ERA Chairs

ERA Chairs HORIZON-WIDERA is a Horizon Europe Coordination and Support Action funding mono-beneficiary research organisations or research infrastructures established in Widening countries to recruit an outstanding ERA Chair and establish a sustainable research group and institutional reforms. The call offers indicative lump-sum contributions of €1.5 million to €2.5 million per project within an overall topic budget of €175 million, with an expected action duration of 5 years and an application deadline of 14 September 2027 (17:00 Brussels time). Proposals must include a named prospective ERA Chair with a Europass CV and a commitment of at least 50% FTE until the permanent research group leader is appointed, transparent open recruitment for the team, and a credible sustainability and institutional reform plan. Funding covers salaries, recruitment, travel, administration, consumables and equipment (equipment and consumables limited to up to 10% of the EU contribution) and will be evaluated on excellence, impact and quality and efficiency of implementation.

What it funds

Purpose and expected outcomes

Grants support recruiting an outstanding ERA Chair holder to establish a lasting, high‑quality research group at a single research organisation or research infrastructure in a Widening country. Projects must strengthen research excellence, institutional reforms and integration into the European Research Area, increasing competitiveness, talent circulation and success in competitive funding.

Call summary and objectives

ERA Chairs aim to attract outstanding scientists and innovators to universities, research organisations or research infrastructures in Widening countries to create pockets of excellence, strengthen institutional research and innovation performance, foster brain circulation and implement structural reforms aligned with ERA priorities. Projects are expected to establish a permanent, high-quality research group led by an ERA Chair holder, to raise institutional excellence and visibility, increase competitiveness for competitive funding, and contribute to systemic and organisational outcomes such as mobility of R&I talent to Widening countries, institutional reforms, strengthened human capital, improved communication of R&I results to society, and enhanced research capacity and economic growth.

Who can apply and applicant roles

Eligible applicant types (detailed)

Funding and financial modalities

Key eligibility and specific requirements

Evaluation, award and selection

Legal and financial set-up

Co-funding, revenue and profit rule

Budget overview (call-level figures)

Project design and required proposal content

Proposals must include a Part A administrative form completed in the Funding & Tenders Portal and a Part B technical narrative. Applicants must upload the prospective ERA Chair holder’s CV in Europass format as an annex. Applicants should describe: institutional investments and existing research capacity; how the ERA Chair will drive institutional reforms; detailed recruitment plans for the research team including profiles, levels, salaries, and timeline; transition arrangements between ERA Chair holder and the permanent research group leader; a gender equality plan and measures for open science; a plan for sustainability beyond EU funding; and periodic impact indicators for monitoring outcomes.

Application process and templates

Assessment and evaluation criteria (high-level)

Evaluation follows Horizon Europe’s General Annexes. For Coordination and Support Actions the award criteria are: Excellence (clarity and pertinence of objectives and methodology), Impact (credibility of pathways to achieve expected outcomes and impacts and quality of dissemination and exploitation plan) and Implementation (quality and effectiveness of the work plan, risk assessment and consortium capacity). Scores are 0–5 per criterion, with thresholds applied to individual criteria and overall score; proposals above thresholds are ranked and funded according to available budget.

Practical considerations and compliance checks

Administrative and admissibility checks include page limits, completeness, and electronic submission. Eligibility checks include coordinator establishment in a Widening country and submission by a single legal entity. Financial and operational capacity checks and exclusion grounds (sanctions, bankruptcy, breaches of obligations) apply during grant preparation. Legal entity validation is required during grant preparation and a validated PIC is not mandatory at submission but recommended.

Risks, exclusions and security provisions

Success rates and evaluation stages

Co-funding and sustainability expectations

Templates and application structure guidance

Use the specific HE CSA application template in the Submission System for Part A and Part B. Part A is completed online (administrative data, call-specific questions, budget summary). Part B is uploaded as a PDF following the template structure: Excellence; Impact; Implementation. The portal contains standard application form templates and evaluation templates for HE CSA and other action types, and guidance documents including the HE Programme Guide, General Annexes and Lump Sum guidance.

Categorisation and structured information

Eligible Applicant Types

Funding Type

Consortium Requirement

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility)

Target Sector

Mentioned Countries

No individual countries are named in the topic text. The requirement is to be established in a Widening country (category defined in Horizon Europe General Annexes). The call is part of the WIDENING destination which targets Widening participation countries in the EU/Associated Country list.

Project Stage (expected maturity)

Funding Amount (rough range)

Application Type

Nature of Support

Application Stages

Success Rates

Success rates are not published for this call. Indicative number of grants and call budget are provided (80 grants estimated for WIDENING-01 with €175 million). Selection depends on meeting thresholds for the evaluation criteria and ranking against other proposals in the call.

Co-funding Requirement

Direct co-funding by the coordinator is not specified as an absolute percentage, but the proposal must demonstrate institutional commitment to sustain the ERA Chair beyond Horizon funding and show investments and pledges by the host institution. No mandatory applicant co-funding percentage set in the topic text; applicants must show budget realism in the detailed budget table for lump sums.

Templates and forms

Final summary and recommendation

A successful proposal requires a single legal entity coordinator established in a Widening country, a named prospective ERA Chair with a Europass CV and signed commitment, institutional support letters, a clear plan for recruitment and team composition, detailed staffing and budget information compatible with lump-sum justification, a plan for structural reforms and institutional sustainability beyond Horizon funding, and measurable impact indicators. The application is submitted in a single stage through the Funding & Tenders Portal using the HE CSA templates.

Footnotes

1. 1Create and download the CV in Europass format at europa.eu. The Europass CV is mandatory for the ERA Chair candidate and must be attached as an annex to the proposal.

Funding opportunity overview

ERA Chairs is a forthcoming Horizon Europe Coordination and Support Action under the Widening participation and spreading excellence destination. It is designed to help universities, research organisations and research infrastructures in Widening countries attract an outstanding researcher or innovator, establish a lasting high quality research group and implement institutional reforms that strengthen research excellence and integration within the European Research Area.1

The action is not a conventional short research project. Its central purpose is institutional transformation through leadership, recruitment, improved research governance, stronger international links and a sustainable research capability that continues after Horizon Europe funding ends.

The opportunity is open to proposals in any scientific or innovation domain, provided that the proposed ERA Chair and research group can credibly improve the host institution’s research performance, competitiveness and capacity to obtain national, European and international funding.

Call identification

HORIZON-WIDERA

Key dates and budget

The call is planned to open on 6 April 2027 and close on 14 September 2027 at 17:00 Brussels time. The action is expected to last 5 years.1

The indicative topic budget is €175 million. The indicative EU contribution per project is €1.5 million to €2.5 million, and approximately 80 grants are expected. The stated contribution range is an estimate rather than an absolute ceiling, so a proposal requesting a different amount is not automatically excluded, but the requested amount must be justified by the work plan and institutional ambition.1

Funding parameters

Funding element

Indicative EU contribution

€1.5 million to €2.5 million per project. The final amount will depend on the quality, scale and credibility of the proposed action and the available call budget.

Overall topic budget

€175 million for the 2027 ERA Chairs topic.

Expected number of funded projects

Approximately 80 projects.

Funding rate

No conventional percentage funding rate is specified in the topic information. The action uses a lump sum grant. Applicants should therefore prepare a detailed budget and justify the resources required to complete the work packages and achieve the outcomes, while recognising that payments are linked to the completion of the action and its work packages rather than reimbursement of each actual cost item.1

Duration

5 years.

Equipment and consumables

Consumables and equipment may be financed up to a maximum of 10 percent of the EU contribution. On a €1.5 million grant this represents up to approximately €150,000, and on a €2.5 million grant up to approximately €250,000, subject to the eligibility and justification requirements.

Main purpose and expected results

The project should create a pocket of excellence in a Widening country and connect it to wider European and international research and innovation networks. The ERA Chair holder is expected to lead both the scientific development of the new group and relevant institutional reforms.

Expected system level results include increased international, interdisciplinary and intersectoral mobility of research and innovation talent towards Widening countries, institutional reform, stronger researcher skills, improved communication of research results, higher research capacity and increased competitiveness and economic growth.

Expected organisational results include stronger excellence in the selected field, greater attractiveness to international researchers, a lasting high performing research group, improved use of existing facilities and infrastructure, and better performance in competitive European and global funding applications.

Applicants should define measurable impact indicators covering matters such as new partnerships, institutional changes, research outputs, knowledge transfer, innovative research, competitive funding success, recruitment, talent retention, gender equality and the continuity of the team after the grant.

Who can apply

The sole applicant must be one legal entity established in a Widening country. The application is mono-beneficiary, meaning that the research organisation or research infrastructure submits the proposal alone and signs the grant agreement as the beneficiary.1

Eligible host entities may include universities, public or private research organisations and research infrastructures, provided they are legal entities established in a country classified as Widening under the applicable Horizon Europe rules. The applicant should confirm its country status and legal eligibility in the Funding and Tenders Portal before submission because the applicable country lists and association arrangements can change.

The prospective ERA Chair holder may come from any country, subject to the applicable Horizon Europe participation rules, but must not already have a contractual relationship with the coordinating host entity at the time relevant to the call conditions.

The ERA Chair holder should normally correspond to an experienced or leading researcher profile, broadly aligned with researcher career profiles R3 or R4. The person must have the scientific, innovation, leadership and institutional credibility required to build a new team, attract talent, lead reforms and secure future competitive funding.

A consortium is not required. Other organisations may support the action through appropriate arrangements where permitted, but they do not become beneficiaries merely because they collaborate with the host institution. Any proposed external involvement should be clearly justified and legally structured.

Mandatory commitment documents

The proposal must include a letter signed by the prospective ERA Chair holder. The letter must confirm commitment of at least 50 percent full time equivalent until the permanent appointment of the research group leader, expected no later than month 36, and must confirm willingness to accept the proposed tasks, contractual arrangements, salary and on site presence.

After the permanent research group leader is appointed, the ERA Chair holder must remain committed at a minimum level of 20 percent for the remainder of the project if the Chair holder is not the appointed research group leader. This continuing role is intended to support the research leader, sustain reforms and protect research performance.

The proposal must also include a letter signed by the head of the coordinating institution. It should confirm institutional commitment and adequate support for the Chair holder, including access to facilities, supervision of researchers, possible teaching duties, institutional authority and freedom to apply for national and international funding.

The Chair holder’s Europass CV must be uploaded as an annex. It should explain the person’s scientific and technical achievements and the contribution they are expected to make to the host institution.1

ERA Chair holder requirements

The Chair holder must have a position within the host organisation that enables them to drive institutional reforms, influence resource allocation, submit funding applications and lead the creation of the new research group.

The Chair holder may relocate permanently or temporarily. Secondments, sabbaticals and part time arrangements are possible, but the proposal must demonstrate a genuine commitment and sufficient on site presence. The minimum commitment is 50 percent full time equivalent until the permanent research group leader is appointed.

The proposal must specify the contractual arrangements, gross salary, travel and daily allowances, other benefits, time commitment and schedule of on site presence. Where employment is proposed, the employment terms and institutional arrangements should be sufficiently detailed to demonstrate feasibility and attractiveness.

Teaching may be included where appropriate, but it should not undermine the Chair holder’s research leadership, team building and institutional reform responsibilities.

Research group and recruitment model

The ERA Chair must establish a new research group fully integrated into the host institution. The group should be designed around a clear scientific or innovation field, with profiles, researcher levels, salaries, roles, recruitment dates and reporting lines described in the proposal.

Recruitment must be open, transparent and merit based. It should be conducted by an international panel chaired by the ERA Chair holder. The proposal should explain the recruitment governance, selection criteria, equal opportunity safeguards, conflict of interest management and expected recruitment timetable.

The names of future group members should not be included because the group is newly created and the individuals are not expected to be known at proposal stage. The proposal should instead specify the number and type of positions and the skills required.

The leader of the new research group must be appointed permanently within the host institution during the first three years of the project, through an open recruitment procedure monitored by the European Commission. The ERA Chair holder may apply for that position.

At least 20 percent of newly appointed research group members, in addition to the group leader, should hold permanent positions. No more than 50 percent of the newly appointed group members should have had prior contractual links to the host institution.

The proposal should include a transition plan explaining how responsibility will pass from the ERA Chair holder to the permanent research group leader. It should describe their respective tasks during the transition and the continuing role of the Chair holder during the remaining project period.

Eligible and expected expenditure

The grant may cover salaries and related costs for the ERA Chair holder and research team, recruitment costs, travel, administrative expenses, consumables and equipment within the stated equipment and consumables limit.

Recruitment expenditure may be treated under the category of other goods, works and services where appropriate. The applicant should ensure that recruitment costs are properly justified, proportionate and consistent with the applicable grant agreement and procurement rules.

The budget should show a credible balance between personnel, recruitment, management, travel, institutional reform, equipment, consumables, dissemination, knowledge transfer and sustainability activities. Since the grant is lump sum based, the proposal should avoid underestimating resources needed to deliver each work package and should align the budget with measurable outputs and milestones.

Institutional reforms and sustainability

The proposal should set out specific structural reforms rather than general commitments. Relevant areas may include working conditions, career development, human resources policies, recruitment, research governance, grant management, open science, knowledge transfer, research integrity, links with business and access to research infrastructure.

The host institution should explain its current baseline, the weaknesses to be addressed, the reforms to be implemented, the responsible bodies, the timetable, the resources required and the indicators that will demonstrate progress.

Long term sustainability is a central condition. The research group should be structured to continue beyond Horizon Europe funding. The proposal should explain how the host institution will retain the staff, maintain the facilities, support the group leader, finance future activities and integrate the team into its permanent research and innovation strategy.

The proposal should describe existing or planned investments in research projects, facilities and infrastructures, including how installed capacity will be better used. Particular attention should be given to relevant EU co funded infrastructures and facilities.

ERA alignment and cross cutting requirements

The application should demonstrate alignment with ERA priorities, including the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers. Existing compliance arrangements and planned improvements should be described rather than simply referenced.

Gender equality must be addressed in line with ERA objectives and the institution’s commitments. The proposal should include practical measures for recruitment, career progression, working conditions, leadership balance, monitoring and prevention of discrimination or harassment.

The project should integrate open science, responsible research practices, communication with society and dissemination of research and innovation results where relevant. The application should provide a credible exploitation, dissemination and communication approach unless the final topic documents state an exception.

Evaluation and award considerations

Proposals will be evaluated under the Horizon Europe award criteria for Coordination and Support Actions. The main dimensions are excellence, impact, and quality and efficiency of implementation. The proposal should therefore establish a clear institutional problem, a convincing reform and research strategy, credible pathways to impact and a detailed work plan with appropriate resources and risk management.

Excellence should be demonstrated through the quality and ambition of the Chair holder, the relevance of the scientific or innovation field, the institutional baseline, the methodology for creating the research group and the quality of the proposed coordination and support measures.

Impact should be demonstrated through quantified outcomes, realistic pathways to institutional change, talent attraction and retention, increased competitive funding, stronger partnerships, improved research outputs and credible post grant sustainability.

Implementation quality should be demonstrated through a coherent five year work plan, clear work packages, milestones, deliverables, recruitment sequencing, governance, risk controls, resource allocation and responsibilities within the mono-beneficiary institution.

Applications that exceed all evaluation thresholds but cannot be funded because of insufficient budget may receive a Seal of Excellence. In the event of ex aequo proposals, geographical diversity among Widening country coordinators is applied as an initial prioritisation factor, followed by the remaining ranking rules in the General Annexes.

Submission and compliance requirements

Applications must be submitted electronically through the Funding and Tenders Portal before the deadline. Paper applications are not accepted. Applicants must use the forms generated in the electronic submission system and include all mandatory sections and annexes.

The proposal page limit and layout will be specified in the application form. The general Horizon Europe rules indicate a 33 page limit for lump sum Coordination and Support Actions, unless the final call documentation provides otherwise. Pages exceeding the applicable limit may be disregarded after submission.

The host entity must be registered in the Participant Register and have the appropriate participant identification code before grant signature. Legal entity validation, financial capacity and exclusion checks apply under the Horizon Europe rules.

The applicant must have sufficient operational capacity, expertise, personnel, facilities and management arrangements to implement the project. The assessment will consider the competence and experience of the organisation and project team, relevant previous activities, publications or achievements, infrastructure and technical resources.

Public bodies are generally exempt from the financial capacity check under the general rules, while other entities may be assessed depending on the requested grant and their legal status. The applicant must not be in an exclusion situation such as bankruptcy, serious tax or social security non compliance, fraud, corruption, grave professional misconduct or significant failure to comply with previous EU obligations.

Strategic assessment for applicants

This opportunity is particularly suitable for a Widening country research institution that has a credible institutional reform agenda, a strong but underdeveloped research domain, access to relevant infrastructure and the capacity to permanently absorb a new high performing group.

The strongest applicants are likely to demonstrate that the Chair holder is internationally recognised, has the authority and motivation to relocate or work substantially on site, and can attract researchers and competitive funding rather than merely deliver scientific publications.

Applicants should secure internal political and financial commitment before drafting. The head of institution’s commitment letter should be supported by evidence of decision making authority, access to facilities, recruitment autonomy, long term positions, salary commitments and institutional co support where required.

The proposal should be developed as an institutional transformation plan with a research component, not as a conventional project centred solely on the Chair holder’s personal research. Weaknesses are likely to arise where the institution cannot show permanent recruitment prospects, reform authority, realistic salaries, sustainable financing or a credible transition to the permanent group leader.

Recommended preparation plan

1. Confirm that the host entity is established in an eligible Widening country and is able to act as a mono-beneficiary.

2. Select a prospective ERA Chair holder with an R3 or R4 level profile, international standing, leadership capacity and a record of securing competitive funding.

3. Agree the Chair holder’s salary, benefits, contractual form, minimum 50 percent commitment, on site schedule and transition arrangements in writing.

4. Complete an institutional baseline covering research performance, facilities, human resources, governance, funding success, gender equality and ERA alignment.

5. Design the research group, including positions, profiles, salaries, recruitment dates, permanent staffing share and the limit on prior host institution contractual links.

6. Build the reform work plan around measurable changes in research governance, careers, recruitment, grant management, knowledge transfer, open science and external partnerships.

7. Prepare the Chair holder commitment letter, institutional commitment letter and Europass CV as mandatory supporting documents.

8. Construct a lump sum budget linked to work packages, deliverables, milestones, recruitment, salaries, travel, administration, equipment and sustainability.

9. Define quantified impact indicators and a post grant sustainability plan before finalising the proposal.

10. Submit through the Funding and Tenders Portal before 14 September 2027 at 17:00 Brussels time and retain evidence of successful electronic submission.

Key risks and mitigations

Official sources

The Funding and Tenders Portal topic page is the authoritative source for the final call conditions, electronic application form, deadline, general annexes, model grant agreement and any updates published before submission.1

The Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026 to 2027 confirms the indicative budget of €175 million, the expected contribution of €1.5 million to €2.5 million per project, the expected 80 projects, the opening date of 6 April 2027 and the deadline of 14 September 2027.2

1 Funding and Tenders Portal topic page

2 Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026 to 2027, Widening participation and strengthening the European Research Area