PES – Support for Project Establishment Aimed at Horizon Europe
PES – Support for Project Establishment Aimed at Horizon Europe supports Norwegian organisations preparing Horizon Europe and European Defence Fund proposals, with the goal of improving their quality and impact.
Funder: Research Council of Norway
Due Dates: Open-ended (PES applications; usually at least four weeks before EU deadline) | November 4, 2026 (EIC Accelerator EU deadline)
Funding Amounts: Up to NOK 500,000 per EDF application; other limits depend on project type and role; maximum project duration 12 months
Summary: Supports Norwegian organisations preparing proposals for Horizon Europe and the European Defence Fund.
Key Information: Funding is generally disbursed only if the submitted EU proposal reaches its call’s assessment threshold.
Description
The Research Council of Norway’s Project Establishment Scheme (PES) supports work to develop high-quality proposals with Norwegian participation in Horizon Europe and the European Defence Fund (EDF). Eligible preparation costs can include travel, participation in meeting places, positioning, staff time and purchased services. The scheme aims to improve the quality and impact of Norwegian applications.
Support spans collaborative research and innovation, coordination activities, networks, researcher training and fellowships, frontier research, defence research and development, and specified European innovation initiatives. It does not cover calls from other programmes such as Digital Europe, COSME or Invest EU. The call also offers additional support for Norwegian-led collaborative proposals with qualifying participants from African countries or Ukraine.
