Call for Proposals for Twinning Western Balkans Special

Deadline: 05-Oct-21

The European Commission (EC) has announced a call for proposals for Twinning Western Balkans Special to raise the bar for excellence of all R&I actors in these countries. It will be implemented as one special call for Western Balkan countries with a limited eligibility for hosting the co-ordinator for the following countries Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia in 2021.

This special Twinning aims to enhance networking activities between the research institutions of the Western Balkan countries and leading counterparts at EU level. It links the coordinator located in a Western Balkan country with at least two leading research institutions from two different Member States or Associated Countries in the role of the advanced partners. Therefore, it builds on the huge potential of networking for excellence through knowledge transfer and exchange of best practice between research institutions and partners.

Funding Information

The check will normally be done for the coordinator if the requested grant amount is equal to or greater than EUR 500 000, except for:

public bodies (entities established as a public body under national law, including local, regional or national authorities) or international organisations; and
cases where the individual requested grant amount is not more than EUR 60 000 (lowvalue grant).

Expected Outcomes

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

Improved excellence capacity and resources in Western Balkan countries enabling to close the still apparent research and innovation gap within Europe.
Enhanced strategic networking activities between the research institutions of the Western Balkan countries and at least two internationally-leading counterparts at EU level.
Raised reputation, research profile and attractiveness of the coordinating institution from the Western Balkan country and the research profile of its staff.
Strengthened research management capacities and administrative skills of the staff working in institutions from the Western Balkan country.
Improved creativity supported by development of new approaches in R&I collaboration, increased mobility (inwards and outwards) of qualified scientists.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:

the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions;
the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States;
eligible non-EU countries:
- countries associated to Horizon Europe;
- low- and middle-income countries.

For more information, visit https://bit.ly/3yeQHAJ