PES – Support for Project Establishment Aimed at Horizon Europe
PES – Support for Project Establishment Aimed at Horizon Europe helps Norwegian organisations prepare proposals for Horizon Europe and the European Defence Fund to improve application quality and impact.
Funder: Research Council of Norway
Due Dates: Rolling (normally four weeks before EU deadline) | November 4, 2026 (EIC Accelerator) | December 1, 2027 (latest project start) | December 31, 2027 (latest completion)
Funding Amounts: Up to NOK 41 million available for 2026; category-specific support for projects lasting up to 12 months
Summary: Supports Norwegian organisations preparing high-quality proposals for Horizon Europe and the European Defence Fund.
Key Information: Research organisations with 2025–27 framework grants may apply only for EDF or qualifying Africa/Ukraine supplementary support.
Description
The Research Council of Norway’s Project Establishment Scheme (PES) funds proposal preparation rather than the research or innovation project itself. It aims to improve the quality and impact of applications with Norwegian participation in Horizon Europe and the European Defence Fund (EDF), making better use of Norwegian potential. Supported costs include travel, participation in meeting places, positioning, staff time and purchased proposal-development services.
The scheme covers collaborative research and innovation, coordination and support actions, innovative and pre-commercial procurement, new COST networks, Eurostars, ERC and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), and selected European Innovation Council schemes. Additional support encourages Norwegian-coordinated collaborative proposals involving African countries or Ukraine. Digital Europe, COSME and Invest EU are excluded; ENOVA has a separate establishment-support scheme for the EU Innovation Fund.
