This Call aims to encourage Hungarian applicants to participate in the European Union’s Horizon Europe framework programme for research, development and innovation, as well as in related joint programmes (e.g. partnerships, COST) (hereinafter: “Horizon Europe”) in the highest possible number and share of funding. It also seeks to encourage applicants to take on the role of consortium leader (coordinator) as frequently as possible in these programmes.
Grants awarded under this Call will allow beneficiaries to obtain ex-post funding for costs incurred in the formation of the international consortium required to submit the project proposal, as well as for costs related to drafting the consortium agreement and preparing the proposal. By supporting preparatory activities, the Call aims to enhance the international visibility of Hungarian applicants, strengthen their networking and fundraising capacities, support the proposal preparation process and reinforce the role of Hungarian applicants in emerging consortia. The inclusion of new applicants, particularly SMEs, is also a key objective.
Submission of proposals
To submit your application, log in through the Single Sign-on (SSO) interface at www.palyazat.gov.hu and complete the online form. The finalised application must be submitted together with a duly signed declaration verifying the electronic submission of the application, in line with the Guidelines.
Deadline for submission
Applications can be submitted (electronically) from the activation of the online form until 16:00 (CET) on 30 September 2026.
Proposals are accepted as long as available funds last.
Applications may be submitted on a rolling basis and will be assessed together if received by the following deadlines:
15 July 2025
30 September 2025
16 February 2026
30 June 2026
30 September 2026
Expected date of funding decision:
For proposals submitted by the 15 July 2025 deadline: Q4 2025
For proposals submitted by the 30 September 2025 deadline: Q4 2025
For proposals submitted by the 16 February 2026 deadline: Q3 2026
For proposals submitted by the 30 June 2026 deadline: Q4 2026
For proposals submitted by the 30 September 2026 deadline: Q4 2026
In 2026, funding decisions will be made following the adoption of Hungary’s central budget for 2026 and the NRDI Fund’s 2026 programme strategy.
Eligible applicants
Applications may only be submitted individually.
This Call exclusively supports preparatory activities for participation in Horizon Europe proposals implemented in consortia.
If multiple Hungarian partners are involved in the international consortium to be prepared under this Call, each of them is individually eligible to submit an application under this Call.
The Call is open to legal entities with registered seat in Hungary or with registered seat in the European Economic Area and a branch office in Hungary.
Eligible activities
As part of the application, the following activities aimed at preparing the submission of a Horizon Europe proposal are eligible for support:
I. Consortium building as a consortium member not leading any work packages
II. Consortium building as a consortium leader or a consortium member leading a work package
In both cases, consortium-building activities may include:
- Participation in international partner search or professional events to find consortium partners abroad
- Participation in preparatory project meetings abroad aimed at drafting the proposal and/or the consortium agreement
- Organisation of preparatory project meetings in Hungary aimed at drafting the proposal and/or the consortium agreement
- For coordinators and/or work package leaders: legal and patent advisory services, drafting of the proposal and/or consortium agreement, proposal writing, language editing, participation in international proposal writing training
- Participation in the activities of a professional organisation (membership fees, travel costs)
Implementation period
One milestone must be planned during the implementation of the application. The milestone must be scheduled for the expected completion date of the project. This milestone must be planned in such a way that the completion of the project takes place within 24 months from the project start date. The project start date may be no more than 24 months prior to the date of submission of the application.
Available budget
Total budget is HUF 250 million.
Proposals are accepted as long as available funds last.
Total expected number of funded projects for 2025: 125-150. The number is indicative and may change depending on the requested and awarded amount of funding.
Maximum amount of non-refundable funding per proposal
Consortium building as a consortium member not leading any work packages: HUF 1,000,000
Consortium building as a consortium leader or a consortium member leading a work package: HUF 2,000,000
Customer service contacts:
email: nkfialap@nkfih.gov.hu
phone: +36 (1) 795 9500
Personal appointments (pree-booked only): H-1077 Budapest, Kéthly Anna sq. 1. (2nd floor)
Customer Service hours of operation: Monday-Thursday from 9 a.m to 4 p.m., Friday from 9 a.m. to 12.00 a.m.
To ensure value-based professional evaluation of proposals arriving in large quantities from the fields of discovery and applied research and innovation, to assess professional reports of funded projects and to prepare policy opinions, the NRDI Office intends to expand its expert pool in all fields of expertise.
Professionals who have registered in the database of the NRDI Office can become responsible contributors, as independent peer-reviewers, to the evaluation process in which the professional quality, novelty content and commercialisation perspectives of the proposals as compared to the requested funding should be assessed as core considerations.
The registration process can be initiated through the registration form of the NRDI Office’s website. Registration is continuously open.
Requested data within the expert registration form include:
- personal data, contact details (necessary for contracting review assignments);
- classification of professional skills and competencies and research areas (to get review invitations fine-tuned to your field of expertise);
- topics of the previously reviewed proposals;
- present and past jobs, interest networks (in order to pre-screening of conflicts of interest in a given rview assignment), education, scientific titles, most important publications and intellectual works demonstrating your professional experience;
- language skills.
Professionals once registered in the database of experts may be invited by the NRDI Office to review submitted proposals, to assess professional reports of funded projects and to contribute to policy opinions.
Each proposal is reviewed by several independent experts at the same time. Experts selected from the database to review proposals, to assess professional reports and facilitate expert opinions will be contracted by the NRDI Office on a case-by-case basis. When concluding such a contract experts must declare that the review assignment is not obstructed by any conflict of interest whatsoever. Depending on the competition type, written expert reviews must be prepared in 15-28 work days and submitted electronically via the online review portal of the NRDI Office.
FURTHER INFORMATION
For further information contact at phone +36 1 795 9500 or email at szakerto_regisztracio@nkfih.gov.hu