The European Commission invests €20 million in new projects under the Pathways to Synergies action, with the goal of setting up interfaces between different funding systems and supporting cross-border collaboration.
Pathways to synergies is a new funding opportunity, part of the Horizon Europe: Widening participation and spreading excellence funding sub-programme. The objectives of this action are to support the integration of different funding systems and overcome barriers between regional and European approaches. The main goal is to foster collaboration across borders and prepare regional funding recipients to participate in Horizon Europe calls.
The Pathways to synergies pilot call for proposals (HORIZON-WIDERA-2023-ACCESS-04) closed on 28 September 2023. It received 33 eligible proposals, of which 16 were selected for funding. Some projects already signed their Grant Agreements, with the rest of the signatures following in May 2024. The successful applicants aim to start their activity by the end of this year.
11 of the selected projects explore upstream synergies between different European funding programs, focusing on human resources development and internationalization. The other 5 projects will work on downstream synergies between European funding opportunities, concentrating on advancement and commercialization of research results.
The overall expected outcome is improved coordination and synergy between various funding instruments, including Horizon Europe, Horizon 2020, European Fund for Regional Development, the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance, Resilience and Recovery Fund, and INTERREG. This will lead to increased competitiveness and innovation capacity in Widening countries, accelerated knowledge transfer and innovation cycles for beneficiaries, and strengthened innovation capacity in less R&I performing regions.
The list of projects is available at the source of the article.
More about the Widening funding opportunities
In line with the ERA (European Research Area) policy objectives, the Widening sub-programme is providing funding for projects that enhance the research and innovation capabilities of countries with lower performance.
Another Widening Participation funding opportunity currently open to receive proposals is ERA Talents. The deadline to submit proposals is 26 September 2024.
Source: European Commission (European Research Executive Agency) | News (https://shorturl.at/dS3zt)