Widening Participation and Spreading Excellence: Research and innovation opportunities for all

Thomas Regnier, European Commission Spokesperson, details the Widening Participation and Spreading Excellence sub-programme of Horizon Europe and explains how it is helping to broaden opportunities for everyone.

Helping to boost competitiveness and growth and tackle key societal challenges within the European Union (EU), Horizon Europe is the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation. Following the Multiannual Financial Framework Midterm Review (MTR) decision, the indicative funding amount for Horizon Europe for the period 2021-2027 is €93.5bn.

Horizon Europe facilitates collaboration and strengthens the impact of research and innovation in developing, supporting and implementing EU policies while tackling global challenges.

The programme consists of three pillars – excellent science; global challenges and European industrial competitiveness; and innovative Europe. Alongside the pillars, the programme also has a fourth transversal element – ‘Widening Participation and Strengthening the European Research Area’ (WIDERA). WIDERA is aimed to ensure access to opportunities for all and to help reduce disparities between R&I leading and lagging countries to enable the EU to advance as a whole.

One of the two main areas under WIDERA is the Widening Participation and Spreading Excellence sub-programme, which contributes to building research and innovation capacity for countries lagging behind, in line with the policy objectives of the European Research Area. The sub-programme’s funding calls are categorised under a number of areas of intervention. In December 2024, it was announced that the European Commission invested €315m in 63 new projects under three of these areas: Teaming for Excellence, Excellence Hubs, and ERA Chairs. The funding opportunities for all three launched in 2023 and activities for the projects started at the end of 2024 and early 2025.

To learn more about the Widening Participation and Spreading Excellence part of Horizon Europe and the potential it brings, The Innovation Platform spoke to European Commission Spokesperson Thomas Regnier.

Can you elaborate on the goals and objectives of the ‘Widening participation and spreading excellence’ sub-programme of Horizon Europe and explain why the programme is important?

The objectives of the ‘Widening participation and spreading excellence’ programme are to strengthen collaborative links across Europe and open European R&I networks; contribute to improving research management capacities in the widening countries; support national policy reforms; as well as exploit the potential of the Union’s talent pool by targeted actions.

Widening policy represents a distinct element of Horizon Europe and it has demonstrated that it is a successful programme. In fact, widening countries have significantly improved their participation in the EU R&I programme: the overall success is at around 20% versus 22% of EU27 average, and the financial share of Horizon Europe funding is at 14.4%. A comparison between a successful participation in the widening part and the overall performance in the Framework Programme shows a correlation: countries that make good use of the possibilities offered by the widening part also perform well in the other parts of the framework programme.

The programme is important as it aims to reduce the innovation gap among EU countries. It boosts participation, encouraging more researchers, institutions and businesses from widening countries to engage in collaborative projects; it supports the development of institutional capacities and infrastructures in countries lagging behind; and it encourages partnerships among universities, research organisations and industry, facilitating knowledge transfer and best practices. However, it should be highlighted that a genuine sustainable change depends, to a large degree, on investment and reforms at national level; thus, the national investment level and reforms is the crucial factor to determine the country performance.

What funding is allocated to support this sub-programme?

Under Horizon 2020, the programme ‘Spreading Excellence and Widening Participation’ was adopted with a budget of around 1% of the overall budget (roughly €800m). Under Horizon Europe, the widening budget was strongly increased to 3.3% of the overall budget of Horizon Europe (corresponding to around €2.9bn).

Projects funded under the Teaming for Excellence action of the programme started in November 2024 and January 2025. Can you explain more about this action and highlight some of the types of projects it is supporting?

Teaming for Excellence calls address the challenge of R&I disparities in Europe by establishing new centres of excellence or modernising existing ones in Widening countries. This aims to boost their R&I intensity and help them achieve a competitive position in both the European and global R&I landscape, driving change in the process. Widening projects, as collaborative support actions (CSAs), play a key role in fostering innovation and generating new knowledge. These initiatives have significant societal impacts, leading to structural changes in R&I systems at institutional, regional, and national levels. Economically, they create new competitive research funding opportunities through partnerships, generate revenues, and foster collaboration with the business sector to ensure project sustainability. To date, the programme has established 50 Centres of Excellence, including 13 in the latest call.

Can you elaborate on what the Excellence Hubs action entails?

Excellence Hubs were introduced for the first time in the WIDERA part of the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2021-22 as an innovation-oriented initiative for excellence. It supports the development and co-operation of innovation ecosystems in widening countries and beyond, between research institutions, business, local/regional governments and societal actors.

Proposals require at least two fully fledged innovation ecosystems to find topics of strategic importance either for European policy priorities or regional smart specialisation and implement the collaboration along several core models, such as strategic research agenda, investment plan or R&I project. With a centre of gravity in widening countries, but open to the participation of other partners, the ambition is to upscale such regional initiatives at a European level.

Why is the ERA Chairs action important?

The ERA Chairs action is focused on bringing excellence to institutions. This action supports universities or research organisations from widening countries to recruit an outstanding researcher and research manager, who will establish a research team to improve the research performance in a scientific domain of choice.

The action is important for several reasons. It strengthens research excellence as it aims to enhance the quality and impact of research by establishing chairs in institutions that may not have yet achieved a high level of excellence. It promotes collaboration between academia and industry, facilitating knowledge transfer and innovation. It attracts talent, thus helping to build a strong research community. In addition, it supports the development of research infrastructures in less performing regions. It also aligns with the goals of ERA, promoting a more integrated and effective research landscape in Europe.

Please note, this article will also appear in the 21st edition of our quarterly publication.