Pump Priming Collaboration between UK and EU Partners 2025

This programme is providing pump priming funding to seed collaborations for applications to specific Horizon Europe topics in Pillar The aim is to build collaborative activity between UK and EU/Associated Countries’ entities in Pillar where the major consortia building type of applications in Horizon Europe are centred. This will help UK based entities overcome the barriers to collaborative engagement with EU/Associated Countries’ partners to maximize the opportunities Horizon Europe presents.

Scopes

• Horizon Europe is the largest ever EU Framework Programme for research and innovation, with a budget of over €95bn (2021–2027, excluding contributions from Associate Countries). Such EU programmes offer significant opportunities to access new knowledge, partners, markets, customers and suppliers.
• The expectation is that this funding will be utilised in a variety of ways but could include feasibility studies, application advice and training, partnership building, and dedicated resource to take forward an application.

Funding Information

• Funding of up to a maximum of £10,000 per grant will be awarded to support a proposal.

Eligible Costs

• Funding may be used to support:
  • costs for concept or proof of market work and proposal development
  • costs of meetings for the organisations involved in the UK or the EU to prepare the proposal
  • travel and subsistence, including costs to participate in information days, brokerage events directly related to Horizon Europe objectives, relevant discussions with European Commission officials or similar
  • research and/or clerical assistance (based in the UK or internationally)
  • due diligence work on partners
  • costs towards child or parent care if activity is conducted away from home and it is not possible to make alternative arrangements
  • contributions towards support services such as proposal writing not exceeding 50% of the total value sought

Ineligible Costs

• The following items are not currently eligible for funding (applicants registered with additional needs may consult the Academy about possible exceptions prior to application):
  • institutional overheads, or any element that should properly be ascribed to institutional overheads
  • purchasing of assets
  • computer hardware including laptops, electronic notebooks, digital cameras, etc.
  • books and other permanent resources
  • the preparation of camera-ready copy, copy-editing, proof-reading, indexing, nor any other editorial task
  • subventions for direct production costs (printing, binding, distribution, marketing etc.)
  • costs of publication in electronic media
  • travel and maintenance expenses for purposes such as lecture tours or to write up the results of research
  • carbon offsetting
  • open access fees

Eligibility Criteria

• Each project will be led by a named Principal Investigator (PI). The PI must be a researcher in the eligible disciplines for this call and from an eligible UK-based organisation. The PI is expected to direct and manage the grant and has responsibility for the overall project reporting requirements.
• Proposals are welcome in all disciplines – engineering, natural sciences, medical and health sciences, humanities, and social sciences.
• Proposals are encouraged and welcomed that involve working closely with any type of organisation eligible for Horizon Europe funding (based in the UK and/or the EU/Associated Countries), including SMEs, third parties, end users and similar bodies/organisations such as hospitals, libraries, regulators, commercial partners, creative industry partners, museums, local authorities and associations, NGOs, charities and companies as appropriate to the selected Call and Topic.
• The PI must be of postdoctoral or above status (or have equivalent research or innovation experience). The PI’s position must last at least the duration of the grant funded by the Academy.
• An individual cannot be the PI on more than one bid under this call.
• Projects may also include any number of specified ‘Other Participants’, who may, for example, be relevant stakeholders participating in networking or dissemination events, academic or policy advisers, practitioners, industry representatives, etc.
• Research and/or clerical assistance is an eligible cost under this programme and it can be supported where a reasonable case is made in line with the type of work that is required to be undertaken.
• For all applications to 2-stage Pillar 2 Calls and Topics for which the first stage deadline has passed, evidence of submission to the first stage will be required in order for your proposal to be assessed. Please also note that any funding provided by the Academy will be conditional upon your success in the first stage. Funds may not be used for any activities until you have been notified of your success in the first stage. If successful, funds may then be used to prepare a second stage application, if unsuccessful, funds must be returned to the British Academy.

Selection Criteria

• Applications for calls on the Horizon Europe Portal will be assessed against the following criteria:
  • The expertise of the applicants in the specific selected Horizon Europe Call and Topic and the alignment of that expertise and the content of the application with that Call and Topics;
  • The feasibility of the pump priming proposal including the timescale of the award, and its plan of action in terms of supporting the delivery of a successful application to Horizon Europe (noting that the deadline of your chosen Call and Topic must be at least 3 weeks after the planned start of the award);
  • The commitment and ability of the organisations involved to work together and make a successful application to Horizon Europe;
  • The added value of this funding to the proposed pump priming activity, including a particular focus on the relevance of the items listed in the budget and the quality of the financial justification.

Assessment Criteria

• Applications will be assessed against the following criteria:
  • The expertise of the applicants in the area of the expected opportunities as set out in the Destination selected from the Strategic Orientations documents;
  • The alignment of the applicants’ expertise with the focus selected from the relevant Strategic Orientations Destination;
  • The feasibility of the pump priming proposal including the timescale of the award, and its plan of action in terms of supporting the delivery of a successful application to Horizon Europe’s future calls;
  • The commitment and ability of the organisations planned to be involved to work together and make a successful application to Horizon Europe;
  • The added value of this funding to the proposed pump priming activity, including a particular focus on the novelty of the collaboration for the partners involved, the early or mid-career stage of the applicants or lack of previous experience engaging with EU Framework Programmes, and the relevance of the items listed in the budget and the quality of the financial justification (including the overall scale of funding sought for what are expected to be multimillion euro grants).

For more information, visit The British Academy.