Motivation

With the objective to promote high quality proposals and spread research excellence in Europe, CHIST-ERA ‘Widening’ activities leverage on CHIST-ERA calls for European research proposals to:

• Open well established non-Widening Countries research networks to most talented researchers in the Widening Countries;
• Enrich the European S & T landscape with varied perspectives and scientific and technology challenges to tackle.

Support Actions

This policy follows two lines of actions: Involve research funders in the Widening Countries and involve research teams in the Widening Countries in the funded projects. With regard to the latter, the objective targets both higher participation and coordination rates:

• In CHIST-ERA calls, the selection criteria prioritise projects with Widening Countries in case of ex aequo projects;
• Dissemination of CHIST-ERA call funding opportunities is strengthened in Widening Countries;
• A Partner Search Tool is made available at www.chistera.eu;
• An additional funding for coordination support may be granted by some funders of the Widening Countries.

CHIST-ERA Widening Countries

Over the years, the network of research funding organisations in CHIST-ERA has reached an important coverage of the European Union Widening Countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Slovakia

Origin of the 'Widening' classification: The Widening Countries designate a list of low performing countries in R & I, be they European Union Member States or Associated Countries to Horizon Europe. A country falls into this category when its score against a composite indicator is below 70% of the European Union average. The list of CHIST-ERA Widening Countries corresponds to the countries both in CHIST-ERA and in the list of the EU.

Funding Opportunity

Past data show that the call budget available for the researchers in the Widening Countries remains underspent compared to the percentage of budget spent by the funders of the non-Widening Countries.

More info: Statistics about participation of the Widening Countries in CHIST-ERA calls are presented in the document available as attachment.

Contact: chistera@anr.fr