These activities, often shortened to “widening actions” aim to support countries with lower participation in the EU Framework Programme. Therefore, only entities from the so-called “widening member states” and countries associated to the EU Framework Programme are eligible.
Widening consists of three main types of activities: Teaming, Twinning and ERA Chairs.
The HEU also offers a number of new instruments. Costs of smaller scale research activities can be newly covered as well.
Teaming
Teaming means institution building. Teaming projects create new or modernise existing centres of excellence in widening countries through cooperation with leading scientific institutions abroad. Teaming will no longer take place in two phases, but will take the form of a single project lasting 6 years.
Twinning
The Twinning scheme is designed to support institutional networking. The purpose is to link the applicant institution in a widening country with internationally recognised research centres in Europe and in this way help to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and best practices. Supported activities include short-term staff exchanges, visits by experts, training courses, workshops, attendance of conferences, dissemination activities, etc.
ERA Chairs
ERA Chairs stand for bringing excellence. ERA Chairs projects bring outstanding academics, with proven research excellence and management skills, to universities and research institutions in widening countries. The aim is to attract and keep high quality human resources at the widening institution and stimulate structural changes necessary to achieve scientific excellence.
In the case of ERA Chairs projects, the project proposal must now also include the CV of the ERA Chair holder.
Excellence hubs
This new HEU instrument aims to improve the cooperation between the academic and the private sector. Local governments can also participate in the projects.
European excellence initiatives
The purpose of these activities is to assist in the transformation of the higher education sector.
Fostering balanced brain circulation
These activities supporting brain circulation are intended to attract a higher number of talented scientists to the widening countries.
Hop on incentive scheme
The goal of this instrument is to integrate teams from the widening countries into consortia that are under preparation or have already been established.