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HORIZON EUROPE TOPIC · Cluster 2 · Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society

Scaling and deploying innovations in migration management

HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-TRANSFO-08 — the expected outcomes as checkable statements, what evaluators look for in this topic, and the conditions that shape the proposal.

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ForthcomingIA · lump sumDeadline 23 September 2027EUR 3 million to EUR 3.75 million per project

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TopicHORIZON-CL2-2027-01-TRANSFO-08
StatusForthcoming
CallHORIZON-CL2-2027-01 — Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society - 2027
DestinationInnovative Research on Social and Economic Transformations (2026-27)
Type of actionInnovation Actions · lump sum
Opening13 May 2027
Deadline23 September 2027
BudgetEUR 3 million to EUR 3.75 million per project · 4 projects expected · EUR 15 million in total
Part B page limit45 pages (standard application form; check your call)
TemplateWork Programme 2026–2027 application form

Expected outcomes

Projects should contribute to all of the expected outcomes. The topic says: “Projects should contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:”

  1. EO1 Enhanced impact of EU-funded migration research by identifying and scaling up promising innovations, methodologies, and tools from relevant Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe projects.
  2. EO2 A policy innovation ecosystem: Foster collaboration between researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to adapt, scale, and deploy validated models, ensuring their scalability, sustainability, and practical application in diverse EU, national and local contexts.

Expected impacts named in the destination

The wider, long-term effects the destination seeks. Your outcomes feed them; they are not project deliverables.

  1. EI1 Strengthening social and economic resilience and sustainability.
  2. EI2 Boosting inclusive growth and reducing vulnerabilities effectively.
  3. EI3 The European Pillar of Social Rights, and its Action Plan with its three ambitious targets (78% employment rate, 60% of population with yearly training, and reduction of the number of people at risk of poverty and social exclusion by at least 15 million by 2030)
  4. EI4 the European Education Area and its EU-level 2030 targets.
  5. EI5 The Union of Skills (including envisaged initiatives on skills portability and the European Strategy for Vocational Education and Training, the Pact for Skills and the Skills Agenda)
  6. EI6 the first-ever EU Anti-Poverty Strategy and the European Affordable Housing Plan.
  7. EI7 The Union of Equality policies and strategies, including: the Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030 (in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities); the European Accessibility Act (Directive 2019/882), and the European Disability Card The Gender Equality Strategy 2020 – 2025 and the Directive combating violence against women and domestic violence EU Anti-racism Action Plan 2020-2025 The Strategic EU Framework for Roma Equality, Inclusion and Participation 2020-2030 The LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020-2025.
  8. EI8 The Communication on Demographic change in Europe: a toolbox for action.
  9. EI9 The EU’s just transition policy framework, in line with the 2040 Climate Target Plan, including the Just Transition Mechanism, the Social Climate Fund, and the Council Recommendation on ensuring a fair transition towards climate neutrality.
  10. EI10 The new Pact for European Social Dialogue and the Council Recommendation on strengthening social dialogue in the EU.
  11. EI11 The European Child Guarantee.
  12. EI12 The Council Recommendation on adequate minimum income.

What evaluators will look for in this topic

Expected outcomes

  • Projects should contribute to all of the expected outcomes.
  • For each outcome (EO1 to EO2), name who will use or adopt your results (a specific group, not “industry” or “society”), how they get them, and the indicator that shows the change, with baseline, target and date.
  • Use the topic's own words for each outcome, so the evaluator can tick it off.

What the scope asks for

Evaluators check the proposal against these sentences of the scope. Answer each one visibly, in the call's own words.

  • “Proposals should map and analyse research outputs, methodologies, and innovations from relevant Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe migration projects, selecting those with high potential for policy uptake, operational implementation, market deployment and scaling.”
  • “Proposals should consider ways to validate, adapt, and scale up these solutions across different governance levels (EU, national, local) and migration-related domains implementing high ethical standards and ensuring fundamental rights and privacy of all individuals affected.”
  • “Applicants are encouraged to engage key stakeholders - including policymakers, migration practitioners, researchers (including from SSH disciplines), the private sector; groups or individuals that represent the interests of refugees and migrants and the civil society - to ensure that identified innovations align with real-world needs and implementation pathways and taking into account the political, legal, and cultural specificities of each…”
  • “Proposals are encouraged to take into consideration the assessment of the societal and political impacts as well as recommendations of previously funded Horizon research projects on migration.”
  • “To that end, proposals are encouraged to carry out a mapping exercise.”
  • “The initiative should contribute to a more dynamic, responsive and anticipatory EU migration ecosystem in the intersection of policy and research, in line with the objectives of the EU Pact on Asylum and Migration and other relevant policy frameworks.”
  • “Proposals should delineate the plans for further applications of the knowledge, solutions and findings generated by their research at national and EU level.”

Conditions that shape the proposal

  • Part B, sections 1–3: 45 pages (standard application form). Text beyond the limit is not read; tables and figures count.
  • Lump sum: the budget is fixed per work package and paid when each work package is completed. Every work package needs activities and deliverables an evaluator can verify, and the effort must match the money.
  • Innovation action: evaluators expect a plausible path to commercialisation and named first users or customers.
  • Other Eligible Conditions: “The Joint Research Centre (JRC) may participate as member of the consortium selected for funding as a beneficiary with zero funding, or as an associated partner. The JRC will not participate in the preparation and submission of the proposal - see General Annex B.”

Impact pathway and traps

  • The topic asks for social sciences and humanities (SSH) expertise. Evaluators look for SSH partners with a real role in the methodology, not a token task.
  • Users or citizens are part of the scope. Show how they take part in the design and testing, not only that they are informed.
  • The scope expects pilots or demonstration. Name the sites, the partners who run them and what is measured there.
  • The Joint Research Centre may take part. Decide whether its involvement helps, and say so if you include it.
  • The gender dimension is named in the topic. Show how sex and gender analysis enters the research content, not only team balance.
  • Policy or regulation is in scope. Name the policy owners you will reach and what you will give them.
  • Keep outputs, outcomes and impacts apart: what you deliver, what changes when others use it, and the long-term effect.
  • For each destination impact you claim, show which of your outcomes feeds it. Destination impacts are long-term effects, not project deliverables.
  • Name the barriers outside the project (regulation, markets, user behaviour) that could block uptake, and what you will do if they do.
  • Section 2.3 (the summary canvas) is optional on this call; the old split into scientific, economic and societal impact is no longer required.
The scope, as published

Despite significant EU investment in migration research, many innovative solutions to gain insights and foresight remain underutilized in policymaking and practice. This topic aims to bridge that gap by systematically identifying, assessing, and facilitating the adoption of promising approaches developed in past EU-funded migration related projects to ensure a better fungibility between knowledge-oriented activities on past or future trends of migrations and policy making. Proposals should map and analyse research outputs, methodologies, and innovations from relevant Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe migration projects, selecting those with high potential for policy uptake, operational implementation, market deployment and scaling. Proposals should consider ways to validate, adapt, and scale up these solutions across different governance levels (EU, national, local) and migration-related domains implementing high ethical standards and ensuring fundamental rights and privacy of all individuals affected. Applicants are encouraged to engage key stakeholders - including policymakers, migration practitioners, researchers (including from SSH disciplines), the private sector; groups or individuals that represent the interests of refugees and migrants and the civil society - to ensure that identified innovations align with real-world needs and implementation pathways and taking into account the political, legal, and cultural specificities of each Member State that influence implementation, while ensuring the solutions are transferable across contexts. Proposals are encouraged to take into consideration the assessment of the societal and political impacts as well as recommendations of previously funded Horizon research projects on migration. To that end, proposals are encouraged to carry out a mapping exercise. Activities may include pilots, policy labs, co-creation processes, or other mechanisms to enhance the transferability of research outcomes into policies and operational frameworks. A core element of the action will be fostering a structured dialogue between the research community and decision-makers to ensure continuous knowledge transfer and innovation mainstreaming. The initiative should contribute to a more dynamic, responsive and anticipatory EU migration ecosystem in the intersection of policy and research, in line with the objectives of the EU Pact on Asylum and Migration and other relevant policy frameworks. Proposals may incorporate a gender-sensitive and intersectional approach in their research if relevant, by collecting data based for example on age, ability, ethnic and racial background, sex, socioeconomic status, and religion or belief to ensure that identified migration-related innovations align with real-world needs of people in migratory situation. Proposals should delineate the plans for further applications of the knowledge, solutions and findings generated by their research at national and EU level. Knowledge and findings may be used with EU co-financing of instruments such as the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and/or subsequent funding instruments. Proposals may envisage JRC participation, particularly to support the assessment of relevance, scalability and uptake of innovative solutions in migration management. The JRC could contribute with its knowledge of EU's migration systems, foresight, and capacity to bridge research and policymaking.

Other topics in HORIZON-CL2-2027-01

Source and attribution

Topic text from the official topic page on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal, retrieved 19 October 2026. © European Union, reused under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU (CC BY 4.0). Changes: the expected outcomes and impacts are split into numbered statements, long passages are shortened, and the evaluator checklist is GrantWise's own commentary. Your call and the Work Programme always win; check them before you submit. GrantWise is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the European Commission.