On January 13, 2026, the European Commission opened a call for proposals HORIZON-WIDERA-2026-03-WIDENING-01. This allows companies, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations from countries participating in the Widening program, including the Czech Republic, to join ongoing projects (i.e., with an already signed grant agreement) under Horizon Europe within Pillar 2 and the EIC Pathfinder program. Applicants may only join those consortia that have already been approved by the EIC Pathfinder. already signed grant agreement) under Pillar 2 and the EIC Pathfinder program. Applicants may only join consortia in which entities from the so-called widening countries are not yet represented. nbsp;Thanks to several deadlines, applications can be submitted flexibly until September 24, 2026.
Identifier: HORIZON-WIDERA-2026-03 Budget: €30,000,000 Opening date: January 13, 2026
Closing date: Multiple deadlines for submitting applications; the final deadline is September 24, 2026, at 5:00 p.m.
Amount of funding: €200,000 to €600,000 per project
Indicative number of projects expected to be funded: 60
The list of projects eligible for the Hop-on Facility program is available HERE.
Those interested in participating in a consortium must complete an application in the application system and submit documents, including a description of the specific action and a request for a grant agreement amendment together with a description of the action (DOA).
Following a positive evaluation, consortia are invited to submit a proposal to amend the existing grant agreement. This allows new partners to quickly join integrated research packages and deepen their expertise in transnational projects.
The instrument contributes significantly to overcoming regional disparities and promotes sustainable networking among European innovation actors.
European Information Day
The European Commission is organizing an information day (January 22, 2026) for submitting proposals under the WIDERA work program (Twinning, ERA Fellowships, ERA Chairs, Excellent Hubs, Hop-on Facility, Teaming synergies, Research Management Facility) for the period 2026–2027.
Experts from the European Commission will present the main news and specifics of each call topic. Together with speakers from the executive agencies, they will answer participants' questions about the individual calls.
Just join online, no registration required!
Link: HERE.
Those interested in assistance with submitting a grant application can also contact the staff of the Project Service at Palacký University in Olomouc. We will be happy to help you.
Source: rea.ec.europa.eu