Evaluation and use of evidence in education policy and practice

The grant opportunity HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-TRANSFO-06 aims to enhance evidence-based decision-making in education policy through research and innovation actions. This initiative falls under the Horizon Europe framework and is particularly focused on evaluating and utilizing research evidence to inform educational practices and policies.

Eligible applicants include universities, research institutes, nonprofits, NGOs, and public bodies involved in education policy or social sciences. While small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and larger companies are not explicitly mentioned, they may qualify if their projects align with the educational research focus. The funding structure is a Horizon Lump Sum Grant, involving significant monetary support per project, with an approximate total budget of €10.2 million and an expected contribution of around €3.4 million for each of the anticipated three projects.

The application process is a single-stage open call, opening on May 15, 2025, and closing on September 16, 2025. Proposals must adhere to specific layout and page limit guidelines, and applicants are encouraged to demonstrate interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers, policymakers, and practitioners.

The geographical eligibility extends to entities in EU member states, Horizon Europe-associated countries, and potentially non-EU countries under specific provisions. The project's emphasis is on improving education outcomes, addressing inequalities, and evaluating education policies across various societal dimensions.

Success rates vary and are generally competitive, with estimates ranging from 10 to 39 percent. Co-funding is not required under the lump sum model, making the grant more accessible for eligible organizations.

The overall goal of this funding opportunity is to bridge the gap between research and practice in the education sector, ultimately aiming to improve the quality and accessibility of education across Europe. The initiative seeks projects that promote the use of research in policymaking, enhance educational quality, and reduce disparities in learning outcomes, thereby contributing to the broader objectives of the European Education Area.

This is a summary of EU funding opportunities primarily focused on the Horizon Europe Programme, specifically addressing topics within Culture, Creativity, and Inclusive Society for the year 2025. The opportunities are broken down into several key areas: Democracy, Heritage, and Transformations, each with its own set of specific goals, budget allocations, timelines, and types of actions.

General Conditions applicable to all opportunities:

1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposals must adhere to specific page limits and layout guidelines as detailed in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes and Part B of the Application Form. For Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) using a lump sum budget, the page limit for Part B is 50 pages. A detailed budget table, using the provided template, is also mandatory.

2. Eligible Countries: Eligibility is determined as described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. Certain non-EU/non-Associated Countries have provisions for funding participants in Horizon Europe projects, as outlined in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

3. Other Eligible Conditions: These are detailed in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.

4. Financial and Operational Capacity and Exclusion: These aspects are addressed in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.

5. Evaluation and Award:
 a. Award criteria, scoring, and thresholds are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.
 b. Submission and evaluation processes are detailed in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.
 c. The indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is also provided in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.

6. Legal and Financial Set-up of the Grants: Eligible costs will be reimbursed as a lump sum, as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021. This decision authorizes the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme and the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025). Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes provides additional details.

Specific Conditions:

These are described in the specific topic of the Work Programme.

Application and Evaluation Forms and Model Grant Agreement (MGA):

Application form templates are available in the Submission System. A standard application form (HE RIA, IA) is used. Evaluation form templates will be used with necessary adaptations, including a standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA).

Guidance documents include the HE Programme Guide and a Lump Sum MGA.

Call-specific instructions include a detailed budget table (HE LS) version 3.3 and guidance on lump sums.

Additional Documents:

A range of documents provide further context and rules:
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 1. General Introduction
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 5. Culture, creativity and inclusive society
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 14. General Annexes
HE Programme Guide
HE Framework Programme 2021/695
HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764
EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509
Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme
Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment
EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement
Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual
Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions
Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement

Budget Overview for 2025:

The following table summarizes the budget allocations, stages, opening and deadline dates, contribution amounts, and indicative number of grants for various topics:

Topic Budget (EUR) - Year: 2025 Stages Opening date Deadline Contributions Indicative number of grants
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-DEMOCRACY-01 - HORIZON-CSA HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions 3 500 000 single-stage 2025-05-15 2025-09-16 3000000 to 3500000 1
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-DEMOCRACY-02 - HORIZON-CSA HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions 3 000 000 single-stage 2025-05-15 2025-09-16 2500000 to 3000000 1
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-DEMOCRACY-03 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 10 500 000 single-stage 2025-05-15 2025-09-16 3000000 to 3500000 3
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-DEMOCRACY-04 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 7 000 000 single-stage 2025-05-15 2025-09-16 3000000 to 3500000 2
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-DEMOCRACY-05 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 10 500 000 single-stage 2025-05-15 2025-09-16 3000000 to 3500000 3
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-DEMOCRACY-06 - HORIZON-CSA HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions 3 500 000 single-stage 2025-05-15 2025-09-16 3000000 to 3500000 1
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-DEMOCRACY-07 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 10 500 000 single-stage 2025-05-15 2025-09-16 3000000 to 3500000 3
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-DEMOCRACY-08 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 10 500 000 single-stage 2025-05-15 2025-09-16 3000000 to 3500000 3
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-DEMOCRACY-09 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 10 500 000 single-stage 2025-05-15 2025-09-16 3000000 to 3500000 3
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-DEMOCRACY-10 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 10 500 000 single-stage 2025-05-15 2025-09-16 3000000 to 3500000 3
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-DEMOCRACY-11 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 10 500 000 single-stage 2025-05-15 2025-09-16 3000000 to 3500000 3
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-DEMOCRACY-12 - HORIZON-CSA HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions 3 500 000 single-stage 2025-05-15 2025-09-16 3000000 to 3500000 1
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-HERITAGE-03 - HORIZON-IA HORIZON Innovation Actions 26 000 000 single-stage 2025-05-15 2025-09-16 2500000 to 4000000 8
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-HERITAGE-04 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 15 000 000 single-stage 2025-05-15 2025-09-16 4000000 to 5000000 3
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-HERITAGE-05 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 10 500 000 single-stage 2025-05-15 2025-09-16 2500000 to 3500000 3
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-HERITAGE-06 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 13 500 000 single-stage 2025-05-15 2025-09-16 3500000 to 4500000 3
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-HERITAGE-07 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 12 000 000 single-stage 2025-05-15 2025-09-16 3000000 to 4000000 3
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-HERITAGE-08 - HORIZON-CSA HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions 3 500 000 single-stage 2025-05-15 2025-09-16 2500000 to 3500000 1
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-HERITAGE-09 - HORIZON-CSA HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions 2 000 000 single-stage 2025-05-15 2025-09-16 around 2000000 1
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-TRANSFO-01 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 10 200 000 single-stage 2025-05-15 2025-09-16 around 3400000 3
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-TRANSFO-02 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 10 200 000 single-stage 2025-05-15 2025-09-16 around 3400000 3
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-TRANSFO-03 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 10 200 000 single-stage 2025-05-15 2025-09-16 around 3400000 3
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-TRANSFO-05 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 10 200 000 single-stage 2025-05-15 2025-09-16 around 3400000 3
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-TRANSFO-06 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 10 200 000 single-stage 2025-05-15 2025-09-16 around 3400000 3
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-TRANSFO-07 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 10 200 000 single-stage 2025-05-15 2025-09-16 around 3400000 3
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-TRANSFO-08 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 15 000 000 single-stage 2025-05-15 2025-09-16 3000000 to 5000000 3
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-TRANSFO-09 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 10 200 000 single-stage 2025-05-15 2025-09-16 around 3400000 3
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-TRANSFO-10 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 10 200 000 single-stage 2025-05-15 2025-09-16 3000000 to 4000000 3
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-TRANSFO-11 - HORIZON-CSA HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions 2 000 000 single-stage 2025-05-15 2025-09-16 around 2000000 1

Partner Search:

There are 35 partner search announcements available for collaboration on these topics.

Submission:

The submission process is a single-stage application. The opening date for submissions is May 15, 2025, and the deadline is September 16, 2025, at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

Support:

For help, applicants are encouraged to consult the Online Manual, Horizon Europe Programme Guide, Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ, Research Enquiry Service, National Contact Points (NCPs), and the Enterprise Europe Network. Additional support is available from the IT Helpdesk, European IPR Helpdesk, and CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk.

The European Education Area aims to improve access to quality education for all, setting a target to reduce low achievement in reading, mathematics, and science to less than 15% by 2030. However, current data indicates the EU average is significantly higher, particularly affecting pupils from low socio-economic backgrounds. This initiative seeks to address the research gap in evaluating education policies and translating evidence into practice.

The program encourages interdisciplinary collaborations, involving researchers from social sciences, arts, and humanities, as well as policy makers and practitioners. Projects should analyze policies at various education levels, focusing on transitions between levels and inclusive settings. Involvement of education and training policy authorities is essential.

Actions should analyze policy measures using mixed methods, including qualitative and quantitative approaches. Experimental designs, such as randomized control trials, are encouraged to test intervention effectiveness. Proposals should leverage data from European Research Infrastructures and Data Spaces, ensuring data is FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Re-usable).

In essence, this funding opportunity aims to foster research and innovation in education, promoting evidence-based policymaking and practices to improve educational quality and equity across the European Union. It supports projects that analyze, evaluate, and translate research findings into actionable strategies for educators and policymakers, ultimately striving to reduce educational disparities and improve outcomes for all learners.

Eligible Applicant Types: The opportunity is open to various types of applicants as described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Horizon Europe Programme Guide. This suggests a broad range of potential applicants, including but not limited to research organizations, universities, and other entities involved in research and innovation. The involvement of authorities responsible for education and training policies is essential.

Funding Type: The funding type is primarily a grant, specifically a HORIZON Research and Innovation Action (HORIZON-RIA) and HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions (HORIZON-CSA) with funding provided as a lump sum grant (HORIZON-AG-LS). There are also HORIZON Innovation Actions (HORIZON-IA).

Consortium Requirement: The opportunity appears to favor collaborative projects, as it emphasizes interdisciplinary collaborations and the involvement of various stakeholders, including researchers, policymakers, and practitioners. Therefore, a consortium is likely required or strongly encouraged.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility is described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. While not explicitly stated, Horizon Europe typically targets entities within the EU and associated countries. Non-EU/non-Associated Countries may also be eligible if they have specific provisions for funding.

Target Sector: The primary target sector is education, with a focus on improving access to quality education, evaluating education policies, and translating research evidence into practice. It also touches upon culture, creativity, and inclusive society. The action must enhance interdisciplinary collaborations among researchers in education and engage diverse educational research disciplines from social sciences, the arts and humanities.

Mentioned Countries: The opportunity focuses on the European Education Area and refers to data from the Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA), which includes EU member states. Non-EU/non-Associated Countries may also be eligible if they have specific provisions for funding.

Project Stage: The project stage is research and innovation actions (RIA) and innovation actions (IA), suggesting projects should be in the research, development, validation, or demonstration phase. The call also includes coordination and support actions (CSA) which implies that some projects may be in earlier stages of development.

Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific topic and type of action. Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) typically range from approximately €3 million to €5 million. Coordination and Support Actions (CSA) are funded around €2 million to €3.5 million. Innovation Actions (IA) can be funded from €2.5 million to €4 million.

Application Type: The application type is an open call with a single-stage submission process.

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a lump sum grant.

Application Stages: The application process is a single-stage process.

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly mentioned, but the indicative number of grants for each topic is provided, allowing for an estimation of the competition level.

Co-funding Requirement: The information does not explicitly state a co-funding requirement. However, Horizon Europe often encourages or requires some level of co-funding, which would be detailed in the specific call conditions.

Summary:

This Horizon Europe call, part of the Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society pillar, focuses on "Evaluation and use of evidence in education policy and practice." It aims to improve the quality and accessibility of education within the European Education Area by funding research and innovation actions (RIA), innovation actions (IA) and coordination and support actions (CSA). The call seeks projects that analyze and evaluate education policies, promote the use of research evidence in policymaking, and foster interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers, policymakers, and practitioners. Projects should address the gap between research and practice in education, improve educational quality, and reduce disparities in learning outcomes. The funding is provided as a lump sum, and the application process is a single-stage open call. Eligible applicants include research organizations, universities, and other entities involved in education and research within the EU and associated countries, with potential eligibility for non-EU countries under specific conditions. The call encourages the use of European Research Infrastructures and data spaces and emphasizes the importance of FAIR data practices. The indicative budget and number of grants vary by topic, with RIA projects typically funded between €3 million and €5 million, CSA projects around €2 million to €3.5 million, and IA projects between €2.5 million and €4 million. The call opens on May 15, 2025, and closes on September 16, 2025.