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
The 2025 Programme Strategy of the NRDI Fund supports the implementation of the John von Neumann Programme, which focuses on connecting universities, research institutes and the economy. A key objective of the 2025 Programme Strategy is to improve Hungary’s performance in the following areas: human resources (pipeline of researchers, number of doctoral students, number of students in higher education in STEM fields), the number and share of innovative enterprises (number and share of SMEs carrying out product and/or process innovation), and intellectual property (patents, trademarks, registered designs).
The table below presents the calls planned and announced from the NRDI Fund between 2021 and 2025, broken down by year, including budget allocations.
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | ||||||
| NRDI budget (Bn HUF) |
189,84 | 89,84 | 63,78 | 112,56 | 128,31 | |||||
| Name of the scheme/ Call for proposal (2021) |
Budget (Bn HUF) |
Name of the scheme/ Call for proposal (2022) |
Budget (Bn HUF) |
Name of the scheme/ Call for proposal (2023) |
Budget (Bn HUF) |
Name of the scheme/ Call for proposal (2024) |
Budget (Bn HUF) |
Name of the scheme/ Call for proposal (2025) |
Budget (Bn HUF) |
|
| Innovation Sub-fund 2021-2025 |
Support for market-driven RDI projects Support for market-driven RDI projects 2020-1.1.2-PIACI KFI |
59,06 | Support for Innovation Projects in Focus Areas Support for Innovation Projects in Focus Areas 2023-1.1.1-PIACI_FÓKUSZ |
30,149 | SME Focal Area Innovation Programme SME Focal Area Innovation Programme 2024-1.1.1-KKV_FÓKUSZ |
50,00 | ||||
| Fast track programme Fast track 2020-1.1.5-GYORSÍTÓSÁV |
3,00 | Fast track programme Fast track 2021-1.1.4-GYORSÍTÓSÁV |
12,85 | Fast track programme Fast Track 2023-1.1.2-GYORSÍTÓSÁV |
2,00 | Spin-off Programme: bringing research results to market Fast track 2023-1.1.2-GYORSÍTÓSÁV |
6,00 | Fast track programme Fast Track 2025-1.1.2-GYORSÍTÓSÁV |
5,00 | |
| Intellectual property Support of activities fostering the domestic and international protection of intellectual property with the aim of facilitating the utilisation of such intellectual property 2020-1.1.3-IPARJOG, 2021-1.1.1-IPARJOG |
0,40 | Intellectual property Support of activities fostering the domestic and international protection of intellectual property with the aim of facilitating the utilisation of such intellectual property 2020-1.1.3-IPARJOG, 2021-1.1.1-IPARJOG |
0,40 | Intellectual property Support of activities fostering the domestic and international protection of intellectual property with the aim of facilitating the utilisation of such intellectual property 2020-1.1.3-IPARJOG, 2021-1.1.1-IPARJOG |
0,50 | Industrial property tender Support of activities fostering the domestic and international protection of intellectual property with the aim of facilitating the utilisation of such intellectual property 2020-1.1.3-IPARJOG, 2021-1.1.1-IPARJOG |
0,50 | Industrial property tender Support of activities fostering the domestic and international protection of intellectual property with the aim of facilitating the utilisation of such intellectual property 2025-1.1.1-IPARJOG |
0,50 | |
| Industrial property tender Support of activities fostering the domestic and international protection of intellectual property with the aim of facilitating the utilisation of such intellectual property 2020-1.1.3-IPARJOG, 2021-1.1.1-IPARJOG (A programme announced in 2024, to be implemented under the 2025 Programme Strategy) |
0,04 | |||||||||
| Life Sciences Catalyst Program / I. From target to proof of concept (New programme – the call will be published at a later date.) |
5,00 | |||||||||
| Life Sciences Catalyst Program / II. From proof of concept to clinical trials (New programme – the call will be published at a later date.) |
5,00 | |||||||||
| MED_TECH hospital incubator programme (New programme – the call will be published at a later date.) |
2,00 | |||||||||
| In 2022, the development of the Selye János Student Laboratory Network was announced from the Research Sub-fund under code 2022-3.1.1-DIÁKLABOR. | Developing entrepreneurship skills and STEM career motivation services (New programme – the call will be published at a later date.) |
5,43 | ||||||||
| SEED co-investment fund (New programme – the call will be published at a later date.) |
10,00 | |||||||||
| International programmes Support for participation in the ECSEL joint EU initiative 2019-2.1.3-NEMZ_ECSEL; Support for participation in joint EU initiatives 2019-2.1.2-NEMZ; Funding for Hungarian Summer Internship programmes for hungarian university students studying in the UK, Germany or Austria 2020-1.2.1-GYAK; Support for Hungarian participation in EIT KIC 2021-1.2.1-EIT-KIC; Support to bilateral science and technology (S&T) cooperations 2021-1.2.4-TÉT; Support for Hungarian participation in the applied research and development programme in Hungarian–Russian cooperation 2021-1.2.5-TÉT-IPARI-RU; Call for proposals: Support of Hungarian organisations successfully participating in joint international ERA-NET COFUND and EJP COFUND programmes 2019-2.1.7-ERA-NET; Support for Hungarian participation in the EUREKA programme 2020-1.2.3-EUREKA; Horizon Europe Accelerator booster call 2021-1.2.2-EU_KKV; Call for proposals to foster Hungarian participation in the Horizon Europe programme and other joint programmes of the European Union 2021-1.2.3-EU_KP; Support for the use of international and national research infrastructures 2021-4.1.2-NEMZ_KI; Support for Hungarian participation in the applied research and development programme in Hungarian–Moroccan cooperation 2021-1.2.6-TÉT-IPARI-MA |
3,50 | International programmes Call for proposals: Support of Hungarian organisations successfully participating in joint international ERA-NET COFUND and EJP COFUND programmes 2019-2.1.7-ERA-NET; Support for Hungarian participation in the EUREKA programme 2022-1.2.4-EUREKA; Horizon Europe Accelerator booster call 2021-1.2.2-EU_KKV; Call for proposals to foster Hungarian participation in the Horizon Europe programme and other joint programmes of the European Union 2021-1.2.3-EU_KP; Support for the use of international and national research infrastructures 2021-4.1.2-NEMZ_KI; Support for Hungarian participation in the applied research and development programme in Hungarian-Turkish cooperation 2022-1.2.6-TÉT-IPARI-TR; Support for summer internships for Hungarian students studying abroad 2022-1.2.3-GYAK; Support for Hungarian participation in the applied research and development programme in Hungarian–Uzbek cooperation 2022-1.2.2-TÉT-IPARI-UZ; Support for Hungarian participation in the applied research and development programme in Hungarian–Korean cooperation 2022-1.2.5-TÉT-IPARI-KR |
6,00 | International programmes Call for proposals to foster Hungarian participation in the Horizon Europe programme and other joint programmes of the European Union 2021-1.2.3-EU_KP; Support for the use of international and national research infrastructures 2021-4.1.2-NEMZ_KI; Support to bilateral science and technology (S&T) cooperations; Support for Hungarian participation in the EUREKA programme 2022-1.2.4-EUREKA; Support for participation in the Horizon Europe Key Digital Technologies (KDT) partnership 2022-1.2.8-KDT; EUROSTARS: Support for Hungarian participation in the European Partnership on Innovative SMEs 2022-1.2.7-EUROSTARS; Call for proposals to support Hungarian organisations successfully participating in joint international calls for proposals of ERA-NET COFUND, EJPCOFUND and other multilateral programmes 2023-1.2.1-ERA-NET; Call for proposals to support Hungarian organisations successfully participating in the joint international calls for proposals of European Partnerships in Horizon Europe 2023-1.2.2-HE_PARTNERSÉG; Call for project proposals implemented in bilateral science and technology (S&T) cooperation 2023-1.2.4-TÉT |
6,10 | International programmes HU-rizon Programme 2024-1.2.3-HU-RIZONT; Call for project proposals implemented in bilateral science and technology (S&T) cooperation 2024-1.2.5-TÉT; Call for proposals to support Hungarian organisations successfully participating in joint international calls for proposals of ERA-NET COFUND, EJP COFUND and other multilateral programmes 2024-1.2.2-ERA_NET; Call for proposals to support Hungarian organisations successfully participating in the joint international calls for proposals of European Partnerships in Horizon Europe 2024-1.2.1-HE_PARTNERSÉG; Support for Hungarian participation in the EUREKA programme 2024-1.2.6-EUREKA; Support for participation in the Horizon Europe Key Digital Technologies (KDT) partnership 2024-1.2.4-KDT; EUROSTARS: Support for Hungarian participation in the European Partnership on Innovative SMEs (2024-1.2.7-EUROSTARS); Support for Hungarian participation in the research and development programme in Hungarian–Israeli cooperation (2024-1.2.10-TÉT-IPARI-IL); Call for proposals to foster Hungarian participation in the Horizon Europe programme and other joint programmes of the European Union 2021-1.2.3-EU_KP; Horizon Europe Accelerator booster call (EU_KKV); Support for active participation in international professional organisations for researchers and research managers (Networking+); Booster call for the Teaming of Excellence 2025 call; International cooperation in preparation. |
15,996 | International programmes Several schemes support domestic participation in Horizon Europe and other international programmes. In this framework, the Innovation Sub-fund will support the participation of Hungarian researchers, companies and other RDI actors in RDI collaborations funded jointly with the European Commission and other Member States. The NRDI Fund’s international programmes support the European networking of Hungarian universities and the consortium building needed for high-quality Horizon Europe calls. In 2025, several schemes will continue to support mobility and joint research projects with international partners in different destinations in the framework of bilateral Science and Technology (S&T) cooperation. Support for Hungarian participation in the applied research and development programme in Hungarian–Korean cooperation 2025-1.2.3-TÉT-IPARI-KR; Support for Hungarian participation in the EUREKA programme 2025-1.2.2-EUREKA; Call for proposals to promote Hungarian participation in the Horizon Europe and other joint EU programmes 2025-1.2.5-EU_KP; Support for Hungarian participation in the Hungarian-Chinese partner institution programme 2025-1.2.7-HU-CN-PARTNER; Support for Hungarian participation in the Hungarian-Chinese joint laboratory development programme 2025-1.2.6-HU-CN-LABOR; |
8,12 | |
|
International programmes Domestic participation in Horizon Europe is supported by the Partnership Programmes launched in 2024. In this framework, the Sub-fund will support the participation of Hungarian researchers, companies and other RDI actors in excellence collaborations funded jointly with the European Commission and other Member States. The 2025 Programme Strategy will support the Israeli, Turkish and Chinese research cooperation programmes launched in 2024, as well as the French and Slovak mobility call. Call for proposals to support Hungarian organisations successfully participating in the joint international calls for proposals of European Partnerships in Horizon Europe 2024-1.2.1-HE_PARTNERSÉG; Call for project proposals implemented in bilateral science and technology (S&T) cooperation 2024-1.2.5-TÉT; Support for Hungarian participation in the research and development programme in Hungarian–Israeli cooperation 2024-1.2.10-TÉT-IPARI-IL; Support for Hungarian participation in the applied research and development programme in Hungarian-Turkish cooperation 2024-1.2.11-TÉT-IPARI-TR. (A programme announced in 2024, to be implemented under the 2025 Programme Strategy) |
3,12 | |||||||||
| Announced under international programmes. (Support for the use of international and national research infrastructures 2021-4.1.2-NEMZ_KI) |
Announced under international programmes. | Announced under international programmes. | Support for the use of international and national research infrastructures Support for the use of international and national research infrastructures 2021-4.1.2-NEMZ_KI; |
0,10 | Support for the use of international and national research infrastructures (Included in the Research Sub-fund in 2025) |
|||||
|
HU-rizon Programme 2024-1.2.3-HU-RIZONT Announced in 2024 in the International programmes. |
HU-rizon Programme HU-RIZON international research excellence cooperation programme 2025-1.2.1-HU-RIZONT |
8,00 | ||||||||
| Large Company Focus Area Innovation Programme Large Enterprise Focus Area Innovation Program2024-1.1.2-NAGYVÁLL_FÓKUSZ |
A programme announced in 2024, to be implemented under the 2025 Programme Strategy |
Large Company Focus Area Innovation Programme Large Enterprise Focus Area Innovation Program 2024-1.1.2-NAGYVÁLL_FÓKUSZ (A programme announced in 2024, to be implemented under the 2025 Programme Strategy) |
15,00 | |||||||
| Development of applied research and innovation services Development of applied research and innovation services 2024-1.3.1-AK_INNOV |
2,50 | |||||||||
| Investment in the future Fund Investment in the future 2020-1.1.6-JÖVŐ |
7,00 | |||||||||
| Development of an applied research network Participation in the National Network of Applied Research Institutes 2021-1.1.2-AKH |
1,63 | |||||||||
| University Innovation Ecosystema University Innovation Ecosystema 2019-1.2.1-EGYETEMI ÖKO |
2,46 | |||||||||
| KKV Start programme KKV Start Innovation 2020-1.1.1-KKV START |
12,00 | |||||||||
| Centres of excellence Establishing and developing centres of excellence 2022-1.1.1-KK |
20,60 | |||||||||
| Startup Programme Startup Programme 2022-1.1.2-STARTUP |
4,06 | |||||||||
| Incubator Support Scheme STARTUP FACTORY 2023 2023-1.1.3-STARTUP |
5,75 | |||||||||
| Proof of concept: development potential assessment Proof of Concept 2024-2.1.3-POC |
3,00 | |||||||||
| Research Sub-fund 2021-2025 |
Postdoctoral and Young researchers’ excellence programme and Call for thematic research projects ("OTKA") Postdoctoral and Young researchers’ excellence programme and Call for thematic research projects ("OTKA") PD_21, FK_21, K_21, ANN_21, SNN_21 |
12,90 | Postdoctoral and Young researchers’ excellence programme and Call for thematic research projects ("OTKA") Postdoctoral and Young researchers’ excellence programme and Call for thematic research projects ("OTKA") PD_22, FK_22, K_22, ANN_22, SNN_22 |
13,50 | Postdoctoral and Young researchers’ excellence programme and Call for thematic research projects ("OTKA") Postdoctoral and Young researchers’ excellence programme and Call for thematic research projects ("OTKA") PD_23, FK_23, K_23, SNN_23 |
13,50 | Excellence-based research funding Call for EXCELLENCE research proposals EXCELLENCE_24 Call for ADVANCED research proposals ADVANCED_24 Call for STARTING research proposals STARTING_24 Call for proposals for research projects based on Hungarian-Austrian and Hungarian-Slovenian cooperation ANN_24, SNN_24 |
19,00 |
National Research Excellence Programme (NKKP) Excellence-based research funding Call for STARTING research projects STARTING_25; Call for ADVANCED research projects ADVANCED_25; Call for EXCELLENCE research projects EXCELLENCE_25; Call for HIGHLIGHT research proposals HIGHLIGHT_25; Call for research projects based on Hungarian-Austrian and Hungarian-Slovenian cooperation ANN_25, SNN_25. |
40,00 |
| Forefront – Research Excellence Programme Forefront – Research Excellence Programme KKP_21 |
3,00 | Forefront – Research Excellence Programme Forefront – Research Excellence Programme KKP_22 |
3,00 | |||||||
| New National Excellence Programme ÚNKP-21-1, ÚNKP-21-2, ÚNKP-21-3, ÚNKP-21-4, ÚNKP-21-5, ÚNKP-21-6 |
4,00 | New National Excellence Programme ÚNKP-22-1, ÚNKP-22-2, ÚNKP-22-3, ÚNKP-22-4, ÚNKP-22-5, ÚNKP-22-6 |
0,828 | New National Excellence Programme ÚNKP-23-1, ÚNKP-23-2, ÚNKP-23-3, ÚNKP-23-4, ÚNKP-23-5, ÚNKP-23-6 |
0,710 | University Research Scholarship Programme 2024-2.1.1-EKÖP, 2024-2.1.2-EKÖP-KDP (scholarships announced by higher education institutions) |
10,00 | University Research Scholarship Programme EKÖP (scholarships announced by higher education institutions) |
6,00 | |
| Cooperative Doctoral Programme Cooperative Doctoral Programme KDP-2021 |
4,894 | Cooperative Doctoral Programme Cooperative Doctoral Programme KDP-2023 |
5,070 | |||||||
| Patronage Programme Science Patronage Programme MEC_21 |
1,00 | Science Patronage Programme Science Patronage Programme MEC_24 |
2,46 | |||||||
| Research Grant Hungary Research Grant Hungary RGH_S_24, RGH_L_24 |
6,00 | |||||||||
| Doctoral student pension matching-fund programme (New programme – the call will be published at a later date.) |
0,30 | |||||||||
| Doctoral tuition matching-fund programme (New programme – the call will be published at a later date.) |
0,20 | |||||||||
| Proof of concept: development potential assessment Proof of Concept 2024-2.1.3-POC |
A programme announced in 2024, to be implemented under the 2025 Programme Strategy | Proof of Concept: development potential assessment (2024-2.1.3-POC moved to the Innovation Sub-fund) |
||||||||
| Support for the use of international and national research infrastructures (Announced in the Innovation Sub-fund in 2021-2024) Support for the use of international and national research infrastructures 2021-4.1.2-NEMZ_KI (New programme – the call will be published at a later date.) |
||||||||||
| HUN-REN Centre service development (New programme – the call will be published at a later date.) Moved to the Missions Sub-fund |
||||||||||
| Building the Selye János Student Lab network Building the Selye János Student Lab network 2022-3.1.1-DIÁKLABOR |
2,00 | Continuation of the Selye János Student Laboratory Programme under the “Development of entrepreneurial skills and STEM career motivation services” programme, which is included in the Innovation Sub-fund in 2025. | ||||||||
| Thematic Excellence Programme (National-Health-Defence) Thematic Excellence Programme 2021 TKP2021 (The budget includes the HUF 1 billion budget of the National Defence Subprogramme of the Cooperative Doctoral Programme (NDPCP-2021), which is closely linked to the National Defence, National Security Subprogramme of the 2021 Thematic Excellence Programme.) |
75,00 | |||||||||
| National Laboratories Sub-fund 2022 |
National Laboratories Establishment and complex development of the National Laboratories 2022-2.1.1-NL |
26,60 | ||||||||
| Mission fund 2025 |
Support for mission-driven research (New programme – the call will be published at a later date.) |
10,0 | ||||||||
| HUN-REN Centre service development (New programme – the call will be published at a later date.) |
1,50 | |||||||||