Tips for Collaborative Projects

Horizon Europe funding in Work Programme (WP) 2026–2027 is largely organised through top-down calls where the European Commission pre-defines the topics, expected outcomes and impacts. Your job is therefore less “pitch any great idea” and more “match your excellent idea to the right topic”.

Start with the Work Programme logic

Top-down topics are derived from EU strategic priorities (notably the green and digital transition as well as a more resilient, competitive, inclusive and democratic Europe). When you scan the WP, focus on:

• Expected Outcome: what the project must deliver (in substance, not just in publications).
• Scope: what is in/out (and which disciplines are explicitly expected).
• Expected Impact: what you must credibly change at European scale (and how you will evidence it).

A fast way to orient yourself is to read the cluster introduction pages first, then dive into the topics.

Consult Euresearch thematic webpages

Euresearch’s thematic webpages of Global Challenges and Innovative Europe are a practical “Swiss lens” on Horizon Europe: they help you move from the EU’s broad Work Programme structure to the topics, events and support that matter most for applicants in Switzerland. Use them as an efficient first stop before (and while) you work in the Funding & Tenders Portal.

Use the Funding & Tenders Portal

All official calls are published on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. To find relevant top-down topics efficiently:

• Filter by Programme: Horizon Europe and then by call status (select “Forthcoming” in Submission status to see what is announced but not yet open).
• Use keywords (e.g., “decarbonisation” and “net-zero”, “AI” and “trustworthy AI”).
• Sort by opening date and deadline to plan proposal development backwards.
• Create an EU Login to save searches, bookmark topics, and receive notifications when call documents are updated.

Always check the topic’s eligibility and restrictions section (a small number of topics may have specific access conditions).

Look deliberately for cross-cutting opportunities

Many of the strongest opportunities sit between clusters rather than neatly inside one:

Missions: inherently cross-sectoral calls (e.g., climate adaptation, cancer, cities, oceans, soil), often welcoming mixed technical and societal approaches.

Partnerships / Joint Undertakings: frequently positioned at the research/industry interface.

Horizontal Activities: topics which span more than one cluster (e.g. AI for Science).

Research Infrastructures (RI): opportunities linked to pan-European facilities, platforms, data services and networks that enable research across domains.

Get direct support from your National Contact Point

National Contact Points at Euresearch can help you interpret topics, identify cross-cutting angles, and position your role in a consortium. For top-down calls, early interaction is particularly valuable as once you start writing, it is more difficult to fix a poor topic fit.

HOW TO

Explanatory video on different possible approaches to finding partners for collaborative projects.

Greenet's guide on finding the right (i.e. winning) consortium partners.

Partner Search Tips for other Health EU initiatives, partnerships and programmes.

EVENTS

Horizon Europe Info Days for all clusters (and associated brokerage events).

DATABASES AND PLATFORMS

Funding & Tenders Portal of the European Commission.

CORDIS Database containing all past and ongoing Horizon Europe projects.

Enterprise Europe Network online database, with over 2,500 profiles (offers and requests) from companies and R&D organisations from over 60 countries in Europe and beyond.

Horizon Europe Proposal Template 2026 Changes at a Glance Factsheet.

Annotated Proposal Template RIA/IA

How proposals are evaluated - Briefing for evaluators 

How to write proposal section 2.3 (summary) - tips from the Health NCPs with examples from the successful proposal - Health Impact Canvas tool

Euresearch organises proposal writing training sessions for applicants twice a year. Visit our Events website to register for the next training session.