Grants8 logo Grants8
Login Create account

Grant Details

Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

Grant's core objective is to deepen understanding and provide policy recommendations on the economic, social, and environmental impacts of working time reduction. The target recipients are diverse, including research organizations, universities, social partners, civil society, practitioners, VET providers, and SMEs. This is a SECTOR-SPECIFIC grant, focusing on social sciences, economics, and human resources related to labor policies. The geographic scope includes EU Member States and countries associated with Horizon Europe. Key filtering criteria involve rigorous research into working time reduction, capacity for policy insights, alignment with EU social and economic priorities, and collaborative research. This is part of the recurring Horizon Europe Work Programmes (2025-2027).

Financial Structure

  • Funding Model: Grants are provided as a 'lump sum contribution'. This means payments are tied to the completion of predefined work packages and not to actual incurred costs.
  • Total Budget: The total budget allocated for this specific topic (HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-TRANSFO-03) is EUR 10,200,000.
  • Grant Amount per Project: It is anticipated that 3 grants will be awarded under this topic, with each project receiving a lump sum contribution of EUR 3,400,000.
  • Currency: All amounts are in Euro (EUR).
  • Eligible Costs (for lump sum calculation):
    • Personnel costs (employees, direct contractors, seconded staff, SME owners).
    • Subcontracting costs.
    • Purchase costs (travel, subsistence, equipment depreciation/capitalised costs, other goods/works/services).
    • Other cost categories (financial support to third parties, internally invoiced goods/services, transnational/virtual access to research infrastructure, PCP/PPI procurement, Euratom Cofund staff mobility, ERC additional funding).
  • Indirect Costs: A flat rate of 25% for indirect costs is applied to the direct cost categories that qualify. This is included in the lump sum calculation.
  • Co-financing: The total estimated costs of the action must be greater than the estimated Union contribution to ensure compliance with co-financing principles. The grant typically covers up to 100% of the estimated eligible costs contributing to the lump sum.
  • Payments: Payments are made per work package upon successful completion of defined conditions. Pre-financing follows standard Horizon Europe rules.
  • Financial Controls: No financial ex-post audits on actual costs are conducted for lump sum grants. Controls focus on the technical implementation and fulfillment of work package conditions. A percentage (between 5-8%) of the total lump sum is retained as contribution to the Mutual Insurance Mechanism.

Eligibility Requirements

Organization Type
  • Organizations from EU Member States and countries associated with Horizon Europe are eligible.
  • Eligible participants broadly include: universities, research centers, social partners (trade unions and business organizations), civil society organizations, practitioners, VET providers, and SMEs.
  • Legal entities must undergo validation according to Horizon Europe rules.
  • Organizations must meet operational and financial capacity requirements as per Annex C of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.
Project Focus
  • Proposals must conduct research on 'working time reduction' defined as 'a coordinated reduction in weekly working hours concentrated into an extra free day per week without a corresponding decrease in pay'.
  • Research must assess impacts along at least two of the three axes: economic, social, and environmental.
  • Economic impacts may include: productivity, employment, economic growth, hiring and staff retention, absenteeism, firm costs, overall economic demand, innovation.
  • Social impacts may include: workers' well-being, health outcomes (stress levels), work-life balance, gendered employment outcomes, labour market inclusion.
  • Environmental impacts may include: energy expenditures and savings, energy poverty, emission reduction, consumption patterns, sustainable lifestyles.
Consortium Requirements
  • Collaboration is expected, as this is a Research and Innovation Action (RIA) and the funding model supports multi-beneficiary projects. Applicants should form a consortium to apply.
Technical Expertise
  • Required to employ a variety of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) research methods, including quantitative micro-economic analysis or behavioural and other experimental research methods.
  • Ability to leverage data and services from European Research Infrastructures (e.g., CESSDA), European Open Science Cloud, and relevant Data Spaces is encouraged.

Application Process

Application Submission
  • Submission Deadline: Applications must be submitted by 2025-09-16 at 00:00:00 UTC+0000.
  • Submission System: Applications are submitted via the Electronic Submission Service on the Funding & Tenders Portal.
  • Application Forms:
    • Standard application form (HE RIA, IA) is available in the Submission System.
    • Part B of the Research and Innovation (RIA) application using lump sum has a page limit of 50 pages.
    • A detailed budget table, using a specific template, is mandatory.
Pre-Application Requirements
  • Legal Entity Validation: Applicants must undergo legal entity validation.
  • LEAR Appointment: A Legal Entity Appointed Representative (LEAR) must be appointed.
  • Financial Capacity Assessment: An assessment of financial capacity is required.
Evaluation Process
  • Evaluation Criteria: Proposals are evaluated based on: Excellence, Expected Impact, and Quality and Efficiency of Implementation.
  • Review: Evaluation is conducted by external independent experts.
  • Selection: The authorising officer establishes the final lump sum amount based on the evaluation findings.
Post-Award Requirements
  • Reporting: While there is no reporting of actual costs, beneficiaries must comply with reporting obligations related to the technical implementation of work packages.
  • Compliance: Adherence to grant agreement obligations, including ethics, research integrity, dissemination, exploitation of results, management of intellectual property, and gender equality, is mandatory.

Evaluation Criteria

Quality of Proposal
  • Excellence: Assessed based on the quality of the research, methodology, and scientific rigor.
  • Impact: Evaluation of how well the project contributes to the expected outcomes and impacts, including strengthening social and economic resilience, boosting inclusive growth, reducing vulnerabilities, and promoting fair transition towards climate neutrality.
  • Quality and Efficiency of Implementation: Assessed based on the coherence and effectiveness of the proposed work plan, resource allocation, and management structure.
Financial Soundness
  • Experts with financial expertise will check the budget estimate against relevant benchmarks (market prices, statistical data, historical data).
  • The proposed budget breakdown per work package and per beneficiary/affiliated entity must include only eligible costs and reflect realistic resource allocation for the described activities.
Strategic Alignment
  • Projects are expected to align with and contribute to EU priorities and policies such as:
    • European Pillar of Social Rights and its Action Plan (employment rate, training, poverty reduction targets).
    • European Education Area 2030 targets.
    • Union of Equality policies (Strategy for Rights of Persons with Disabilities, European Accessibility Act, Gender Equality Strategy, Anti-racism Action Plan, Roma Equality, LGBTIQ Equality Strategy).
    • EU's just transition policy framework (Just Transition Mechanism, Social Climate Fund).
    • Council Recommendation on strengthening social dialogue.
    • European Child Guarantee and adequate minimum income recommendations.
    • EC Communication on mental health.
    • New Pact on Asylum and Migration.
Data Management & Dissemination
  • Data produced must be FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Re-usable).
  • Maximising the impacts through feedback to policy and dissemination and exploitation of research and innovation results and practices is expected.

Compliance & Special Requirements

Regulatory and Legal Compliance
  • General Annexes: Adherence to conditions outlined in Annex A (Admissibility), Annex B (Eligible Countries), Annex C (Financial and Operational Capacity), Annex D (Award Criteria), Annex F (Submission and Evaluation Processes, Indicative Timeline), and Annex G (Legal and Financial Set-up) of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.
  • EU Financial Regulation: Compliance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 2018/1046 and Regulation (EU) 2024/2509.
  • Horizon Europe Framework: Operates under Regulation (EU) 2021/695 (Horizon Europe) and Regulation (Euratom) 2021/765 (Euratom Programme).
Ethical and Data Standards
  • Ethics and Research Integrity: Projects must comply with high ethical standards and maintain research integrity.
  • Data Standards: Data produced in the context of the research must be FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Re-usable).
  • Intellectual Property (IP): Grant agreements include provisions for the management of intellectual property rights.
Cross-Cutting Requirements
  • Inclusivity: Projects should consider and contribute to accessibility and inclusion standards, aligning with policies like the European Accessibility Act and strategies for persons with disabilities.
  • Gender Equality: Projects should incorporate gender equality considerations and impacts.
  • Sustainability: Research should address environmental impacts and contribute to a fair transition towards climate neutrality.
Specificities of Lump Sum Funding
  • Reduced Burden: The lump sum model simplifies financial management, aiming to reduce administrative burden for beneficiaries and the granting authority.
  • Focus on Output: Emphasizes scientific/technical performance and output of projects, with checks and audits focusing on the completion of work packages rather than detailed cost reporting.
  • Risk Management: Conditions for payment are linked to the proper implementation of work packages; failure to meet these conditions may result in non-payment or recovery of undue payments.
  • International Cooperation: Encouraged where relevant to maximize impact in line with EU priorities.

Grant Details

working time reduction environmental impact productivity work-life balance gender in economics human resource management microeconomics behavioural economics social economics social policies work and welfare sociology of work inclusive society social sciences humanities research and innovation european union eu funding public policy labor market socio-economic transformation sustainability resilience equality fair transition digital agenda ssh ai lump sum grant
Working time reduction: barriers, challenges, benefits and policy implications
HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-TRANSFO-03
Horizon Europe
UNIVERSITY NGO SME OTHER
AT BE BG HR CY CZ DK EE FI FR DE GR HU IE IT LV LT LU MT NL PL PT RO SK SI ES SE
SOCIAL OTHER
DEVELOPMENT
OTHER
SDG3 SDG4 SDG5 SDG8 SDG9 SDG10 SDG13 SDG16 SDG17
FUNDING RESEARCH_DEVELOPMENT CAPACITY_BUILDING
10200000.00
3400000.00
3400000.00
EUR
100.00
Sept. 16, 2025, midnight
None