As the Horizon Europe 2025 calls are currently open, the Horizon Europe Multilateral Cooperation Team is sharing the Horizon Europe Guidebook for Korean Researchers.
The guidebook includes an overview of the Horizon Europe programme, instructions on how to use the EU Funding & Tenders Portal, proposal submission procedures, PIC registration (including information related to universities and industry–academic cooperation foundations), research fund management, and various other programme-related details. Researchers are encouraged to take interest in and make use of this resource.
Thank you.
※ This material may be freely used for research and educational purposes only. When using the material, the source must be clearly cited.
※ Unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or commercial use is legally prohibited, and violations may result in sanctions.
※ The guidebook will be updated in the future.

As Korea has joined Horizon Europe Pillar II as an associated country this year, we would like to provide the following guidance on institutional roles and PIC registration related to the participation of domestic universities. Your interest and cooperation would be greatly appreciated.
A. Participation method: Use of the EU Funding & Tenders Portal system
B. Principles for registering participating institutions (Participant Identification Code, PIC)


In the Horizon Europe programme, participating institutions are identified based on the legal entity.


Since the industry–academic cooperation foundation (which manages research funds for Korean universities) is considered a separate legal entity from the university, both institutions must be registered separately when applying for a project, as follows:




Beneficiary (e.g. University): The entity that directly implements the project, signs the Grant Agreement with the EU, and bears all legal and financial responsibilities.


Affiliated Entity (e.g. Industry–Academic Cooperation Foundation): Supports the university in administrative and financial tasks and must be registered as an entity affiliated with the beneficiary university.


C. Proposal registration and research fund management


Proposal registration: When submitting a proposal, researchers should indicate their affiliation as the university, and register both the university (beneficiary) and the industry–academic cooperation foundation (affiliated entity) in the list of participating organisations.


Research fund management: After project selection, the university may delegate financial management authority to the industry–academic cooperation foundation. In such cases, the grant payment account may be designated under the foundation’s name.


※ The “Budget Form” refers to the financial statements submitted during periodic reporting under Article 21 of the Horizon Europe Model Grant Agreement (MGA). Each beneficiary and affiliated entity must individually declare incurred costs and prepare financial statements, even if the affiliated entity handles administrative and financial management on behalf of the beneficiary (see Article 8 of the Annotated Grant Agreement, p.158).
※ In transitional cases where an application was submitted solely under the name of either the university or the industry–academic cooperation foundation, the Grant Agreement may be amended after signature in accordance with Article 39 of the HE MGA. However, such amendments are permitted only if they do not affect the funding decision or compromise fairness with respect to other applicants (see the “Amendments” section in the Online Manual on the Funding & Tenders Portal).




 

 

In Horizon Europe projects, do rules on personnel costs, incentives, participation rates, and indirect costs follow Korean regulations or EC rules? Also, who is responsible for financial settlement?
Horizon Europe projects are funded by the EU, and the EU is also the authority responsible for financial settlement. Therefore, all legal entities participating in the project and receiving EU funding must comply with the Horizon Europe regulations.
These include rules on funding eligibility, financial and reporting obligations, dissemination and exploitation of results, and data protection requirements. Such provisions can be found in the Horizon Europe Regulation and the Grant Agreement (GA). Research funding received through Horizon Europe must meet the eligibility conditions specified in the GA.
In carrying out the project, beneficiaries must comply with all obligations under the Grant Agreement, as well as with relevant EU international law and applicable national laws, including general principles such as fundamental rights, values, and ethical standards. For example, beneficiaries must comply with labour laws applicable to individual project tasks, and researchers must fulfil tax and social security obligations in accordance with the laws of the country where they are based. If some activities are carried out in another country, the rules of that country must also be followed.
 
Grant Agreement explanatory document – Korean version: https://k-erc.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/KERC-AGA-V0.2-Draft-한글-번역본.pdf




 

 

the unit cost is institute specific 
Horizon Europe personnel costs unit cost procedure :
https://ec.europa.eu/info/fundingtenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/personnel-unit-costprocedure_he_en.pdf
 
The following link is a tool for calculating personnel costs.
https://ec.europa.eu/info/fundingtenders/opportunities/portal/screen/programmes/horizon/personnel-unitcosts/unit-cost-wizard
 
On the Horizon Europe lump sum funding personnel cost dashboard, you can check how researchers’ personnel costs are set by country and by type of institution for participants in Horizon Europe.
https://ec.europa.eu/info/fundingtenders/opportunities/portal/screen/programmes/horizon/lump-sum/dashboard

You can check the EU’s budget implementation rules in the EU Financial Regulation and the Grant Agreement (see Chapter 3 in the document at the link below).

Projects are evaluated through periodic reviews, including Annual Reviews. In Horizon Europe, project progress is monitored through regular technical and financial reports, usually submitted at intervals of around 18 months, with a final report required at the end of the project.
These reports include updates on project progress, deliverables, and resource use. Any issues encountered during the project can also be described in these reports. Horizon Europe acknowledges that not all projects may fully achieve their intended objectives, but it is important to demonstrate that genuine efforts were made to address challenges and achieve the project goals.

Since Horizon Europe is an EU programme, research funding is provided directly by the EU, not by the National Research Foundation. In practice, financial management is typically handled by the university’s research administration or industry–academic cooperation office.

The main call topics and timelines for Horizon Europe are provided through the Work Programme. Work Programmes are usually published on a 2–3 year basis, but the 2025 Work Programme is expected to be issued on a one-year basis.
The 2025 calls are expected to be published around March–April 2025, although there are indications that this may be further delayed. A leaked draft version of the 2025 Work Programme has already been circulated and can be checked at the link below, where you can also find indicative timelines for some upcoming calls.

The United States is currently a third country, so US institutions can participate in Horizon Europe projects as associated partners, meaning they must secure their own funding. Among third countries, the US has one of the highest participation rates in Horizon Europe programmes.

Yes, both countries can participate. The UK has formally joined as an associated country, while Switzerland is currently negotiating its association status and is still considered a third country. Nevertheless, since the Swiss government provides funding for Swiss participants, they can still participate smoothly as a third country.

Norway is considered an associated country, not an EU Member State. Only the 27 EU Member States are regarded as full EU members. You can find the list of associated countries at the link below.

It depends on what the project requires. What matters more is identifying the right partners needed to achieve the project objectives. Simply having more partners or countries does not necessarily increase the success rate.

According to one example, the CHIASMA consortium included around 20 institutions, and funding was more heavily allocated to organizations with key roles, such as the coordinator or Work Package (WP) leaders. While this consortium had a relatively large number of partners, on average about 13 institutions participate in a consortium.
An overview of the consortium composition of Pillar II projects involving Korean institutions can be found at the link below. Please also note that EU funding is provided only to the coordinator and participating beneficiary institutions.

In practice, companies participate quite frequently, and in many cases the participation of SMEs is even encouraged. Some calls may specifically recommend the involvement of certain types of industry partners, so it is important to carefully review the call text.

This depends on the specific topic. Some calls strongly encourage the participation of SMEs, while in other cases the involvement of NGOs can be a major advantage. Therefore, it is important to carefully review the call text and assess whether including NGOs or industry partners is aligned with the project objectives.
In particular, when a call explicitly states that the participation of certain types of organizations is “encouraged,” it can generally be interpreted that their involvement is effectively needed. For example, in the Health Cluster, it is strongly encouraged to include industry, patient organizations (NGOs), and hospitals, as industrial capabilities may be required to carry out the project, and NGOs can play an important role in disseminating project outcomes.

Once Korea becomes an associated country, Korean institutions can also serve as project coordinators in Horizon Europe. However, coordinating a large-scale consortium involves a significant administrative and managerial burden. The decision on who should act as coordinator should be based on experience and capacity to manage large international projects. In addition, when many European partners are involved, having a coordinator based in Korea may pose challenges related to time differences, geographical distance, and differing administrative systems.

A consortium must consist of at least three partners from three different countries. These countries must be EU Member States or associated countries, and at least one partner must be from an EU Member State. In other words, there must be three separate legal entities established in three different eligible countries.

Yes. The proposal template includes a section where applicants are required to describe their Data Management Plan. In addition, the Ethics section in Part A of the proposal allows applicants to explain which procedures and guidelines will be followed.

Submitted proposals are evaluated by independent experts selected by the European Commission, based on their expertise and impartiality. If a proposal is not selected, applicants receive an Evaluation Summary Report (ESR) containing feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of the proposal, along with suggestions for improvement. This allows applicants to revise and resubmit to future calls. However, there may not always be a call on the same research topic in the following year.

A consortium prepares one single proposal and submits it to the EU funding authority. The preparation and submission of the proposal are generally led by the project coordinator.