Horizon Europe newsletter

National Support Network meeting
Our latest Horizon Europe National Support Network meeting took place on 19 September in the Ashling Hotel in Dublin. It was a great pleasure to meet up again with colleagues and research offices from all over the country to discuss the live issues and latest developments as we come to the end of year three of the Horizon Europe programme.

Representatives from the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment were in attendance. We were also delighted to be joined by the Northern Ireland National Contact Point team while Ewa Bloch, Head of Europe and European Programmes in Innovate UK, was also available to update us virtually on the UK’s association to Horizon Europe.

New National Contact Point (NCP)
The National Support Network has a new team member – welcome to Patrick Lansley who was recently appointed as NCP for Horizon Europe ERC Social Scientific & Humanities (SSH) and Cluster 2 - Creativity and Inclusive Society. Patrick is based in the Irish Universities Association and we look forward to working with him over the coming years.

Enterprise Ireland Horizon Europe Financial Supports - new daily rate
The new update to staff costs/ pay has been implemented for Enterprise Ireland's Horizon Europe ERC Proposal Support and Coordinator Support. A new blended rate of €260 per day should now be used for budgeting for both Research/Administrative Assistants and Teaching Replacement costs. This new update is intended to help meet the increased costs involved in recruiting staff and will allow grant awardees more flexibility in meeting those costs.

Latest success story
We’ve just published our latest case study focusing on the Horizon Europe funded project BUDDIE-PACK which is seeking ways to eliminate single-use plastic in certain sectors. The partners include PRISM, a specialist polymer research institute that is part of TUS, and Waterford-based Dawn Meats Group as an industry partner. Read the full story further below.

National Support Network team updates
This month we have updates from our National Delegates and NCPs Bob Flynn, Jane Carrigan and Stephen O'Reilly. Bob highlights the topics for 2024 under Cluster 5 Mobility and pinpoints some key mobility-related events; Jane has an update on the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions COFUND and Staff Exchanges calls; while Stephen provides information on changes in topics under the Cluster 4 Digital work programme in 2024 and the EU Chips Act which came into force on 21 September.

Contact us
Contact details for Ireland’s National Delegates and National Contact Points can be found in our online directory. Please contact us if you have any questions or need support with Horizon Europe proposals – we would be happy to hear from you!

Best regards,

Kevin

Kevin Burke
National Director for Horizon Europe at Enterprise Ireland

Jane Carrigan, National Contact Point (NCP), Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), Irish Universities Association

While the most popular MSCA programmes (in terms of numbers of applications) are MSCA Doctoral Networks and MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship, the focus of Jane's update is on the MSCA COFUND and MSCA Staff Exchanges calls, which both open in October and offer valuable benefits and opportunities for researchers and organisations.

Click here to read more.

Stephen O'Reilly National Contact Point (NCP), Cluster 4 – Digital, Enterprise Ireland

Irish participants have been doing very well in Horizon Europe's Cluster 4 (Digital, Industry & Space) with more than €80m in signed grant agreements to date. This equates to approximately 2.1% of the available budget.

Changes to topics in the 2024 Cluster 4 Digital programme are highlighted in this update from Stephen with info on the Chips Joint Undertaking being launched in November. Read more here.

Upcoming events:

Wed 11 - Thu 12 Oct, Cluster 4 Digital, Industry & Space Info days - find out more here.
Tue 17 - Wed 18 Oct, Cluster 5, Climate Energy and Mobility Info & Brokerage Day. Further information here.
Tue 17 Oct, Horizon Implementation Days 2023: Grant Agreement Preparation. Details here.
Wed 18 - Thu 19, Cluster 2 Info day followed by a brokerage event on 19 October. Check out details here.
Tue 24 Oct, Horizon Implementation Days 2023: Grant Management in Horizon Europe. More info here.
Fri 27 Oct, EU Brokerage Event on KETs* in Horizon Europe - Cluster 4 Industry. Further information here.
Thu 2 - Fri 3 Nov, National Open Research Festival. Register here.
Wed 8 - Thu 9 Nov, AI, Data, Robotics Forum. Check out the event here.
Wed 8 - Sat 11 Nov, European Public Health Conference 2023 - read more here.
Mon 13 - Fri 17 Nov, Raw Materials Week 2023 in Brussels - check out the event here.
Tue 14 - Wed 15 Nov, Battery Innovation Days (3rd edition). Further information here.
Wed 15 - Thu 16 Nov, NGI Forum 2023: Unlocking the power of digital commons - more details here.
Mon 27 - Thu 30 Nov, SESAR Innovation Days. Further information available here.
Thu 30 Nov - Fri 1 Dec, Chips JU Launch event in Brussels. Details here.
Mon 15 - Thu 18 Apr 2024, Transport Research Arena Conference. More info here.

Missed it?

ERC Work Programme 2024 webinar - watch back here
EIC Accelerator Challenge: Emerging semiconductor and Quantum technology components - here.
Horizon Results Platform: Opportunities for ERC Beneficiaries - watch back here.
Horizon Europe Coordinators' Day: Grant Management - presentations and video here.
Horizon Results Booster - steering research towards a strong societal impact - recording here.
Lump Sum funding in Horizon Europe - May webinar here.
Common mistakes to avoid when applying for Horizon Europe funding - read more here.