Horizon Europe Pump Priming collaboration between UK and EU partners 2025

Funded by the UK government's Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

The British Academy with the support of the Royal Society, the Academy of Medical Sciences, and the Royal Academy of Engineering are inviting proposals from UK researchers and proposals from UK led consortia containing EU/Associated Countries-based researchers to pump prime collaborations to support the effective uptake of the opportunities provided by the UK’s association to Horizon Europe. For the purpose of this call, Associated Countries include those countries in the process of associating, as shown on this list of participating countries in Horizon Europe.

Proposals are welcome in all disciplines – engineering, natural sciences, medical and health sciences, humanities, and social sciences.

The deadline is Wednesday 11 June 2025, 17:00 (GMT).

Innovate UK are leading a separate scheme focused on supporting SMEs to develop and join proposals. This is open to both Pillar 2 and Pillar 3 of Horizon Europe. The lead applicant of the Innovate UK scheme must be a UK-based businesses that meets the criteria of a Small Medium Enterprise (SME) and similarly, research organisations can be included in bids as consortia members. For more information, please visit the website.

Introduction

The UK’s association to Horizon Europe was a significant achievement that has been widely welcomed across the sector in the UK, as well as by the UK’s colleagues and counterparts elsewhere in Europe and beyond. It is imperative now that the opportunities that association provides are taken up swiftly and substantially. The Academy is aware that there are particular hurdles for UK-based researchers, innovators and institutions in bringing together partners and consortia for calls related to Pillar 2. This is why the Academy is pleased to be able to open a fourth round of this pump priming call aligning with the opening of new calls on the Horizon Europe Portal. This round will only focus on applicants aiming to apply to a call on the Horizon Europe Portal.

Aims

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.

This programme is providing pump priming funding to seed collaborations for applications to specific Horizon Europe topics in Pillar 2. The aim is to build collaborative activity between UK and EU/Associated Countries’ entities in Pillar 2 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 maximise the opportunities Horizon Europe presents. For the purpose of this call, Associated Countries include those countries in the process of associating as listed on the Europa website. Third country partners, such as Switzerland, can also be considered as appropriate, but projects and proposed consortia must provide confidence that they will address necessary eligibility and impact criteria.

The call is focused solely on Pillar 2 of Horizon Europe – Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness.

Eligibility requirements

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.

Value and duration

We are able to offer awards of up to £10,000. This will cover collaboration preparation activities to enable multinational consortium building, as well as costs for developing the project ideas and gaining a better understanding of the market opportunities.

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.

Application and Assessment Procedure

All applicants must register in the British Academy’s online Flexi-Grant® system to enable the processing and assessment of their application. All applications must be submitted in English.

Within Pillar 2 applications for this pump priming funding can be used for is the Calls and Topics from the 2025 Work Programmes onwards (i.e Calls and Topics with 2025 in the call code) that are listed on the Horizon Europe funding portal as either ‘open for submission’ or ‘forthcoming’. There are only a limited number of calls currently listed on the Portal, however, applications targeting them are most welcome.

Applicants may target any type of action and focus on any cluster in Pillar 2: 1 (Health), 2 (Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society), 3 (Civil Security for Society), 4 (Digital, Industry and Space), 5 (Climate, Energy and Mobility) and 6 (Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment), as well as Missions 1-5 (A Soil Deal for Europe, Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030, Adaptation to Climate Change, 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030, and Cancer), and New European Bauhaus Facility calls 1-3 (Connecting the green transformation, social inclusion and local democracy; Circular and regenerative approaches for the built environment; and Innovate funding and new business models for the transformation of neighbourhoods).

Scheme guidance

Please read our scheme guidance notes before making an application.