On March 6, 2026, an information dissemination event “Coordination of NCP activities within the new Horizon Europe calls for proposals under the work programmes 2026-2027” was held in Kyiv. The main target audience of the event was the Horizon Europe National Contact Points (NCPs).

The event was opened with welcoming remarks by Olga Polotska, Executive Director of the National Research Foundation of Ukraine, Yehor Pyvovarov, Policy Officer for Research and Innovation at the EU Delegation to Ukraine, and Iryna Bilous, State Expert of the Expert Group on Strategizing and Integration into the European Research Area of the Directorate for Science Development of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.

The programme of the event consisted of two parts – theoretical and practical.

During the theoretical part, Horizon Europe Office in Ukraine specialists presented statistical information on the participation of Ukrainian organisations in Horizon Europe calls and the work of the Office, as well as outlined current opportunities for Ukrainian applicants and key innovations in the 2026-2027 work programmes.

The practical part was devoted to the work with an example of developing a project proposal for the call Economics of climate change and cost of inaction call for proposals (HORIZON-CL5-2026-07-D1-03). Participants had the opportunity to analyse the structure of the project proposal and work on developing its financial part – the project budget. Particular attention was paid to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the preparation of project proposals. The feasibility and possibility of using AI tools is actively discussed by EU experts, so this issue was given special attention at the event. To complete practical tasks, participants were divided into three groups, each of them worked with questions prepared by the Office’s specialists.

At the end of the event, participants were offered an interactive educational game aimed at consolidating their knowledge of the key concepts of the Horizon Europe Programme by matching terms with their definitions. The Office’s experts gained this experience during a study visit to their Estonian colleagues and shared it with the NCPs.

Summing up the event, Igor Taranov, the Head of the Office, thanked the participants for their active involvement and emphasised the importance of consolidating efforts to expand the participation of Ukrainian organisations in Horizon Europe calls.

Strengthening the coordination of the  NSPs’ network will contribute to more effective communication of Horizon Europe opportunities to Ukrainian researchers and innovators, improve the quality of project proposals, and expand Ukraine’s participation in European research and innovation initiatives. Such events also contribute to the further integration of the Ukrainian scientific and innovation community into the European Research Area.

Experts from Horizon Europe Office in Ukraine, NRFU, provide ongoing advice and practical guidance, as well as training and information events for anyone interested in participating in the Horizon Europe Framework Programme. During the week, a series of consultations were held for applicants such as: Eco Energy Plus LLC, the M.I. Dolishniy Institute of Regional Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, DTEK Group, Hempire construction company, the Aero-Cybernetics Cluster, and the State University of Information and Communication Technologies.

The applicants were interested in opportunities under Cluster 4 “Digital, Industry and Space”’, Cluster 5 “Climate, Energy and Mobility”, European Innovation Council, European Institute of Innovation and Technology, the cross-cutting component “Widening Participation and Strengthening the European Research Area” (WIDERA), as well as the New European Bauhaus Initiative.

Among the issues that potential applicants asked about were:

• choosing relevant calls and eligibility requirements, particularly by type of actions;
• specifics of participation in the Programme in terms of types of beneficiaries;
• the procedure for registering and updating an organisation’s profile on the EU Funding and Tenders Portal;
• evaluating future partners and tools for finding them to build consortia involving business, research institutions and higher education institutions, including gender equality and inclusiveness in the consortium team;
• approaches to preparing and submitting a competitive project application;
• project budgeting, in particular, the formation and allocation of the budget between work packages, lump sum model, etc.;
• risk formulation and management;
• duration of project application evaluation;
• intellectual property protection issues;
• preparation of a business strategy and plan for exploiting project results, features of implementing pilot and demonstration projects, use of inventions, etc.

In addition, the Office’s specialists focused on specific success stories of Ukrainian organisations in the Programme, which is an important and valuable experience for new participants. We remind you that you can find individual success stories of implementation and, in some cases, coordination of projects by Ukrainian participants on the Horizon Europe Office in Ukraine website: “Success Stories”.

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