Konkurs DUT Call 2025 w ramach Driving Urban Transitions

Grant Purpose and Target

Core Objective: To support transnational research and innovation projects that help cities address urban challenges and transition towards a climate-neutral, sustainable, and resilient future. Projects must contribute to one of three thematic 'Transition Pathways': Positive Energy Districts (PED), 15-minute City (15mC), or Circular Urban Economies (CUE).

Funding Organization: The grant is part of the Driving Urban Transitions (DUT) Partnership, co-funded by the European Commission under Horizon Europe. Funding is provided directly by national and regional agencies, with this specific analysis focused on funding from The National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR) for Polish applicants.

Target Recipients: The call is open to a wide range of organizations. For Polish applicants funded by NCBR, this includes research organizations, universities, large enterprises, SMEs (including micro-enterprises), NGOs, and municipalities. NGOs and municipalities must apply as part of a group of entities.

Sector Focus: SECTOR-SPECIFIC. While open to various industries, projects must strictly align with the urban transition themes of energy, mobility, or circular economy. This includes sectors like sustainable energy, green infrastructure, urban mobility, public transport, waste management, sustainable construction, and governance.

Geographic Scope: Open to applicants in consortia from Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Republic of Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, and Türkiye. Projects must be transnational.

Key Filtering Criteria:
* Transnational Consortium Required: Proposals must be submitted by a consortium of at least three eligible partners from three different participating countries.
* EU/AC Partner Requirement: At least two of the partners must be from different EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries.
* Mandatory City Involvement: Each consortium must include at least one urban government authority (e.g., a city or municipality) as either a funded partner or a cooperation partner.
* Project Duration: Maximum of 36 months.

Financial Structure

Financial rules are primarily determined by the national funding agencies. The following information pertains specifically to applicants seeking funding from NCBR (Poland).

Funding Range:
* For a single Polish applicant within a consortium: up to €250,000 per project.
* For a group of Polish entities (a national consortium within the international one): up to €450,000 per project.
* No minimum funding amount is specified. The total budget for all projects involving Polish partners is €2,300,000.

Co-financing: Co-financing requirements and funding rates are determined by NCBR's national rules and regulations for the specific type of research and organization. This information is not detailed in the provided call documents.

Eligible Costs:
Eligible costs are defined by NCBR regulations but typically include:
* Personnel costs.
* Costs for subcontracting services.
* Equipment and infrastructure depreciation.
* Other direct costs like materials, travel, and dissemination.
* Indirect costs (overhead).
* Costs for open access publications.
* A budget of up to €30,000 for the entire consortium should be reserved for mandatory participation in DUT Partnership programme activities (e.g., travel for kick-off, mid-term, and final events).

Ineligible Costs: Costs not directly related to the project's execution or those deemed ineligible under NCBR's national rules.

Payment & Reporting: Funding is disbursed by NCBR according to its national procedures. All funded projects must submit annual progress reports to the Call Secretariat in English, in addition to any financial and scientific reporting required by NCBR.

Eligibility Requirements

Formal Criteria:
* Consortium Structure: A consortium must consist of a minimum of three independent legal entities from at least three different participating countries. At least two of these entities must be from two different EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries eligible for EC co-funding.
* Project Coordinator: The Main Applicant (project coordinator) must be eligible for funding from their respective national/regional agency.
* Urban Authority Partnership: It is mandatory for every consortium to include at least one urban government authority (e.g., city, municipality, or a municipally-owned entity providing key urban services). This can be as a funded applicant or a self-funded Cooperation Partner, depending on national rules.
* Single Applicants: Single organizations are not eligible; the grant requires a transnational consortium.

Organizational Status:
* For Polish applicants funded by NCBR, eligible entities include:
* Research organizations and universities.
* Enterprises of all sizes (micro, small, medium, large).
* Municipalities, NGOs, and similar entities are eligible only when applying as part of a 'group of entities' (consortium) with other Polish partners.

Technical Expertise: While not formally specified, projects are expected to be interdisciplinary and adopt a transdisciplinary, co-creative approach. This implies a need for a diverse team with expertise relevant to the chosen urban challenge, including scientific researchers and practitioners. Stakeholder engagement from the project's outset is a key requirement.

Exclusion Criteria:
* Proposals not submitted through the official UDiManager electronic system by the deadline.
* Proposals that do not meet the minimum consortium requirements (3 partners, 3 countries).
* A Principal Investigator (PI) participating in more than two proposals, or acting as the PI for the Main Applicant in more than one proposal. If this rule is breached, all proposals involving that PI will be declared ineligible.
* Proposals that do not include an urban government authority.
* Proposals where fundamental changes are made between the pre-proposal and full proposal stages without approval from the Call Secretariat.

Application Practical Information

Deadlines: The application is a two-stage process:
* Pre-proposal Submission Deadline: 17 November 2025, 13:00 CET (Central European Time).
* Invitation to Stage 2: March 2026.
* Full Proposal Submission Deadline: 23 April 2026, 13:00 CEST (Central European Summer Time).
* Project Start: September 2026 - January 2027.

Required Documents:
* Stage 1 (Pre-proposal): Submission of the pre-proposal using the mandatory template form.
* Stage 2 (Full proposal): Submission of the full proposal using the mandatory template. A Letter of Intent is required from any Cooperation Partners participating with their own funds.
* Applicants should check with their national funding agency (e.g., NCBR) for any additional national submission requirements.

Application Process: Proposals must be submitted in English via the central electronic submission system, UDiManager (www.uefiscdi-direct.ro). The Main Applicant (Project Coordinator) is responsible for submitting the proposal on behalf of the consortium.

Support: The grant provides:
* Financial support for research and innovation activities.
* Networking opportunities through mandatory project events and workshops.
* Access to a Knowledge Hub to support synthesis of results and community building.
* International visibility and collaboration opportunities via the Mission Innovation 'Urban Transitions Mission' (MI UTM).

Post-Award Obligations:
* A Consortium Agreement must be signed by all partners within six months of the project start.
* Annual reporting to the Call Secretariat.
* Mandatory participation in a project kick-off, mid-term, and final event.
* Active contribution to the DUT Knowledge Hub, allocating at least 5 person-months of effort from the project.
* A communication plan is a mandatory deliverable in the first year.

Evaluation Criteria

Applications are evaluated in a two-stage process (pre-proposal and full proposal) by an international Expert Panel. A score from 0 to 5 is given for each of the three main criteria. Proposals must achieve a minimum score of 3 for each criterion and an overall score of at least 10 to be considered for funding.

1. Excellence – Intellectual Merit (Score: 0-5)

• Clarity and pertinence of the objectives.
• Credibility of the proposed approach and soundness of the concept.
• Added value of transnational cooperation.
• For Research-Oriented Approach (ROA): Originality, contribution to new strategic knowledge, and progress beyond the state-of-the-art.
• For Innovation-Oriented Approach (IOA): Innovativeness of the approach compared to existing solutions.
• Full proposal only: Clarity and feasibility of the project design and methodology.
• Full proposal only: Identification of risks and a mitigation plan.

2. Impact and User Engagement (Score: 0-5)

• Relevance to the call topic(s) and their expected outcomes.
• Engagement of stakeholders (e.g., communities, cities, policymakers, industry).
• Integration of diversity and gender perspectives in the project plan and goals.
• For Research-Oriented Approach (ROA): Potential to provide insights on important societal issues and produce useful knowledge for stakeholders.
• For Innovation-Oriented Approach (IOA): Market potential and/or capacity to respond to a demonstrated societal demand or need.
• Full proposal only: Effectiveness of proposed measures for disseminating and/or exploiting project results at transnational and regional levels.

3. Quality and Efficiency of Project Implementation (Score: 0-5)

• Composition, quality, and suitability of the consortium's experience and expertise (including interdisciplinarity and co-creation aspects).
• Complementarity, balance, and substantial contributions of all partners.
• Feasibility and appropriateness of the project timescale.
• Global value for money (realistic costs relative to ambition and impact).
• Full proposal only: Appropriateness of cost allocation, justification of resources, and allocation of tasks.
• Full proposal only: Appropriateness of management structures, including risk, quality, and data management.
• Full proposal only: Consideration of regulatory, ethics, and data management issues.

Compliance and Special Requirements

Regulatory Compliance:
* Do No Significant Harm (DNSH): Projects must not support activities that cause significant harm to any of the six EU environmental objectives.
* Data Protection: All parties must comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Applicants consent to the processing and sharing of their personal data for evaluation and administration purposes.

IP Policy: Rules regarding Intellectual Property (IP) ownership, protection, and exploitation must be formally defined and agreed upon by all partners in the Consortium Agreement.

Unique Aspects:
* Two-Stage Application: A competitive pre-proposal stage filters applicants before the full proposal submission.
* Mandatory Stakeholder Roles: The requirement for an urban authority in the consortium and a strong emphasis on transdisciplinary, co-creative work with stakeholders are central to the call.
* Programme Integration: Funded projects are not standalone. They must budget for and actively participate in DUT Partnership events, Knowledge Hubs (dedicating 5 person-months), and a communication strategy.
* Fallback and Inclusion Procedures: The call includes special procedures to manage oversubscription at national funding agencies and to ensure broad country participation, which may involve modifying the consortium between stages.
* Dual Approach (ROA/IOA): Applicants must classify their project as either 'Research-Oriented' or 'Innovation-Oriented', which affects the evaluation sub-criteria.

Industry-Specific Rules: Not applicable, as the call is thematic and cross-sectoral rather than being limited to a single industry.