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Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

Core objective: Improve disaster risk management and governance to ensure self-sufficiency and sustainability in crisis operations, thereby enhancing resilience.
Target recipients: Primarily public sector entities like regional/local authorities and disaster management authorities, alongside non-profit volunteer organizations.
SECTOR-SPECIFIC: Focuses explicitly on disaster management, civil security, and crisis response within the framework of EU preparedness and resilience.
Geographic scope: Legal entities from EU Member States, Associated Countries, and exceptionally, Latin American, African, and Central Asian countries.
Key filtering criteria: Mandatory consortium involving specific practitioner types (regional/local authorities, disaster management authorities, volunteer organizations) from at least three different eligible countries.
Program context: Part of Horizon Europe's Civil Security for Society work programme (HORIZON-CL3-2025-01), designed to address new or unforeseen challenges in disaster resilience.

Financial Structure

Funding mechanism: Grants will take the form of lump sum contributions.
Budget per project: Each project is expected to receive €3,500,000 in funding.
Total budget for this topic (HORIZON-CL3-2025-01-DRS-02): €10,500,000, with an expectation to fund 3 projects.
Eligible costs: The lump sum is determined based on estimated direct and indirect project costs, which may include:
- Personnel costs (employees, natural persons under direct contract, seconded persons, SME owners/natural person beneficiaries).
- Subcontracting costs.
- Purchase costs (travel, subsistence, equipment, other goods, works, and services).
- Other cost categories (financial support to third parties, internally invoiced goods and services, transnational/virtual access to research infrastructure, PCP/PPI procurement, Euratom Cofund staff mobility, ERC additional funding).
Indirect costs: A 25% flat rate for indirect costs is included in the calculation of the lump sum contribution.
Payment schedule: Payments do not depend on costs actually incurred. The lump sum contribution will be paid if corresponding work packages have been properly implemented.
Financial reporting: There is no report of actual costs required, and typically no financial checks, reviews, or audits focus on cost documentation. Controls will focus on technical implementation and fulfillment of work package conditions.
Retention: Between 5% and 8% of the total lump sum is retained as a contribution to the Mutual Insurance Mechanism.
Co-financing: The methodology ensures compliance with co-financing principles by assessing that the total estimated costs are greater than the estimated Union contributions, and reimbursement rates (as per Horizon Europe rules) are applied to the estimated eligible costs.

Eligibility Requirements

Organizational Types

Regional and/or Local Authority:
- An administrative body in charge of a small geographic area (e.g., county, region, town, city, or similar community).
- A national authority can be considered eligible if the proposal includes a local or regional department, clearly indicated in the administrative section (Part A) and the annex.
Disaster Management Authority:
- A competent authority designated by an EU Member State or Associated Country in accordance with their national law.
- Responsible for managing all kinds of natural and human-induced disasters to protect people, environment, and property.
- Responsible for preventing, preparing for, and responding to natural and human-made disasters.
Volunteer Organisation:
- Autonomous entities operating independently in pursuit of a cause, not driven by profit.
- Focus on social, cultural, or environmental objectives.
- Rely on voluntary contributions, grants, and donations from individuals, corporations, and philanthropic entities.
- Membership and participation are voluntary.

Consortium Requirements

The consortium must actively involve, as beneficiaries:
- At least 2 Regional and/or Local Authorities.
- At least 1 Disaster Management Authority.
- At least 1 Volunteer Organisation.
All these required participants must be from at least 3 different EU Member States or Associated Countries.

Geographic Location

Legal entities established in EU Member States are eligible for funding.
Legal entities established in Associated Countries are eligible for funding.
Exceptionally, legal entities established in Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries are eligible for Union funding.
Exceptionally, legal entities established in African countries are eligible for Union funding.
Exceptionally, legal entities established in Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan) are eligible for Union funding.

Technical Conditions

If projects use satellite-based Earth observation, positioning, navigation, and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must utilize Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS. Other data and services may be used additionally.

Documentation Requirements

Applicants must fill in the Annex 'Information about security practitioners' in the application form with all requested information, using the template provided in the submission IT tool.

Application Process

Application type: Horizon Research and Innovation Actions (RIA).
Submission procedure: Single-stage submission.
Submission platform: Applications must be submitted via the Funding & Tenders Portal's Submission System.
Application form: Use the standard application form for HE RIA, IA.
Specific annex: Applicants must complete the Annex 'Information about security practitioners' using the provided template in the submission IT tool.

Deadlines and Timeline

Application deadline: 2025-11-12 00:00:00+00 (Brussels time).
Submission session: Opened on 2025-06-12.
Evaluation and grant agreement timeline: Indicative timeline is described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes (not explicitly provided in document).

Required Documentation

Completed application form, including Part B (proposal description).
Annex 'Information about security practitioners' with all requested details for involved security practitioners.
Detailed budget table (HE LS) prepared using the relevant templates published by the granting authority, showing estimated costs broken down by budget categories and work packages.

Support and Guidance

Online Manual: Comprehensive guide for proposal submission and grant management.
Horizon Europe Programme Guide: Detailed information on the programme's structure, budget, and political priorities.
Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ: Answers to frequently asked questions.
Research Enquiry Service: For general inquiries about European research.
National Contact Points (NCPs): Provide guidance, practical information, and assistance on participation.
Enterprise Europe Network: Offers advice to businesses, particularly SMEs, on EU research funding.
IT Helpdesk: For technical issues related to the Funding & Tenders Portal (e.g., passwords, access rights, submission technicalities).
European IPR Helpdesk: Assists with intellectual property issues.
CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk: Advise on integrating standardization into project proposals.
Partner Search tool: Available to help find suitable partner organizations for proposals.

Evaluation Criteria

Core Evaluation Pillars

Proposals will be evaluated based on the standard Horizon Europe criteria:
- Excellence: Quality of research, innovation, and methodology.
- Impact: Potential for significant societal, economic, and environmental impact, contributing to expected outcomes.
- Quality and Efficiency of the Implementation: Soundness of the work plan, resources, and management structures.

Strategic Balance and Prioritization

To ensure a balanced portfolio, grants will be awarded not only in order of ranking but also to at least one highest-ranked project within each of the two options given in the scope, provided all thresholds are attained:
- Option a: Enhanced impact forecasting and early warning systems, understanding of climate/weather extreme events and geohazards, and adaptation of emergency systems for disaster prevention and preparedness.
- Option b: Enhanced impact forecasting and understanding of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosive (CBRN-E) threats, and adaptation of emergency systems for prevention, preparedness, and response (including medical countermeasures).

Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) Integration

Requires the effective contribution of SSH disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts and institutions, as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise, to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of related research and innovation activities.

Project Implementation and Future Uptake

Proposals should convincingly explain how they will plan and/or carry out demonstration, testing, or validation of developed tools and solutions.
Proposals must outline plans to develop possible future uptake and upscaling at national and EU level for potential next steps once the project is finalized.

Practitioner Engagement and Assessment

Proposals are expected to engage beyond the project consortium with volunteers' organizations, regional and/or local authorities, and disaster management authorities during the lifetime of the project, including validating the outcomes, to facilitate future uptake.
Proposals should plan a mid-term deliverable consisting of an assessment of the project's mid-term outcomes, performed by the practitioners involved in the project.

Compliance & Special Requirements

Regulatory and Strategic Alignment

Proposals' outcomes should work towards supporting the EU Preparedness Union Strategy.
Projects must follow the recommendations of the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO) to ensure successful uptake by end-users.

Data and Technology Usage

Beneficiaries are required to make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS if projects involve satellite-based Earth observation, positioning, navigation, or related timing data and services. Other data and services may be used in addition.

Collaboration and Research Continuity

Coordination among successful proposals from this topic is envisaged to avoid duplication and to exploit complementarities as well as opportunities for increased impact.
Proposals should consider, build on (if appropriate), and not duplicate previous research, including but not limited to research by other Framework Programmes' projects.

Ethical and Societal Considerations

The topic explicitly requires the effective contribution of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts and institutions, as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise, to ensure meaningful societal impact.

Risk Management and Project Oversight

Checks, reviews, and audits will primarily focus on the technical implementation of the action, including the fulfillment of conditions for releasing lump sum contributions per work package.
Other aspects subject to review include ethics and research integrity, dissemination and exploitation of results, management of intellectual property, and gender equality.
The lump sum funding model minimizes financial error rates by removing obligations for cost reporting and ex-post financial audits on actual costs.

Unique Aspects

This is an 'open topic' welcoming new, upcoming, or unforeseen challenges and/or creative or disruptive solutions for an enhanced understanding of disaster impacts and improved resilience of emergency systems.
It specifically targets areas not covered by previous Horizon Europe Disaster-Resilient Society calls (2023-2024), and if related to 2021-2022 topics, proposals must convincingly explain how they build on and do not duplicate them.
Due to the scope, legal entities established in Latin America and Caribbean (LAC), African, and Central Asian countries are specifically encouraged to participate.

Grant Details