Widening - European Excellence Initiative (EEI)
What is the European Excellence Initiative (EEI)?
Targeted at the academic sector, EEI aims to significantly strengthen the cooperation between organisations from the academic sector of low R&I performing countries ("Widening Countries") and internationally leading academic institutions to promote the transformation of the higher education sector and its surrounding ecosystems.
The EEI will focus on networking building and strategic research domains, with a centre of gravity in Widening Countries.
Type of Action: Coordination and Support Action – lump sum (CSA-LS), funding networking, coordination or support services, policy dialogues, and mutual learning exercises and studies in the form of lum sums.
Who can apply?
- Consortia must include at least two co-ordinators who are academic or research organisations from one or two Widening Countries, and at least two internationally leading institutions from two different EU Member States or Associated Countries (e.g. Israel).
- Types of eligible organisations: Comprehensive universities, small universities, non-university research centres, academy of science institutes, polytechnic universities, universities of applied science, and specialised laboratories. Actors of surrounding innovation ecosystems are encouraged to be involved as partner organisations.
Expected Outcomes:
- Integrated and longer-term cooperation between the partner universities in the network, and with actors in surrounding ecosystems, jointly creating a critical mass to contribute better to major societal challenges.
- Tangible progress towards institutional transformation / modernisation of universities (in its broadest sense), with a particular emphasis on the entities located in Widening Countries.
- Strengthened cooperation with a view to raising excellence, global competitiveness, and general attractiveness for international talents and investments.
- Contribute to a portfolio of successful cooperation models for modernisation / transformation at the research and innovation level, in synergy with their education dimension.
- Facilitate future synergies between the European Education Area and the European Research Area, in particular liaising with the European Universities pilot projects.
Highlights:
- Demonstrate enhanced scientific and technological capacity between the linked organisations, with a focus on the Widening Countries.
- Demonstrate how the linkage will assist with raising the excellence profiles of the participants from the Widening Countries, including their staff.
- A clear outline of the cooperation and the strategy to stimulate scientific and innovation excellence in the chosen research domain
Funding:
- Expected EU Contribution per Project: EUR 1.5-2M
- Project Duration: Up to three years.
- Eligible Costs:
- Comprehensive set of activities to be supported: short term staff exchanges, expert visits, and short-term on-site or virtual training, workshops, conference attendance, organisation of joint summer school type activities, dissemination and outreach activities, research management and administration, capacity building for the application of open science practices, capacity building for research management and technology transfer, explorative research projects (led by Widening partners) to develop new research strands, etc.
- At least 70% of the budget should be allocated to the beneficiaries based in Widening countries, or benefit directly the institutional transformation of such beneficiaries.
- Entities who already benefit from the European Universities initiative pilot funding of Erasmus+ and Horizon 2020 can participate, but are excluded from receiving funding through this action.
Calls:
- The call closed on November 4, 2021. The next call is yet to be scheduled.
For more information please refer to the full European Excellence Initiative - Widening 2021-2022 Work Programme.
Call Information
Further Information:
Contact Us
For questions regarding the call and its submission requirements please contact the Widening team at ISERD.