Financial support for participation in AI SECRETT master programme’s extracurricular educational activities (First edition). Call identifier: AI SECRE...

Universidad de Valencia on behalf of the AI-SECRETT consortium is launching cascade financial support (AI-SECRETT-FSTP-CALL-01-2026) to reimburse individual students enrolled or accepted onto the AI SECRETT online master for eligible extracurricular activities, with an initial budget of €600,000 and a maximum reimbursement of up to €5,000 per beneficiary at a 50% reimbursement rate. Eligible activities include listed summer/winter schools, workshops and intensive training events linked to the master programme and applicants must be natural persons of eligible countries and enrolled in at least one listed activity. Applications are submitted exclusively via the GoodGrants platform against five cut-off dates between 30 November 2026 and 31 July 2027, and selection follows admissibility, eligibility and merit scoring (max 100 points) with awards formalised through a Financial Support Agreement. Payments are typically made after participation upon approval of reports and documented costs, awards may be adjusted by country coefficients and the consortium may increase the budget up to twice the initial allocation at its discretion.

What it funds

Scope and supported costs

Cascade funding to reimburse part of costs for participation in AI-SECRETT extracurricular educational activities linked to the AI-SECRETT online master’s programme (summer/winter schools, workshops, intensive training events, etc.). Eligible costs include travel, accommodation, registration/participation fees and other documented expenses incurred after application submission.

Who can apply

Eligible applicants and conditions

Natural persons who are nationals of eligible countries (EU Member States and specified non-EU countries aligned with the Digital Europe Programme). Applicants must be enrolled in, or accepted to, the AI-SECRETT online master’s programme and enrolled/accepted to at least one listed extracurricular activity. A same person may apply at multiple cut-offs but can receive support only once.

How to apply and evaluation

Submission, selection and payment

Applications are submitted electronically through the GoodGrants platform (aisecrett.grantplatform.com). Admissibility and eligibility checks precede scoring. A selection committee at Universidad de Valencia (UVEG) scores eligible applications (max 100 points) on excellence, motivation/impact, financial need and European added value. Awards are ranked by score within available budget; tie-break rules apply. Selected beneficiaries sign a Financial Support Agreement with UVEG and receive payments after participation and approval of report and cost statements; limited prefinancing may be possible.

Application essentials

Required documents (minimum)

All documents must be provided in English (unofficial translations allowed at applicant’s risk). Admissible applications must be complete and uploaded before the chosen cut-off date; incomplete or late submissions may be discarded or moved to the next cut-off.

Practical notes and contacts

This call is launched and managed by Universidad de Valencia (UVEG) on behalf of the AI-SECRETT consortium; publication on the EU portal is for visibility only. Financial Support Agreement template and full call text are available from the project site. AI-SECRETT Call page Extracurricular activities list GoodGrants platform

For enquiries contact fstp@aisecrett.eu. Awarded amounts will be adjusted using country correction coefficients (MSCA CCC) and UVEG may cap cost items if excessive. Beneficiaries must submit documentation within 12 months of signing the Financial Support Agreement; failure to sign within the indicated timeframe may lead to loss of the grant.

The Financial Support Agreement will set final conditions, payment schedule and reporting obligations 1.

Footnotes

1. 1Draft Financial Support Agreement and explanatory pages: Financial Support Agreement (FSA)

Call identifier: AI SECRETT-FSTP-CALL-01-2026

Executive summary

Universidad de València (UVEG), on behalf of the AI-SECRETT consortium, opens a cascade Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP) Call to reimburse part of costs for natural persons enrolled in or accepted to the AI-SECRETT online master and at least one listed extracurricular activity. The scheme reimburses up to 50% of eligible costs, capped at €5,000 per beneficiary. The total budget initially allocated is €600,000, distributed across two yearly editions and five cut-off dates in the first edition. Applications are submitted exclusively via the GoodGrants platform and evaluated by a committee at UVEG against admissibility, eligibility and merit criteria. Selected beneficiaries must sign a Financial Support Agreement with UVEG; payments are typically made after participation and approval of documentation, with limited pre-financing in exceptional cases.

Full eligibility and participation rules

Eligible applicant profile and required documents

Evaluation, scoring and selection

No minimum thresholds or weighting beyond the listed maxima are applied. In the event of tied scores, priority order is: applicants enrolled in more than one extracurricular activity; applicants from countries not full members of the AI-SECRETT consortium; applicants from regions with average income below 75% of the EU average; female applicants if merit equivalent.

Eligible costs, payment and Financial Support Agreement

Application and submission

Application scoring and selection stages

Key restrictions and special rules

Target sectors, project stage and expected beneficiary profile

Funding type and administrative classification

Structured extraction of required classification fields

List of extracurricular activities eligible in the first edition (examples)

Contact, documents and links

This Call follows principles of transparency, equal treatment, confidentiality and absence of conflict of interest. Admissibility and eligibility checks precede scoring; all applicants receive a written justification of final decisions with terms to appeal. Selected beneficiaries will sign a Financial Support Agreement specifying obligations, with documentation submission deadlines and payment rules. Failure to sign within indicated timeframe may result in loss of the grant.

For further context on adjustments by country coefficients and allowances, the call refers to Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions documentation for country correction coefficients and to the AI-SECRETT project grant agreement number 101226207.

This description includes key facts and application requirements drawn from the official call text published on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal and the AI-SECRETT project web pages. Applicants should consult the official call page and the GoodGrants platform for the authoritative and final application templates and FSA text before applying. GoodGrants platform AI-SECRETT Call page 1

Footnotes

1. 1Full call documentation including the draft Financial Support Agreement and the courtesy application form are available from the AI-SECRETT call page and the GoodGrants platform. Contact fstp@aisecrett.eu for clarifications. Official source reference: AI-SECRETT FSTP Call published on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal (reference id 15386 / call page).

Opportunity summary

The AI-SECRETT-FSTP-CALL-01-2026 call provides financial support to individual students enrolled in the AI SECRETT online master programme who need assistance to participate in eligible extracurricular educational activities. Supported activities may include summer and winter schools, thematic workshops, intensive training events and other activities listed on the AI SECRETT project website.

The scheme is implemented by the Universidad de Valencia on behalf of the AI SECRETT consortium. AI-SECRETT is an EU co-funded Digital Europe project led by the University of Valencia and focused on applying artificial intelligence to creativity and the triple transition.1

This is cascade funding, also known as financial support to third parties. It is not a direct European Commission grant action. The call is launched and administered by the Universidad de Valencia in its own name and under its own responsibility. Publication on the EU Funding and Tenders Portal is for information and visibility purposes only.

Official call information is available through the EU Funding and Tenders Portal and the project call page at AI SECRETT call page.

Key facts

The following table summarises the principal commercial, administrative and financial features of the opportunity.

Purpose and supported activities

The purpose of the support is to reduce financial barriers that could prevent AI SECRETT master students from attending high quality extracurricular learning activities connected with the programme. The scheme is intended to support practical and intensive learning, international exposure, networking and development of skills relevant to artificial intelligence, creativity and the sectors addressed by AI SECRETT.

Applicants must select an activity that appears on the official list of eligible activities published by AI SECRETT. The activity must be linked to the AI SECRETT online master programme and must not have been completed by the relevant cut-off date.

The AI SECRETT vertical industries relevant to the merit assessment are agri-food, cultural and creative industries, energy and environment, housing, manufacturing, mobility and transport, and non-touristic services.

The list of eligible activities is available at AI SECRETT extracurricular activities.

Eligible applicants

Applicants must be natural persons rather than companies, universities or other legal entities. They must hold the nationality of an eligible country and must be enrolled in or accepted onto the AI SECRETT master programme.

Eligible nationalities include nationals of all European Union countries and nationals of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, North Macedonia, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine. The call states that this list may change without prior notice.

Applicants must also be enrolled in or accepted onto at least one eligible AI SECRETT extracurricular activity. Both the master programme evidence and the extracurricular activity evidence must be dated no earlier than the opening date of the call and must remain not finalised by the selected cut-off date.

Applicants are not eligible if they are subject to restrictive measures or other disqualifying conditions under applicable EU or national law, receive double funding for the same operation, or have a conflict of interest with the Universidad de Valencia or another AI SECRETT partner.

Submission deadlines

The call uses five separate cut-off dates. Applications submitted by each cut-off date are evaluated together and ranked against the funding available at that stage.

A natural person may submit applications at more than one cut-off date, but may receive financial support under this call only once. An applicant who is unsuccessful or whose application is not admissible may generally seek resubmission at a later cut-off, subject to the activity and documentation still meeting the applicable conditions.

Applications must be submitted before the applicable deadline in Brussels time. Late applications, incomplete applications and applications submitted by email or any method other than the GoodGrants platform will not be accepted for evaluation.

Required application documents

The minimum admissibility package includes the following documents:

All documentation must be provided in English. Unofficial translations are permitted for documents originally issued in another language, but the applicant bears the risk of errors, omissions or misinterpretation arising from the translation.

The proof of enrolment or acceptance for both the master programme and the extracurricular activity must satisfy the call date requirements. Applicants should ensure that the documents clearly identify the applicant, the programme or activity, the relevant dates and the status of enrolment or acceptance.

Application and evaluation process

Applications are submitted exclusively through the GoodGrants application platform. The evaluation is carried out by a special committee established by the Universidad de Valencia.

Admissibility requires a complete electronic application received by the relevant cut-off date through GoodGrants, together with all required attachments. Applications that are incomplete or submitted through another channel are discarded and may be proposed for resubmission at a subsequent cut-off date.

Eligible applications are ranked by their total score within the funding available. The final award decision is endorsed by the Universidad de Valencia. Applicants are to receive a written justification of the decision and information about applicable appeal arrangements.

Merit criteria

Applications are assessed against four criteria with a combined maximum score of 100 points. The call states that no minimum thresholds or additional weighting apply.

Funding amount and reimbursement rules

The maximum financial support is €5,000 per beneficiary. The support is a reimbursement rather than an unrestricted lump sum. The final amount is based on eligible expenditure that is actually incurred, justified and documented, subject to the maximum amount, the 50% reimbursement limit, any country adjustment and any cost caps imposed by the selection committee.

The scheme reimburses up to 50% of total eligible costs. Consequently, an applicant normally needs at least €10,000 of eligible costs to reach the nominal €5,000 ceiling, and a lower eligible cost base will produce a lower maximum reimbursement. The €5,000 ceiling is not an automatic award amount.

Eligible cost categories are:

The Selection Committee may cap individual cost categories where the proposed amount is excessive or inconsistent with normal market prices for the relevant location and period. Applicants should therefore use realistic prices and retain invoices, receipts, booking evidence, tickets, proof of payment and any other documents required by the Financial Support Agreement.

Eligible expenses are those incurred after the date on which the relevant application is submitted. Costs incurred before submission are not eligible under the stated rules, even if they relate to the selected activity.

The awarded amount is adjusted according to the recipient’s country of origin using the latest Marie Skłodowska Curie actions adjustment coefficients referenced by the call. Applicants should verify the coefficient applicable to their country and confirm how it affects the final ceiling before committing to expenditure.

The call states that the funding is distributed across two yearly editions and aims to support at least 240 beneficiaries using the available resources. The consortium may supplement the initial €600,000 allocation by up to twice the initially allocated amount, but this is a discretionary possibility rather than a guaranteed budget increase.

Agreement, payment and reporting

Successful applicants must sign an individual Financial Support Agreement with the Universidad de Valencia. The agreement identifies the supported activity, eligible costs, maximum amount, payment schedule and reporting requirements.

The draft agreement should be reviewed before applying at AI SECRETT Financial Support Agreement. Failure to sign within the deadline specified by the Universidad de Valencia may result in the grant being withdrawn by unilateral decision of the funding body.

Payment is normally made after the applicant has participated in the activity and the Universidad de Valencia has approved the beneficiary report and cost statement. The individual agreement may allow limited prefinancing in justified circumstances, but applicants should not assume that advance funding will be available.

Applicants should plan to finance the participation costs in advance unless the signed agreement expressly provides otherwise. They should also confirm the required reporting format, supporting evidence, deadlines, bank details and any tax or local law implications in the individual agreement.

Applicant compliance checklist

Overall assessment

This opportunity is most suitable for individual AI SECRETT master students who have a clear connection between the selected extracurricular activity and their academic or professional development, can demonstrate genuine financial need and can provide reliable evidence for all claimed expenditure.

The strongest applications are likely to combine a relevant academic or professional profile with a precise learning plan, a credible explanation of career impact, a well-supported financial need case and clear European or cross-border value. The financial support should be treated as partial reimbursement, not full cost coverage or an advance grant.

The principal risks for applicants are incomplete documentation, failure to use the GoodGrants platform, unsupported financial need, costs incurred before submission, costs exceeding market norms, failure to provide English documentation, double funding and failure to execute the Financial Support Agreement on time.

The call should be distinguished from a conventional EU grant call. The European Commission portal provides visibility, but the Universidad de Valencia is responsible for the call, selection, agreements, payments and administration of the financial support.

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