What is the WIDERA Programme?
The WIDERA Programme is a part of the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2023–2025 which tackles the key areas of Widening participation and Strengthening the European Research Area (ERA), and elaborates on the 2021–2022 work programme.
What are its objectives?
A new ERA for Research and Innovation was adopted in 2021 by the European Commission to fulfil four objectives:
- To improve the European research and innovation landscape,
- to accelerate the European Union’s transition towards climate neutrality and digital leadership,
- to support the European Union’s recovery from the coronavirus crisis,
- and to strengthen its resilience against future crises.
In close cooperation with Member States, these strategic objectives prioritise investments and reforms in R&I, improve access to excellence for researchers across the EU, enable research results to reach the market and the real economy, and strengthen the mobility of researchers and free flow of knowledge.
How many calls will there be for the WIDERA Programme?
Within the WIDERA Programme, there will be six calls with different requirements:
- Call – European Excellence Initiative (EEI),
- Call – EIC pre-accelerator – Widening,
- Call – Hop-on facility,
- Call – Support for R&I policy making in the EU enlargement countries,
- Call – Implementing action plans for connected regional innovation valleys in widening countries,
- Call – Enhancing the European R&I system.
Important information about the WIDERA Pre-Accelerator Programme
Objective: The WIDERA Pre-accelerator Programme seeks to increase the potential for innovation of early-stage deep-tech businesses in widening countries by improving their technological, business, and investor readiness to get investment from the EIC Accelerator or other sources. In order to facilitate these businesses’ scale-up and market penetration, the objective is to make them more competitive and attractive to investors.
Widening countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
Deadline: Calls for the WIDERA Pre-Accelerator Programme will open in May and will close in November.
Budget: The indicative budget amounts to €20 million with grants ranging from €300,000 and €500,000 million to fund 50 projects. The funding rate is 70% of the total eligible costs.
Evaluation procedure: single-stage evaluation. Submitted proposals will be evaluated by 3 independent EIC evaluators following the award criteria for EIC Transition Open at first evaluation step, EIC Work Programme 2025.
