Personnel at a university in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, umc or a research organisation, as referred to in Article 1.1, first paragraph, subparagraphs c to h of the NWO Grant Rules 2024 salary costs can be claimed for the following positions: ○ Postdoc: at least 1 position, for at least 12 months, for at least 0.5 fte, according to UNL or NFU rates, a benchfee is available; ○ Research leave: max. 5% of the grant amount, according to UNL or NFU rates. • Personnel of TO2 institutes and other research organisations using the Government Tariff Manual (HOT), Table 2, under 2.2 ‘average total salary cost per salary scale’, column 'Hourly rate productive hours, excluding VAT'; • Students: according to the usual internship fee or HOT rates, may be added to material costs Material: for project-specific material costs, up to 25% of the grant amount. Subsequently, up to 50% of the material budget can be used for work by third parties; Knowledge utilisation: for activities that promote the use of knowledge from the research following the Impact Plan approach, mandatory 5–20% of the grant amount; Project management: up to 5% of the grant amount. Please note the following: • PhD positions cannot be applied for in this call, due to the maximum project duration of 3 years. • NWO funds project-related costs. Therefore overhead costs are not eligible for NWO funding. A more detailed explanation of the budget modules and eligible costs can be found on the funding page on the NWO website. It is recommended to use the NWO budget template in the pre-proposal stage to confirm eligibility of budget items. For full proposals, it is mandatory to submit the NWO budget form for the funding requested at NWO at the time of the transnational deadline. Please submit it to dutp@nwo.nl. Do not hesitate to contact the national contact point in case of questions via the aforementioned email address.
Website with additional information | www.nwo.nl/dut
Additional information | The NWO Grant Rules 2024 and the Agreement on the Payment of Costs for Scientific Research are applicable to all applications for NWO funding. Any arrangements made regarding the grant from NWO, for instance in a Consortium Agreement, must comply with the NWO Grant Rules 2024 and the European legislation on state aid. As stipulated in the NWO Grant Rules, Article 3.2, paragraph 2, the project cannot start until the conditions set out in the grant award decision regarding the start of the project are met. Please note, these conditions will include a signed Consortium agreement by all partners in the transnational project. Under the Dutch General Administrative Law Act, any interested party has the right to lodge an objection to the decision taken by NWO within six weeks of the date of the decision letter. Further information about the objections procedure can be found on the NWO website: https://www.nwo.nl/en/lodging-an-objection. NWO will, if necessary, apply a one-off indexation of personnel costs when awarding the grant. The UNL/NFU/HOT rate at the time of the decision date applies and the date on which the rates take effect is used for this purpose. Submission of financial and scientific reports at national level is required in accordance with the rules of NWO. Granted consortia will be informed in due time. Once proposals are selected for funding, the consortia will be notified by the DUT Call Secretariat and subsequently, the national granting process will be initiated by NWO.
(b) Funding rates:
Organisation type | Basic research | Industrial / Applied Research | Experimental development / Innovation
Large Enterprises | N/A | N/A | N/A
Medium Enterprises | N/A | N/A | N/A
Small Enterprises | N/A | N/A | N/A
Universities, public research organisations | 100% | 100% | N/A
Public authorities | N/A | N/A | N/A
Associations without economic activities, NGOs | N/A | N/A | N/A
The Netherlands – Taskforce for Applied Research SIA (Regieorgaan SIA)
(a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria:
Information type | Taskforce for Applied Research SIA (Regieorgaan SIA)
Contact Point | Hanneke Jansen, +31 6 51 01 63 89 Marcus van Leeuwen, +31 6 12 25 32 27 dutp@regieorgaan-sia.nl
Funding commitment | € 900.000
Anticipated number of projects to be funded by the funding partner | 3–5
Maximum funding per awarded project | € 300.000
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | Universities of applied sciences Specifications: as referred to in Article 1.8 of the Dutch Higher Education and Research Act (Wet op het hoger onderwijs en wetenschappelijk onderzoek, WHW) NB For Dutch research organisations other than UAS, please refer to the annex provided by NWO.
Eligible topics | PED – topics 1,2,3 15mC – topics 1,2,3 CUE – topic 1,2,3
Eligible type of research and TRL | Applied research, practice-oriented research.
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | This is not necessary, however please note applicants are required to submit a mandatory SIA budget form in the Full Proposal stage, as well as a de-minimis form for each partner receiving funding if applicable. This budget form and the de-minimis form will be made available on the callpage of Regieorgaan SIA before the full proposal phase. The forms can be submitted by e-mail to dutp@regieorgaan- sia.nlby the submission deadline.
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency | The board of the UAS has to be informed about the submission of this proposal and needs to agree with its content. Participation of a Dutch cooperation partner in the transnational consortium is mandatory. As a researcher, you may only be involved as contact person for your University of Applied Sciences once in this Call for proposals. All consortium partners that are to receive the grant from SIA through the main applicant, are subject to the de minimis regulation (Regulation (EU) no. 1407/2013 of the European Commission of 18 December 2013). Based on the de minimis regulation, consortium partners may receive a maximum of € 300,000 in government support over a period of three years. By completing the de minimis statement, consortium partners declare that in the event of the award of a grant by SIA, they will not exceed the de minimis threshold. If a consortium partner finds that the de minimis threshold will be exceeded with the grant from SIA (and other possible de minimis aid), this consortium partner cannot receive funding from SIA through the main applicant. The main applicant must take this into account when drawing up the application budget, and must therefore check for each consortium partner that will be involved as a co-applicant whether the subsidy amount applied for does not exceed the de minimis threshold. The de minimis statement, completed separately by each consortium partner, forms part of the full proposal. A minimum of 20% in-kind contribution of the requested subsidy, by the UAS or its partners, is required.
Eligible costs | Funding for Universities of Applied Sciences: no limit on number of positions, rates based on the most recent version of Handleiding Overheidstarieven (HOT), Table 2 under 2.2 “Gemiddelde totale kosten per salarisschaal CAO Rijk in 2025”, column “Uurtarief productieve uren, ex btw”, costs for the participation of students and material costs. The most recent HOT tariffs must be applied for the entire duration of the project. Higher tariffs than HOT are not allowed. Other partners Other partners (than UAS), like SMEs, public authorities and/or NGO’s based in The Netherlands may be funded within the project. Maximum funding percentage for these partners is 50% of their costs. For other educational institutions, TO2 institutions, governments and other government-funded institutions, the same rates apply as for universities of applied sciences. For organisations that do not use a comparable collective agreement (cao), the following salary scales from HOT table 2 under 2.2, columns productive hours apply. Project assistant scale 6. Junior scale 10. Medior scale 12. Senior scale 13. Director scale 16. In total the maximum allowed funding for other consortium partners, excluding the universities of applied sciences, is 25% of the funding by SIA. Participation of students It is allowed for students, connected to the university of applied sciences, to work within the project. If the students contribute as part of their curriculum, the rate according to the usual internship fee of the college or university applies. For students employed as student assistants, the rate according to Handbook of Government Rates (HOT), Table 2 under 2.2 “Gemiddelde totale kosten per salarisschaal CAO Rijk in 2025”, column “Uurtarief productieve uren, ex btw”, scale 1, applies. Material Costs Material costs include consumables, test setups, open access publications, hiring third parties, citizen science, (inter)national travel and accommodation costs (economy class), access to major (inter)national facilities and costs for permits, software licenses, conferences, fieldwork, guest researchers and data management. Equipment purchases (investments) are not included in project costs. For equipment, only depreciation costs attributable to the project can be claimed. Depreciation rates are calculated based on the historical purchase price excluding financing costs, a straight-line depreciation method and an actual useful life. Inclusion of costs for use of equipment older than five years is therefore not possible. Not eligible are costs that fall under organizational infrastructure and overhead, such as a fully functioning workstation, office automation, depreciation other than those mentioned above, housing, insurance, administration and provisions for archiving. In-kind contribution A minimum in-kind contribution of 20% is required. The in-kind contribution may be delivered by the UAS or its Dutch partners. The in-kind contribution may exist of either personnel or material costs. Do not hesitate to contact the national contact person in case of questions.
Website with additional information | More information about this call for Universities of Applied Sciences can be found at the website of Regieorgaan SIA: www.regieorgaan-sia.nl/dut.
Additional information | The NWO Grant Rules 2.024 are applicable to the part of the project’s budget covered by Regieorgaan SIA. Under the Dutch General Administrative Law Act, any interested party has the right to lodge an objection to the decision taken by Regieorgaan SIA, within six weeks of the date of the decision letter. Further information about the objections procedure can be found on the SIA website: https://regieorgaan-sia.nl/financiering/bezwaar-maken/ Regieorgaan SIA will, if necessary, apply a one-off indexation of personnel costs when awarding the grant. The HOT rate at the time of the decision date applies and the date on which the rates take effect is used for this purpose.
(b) Funding rates:
Maximum funding percentages for Applied Research:
Organisation type | Basic research | Industrial / Applied Research | Experimental development / Innovation
Large Enterprises | N/A | N/A | N/A
Medium Enterprises | N/A | 50% | N/A
Small Enterprises | N/A | 50% | N/A
Universities, public research organisations | N/A | 100% | N/A
Public authorities | N/A | 50% | N/A
Associations without economic activities, NGOs | N/A | 50% | N/A
Poland – The National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR)-
(a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria:
Information type | Details
Contact Point | Name: Ewelina Wildner E–mail: ewelina.wildner@ncbr.gov.pl Tel: +48 22 39 07 123, +48 785 662 013
Funding commitment | 2 300 000 EUR
Anticipated number of projects to be funded by the funding partner | approx. 5 to 9
Maximum funding per awarded project | • up to 250 000 EUR per project if a single applicant from Poland (a research organisation or an enterprise) applies for funding • up to 450 000 EUR per project if a group of entities from Poland applies for funding
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | • Research organisations (research and knowledge-dissemination organisations); • Enterprises – SME and Large; • Groups of enterprises composed of at least two enterprises; • Groups of entities composed of at least two research organisations or research organisation and enterprise. Aforementioned group of entities may additionally include other types of entities established as legal persons in Poland (other than enterprises) such as: – local government units, – non-governmental organisations, – inter-municipal cooperations, – associations of local government units. Other types of entities than enterprises and research organisations may apply for funding only as a part of group of entities composed of at least two research organisations or at least one research organisation and one enterprise from Poland. The leader of the group of entities is research organisation or enterprise. A condition for the participation of a group of entities as the Applicant in the call is its formal existence on the date of submission of the pre-proposal, confirmed by its members concluding, at least conditionally, agreement on the creation of a group of entities. Entities must conduct its business, R&D or any other activity on the territory of the Republic of Poland, confirmed by an entry into the relevant register (if applicable). For enterprises it is strongly advised to state in the pre-proposal application form the KRS number of the enterprise and the size of the enterprise (micro/small, medium, large). Definitions: Research organisations is defined as in the Article 2 (83) of Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty (hereinafter referred to as “Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014”). Enterprise is defined as in Article 1 of Annex I to Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014. Local government units shall mean ”commune” (“gmina”) or “district” (“powiat”) in accordance with Polish local government acts: Act of 8 March 1990 on commune local – government (ustawa z dnia 8 marca 1990 r. o samorządzie gminnym) or Act of 5 June 1998 on district – local government (ustawa z dnia 5 czerwca 1998 r. o samorządzie powiatowym). Inter-municipal cooperation refers to a legally established framework for voluntary collaboration among local government units such as: a) inter-communal union (“związek międzygminny”) established under Article 64 (1) of act of 8 March 1990 on commune local government (ustawa z dnia 8 marca 1990 r. o samorządzie gminnym), b) inter-district union (“związek międzypowiatowy”) established under Article 65 (1) of act of 5 June 1998 on district local government (ustawa z dnia 5 czerwca 1998 r. o samorządzie powiatowym), c) commune-district union (“związek powiatowo-gminny”) established under Article 72a (1-2) of act of 5 June 1998 on district local government (ustawa z dnia 5 czerwca 1998 r. o samorządzie powiatowym). Association of local government units (“stowarzyszenie jednostek samorządu terytorialnego”) refers to a Polish association registered in the Polish National Court Register (KRS) established under Article 84 of Act of 8 March 1990 on commune local government (ustawa z dnia 8 marca 1990 r. o samorządzie gminnym) or Article 75 of Act of 5 June 1998 on district local government (ustawa z dnia 5 czerwca 1998 r. o samorządzie powiatowym) in conjunction with relevant provisions of Act of 7 April 1989 on associations law (ustawa z dnia 7 kwietnia 1989 r. Prawo o stowarzyszeniach). Non-governmental organisation refers to a polish legal person established under provisions of act of 24 April 2003 on public benefit and volunteer activities (ustawa z dnia 24 kwietnia 2003 r. o działalności pożytku publicznego i o wolontariacie). Legal person - a legal entity that is capable of having and amend legal rights and obligations within a certain legal system, such as to enter into contracts, sue, and be sued, excluding natural persons.
Eligible topics | All
Eligible type of research and TRL | Type of research: • Basic research (the eligible costs of fundamental research may comprise a maximum of 10% of total eligible costs of the project) • Industrial/Applied research, • Experimental development, TRL: 1–9 We advise potential applicants to read and use ‘A Guide To The Classification of Tasks In Socio-Economic R&D Projects’: A GUIDE TO THE CLASSIFICATION OF TASKS IN SOCIO-ECONOMIC R&D PROJECTS –The National Centre for Research and Development – Gov.pl website (English version) or Podręcznik kwalifikowania zadań wprojektach B+R o charakterze społeczno-ekonomicznym – Narodowe Centrum Badań i Rozwoju – Portal Gov.pl (Polish version)
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | Polish Participants will be informed and invited to submit Polish full proposal once the international evaluation and the ranking list of full proposals will be established. Only projects recommended for funding will be asked to submit a national application form. All eligible entities, invited to submit Polish full proposal are obliged to use the rate of exchange of The European Central Bank dated on the day of opening the call. If more than one Polish entity participates in the project, the national application is submitted by a consortium (group of entities) of all Polish entities. Polish participants shall submit to NCBR a copy of signed international consortium agreement before signing the grant agreement with NCBR.
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency | n/a
Eligible costs | The eligible costs shall be the following: 1. personnel costs (researchers, technicians and other supporting staff employed on the research project); 2. costs of subcontracting, costs of consultancy and equivalent services used exclusively for the research activity; this cost category shall not exceed 70% of all eligible costs of a project; subcontracting a consortium partner is allowed only in justified cases, which shall be verified by a national panel of experts 3. operating costs including (depending on the type of eligible institution): Research Organisations and other types of entities other than enterprises (i.e. local government units, non-governmental organisations, inter-municipal cooperations, associations of local government units): • costs of instruments and equipment, technical knowledge and patents are eligible only to the extent and for the period when they are used for the research project; if such instruments or pieces of equipment are not used for their entire useful life within the research project, only the depreciation costs corresponding to the life of the research project, as calculated on the basis of good accounting practice, shall be considered eligible; • costs for buildings and land, to the extent and for the period when they are used for the research project; with regard to buildings, only the depreciation costs corresponding to the life of the research project, as calculated on the basis of good accounting practice shall be considered eligible; for land, costs of commercial transfer or actually incurred capital costs shall be eligible; • other operating costs including: costs of materials, supplies and similar products incurred directly as a result of the research activity; training costs; travel costs including conference fees; cost of required external audit, costs of project promotion (e.g. articles, project webpage); Enterprises: • costs of instruments and equipment, technical knowledge and patents to the extent and for the period when they are used for the research project; if such instruments or pieces of equipment are not used for their entire useful life within the research project, only the depreciation costs corresponding to the life of the research project, as calculated on the basis of good accounting practice, shall be considered eligible; • costs for buildings and land, to the extent and for the period when they are used for the research project; with regard to buildings, only the depreciation costs corresponding to the life of the research project, as calculated on the basis of good accounting practice shall be considered eligible; for land, costs of commercial transfer or actually incurred capital costs shall be eligible. 4. additional overheads incurred indirectly as a result of the research project (depending on the type of eligible institution); Research Organisations and other types of entities other than enterprises (i.e. local government units, non-governmental organisations, inter-municipal cooperations, associations of local government units): additional overheads for research organizations should account 25% of all eligible direct costs; That costs (4) are counted as a multiplication by percentage given above (called x%) and the rest of direct costs for research organizations, excluding subcontracting (2); It means 4=(1+3)*25%. Enterprises: additional overheads for enterprises include also other operating costs, e.g. costs of materials, supplies and similar products incurred directly as a result of the research activity, training costs; travel costs including conference fees; cost of required external audit, costs of project promotion (e.g. articles, project webpage). That costs should account 20% of all eligible direct project costs; Additional overheads (4) are counted as a multiplication by percentage given above (called x%) and the rest of direct costs for enterprises; It means 4=(1+2+3)*20%. Projects requesting more than PLN 3 million funding are entitled to claim the cost of the audit. For more details on eligible costs, applicants are advised to check the guidelines in the call announcement on NCBR webpage.
Website with additional information | www.ncbr.gov.pl
Additional information | All proposals must be aligned with national regulations, inter alia: • The Act of 20 July 2018 – Law on Higher Education and Science; • The Act of 30 April 2010 on the National Centre for Research and Development; • The Regulation of the Minister of Science and Higher Education of 19 August 2020 on granting state aid by the National Centre for Research and Development, which is in line with the Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty (General Block Exemption Regulation); • The Regulation of the Minister of Science and Higher Education of 17 September 2010 on the detailed mode of performance of tasks of the National Centre for Research and Development.
(b) Funding rates:
Organisation type | Basic research | Industrial / Applied Research | Experimental development / Innovation
Large Enterprises | not eligible | Up to 50+5/15/25 (max. 75%) | Up to 25+5/15/25 (max. 50%)
Medium Enterprises | not eligible | Up to 50+10+5/15/25 (max. 80%) | Up to 25+10+5/15/25 (max. 60%)
Small Enterprises | not eligible | Up to 50+20+5/15/25 (max. 80%) | Up to 25+20+5/15/25 (max. 70%)
Universities, public research organisations | Up to 100% | Up to 100% | Up to 100%
Public authorities | Up to 100% | Up to 100% | Up to 100%
Associations without economic activities, NGOs | Up to 100% | Up to 100% | Up to 100%
Funding quota of Polish participants may be up to 100% for research organisations and other types of entities (as defined in point ‘Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution’) other than enterprises (i.e. local government units, non-governmental organisations, inter-municipal cooperations, associations of local government units).
In case of enterprises, funding quota will be decided on a case-by-case basis depending on the size of the company and type of research/development under Section 2 of the Regulation of the Minister of Science and Higher Education of 19 August 2020 on granting state aid by the National Centre for Research and Development, published in Journal of Laws item 1456, 2020.
In any case only Industrial Research, Experimental Development and Basic Research will be funded. Other type of activities (e.g. coordination, dissemination, management) cannot be included into separated task.
The eligible costs of basic research may comprise
a maximum of 10% of total eligible costs of the Project. Funding for basic research may be granted only to
research organisations and other types of entities than enterprises (i.e. localgovernment units, non-governmental organisations, inter-municipal cooperations, associations of localgovernment units)
in cases justified by the specificity of the Project
.
For entrepreneurs independently undertaking projects at the national level (meaning there is no Polish group of entities or Polish group of enterprises), there is no possibility of increasing the intensity of state aid for industrial research and experimental development based on the condition of effective cooperation between entrepreneurs or between entrepreneurs and research organisations.
Portugal / Centro Region of Portugal – Comissão de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento Regional do Centro, I.P. (CCDRC)
(a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria:
Information type | Details
Contact Point | Sophie Patrício // Carlos Silveira E–mail: ccdrc.projects@ccdrc.pt Tel: +351 239 400 100
Funding commitment | 500 000 €
Anticipated number of projects to be funded by the funding partner | 3–5
Maximum funding per awarded project | • Maximum requested funding for a consortium with a regional main applicant: 200 000€ • Maximum requested funding for a consortium with regional project applicants: 100 000€ Additional information: – If more than one regional applicant participate in the same consortium applying for CCDRC’s funding, the combined funding demanded by all the regional applicants must not exceed the maximum financial threshold established above: for projects with a regional main applicant (200 000,00 €); for projects with regional applicants (100 000,00 €). Regional Main Applicants and/or Project Applicants in the same consortium will therefore have to share the funding that will be granted by CCDRC. – If two or more Portuguese applicants from the same international consortium apply for funding from the Portuguese agencies CCDRC and FCT, the total budget to be requested to these two agencies cannot exceed the cumulative sum per consortium of 100.000 € (Portuguese participation) or 200.000 € (Portuguese coordination) per consortium. – CCDRC and FCT, as Portuguese funding agencies on this call, reserve the right to evaluate the possibility of transferring application(s) to the other Portuguese funding agency if an application is considered non-eligible by the funding agency selected by the candidate institution, but is eligible by the other Portuguese funding agency, which will from then on be responsible for managing the application(s). The transfer of applications recommended for funding will be carried out in accordance with the MoU signed between the parties. – If CCDRC or FCT reach the limit of the budget that each of the agencies has set for funding projects under this call before the number of applications recommended for funding by each of these agencies has run out, the applications recommended for funding that lack funding may be transferred to the agency that still has the budget to fund applications. The transfer of applications recommended for funding will be carried out in accordance with the terms set out in the MoU signed between the parties.
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | Eligible entities – Regional non-entrepreneurial entities from the Research and Innovation System (ENESII), namely: a) Higher education institutions, their institutes and R&D units; b) State laboratories, associated or international laboratories based in Centro Region; c) Private non-profit institutions whose main purpose is R&D activities, including Collaborative Laboratories (CoLab) and Technology and Innovation Centres (CTI); d) Other public and private non-profit institutions that carry out or take part in research activities. These are eligible only if partnering up with one (or more) regional institutions from the typologies listed above. Enterprises will not be considered eligible in the context of this call. To be considered an eligible partner, all applicants must comply with the requirements established in articles 123.° to 133.°, 138.°, 139.° (number 1) 141.°, 142.°, 144.° and 145.° of the Regulamento Específico da Área Temática Inovação e Transição Digital. Only entities from NUTS II Centro or the ones that can assure that the investment will be made in Centro Region can apply to CCDRC’s funding. The maximum funding rate to be considered is 85%. All applicants must get in touch with CCDRC before applying.
Eligible topics | All topics
Eligible type of research and TRL | All types of research and innovation.
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | There will be no need to submit a pre-proposal at regional level. However, if the project is selected to be funded, an application to a regional call (from Centro2030) must be submitted.
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency | The activities performed by regional stakeholders, within the projects, must: I. Incorporate at least one activity of experimental development or industrial research, according to the concepts presented in r) and y) of article 3.° of the Regulamento Específico da Área Temática Inovação e Transição Digital; II. Fit the scope of the following types of operations: – Scientific Research and Technological Development (R&D); – Proofs of Concept; according to a) and b) of article 136.° of the Regulamento Específico da Área Temática Inovação e Transição Digital. To all other criteria and conditions not explicit in this annex, please consult Regulamento Específico da Área Temática Inovação e Transição Digital (https://data.dre.pt/eli/port/103-a/2023/p/cons/20240808/pt/html).
Eligible costs | For eligible costs verify articles 9 and 143 (for the operation tipology “IC&DT” and “Provas de Conceito”) of Regulamento Específico da Área Temática Inovação e Transição Digital.
Website with additional information |
Additional information | When applying to the transnational call, all regional stakeholders must fill in and sign a Declaration: https://ris3.ccdrc.pt/index.php/ris3-documentacao/declaracao-de-compromisso-saccct/viewdocument The Declaration must be sent within 10 working days after the submission of the proposal to ccdrc.projects@ccdrc.pt.
(b) Funding rates:
Organisation type | Basic research | Industrial / Applied Research | Experimental development / Innovation
Large Enterprises | N.A. | N.A. | N.A.
Medium Enterprises | N.A. | N.A. | N.A.
Small Enterprises | N.A. | N.A. | N.A.
Universities, public research organisations | 85% 1 Maximum values; for detailed information about the funding rates see article 138 (for individual or collaborative projects led by non-entrepreneurial entities) of Regulamento Específico da Área Temática Inovação e Transição Digital. | 85% | 85%
Public authorities | 85% | 85% | 85%
Associations without economic activities, NGOs | 85% | 85% | 85%
Portugal – FCT
Applications requesting funding from FCT under this call will be subject to Regulation on projects funded solely by national funds, published in Regulation No. 999/2016, in its current wording, that is, as amended and republished by Regulation No. 5/2024 of 3 January, and corrected by Rectification Statement No. 366/2024/2, published in the Diário da República, 2nd series, No. 100, of 23 May 2024, and by all other applicable national and European Union legislation.
(a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria:
Information type | Details
Contact Point | Alexandre Maurício / Joana Pinheiro E–mail: alexandre.mauricio@fct. pt// joana.pinheiro@fct.pt Tel: [+351] 213 917 648 // [+351] 213 911 567
Funding commitment | 500,000 euros (five hundred thousand euros)
Anticipated number of projects to be funded by the funding partner | 4/5
Maximum funding per awarded project | • Maximum requested funding for a consortium with a Portuguese Main Applicant [coordenador/a de consórcio]: 200.000,00€. • Maximum requested funding for a consortium with a Portuguese Project Applicant [participante em consórcio]: 100.000,00€. • If more than one Portuguese applicant participating in the same consortium applies for funding by FCT, the combined funding demanded by all the Portuguese applicants may not exceed the maximum financial threshold for projects with a Portuguese Main Applicant (200.000,00€) or Project Applicant (100.000,00€). Portuguese Main Applicants and/or Project Applicants in the same consortium will therefore have to share the funding that will be granted by FCT. • If two or more Portuguese Proposing Institutions (PI) from the same international consortium apply for funding from the Portuguese agencies FCT and CCDRC, the total budget to be requested to these two agencies cannot exceed the cumulative sum per consortium of 100.000,00€ (Portuguese participation) or 200.000,00€ (Portuguese coordination) per consortium. • FCT and CCDR Centro, as Portuguese funding agencies on this call, reserve the right to evaluate the possibility of transferring application(s) to the other Portuguese funding agency if an application is considered non-eligible by the funding agency selected by the candidate institution, but is eligible by the other Portuguese funding agency, which will from then on be responsible for managing the application(s). The transfer of applications recommended for funding will be carried out in accordance with the MoU signed between the parties. • If FCT or CCDR Centro reach the limit of the budget that each of the agencies has set for funding projects under this call before the number of applications recommended for funding by each of these agencies has run out, the applications recommended for funding that lack funding may be transferred to the agency that still has the budget to fund applications. The transfer of applications recommended for funding will be carried out in accordance with the terms set out in the MoU signed between the parties.
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | For eligibility of a partner as beneficiary please consult Article 3 of FCT Regulation.
Eligible topics | FCT WILL FUND: • Circular Urban Economies Transition Pathway (CUE TP, all topics. • 15-minute City Transition Pathway (15mC TP), namely topic: ° 15mC Topic #1: Next steps for multimodal urban mobility, building on the travel experience • Positive Energy Districts Transition Pathway (PED TP), all topics. • Types of research and innovation (R&I) activities to be supported: Research-Oriented Approach (ROA) • Project type of partner contribution to be supported: ○ A – Applied Research ○ F – Fundamental Research FCT WILL NOT FUND: • 15-minute City Transition Pathway (15mC TP) Topic #2 : Reimagining parking - transforming urban parking policies , as the proposal will be deemed ineligible. • 15-minute City Transition Pathway (15mC TP) Topic #3 : Mobility policymaking in context of radical contestation , as the proposal will be deemed ineligible. • Innovation-Oriented Approach (IOA) as types of research and innovation (R&I) activities to be supported, as the proposal will be deemed ineligible. • Innovation typologies of project type of partner contribution, namely: ○ I – Innovation / implementation ○ I-A – Innovation / implementation and applied research ○ I-A-F – Innovation / implementation, applied and fundamental Proposals that choose innovation typologies of project type of partner contribution will be deemed ineligible even if the applicant has selected ROA as type of R&I activity to be supported
Eligible type of research and TRL | • Research-Oriented Approach (ROA) • Project type of partner contribution: ○ A – Applied Research ○ F – Fundamental Research
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | Not applicable
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency | For eligibility criteria of beneficiaries and projects please consult articles 5 and 6 of FCT Regulation.
Eligible costs | • For the purposes of defining the budget, the terms defined in article 8 of FCT Regulation apply to eligible expenses and in article 9 to non-eligible expenses. • Excluded from the range of eligible expenses are the salaries and other remuneration supplements of teachers, researchers and other staff with a previously established indefinite contract with the Public Administration. • Expenditure on adapting buildings and facilities is limited to a maximum of 10% of the project's total eligible expenses. • The project's indirect costs are based on the application of a flat rate of 25% of the direct eligible costs. • In accordance with no. 1 of article 7 of FCT Regulation, the funding to be granted to proposals requesting funding from FCT under this call is non-reimbursable and is based on real costs. As such it must be justified through invoices paid or other accounting documents of similar probationary value, under the terms of no. 5 of article 8 of FCT Regulation. • For eligible costs, please also consult FCT’s Normas de Execução Financeira.
Website with additional information | https://www.fct.pt/concursos/concurso-2025-da-parceria-europeia-driving-urban-transitions-dut- https://www.fct.pt/en/concursos/concurso-2025-da-parceria-europeia-driving-urban-transitions-dut-
Additional information | • For additional information please check FCT Regulation. • The percentage of time dedicated to transnational projects will not be added to the percentage of time dedicated to existing national projects. • Within 10 working days after the deadline for submitting the pre-proposal, a Statement of Commitment (SoC, Declaração de Compromisso) duly signed by the Researcher in Charge (partner and/or coordinators) and by the legal representant of the Portuguese Proposing Institution must be sent to alexandre.mauricio@fct.pt and joana.pinheiro@fct.pt. Unjustified failure to submit the SoC by the specified deadline will render the proposal ineligible. • The stamp or white seal of the Portuguese Proposing Institution will not be required on a digitally signed Statement of Commitment. • Portuguese applicants of transnational consortia that do not apply for funding from FCT do not need to submit the Statement of Commitment to FCT.
(b) Funding rates:
Organisation type | Basic research | Industrial / Applied Research | Experimental development / Innovation
Large Enterprises | 50% 1 Please check Article 7 of FCT Regulation on projects funded solely by national funds for form of support and funding rate | 50% | Not fundable
Medium Enterprises | 50% | 50% | Not fundable
Small Enterprises | 50% | 50% | Not fundable
Universities, public research organisations | 100% | 100% | Not fundable
Public authorities | 100% | 100% | Not fundable
Associations without economic activities, NGOs | 100% | 100% | Not fundable
Romania – UEFISCDI
(a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria:
Information type | Details
Contact Point | Elena Simion elena.simion@uefiscdi.ro +4021 307 19 93
Funding commitment | EUR 1,000,000
Anticipated number of projects to be funded by the funding partner | 4–5
Maximum funding per awarded project | 200.000 EUR for Romanian participant(s) as partner(s) in a consortium; 250.000 for the Romanian participant(s) – if the project is coordinated by a Romanian entity
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | Legal entities established in Romania are eligible to get funding – public and private accredited universities, national R&D institutes, other research organisations, SMEs, large industrial enterprises, according to the national requirements.
Eligible topics | All
Eligible type of research and TRL | UEFISCDI will fund strategic (basic) research, applied/industrial research, experimental development implemented by research organisations and/or SMEs, according to the national rules and to the State Aid legislation.
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | Not required
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency | N/A
Eligible costs | The following categories of expenses are eligible: A. Staff costs (researchers, technicians and support staff, including all corresponding state and social contributions; these contributions are subject to national regulations in force); B. Consumables (materials, supplies or similar); C. Equipments (in full compliance with state aid regulations), no more than 30% of the total funding from the public budget; D. Subcontracting (max. 25% of the total funding from the public budget); E. Travel expenses (in Romania or abroad, only for project teams’ members); F. Overheads (calculated as a percentage of direct costs: staff costs, travel expenses and logistics costs – excluding capital costs). Indirect costs will not exceed max. 25% of direct costs, excluding subcontracting. Expenses are eligible if incurred after signature of the contract. To EU countries: no To Non-EU countries: no Subcontracting special tasks (i.e. IT services, etc): Yes, expenditure on services performed by third parties cannot exceed 25% of the funding from the public budget. The subcontracted parts should not be core/substantial parts of the project work.
Website with additional information | https://uefiscdi.gov.ro/parteneriate-si-misiuni-europene
Additional information | It is strongly advised to contact UEFISCDI before submission, in order to verify the eligibility of the researchers and avoid ineligible projects/research consortia.
(b) Funding rates:
Organisation type | Basic research | Industrial/Applied Research | Experimental development/Innovation
Large Enterprises 1 The funding rates are in accordance with the national strategic framework, specifically the: Strategy for Financing the ERDF, ESF+, CF, FST, and ENRAF 2021–2027 | 100% | up to 65% | up to 40%
Medium Enterprises | 100% | up to 75% | up to 50%
Small Enterprises | 100% | up to 80% | up to 60%
Universities, public research organisations | 100% | 100% | 100%
Public authorities | up to 100%
Associations without economic activities, NGOs
Slovakia – Slovak Centre of Scientific and Technical Information (CVTI SR)
(a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria:
Information type | Details
Contact Point | Juraj Fukatsch juraj.fukatsch@cvtisr.sk Magdaléna Švorcová +421 917 733 493 magdalena.svorcova@cvtisr.sk Erika Jankajová +421 904 859 228 erika.jankajova@cvtisr.sk
Funding commitment | 1 800 000€
Anticipated number of projects to be funded by the funding partner | 3–6
Maximum funding per awarded project | The maximum funding amount per Slovak partner in international projects is 300,000 € (if the Slovak partner is the main applicant – 400 000€). The maximum funding amount per project for all Slovak partners, if the project has two or more Slovak partners, is 600,000 €. Contact CVTI SR, if higher allocation is needed.
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | Legal entities established in the Slovak Republic, such as public or private research and academic institutions, higher education institutions, SMEs, public sector entities, and other relevant organizations actively involved in research, development, and innovation. – Private sector entities (entrepreneurial/business sector) – Research institutions (e.g. the Slovak Academy of Sciences and its institutes) – Academic sector (e.g. universities and higher education institutions) – Public administration bodies and organizations established by them, including local and regional government authorities – Non-governmental non-profit organizations – Cluster organizations
Eligible topics | • 15minC Transition Pathway: all topics (1–3) • Circular Urban Economies Transition Pathway: all topics (1–3) • Positive Energy Districts Transition Pathway: all topics (1–3) The proposed project activities must be in line with the priorities defined in the Research and Innovation Strategy for Smart Specialisation of the Slovak Republic 2021–2027 (SK RIS3 2021+), which serves as the strategic framework for research, development and innovation investments in Slovakia. All Slovak entities must have their contractual financial matters settled with CVTI SR by the end of 2029.
Eligible type of research and TRL | All Slovak applicants must ensure that their proposed activities are in accordance with the national strategic framework, specifically the: Strategy for Financing the ERDF, ESF+, CF, FST, and ENRAF 2021–2027.
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | Proposals are to be submitted according to the regulations of both DUT and CVTI SR, including the specific requirements of Programme Slovakia and other applicable national rules. Submisison of full proposal: After having been informed about the international funding decision, CVTI SR will require also submission of separate application for national funding into the national submission platform.
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency | General eligibility rule: All expenditures incurred by Slovak project participants must comply with: – Programme Slovakia, specifically Priority 1P1 Science, Research and Innovation, Specific objective RSO1.1: Development and enhancement of research and innovation capacities and the uptake of advanced technologies, Measure 1.1.3: Support for international cooperation in the field of research, development and innovation – The provisions of the State Aid Scheme to Support Partnerships in the Field of Research, Development and Innovation under the Programme Slovakia; – Strategy for Financing the ERDF, ESF+, CF, FST, and ENRAF 2021-2027
Eligible costs | – Personnel costs (salaries of researchers, technicians and other support staff employed by the beneficiary, to the extent that they are directly involved in the project, salaries of project management personnel and other essential positions necessary for the implementation and coordination of the project; – Costs of instruments and equipment – Costs for contract research, technical knowledge and patents purchased or licensed from external sources under market conditions, as well as costs for consultancy and equivalent services used exclusively for the project;
Website with additional information | www.cvtisr.sk
Additional information | All Slovak applicants are strongly advised to contact the CVTI SR’s contact points before submitting their proposals. As previously mentioned, after having been informed about the international funding decision, CVTI SR will require also submission of separate application for national funding into the national submission platform. The final formal funding decision is made by CVTI SR and only after the project was recommended for funding by the Partnership. All funded Slovak entities must ensure that their proposed activities are in accordance with the national strategic framework, specifically the Strategy for Financing the ERDF, ESF+, CF, FST, and ENRAF 2021-2027. Relevant national documents: Programme Slovakia, Research and Innovation Strategy for Smart Specialisation of the Slovak Republic 2021-2027 (SK RIS3 2021+), State Aid Scheme to Support Partnerships in the Field of Research, Development and Innovation under the Programme Slovakia. Useful links: Programme Slovakia SK RIS3 2021+ Strategy for Financing the ERDF, ESF+, CF, FST, and ENRAF 2021–2027
(b) Funding rates:
Organisation type | Basic research | Industrial / Applied Research | Experimental development / Innovation
Large Enterprises | | |
Medium Enterprises | | |
Small Enterprises | | |
Universities, public research organisations | | |
Public authorities | | |
Associations without economic activities, NGOs | | |
^1 The funding rates are in accordance with the national strategic framework, specifically the: Strategy for Financing the ERDF, ESF+, CF, FST, and ENRAF 2021–2027
Slovenia – Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (ARIS)
(a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria:
Information type | Details
Contact Point | Name: Dr. Suzana Seaptefrati E-Mail: suzana.seaptefrati@aris-rs.si Tel: +386 1 400 59 11
Funding commitment | 0.4 M€
Anticipated number of projects to be funded by the funding partner | 2–3
Maximum funding per awarded project | 0.15 M€ per project
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | Eligible beneficiary institutions (higher education institutions and research institutes) need to be registered at the ARIS register of research organizations and shall not be business sector entities. Business sector entities may apply; however, they need to ensure their own funding for participation. Eligible beneficiary institutions may participate in the consortium as Main Applicant or Co-Applicant. The Principal Investigator (i.e. project leader of the Slovenian team) shall be a researcher holding a PhD degree who: – meets the ARIS requirements for a project leader of a basic or applied research project; – is registered at the ARIS register of researchers; – is employed at the Slovenian research organization (applicant) or will be employed when signing the grant contract at the latest. All participating researchers have to be registered at the ARIS register of researchers and must have available research hours according to the applicable ARIS rules.
Eligible topics | All topics within all three Transition Pathways are eligible.
Eligible type of research and TRL | ARIS will only fund strategic (basic) research.
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | All Slovenian applicants at the pre-proposal and full proposal stage are invited to contact ARIS as the applicant eligibility and proposed budget should be examined by ARIS prior to official submission.
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency | /
Eligible costs | Eligible costs for Slovenian partners are: – personnel costs (including social security, health, pension and other contributions according to national legislation); – material costs (travel and meeting costs, consumables, dissemination and knowledge exchange costs, other costs); – depreciation costs. Slovenian teams will be financed as price category A, B, C or D projects. The total sum of research hours is calculated by dividing the total grant sum by the value of research full time equivalent for the chosen price category of the project (A, B, C or D) in accordance with the national regulation concerning the funding of research activities from the budget of the Republic of Slovenia. Overhead is calculated up to 25% of all eligible costs calculated at the level of the chosen project category (without subcontracting costs) being a consistent part of the total grant sum. The calculation of overhead thus lowers individual category of eligible costs in a proportional manner. Overhead costs are used for covering the running costs of the research organisation related to the implementation of the project.
Website with additional information | http://www.aris-rs.si/sl/medn/ http://www.aris-rs.si/sl/akti/
Additional information | Financial reporting is carried out on an annual basis according to the national rules. Mid-term and final progress reports are to be submitted according to the national rules.
(b) Funding rates:
Organisation type | Basic research | Industrial / Applied Research | Experimental development / Innovation
Large Enterprises | | |
Medium Enterprises | | |
Small Enterprises | | |
Universities and research organisations | 100% | |
Public authorities | | |
Associations without economic activities, NGOs | | |
Spain – Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI)
(a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria:
Information type | Details
Contact Point | Severino Falcón, Irene Carlos urban@aei.gob.es
Funding commitment | 1.000.000 €
Anticipated number of projects to be funded by the funding partner | 7–8
Maximum funding per awarded project | The following funding limits for a three-year project are considered eligibility criteria. Proposals not respecting these limits could be declared ineligible. Maximum funding per project • Up to additional € 30.000 (direct costs) can be granted for the entire proposal if the work plan includes substantial experimental tasks to be carried out by the Spanish Partners, that must be clearly justified in the budget. The previous table shows that: • Only ONE applicant asking funding for AEI is allowed per proposal as partner, • Two AEI applicants are allowed in the same proposal if one of them is acting as coordinator • These amounts refer to 3 years projects. In case of shorter projects, the amount will be adjusted accordingly To establish the final funding amount, the AEI will consider the transnational evaluation of the collaborative proposal, the scientific quality of the Spanish group, the added value of the international collaboration and the financial resources available.
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | The eligible beneficiaries are non-profit research organizations (such as universities, public research institutions, technological centres and other private non-profit institutions performing RDI activities in Spain) which must comply with the requirements established by this transnational call and with the rules on eligibility defined in the corresponding Spanish national funding instrument “Proyectos de Colaboración Internacional” and the PCI requirements document . The entities must have been previously beneficiaries of any of the AEI calls. They have to ensure contractual relationship with the Principal Investigator (PI) during all the implementation of the project. IMPORTANT: Spanish legal entities which are part of mixed centres will be considered as a unique beneficiary, and thus the maximum funding should not exceed the limits per proposal established above. AEI’s applicants are strongly encouraged to include the Spanish industrial sector in the transnational consortia. Spanish Industrial partners can apply to CDTI according to their eligibility rules.
Eligible topics | Only 6 topics are funded by the AEI: TP 15mC – 15-minute Cities 1. Next steps for multimodal urban mobility, building on travel experience 3. Mobility policymaking in context of radical contestation TP CUE – Circular Urban Economies 1. Resilient green and social infrastructure 2. Sustainable tourism – circular benefits and challenges TP PED – Positive Energy Districts 1. Driving a just transition: PED strategies in social and subsidised housing 2. Ensuring positive socio-economic impact: PEDs in local economies and energy markets
Eligible type of research and TRL | Basic/Applied research & Innovation. AEI funds are intended to support excellent research and innovation developments and those tasks necessary to accomplish them. Management costs in case of project coordination can be also supported. Applicants mainly participating in tasks not directly involving research and innovation, such as entire communication work packages for the consortium not involving actual research activities, can be considered ineligible. Mere diffusion, communication or other activities will not be eligible for funding. TRL: no constraints Duration of the projects: 36 months
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | The projects granted by the AEI must be aligned with the main objectives described in the Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica, Tecnica e Innovación. The instrument for funding the Spanish groups is “Proyectos de Colaboración Internacional” (Projects of International Collaboration, PCI). Applicants are encouraged to consult the PCI 2024-2 call text and especially the PCI requirements document on the national call website, as well as check their eligibility with the National Contact Point prior to the submission
Important. Submission of proposals at the AEI. Within one week after the DUT proposal submission (until Nov 24 at the latest), the Spanish PI must submit the Spanish proposal to the AEI. The PI must include a copy of the international joint proposal, the CV and the “Declaración responsable del investigador principal” (see Word document on the AEI website). You can find in the following link the documents and link to the AEI application system: https://www.aei.gob.es/driving-urban-transitions-sustainable-future-partnership
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency | Spanish Principal Investigators (PIs) must: ○ Be eligible to the corresponding PCI (see PCI 2025-1 as an example) call and PCI requirements document ○ Demonstrate experience as investigators in projects funded by the Plan Estatal I+D+i 2013-2016, Plan Estatal I+D+i 2017–2020, 2021–2023, ERC Grants, European Framework Programmes or other relevant national and international programmes. ○ Spanish PIs must have a contractual relation with the beneficiary covering the expected total length of the project. Incompatibilities (these must be taken into account when participating in different ERA-Nets or other international initiatives): • PIs are not allowed to apply for funding in (i) more than one proposal of this transnational call, (ii) in more than one proposal in the same PCI call and (iii) in PCI calls in consecutive years. • If the same PI submits two or more proposals in this transnational call, they will all be declared ineligible, except one, without the possibility of changing the PI. • PIs must remain unchanged between the proposal to this transnational call and the corresponding PCI call should the proposal be recommended for funding. • A PI that has been granted a PCI the previous year will be declared ineligible, without the possibility of changing the PI. Further requirements: In addition to the national regulations, specific rules for the consortia may be applicable within the transnational call; please read carefully the Joint Call text and all the related instructions. Important and mandatory acknowledgement: Any publication or dissemination activity resulting from the granted projects must acknowledge funding by the AEI: “Project (reference n° XX) funded by the Agencia Estatal de Investigación through the PCI (year) call (or its equivalent)”.
Eligible costs | • The AEI will avoid double funding (overlapping with other EU or National funding) and will not grant projects or parts of projects already funded. • Only personnel costs for new temporary employment dedicated to the project are eligible. This must be clearly stated in the contract. The costs of permanent staff linked to the beneficiary entity or members of the research team will not be considered eligible costs. • Direct costs such as current costs, disposable materials, travelling expenses, coordination costs and other costs that can be justified as necessary to carry out the proposed activities. • Overheads (25% of all direct costs, including the subcontracting costs).
Website with additional information | https://www.aei.gob.es/driving-urban-transitions-sustainable-future-partnership
Additional information | Data Protection: By submitting a grant application to the AEI, the applicants consent to communication of the data contained in the application to other public administrations, with the aim of further processing of the data for historical, statistical or scientific purposes, within the framework of the Organic Law 3/2018, of December 5, on Personal Data Protection and Guarantee of Digital Rights. Open Access and Open Data policy Applicants should comply with Open Access/Open Data specified in the respective PCI call or equivalent. The results of the funded research actions, including both the results disseminated through scientific publications and the data generated in the research, must be available in open access, with the exceptions indicated in the PCI call or equivalent. Do No Significant Harm (DNSH) principle: The projects granted under this call must comply with the DNSH criteria (see Article 6.5 of the PCI 2022-2).
(b) Funding rates:
Organisation type | Basic research | Industrial / Applied Research | Experimental development / Innovation
Large Enterprises | | |
Medium Enterprises | | |
Small Enterprises | | |
Universities, public research organisations | 100% of eligible costs | 100% of eligible costs | 100% of eligible costs
Public authorities | Check eligibility with the contact persons | |
Associations without economic activities, NGOs | Check eligibility with the contact persons | |
Spain – Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico y la Innovación (CDTI)
(a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria:
Information type | Details
Contact Point | Milvia Soumbounou Tel: +34 91 581 0579 /55 00 E-Mail: milvia.soumbounou@cdti.es; partenariadosHE@cdti.es
Funding commitment | 600.000€
Anticipated number of projects to be funded by the funding partner | 3–6
Maximum funding per awarded project | n/a
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | For-profit enterprises (large or SMEs) established and carrying out RTDI activities in Spain. Other entities such as Universities, Public Research Institutions, Technological Centres, and other not-for-profit private institutions are not eligible.
Eligible topics | All
Eligible type of research and TRL | Applied research TRL: 4–7
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | Each Spanish company participating in a project and requesting funding from CDTI, must apply via CDTI´s electronic submission system. CDTI´s application process consists of an online application form which is accompanied by a short technical report written in Spanish. The report must focus on the activities and associated budget that the company will undertake in the project (please check Type of research funded and Eligible costs sections in this table). Applicants are strongly advised to check the detailed information available on CDTI website and to contact the NCP for advice about national funding rules, before submitting a proposal.
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency | Please note that failing to comply with the national application process by the deadline will deem the company ineligible to participate in the call.
Eligible costs | Projects should support transnational collaboration; therefore, no single participant or country can exceed 70% of the total project costs. Eligible costs: → Staff costs related to technical staff directly involved in the R&D project. Project management costs, max. 58 hours per month (approximately 0,4PM) → Instrument and equipment costs → Implementation costs e.g., technical knowledge, patents, or consultancy services, intended exclusively for the research project and procured from external sources at market price. → Other costs including goods and services to be used exclusively for the research project e.g.: (national) audit costs max EUR 2,000 per year/beneficiary, travel costs associated with the implementation of the project, (EUR 8,000 max. for the duration of the project). → Overheads (indirect costs as a percentage of personnel costs) are calculated authomatically by CDTI´s electronic submission system.
Website with additional information | CDTI Website
Additional information | CDTI will only fund technology-based activities classed as industrial research and/or experimental development (in accordance with the definitions of the General Block Exemption Regulation, EC Regulation nº651/2014) representing outstanding scientific-technical quality and high innovative potential. Please note that non-technological activities, e.g. communication, carrying out consumer/market studies, or developing new business models, are excluded from CDTI funding. R&D activities to be financed must be within the TRL 4-7 range and be carried out in Spain
(b) Funding rates:
Organisation type | Basic research | Industrial / Applied Research | Experimental development / Innovation
Large Enterprises | n/a | 40% 1 Subject to availability of funds | 40%
Medium Enterprises | n/a | 50% | 50%
Small Enterprises | n/a | 60% | 60%
Universities, public research organisations | n/a | n/a | n/a
Public authorities | n/a | n/a | n/a
Associations without economic activities, NGOs | n/a | n/a | n/a
Sweden – The Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (FORMAS)
(a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria: Information type
Information type | Details
Contact Points | Name: Celina Dahl E-mail: celina.dahl@formas.se Tel: +46 (0)73 020 81 63 Name: Ann Maudsley E–mail: ann.maudsley@formas.se Tel: +46 (0)73 056 48 07 Name: Björn Wallsten E–mail: bjorn.wallsten@formas.se Tel: +46 (0)72 216 99 52
Funding commitment | 2.5 MEuro
Anticipated number of projects to be funded by the funding partner | 6–8 projects
Maximum funding per awarded project | 300k Euro per project (400k Euro per project if the Main Applicant is Swedish).
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | Universities, research institutes, private companies (small, medium and large), private and public organisations that engage in economic activity 1 Economic activity is generally defined as any activity consisting of offering goods or services on a given market. If an organisation falls in the economic activity category, then state aid rules apply. More here: State aid regulations - for private and public organisations that engage in economic activity – Formas , public authorities, and NGOs. The applicant must be a Swedish legal entity (have a Swedish organisational number).
Eligible topics | Formas funds activities by Swedish partners in projects that address any of the three CUE topics.
Eligible type of research and TRL | Basic research, Industrial research/Applied research, Experimental development/Innovation (in accordance with Article 25 in GBER).
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | Swedish applicants who have submitted a pre-proposal to the DUT Call 2025 and are invited to submit a full proposal at the second stage, will be invited to submit their proposal to Formas’ system Prisma after stage 2, i.e. after the evaluation process has ended. Swedish applicants in the same project consortium who are invited to submit a full proposal, must make one single project application in Prisma. If a Swedish applicant must submit a “Model Declaration” or a “De Minimis Declaration”, this document shall be submitted to Formas via Prisma as part of the full proposal (see further information regarding these declarations below).
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency | Companies (both privately and publicly owned) that want to be classified as small or medium sized companies need to submit a “Model Declaration” certifying their size. This declaration can be found here: Model Declaration relating to the qualification of an enterprise as an SME. Applicants for de minimis aid must provide proof of how much aid of this type they have received over a specific period of time, here: Formas intyg om försumbart stöd.docx (only in Swedish). For multi-party projects, the project parties must certify that they will carry out the project according to Formas’ decision: Projektparts godkännande (only in Swedish). Research institutes and so-called research organisations, which carry out both economic and non-economic activities, may be asked to provide a separate certificate: Intyg gällande separerad verksamhet eller underordnad ekonomisk verksamhet.docx (only in Swedish).
Eligible costs | Formas funding is limited to costs eligible under the applicable legal basis for the aid. Within this scope, the following categories of costs are typically considered eligible for research and innovation projects: Personnel costs: Salaries (plus statutory social contributions) for staff and PhD students directly working on the project. Equipment, land and buildings: Purchase and depreciation of equipment, as well as premises costs, to the extent used for the project. Other direct costs: Expenses such as consultant/contractor fees, software licenses, consumables, travel and conferences, publication costs, etc. Indirect costs: Overhead costs according to Formas’ rules (see below). Note: As of 2025 Formas has updated our General Terms. For example, the previous SEK 500,000 cap on equipment has been removed. Indirect costs are now tiered by organisation type: for example, higher education institutions use their full cost rates as before, state linked research organisations may claim up to 45% of eligible personnel costs (for non-economic projects), and all other beneficiaries may claim up to 30%. For complete rules on eligible costs and overheads, consult Formas updated Terms and Conditions for Grants. For additional terms and conditions for multi-party projects, see: Additional terms and conditions for multi-party projects. Note that VAT should not be included in the budget figure. All costs must be reported in EUR in the international platform (UDiManager) and in SEK in Formas' national system (Prisma), if invited after the evaluation has ended. Use the historical EUR/SEK exchange rate from the pre-proposal deadline, as published by Sveriges Riksbank.
Information on state aid rules and websites with additional information | Formas can grant state aid and de minimis aid according to a number of legal bases in the EU’s state aid rules. The provisions enabling Formas to provide funding to organisations are contained in the Swedish Government’s Ordinance (2017:195) on state aid for research and development and innovation in the environment, agricultural sciences and spatial planning. This is based on the European Commission’s General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER) 651/2014 Article 25 and De Minimis Regulation 2023/2832. Further information is provided via the links below: – Terms and Conditions for Grants – State aid rules
Additional information | All scientific publications resulting from projects funded by Formas must be published using immediate open access (OA): Formas requirements for immediate open-access publication Reports are to be submitted according to the regulations of both the DUT Partnership and Formas.
(b) Funding rates according to GBER Article 25 and Non-State Funding
Please note that these numbers do not include Formas’ terms for overhead costs, which were updated in January 2025.
Organisation type | Basic research | Industrial Research /Applied Research | Experimental development /Innovation
Large Enterprises (GBER) Article 25 | 100% | 50% (65%) | 25% (40%)
Medium Enterprises (GBER) Article 25 | 100% | 60% (75%) | 35% (50%)
Small Enterprises (GBER) Article 25 | 100% | 70% (80%) | 45% (60%)
Universities and public research organisations 1 In order for Formas to grant a research organisation a grant with the support basis “Not State aid” (i.e. 100% funding), the research organisation as a general rule needs to submit a certificate to this effect. For more information, please contact Formas contact person. | 100% | 100% | 100%
Public authorities | 100% | 100% | 100%
Associations without economic activities | 100% | 100% | 100%
c) Funding rates according to De Minimis
Organisation type | Basic research | Industrial Research /Applied Research | Experimental development /Innovation
Large Enterprises | 100% | 100% | 100%
Medium Enterprises | 100% | 100% | 100%
Small Enterprises | 100% | 100% | 100%
The funding rates above reflect the aid percentages permitted under Article 25 of the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER), the de minimis regulation and non-state funding for non-economic activities. In individual cases, the applicable rate will depend on the type of activity and the relevant funding basis. This includes whether the conditions for increased aid percentages under GBER are fulfilled as well as Formas’ Terms and conditions,which may specify lower rates or impose additional requirements. In case of any discrepancy, the applicable State aid rules shall prevail over this summary.
Sweden – Swedish Energy Agency – Energimyndigheten (SWEA)
(a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria:
Information type | Details
Contact Point | Emina Pasic E-mail: emina.pasic@energimyndigheten.se Mob: +46 165 442 189
Funding commitment | 1.5 MEUR
Anticipated number of projects to be funded by the funding partner | 5–6
Maximum funding per awarded project | N/A
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | Universities, research institutes, SME’s and large companies, public authorities, NGOs, civil sector. Specifications: The applicant must be a Swedish legal entity.
Eligible topics | PED Transition Pathway, topics 1, 2, 3;
Eligible type of research and TRL | Industrial/Applied research, Experimental development/Innovation
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | Swedish applicants involved in awarded PED (1,2,3) projects will be invited to submit a national application to SWEA (via Mina sidor). Information about the submission will be provided in the invitation and by the contact person.
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency | N/A
Eligible costs | For information regarding eligible costs and the Swedish Energy Agency legislation see the Swedish national call text. → See Instruction in EU Regulation, GBER, 651/2014 CL2014R0651SV0020010.0001_cp 1..1 (Europa.eu), and also Swedish legistation – Förordning 2018:761 Förordning (2008:761) om statligt stöd till forskning och utveckling samt innovation inom energiområdet Svensk författningssamling 2008:2008:761 t.o.m. SFS 2018:1036 – Riksdagen The proportion of a company’s level of support is determined partly based on which research category the various activities in the project are deemed to correspond to and partly based on the size of the company in receipt of the support. Viable Cities criteria: Co-financing rate for innovation projects should be at least 50% of the total project costs. The co-financing rate for demonstration projects should be at least 75% of the total project costs. The project consortium shall consist of at least three independent organisations from at least two of the following stakeholder groups: □ universities or research institutes; □ companies □ public sector □ civil society organisations
Website with additional information | For full information see the Swedish national call information for this call at the webpages: □ SWEA webpage: Utlysningar □ SWEA website □ Hem – Viable Cities
Additional information | The Swedish Energy Agency is leading the energy transition into a modern and sustainable, fossil-free welfare society – applying our credibility, a comprehensive approach and courage. The Swedish Energy Agency funds research and innovation on new and renewable energy technologies, smart grids, vehicles and transport fuels of the future as well as smart, sustainable cities receives funding from us. We also support business development that allows commercialisation of energy-related innovations, and ensure that promising clean-tech solutions can be exported. Viable Cities is a Swedish Strategic Innovation Programme with a focus on climateneutral and sustainable cities. The programme's mission is to speed up the transition to climate-neutral cities by 2030 with a good life for everyone within the planet's boundaries. The programme is supported by Vinnova, the Swedish Energy Agency and Formas, where the Swedish Energy Agency is the principal authority. The Viable Cities programme brings together about 130 members in business, academia, civil society and public organisations. The Viable Cities Programme is affiliated partner to SWEA in the DUT Partnerships Programme.
(b) Funding rates:
Organisation type | Basic research | Industrial / Applied Research | Experimental development / Innovation
Large Enterprises | 100% | 50% | 25%
Medium Enterprises | 100% | 60% | 35%
Small Enterprises | 100% | 70% | 45%
Universities, public research organisations | 100% | 100% | 100%
Public authorities | 100% | 100% | 100%
Associations without economic activities, NGOs | 100% | 100% | 100%
Switzerland – SNSF
(a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria:
Information type | Details
Contact Point | Clémence Le Cornec & Delphine Konrad / email: dut@snf.ch
Funding commitment | 1’100’000 CHF + 250’000 CHF (approx. 1’350’000 EUR) -> tbc
Anticipated number of projects to be funded by the funding partner | 3–5
Maximum funding per awarded project | The SNSF provides a minimum grant of 100 000 Swiss francs per project. The SNSF provides a maximum of 400,000 Swiss francs per applicant for a 3-years project (or maximum of 266‘667 CHF per applicant for a 2-years project).
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | Applicants must comply with the SNSF Funding Regulations and be eligible to SNSF project funding.
Eligible topics | All
Eligible type of research and TRL | The SNSF exclusively funds research conducted for purposes that are not directly commercial. Pursuant to the Research and Innovation Promotion Act (RIPA) and the legal framework of the SNSF, no research grants are awarded if the relevant research is conducted for directly commercial purposes or if the persons involved in the research work are not scientifically independent. TRL: 1 to maximum 4
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | Mandatory, parallel submission of pre- and full-proposal via mySNF Swiss partners must submit pre-proposals and full proposals via mySNF at the same submission deadline of the consortium application. These submissions are mandatory and do not replace the submission of the consortium application to the Call Secretariat. Pre-proposal forms are created by selecting "Projects: Partnership: DUT: Pre-proposal". Full-proposal forms are created by selecting "Projects: Partnership: DUT: Full proposal" and are to be linked to the pre-proposal by selecting its number in the data container "Relation to pre-proposal". In case of multiple Swiss partners participating in the same consortium, only one application is to be submitted on mySNF, whereby one Swiss partner must act as "corresponding applicant" and the other Swiss partners are to be listed as "other applicants". International partners of the consortium applying for funding at different funding agencies from the SNSF cannot be declared as "project partners" in the sense of article 11.2 of the SNSF Funding Regulations. For the submission via mySNF, they are to be declared as "consortium partners" instead and must apply for their funding at their respective research funding organisation.
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency | Participation of Swiss partners requesting financial support from the SNSF is restricted to one project (Art.7.3, SNSF Regulations on project funding). They may, however, participate in other consortia projects as self-financed partners. The maximum number of grants in the project funding scheme for the same funding period from the SNSF is limited to three grants, provided at least one grant is for an EU consortium project or has been granted on the basis of a lead agency, Weave or International Con-investigator scheme evaluation. Swiss-based investigators who already hold three SNSF grants in project funding cannot request financial support from the SNSF to participate in this call. Proposals with overlapping funding periods with ongoing SNSF projects are only approved if the research projects pursue different goals (Article 17 of the SNSF Funding Regulations).
Eligible costs | Eligible costs are outlined in the SNSF Funding Regulations(Art. 28) and the SNSF General Implementation Regulations (Section 2). Project overhead costs cannot be applied for. They are calculated on the basis of the research funding acquired by eligible institutions under eligible funding schemes. Overhead contributions are paid in retrospect at a flat rate to the institutions of the SNSF awardees.
Website with additional information | Information available at: – SNSF Funding regulations – General Implementation Regulations – SNSF Regulations on Project Funding
Additional information | Data management plan (DMP) Applicants will have to complete the DMP on mySNF once the project is approved, regardless of whether a DMP is requested by the consortium. The DMP has to cover the research data, which are collected, observed, generated or reused in the Swiss part of the project and has to comply with the SNSF Open Research Data Policy. Consortium agreement Before the release of the funds, the SNSF requests the submission of a copy of the consortium agreement signed by all the partners. Grant management Grants will be managed according to standard SNSF rules described in SNSF Funding Regulations. Yearly financial reports for the use of SNSF funds must be submitted via mySNF. As a final scientific report, the SNSF requests the submission of the final scientific report submitted to the DUT Call Secretariat. No other scientific report is requested.
(b) Funding rates:
Organisation type | Basic research | Industrial / Applied Research | Experimental development / Innovation
Large Enterprises | n/a | n/a | n/a
Medium Enterprises | n/a | n/a | n/a
Small Enterprises | n/a | n/a | n/a
Universities, public research organisations | 100% | 100% for applied research, 0% for industrial research | n/a
Public authorities | n/a | n/a | n/a
Associations without economic activities, NGOs | n/a | n/a | n/a
Tunisia – Ministry Of Higher Education And Scientific Research (MHESR)
(a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria:
Information type | Details
Contact Point | Hayet Souai: Hayet.Souai@mes.rnu.tn Saida RAFRAFI FARHAT: saida.rafrafi@mesrs.tn
Funding commitment | 0.5 M Euro
Anticipated number of projects to be funded by the funding partner | 5
Maximum funding per awarded project | •
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | – Tunisian public institutions of higher education and scientific research and public research centers. – The coordinator/ Principal Investigator (PI) should be full professor or associate professor (maître de conférences). – The coordinator or Principal Investigator (PI) must be affiliated with a public research laboratory that is part of the partner institution involved in the project. – The critical mass of each research team involved must be composed of a minimum of five (5) statutory researchers (corps A and B), including at least two members with the rank of professor, associate professor, or equivalent rank.
Eligible topics | All Call Topics of DUT are eligible for the MHESR: – Positive Energy District (PED) – 15-minute City (15minC) – Circular Urban Economy (CUE)
Eligible type of research and TRL | TRL 3–7
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | • NO
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency | •
Eligible costs | – Travel and daily allowances, – Small equipment, logistics, and consumables, – service Contracts and research contracts (only for non-permanent staff), – Organization and participation in scientific events and meetings. – Publication and filing fees (required for scientific publications and patent filing), – Expenses for conducting analyses and processing samples.
Website with additional information | www.mes.tn
Additional information |
• Not Funded
(b) Funding rates:
Organisation type | Basic research | Industrial / Applied Research | Experimental development / Innovation
Large Enterprises | | |
Medium Enterprises | | |
Small Enterprises | | |
Universities, public research organisations | | x | x
Public authorities | | |
Associations without economic activities, NGOs | | |
Türkiye – The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK)
(a) National/Regional information and eligibility criteria:
Information type | Details
Contact Point | Name: Serhat MELİK / Arzu İpek YILMAZ E–mail: dut@tubitak.gov.tr Tel: +903122981863 / +903122981787
Funding commitment | EUR 600.000
Anticipated number of projects to be funded by the funding partner | –
Maximum funding per awarded project | • EUR 230.000 per project (excluding Project Incentive Payment and Overhead costs), • Per partner ○ Higher education institutions, training and research hospitals and public institutions and organisations (including city, metropolitan and district municipalities) – EUR 100.000 (excluding Project Incentive Payment and Overhead costs) – EUR 125.000 (excluding Project Incentive Payment and Overhead costs) if the Turkish partner is the project coordinator ○ Private entities: EUR 230.000
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution | • Higher education institutions, • Training and research hospitals, • Public institutions and organisations (including city, metropolitan and district municipalities), • SMEs and large companies established in Türkiye
Eligible topics | All topics of all transition pathways
Eligible type of research and TRL | Type of research: strategic (basic) research, applied research, experimental development TRL: 1–8
Submission of the (pre)proposal at the national level | Electronic application is required via: https://uidb-pbs.tubitak.gov.tr/
Additional eligibility criteria for the funding agency | National ”1071 Programme – Support Programme for Increasing Capacity to Benefit from International Research Funds and Participation in International R&D Cooperation” Programme will be implemented. Further information will be announced on https://ufukavrupa.org.tr/
Eligible costs | Personnel, travel, equipment/tool/software, consultancy and service procurement, consumables are eligible for funding.
Website with additional information | Further information will be announced on https://ufukavrupa.org.tr/
Additional information |
(b) Funding rates:
Organisation type | Basic research | Industrial / Applied Research | Experimental development
Large Enterprises | 60% | 60% | 60%
Medium Enterprises | 75% | 75% | 75%
Small Enterprises | 75% | 75% | 75%
Universities, public research organisations | 100% | 100% | 100%
Public authorities | 100% | 100% | 100%
Associations without economic activities, NGOs | – | – | –

ANNEX B: DATA MANAGEMENT
Why the DUT Partnership requires Data Management Plans (DMPs):
The DUT Partnership wishes to promote open, transparent and robust urban and global change research and innovation/implementation by encouraging more open sharing of research data, leading to wider data analysis, more data reuse, and the combination of datasets from multiple sources. The DUT Partnership believes that an increased emphasis on the open sharing of research data has the potential to stimulate new approaches to the collection, analysis, validation and management of data, and to the transparency of the research process. However, DUT also recognises that not all data can be shared openly, and that there will be legitimate reasons to constrain access, for example the risks to the privacy of individuals must always be considered where data arise from, or are derived from, personally identifiable data.
The DUT Partnership considers that the production and implementation of a project specific data management plan (DMP) is an essential requirement to enable the sharing of research data. Research data includes:
- • digital information created directly from research activities, such as experiments, analysis, surveys, measurements, instrumentation and observations;
- • data resulting from automated or manual data reduction and analysis including the inputs and outputs of simulations and models.
Project specific DMPs should be in accordance with relevant standards and community best practice, which may vary by subject and disciplinary area. Research data should normally be open by default, unless there are legitimate reasons to constrain access, and the data must be made available with minimum time delay, including being discoverable through catalogues and search engines. Data with acknowledged long-term value should be preserved, protected from loss and remain accessible and usable for future research in sustainable and trustworthy repositories.
To enable research data to be discoverable and effectively reused by others, including those outside the discipline of origin, sufficient metadata should be recorded and made openly available to enable other researchers to understand the research and reuse potential of the data. Published results should always include information on how to access the supporting data and other research materials. Researchers should ensure that metadata created to support research datasets retained for the long-term is sufficient to allow other researchers a reasonable understanding of those datasets and thereby minimise unintentional misuse, misinterpretation or confusion.
Data Management Plan Requirements
A DMP describes the data management life cycle for the data to be collected, processed and/or generated by a research project funded within this Call. As part of making research data findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable (FAIR), a DMP should include information on:
- • the handling of research data during and after the end of the project;
- • the types of data, samples, physical collections, software, curriculum materials, and other materials to be collected, processed and/or generated in the course of the project;
- • the standards to be used for data and metadata format and content (where existing standards are absent or deemed inadequate, this should be documented along with proposed solutions or remedies);
- • policies for broad access and sharing including provisions for appropriate protection of privacy, confidentiality, security, intellectual property, or other rights or requirements;
- • policies and provisions for reuse, redistribution, and the production of derivatives;
- • plans for archiving data, samples, and other research products, and for preservation of access to them via an institutionally supported repository.

ANNEX C: DEFINITIONS OF STRATEGIC AND APPLIED RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
Characteristics | Strategic research | Applied research | Innovation
Desired impact | Advance towards answering the question “How do cities really function?”, in a way that can be generalised and add to the universal body of knowledge about cities and serve as a foundation for future research. | Advance towards answering the questions: • “How do cities really function?” in a way that can be generalised and add to the universal body of knowledge about cities and serve as a foundation for future research. • “What works, when attempting to improve cities?” in a way that can be generalised enough to serve as useful knowledge for decision makers and practitioners. | Advance towards the development, implementation, demonstration, testing, evaluation, and uptake of approaches for new products, services, policies, practices, and processes, with potential for improving sustainability in cities.
Importance of generating results fitting for publication in reputable academic journals | Highest importance | Very important | Encouraged
Methodological approach | Rigorous scientific and experimental method including methodological advancement | Rigorous scientific and experimental methods including methodological advancement | Systematic, proven approach
Foundation of work on evaluation and analysis of empirical observations | Encouraged | Encouraged | Required
Involvement of stakeholders | Involved at least as knowledge co-creators/co-designers | Involved at least as knowledge co-creators/co-designers | Directly involved in the workload
Role for applying Urban Living Labs (see Annex D) | Encouraged | Encouraged | Encouraged
Role for policy research | Encouraged | Fits well | May fit
Valorisation of project results | Provision of insights to an important societal issue, production of useful knowledge for stakeholders | Provision of insights to an important societal issue, production of useful knowledge for stakeholders | Market potential of the project or capacity to respond to a demand or need
Background of Expert Panel for project assessment | Knowledgeable researchers from universities and RTOs with topic relevant disciplinary background and expertise, representatives from commercial actors in industry and business, government authorities, civil society organisations and innovators, and other relevant stakeholders

ANNEX D: URBAN LIVING LABS
Projects may employ the approach to R&I called Urban Living Labs (ULL).
The DUT Partnership uses this notion to describe methods, approaches and projects that involve a high level of stakeholder participation, co-creation, co-production, learning-loops, and experimental approaches to improve urban life. It is hence an umbrella notion for methodological tools when the challenge at hand is understood to benefit from or even require experimental approaches and substantial co-creation between stakeholders and urban actors. Participants in ULLs shoulder the role of co-creators to explore, examine, experiment, test and evaluate ideas, scenarios, processes, systems, concepts and creative solutions in complex everyday life settings. When more societal functions are involved in a project, it is aimed to ensure a robust knowledge creation. If successfully implemented, an ULL helps promote capacity building through close collaboration between researchers, politicians, business and civil society in response to challenges in urban settings. As a multi-stakeholder and innovative approach, it offers different actors the opportunity to influence and change current urban settings through research and explorative activities that involves interaction and learning processes. In this way, sustainable urban development can be concretised, tested and translated into everyday life situations, and includes how to best achieve sustainability objectives. The typical outcome of ULLs tend to be processes, services, systems or products employing working methods that integrate inhabitants and other actors into the entire development process.
Over the recent decade, ULLs have become common to tackle urban challenges in Europe, offering the opportunity to research and innovate on a wide variety of issues in everyday settings as well as to test hypotheses and elements to pathways towards urban sustainability and liveability transformations.
An ULL will typically run for the length of a project (usually three years) – although there are also examples of longer term lab settings to which a DUT-project might be connected. After this period data is collected, knowledge is shaped, results are drawn together, and learning occur whereby, in some situations, changes in the wider urban context happen. Systematic integration of the outcomes in urban governance might be key to assure long-term impact and contribution of the ULL to sustainable and liveable urban transformations in cities and urban areas.
In general, the ULL concept is applied to urban areas to institutionally densify the urban innovation ecosystems that deal with the multidimensional challenges in urban areas. All DUT Calls also encouraged the implementation of ULLs. Here are some of their characteristics:
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
From the point of view of academic research, an ULL is transdisciplinary and profoundly integrates expertise not just from several academic disciplines but more widely from stakeholders in their everyday urban settings. Stakeholders here are those who are or would be affected in an everyday life situation, with all their experience and expectations available and made useful in the project. Note that this goes far beyond what might be achieved by adding a reference group or panel of so-called users to a traditional research project. In an ULL, stakeholders are deeply and actively involved from the early stages of the project, and the research is by its design open for surprises and learning that originates from the stakeholders involved. ULLs go beyond occasional and periodic consultation and workshops: the research process is designed not only to add the results from the various disciplines, but also to connect them together to form cycles of learning and feedback. This enables more learning for all parties involved, including non-academic partners, than the simple serial connection of a process from one discipline being followed by a process from another discipline. An ULL hence involves partners representing more than one sector of society other than academia, e.g. a municipal government, private companies and non-governmental organisations. It is a forum for research and discovery, that by the DUT Call Text design is open for learning and exploration in any direction, between any combination of participants who consider participation mutually beneficial and where the terminology adopted is inclusive and understandable. The learning outcomes should aim to contribute to capacity building on tackling urban challenges. This is one of the ways in which ULLs aim for long-term value creation and sustainability after project funding ends.
PURPOSE
The purpose of ULLs is not necessarily to produce new and original knowledge, but to respond to challenges, create value and explore ways to shape synergies out of urban challenges and achieve sustainability goals. This may include the recycling or adaptation (i.e. implementation) of already existing knowledge and innovations and collaboration with its change makers and initiators: scaling across and capacity building rather than scaling up by streamlining with successfully realised or ongoing projects.
METHOD FOR INNOVATION
While embracing the flexibility, the openness to serendipity, and the iterative nature of working across disciplines, organisations and sectors, an ULL maintains the rigour and orderliness characteristic for scientific method. Constituted by the appropriate methods, knowledge and expertise, the methods applied facilitate the creation of knowledge which is translatable to new contexts. An ULL may contain activities representing all areas of an urban innovation ecosystem. The ULL method is in this sense response attentive and challenge driven; processes and initial targets may change depending on participant feedback or external circumstances.
LOCATION
An ULL is located right where the process and challenge being addressed take place, in everyday urban life, typically but not exclusively on a neighbourhood scale. In this way, the outcomes can demonstrate a clear practical outcome. There are ethical considerations as to when to apply it and how. If the ULL involves digital tools, the reasons for this needs to be carefully evaluated and thought of in relation to context.

ANNEX E: GLOSSARY
Term | Description
Co-creation | an approach where heterogeneous actors collaborate to produce knowledge, instruments, technology, artefacts, policy, know-how, etc.
Innovation | A process in which new ideas (technologies, designs, procedures, etc.), and combinations of them, bring about changes in (sub)systems like supply chains, markets, urban regions, etc. This process can be incremental, radical or even disruptive.
Interdisciplinarity | A collaboration spanning multiple academic disciplines (e.g. natural sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities, engineering sciences, technological sciences, medical sciences) and involving the application of complementary methodologies to more innovatively and comprehensively tackle a common problem than would otherwise be possible.
Open data | Data that can be freely used, reused and distributed by anyone.
Smart City | Refers to cities in which ICT is increasingly pervasive and ubiquitous. Cities whose knowledge economy and governance are being progressively driven by innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship; and in which digital technologies can be used to efficiently and effectively run cities and the services provided by them.
Sustainability | A multifaceted property that describes the extent to which social, economic and environmental objectives are in balance; that economic activity is not declining, that non-renewable resource throughputs are minimised and that society has high capital and is cohesive, equitable and inclusive.
Transdisciplinarity | A collaboration spanning multiple partners, both academic and non-academic, to solve a common problem. Non-academic partners may include city officials, (non-) governmental agencies and offices, charitable organisations, companies, civil society, grassroots movements etc.
Urban innovation ecosystems | Relational assemblages of stakeholders, researchers and initiatives which together make up an integrated effort for implementation and validation of approaches and solutions.
Urban area | From a morphological perspective: an area encompassing one or more cities plus its built-up environs, irrespective of local body administrative boundaries, often subject to a minimum built up density threshold and a minimum population size (e.g. clusters of contiguous grid cells of at least 300 inhabitants per km^2 and a minimum population of 5 000). From a functional perspective: a continuous area including one or several urban centre(s) and all population settlements in which a significant proportion of the employed population works in the urban centre(s) or in localities connected to the urban centre(s).
Urban Living Lab | A forum for innovation, applied to the development of new products, systems, services, and processes in an urban area; employing working methods to integrate people into the entire development process as users and co-creators to explore, examine, experiment, test and evaluate new ideas, scenarios, processes, systems, concepts and creative solutions in complex and everyday contexts.