Strengthening North Macedonia’s Participation in Horizon Europe

North Macedonia’s participation in Horizon Europe is supported by a number of strategic instruments, guidance documents, and national support structures that are particularly relevant for research institutions and innovation actors.

As a widening country, North Macedonia can benefit significantly from the Widening Participation & Spreading Excellence actions, including Twinning, Teaming, ERA Chairs and the Hop-on Facility. These instruments are designed to strengthen research capacity, foster institutional partnerships and enable entities from widening countries to integrate more deeply into European consortia.

More information:

https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/funding/funding-opportunities/funding-programmes-and-open-calls/horizon-europe/widening-participation-and-spreading-excellence_en

For proposal preparation, two core documents remain essential. The Horizon Europe Programme Guide provides the overall framework and participation rules:

https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/document/horizon-europe-programme-guide_en

All currently open calls can be searched and filtered via the Funding & Tenders Portal:

https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/programmes/horizon

North Macedonian institutions are also eligible for excellence-based schemes such as the European Research Council (ERC) and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA):

https://erc.europa.eu/funding

https://marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu

Innovation actors may further engage through the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT), including the Regional Innovation Scheme (RIS):

https://eit.europa.eu/our-activities/eit-regional-innovation-scheme

https://eit.europa.eu

At national level, participation is supported through the Ministry of Education and Science (MES) and the National Contact Points (NCPs), which provide guidance on call interpretation, partner search and proposal development. National Horizon Europe information days and trainings are typically announced here:

https://mon.gov.mk

Additional Horizon Europe info days and brokerage events (online and regional) are available via the European Commission’s events portal:

https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/events_en

North Macedonia’s engagement in Horizon Europe is embedded in the broader EU enlargement and research policy context, including Smart Specialisation priorities:

https://neighbourhood-enlargement.ec.europa.eu/north-macedonia_en

https://s3platform.jrc.ec.europa.eu/north-macedonia