EU-Wide Advantages and Opportunities for the Call “European Researchers’ Night & Researchers at Schools 2026-2027” (HORIZON-MSCA-2025-CITIZENS-01-01)

1. Pan-European Visibility & Single Market Access

- Direct outreach to the EU’s single market of 450 + million citizens through a synchronised, Europe-wide flagship event held on the same date.

- Host organisations gain continent-wide brand recognition, increasing their attractiveness to prospective students, employees and investors from any Member State or Associated Country.

- Promotion of EU-funded research helps position results for uptake by businesses, public authorities and civil‐society actors across the whole internal market, accelerating dissemination and exploitation.

2. Cross-Border Collaboration & Knowledge Exchange

- The call explicitly encourages regional, national and cross-border partnerships, enabling consortia to pool complementary expertise (e.g., science centres in BE + universities in PL + NGOs in ES).

- Multinational teams create diverse, multilingual content, boosting inclusiveness and cultural relevance.

- Researchers funded under different Framework Programmes (FP7, H2020, Horizon Europe) can be mobilised, fostering inter-programme knowledge flow and alumni engagement.

3. Alignment with Flagship EU Strategies

- European Green Deal: activities can showcase solutions on climate, circular economy, biodiversity and clean energy, reinforcing citizen buy-in for the transition.

- Digital Europe & Europe’s Digital Decade: hands-on demos of AI, quantum, cybersecurity or digital skills initiatives support EU digital leadership goals.

- European Education Area & Skills Agenda: Researchers at Schools directly strengthen STEAM competences, a core EU priority for 2030.

- New European Bauhaus: blending science, art and design in Night events underlines the aesthetic and cultural dimension of green innovation.

- Gender Equality Strategy & Union of Equality: mandatory diversity focus advances EU social objectives.

4. Regulatory Harmonisation & Administrative Efficiency

- Horizon lump-sum Model Grant Agreement offers a single, harmonised legal and financial framework accepted in 40 + countries, slashing administrative burden relative to multiple national grants.

- Uniform ethics, IP and open-science rules simplify cross-border cooperation and ensure legal certainty.

5. Access to the EU Innovation Ecosystem

- Direct gateway to Europe’s +3 000 Higher Education Institutions, 50+ European Research Infrastructure consortia (ERICs), EIT Knowledge & Innovation Communities (KICs) and Living Labs.

- Possibility to involve MSCA fellows, ERC grantees, COST Actions, Erasmus+ networks and Horizon Europe partnerships, creating a pipeline from frontier research to citizen engagement.

- Events can act as matchmaking platforms for researchers, industry clusters and regional development agencies, feeding into Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3).

6. Funding Synergies & Leverage Potential

- Erasmus+ (Teacher Academies, DiscoverEU) can finance mobility of pupils/educators to Night venues.

- Creative Europe can support artistic co-creations that translate research into performances or exhibitions.

- Interreg & European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) can co-finance venue infrastructure or science-communication equipment in less-developed regions.

- InvestEU social-impact windows can scale successful formats (e.g., mobile STEAM labs) beyond the project.

- Private sponsorships qualify as “additional sources of funding”, improving evaluation under Implementation.

7. Scale, Impact & Replicability

- Two-edition design (2026 + 2027) doubles outreach while spreading fixed costs.

- Common EU-level impact indicators (participation numbers, gender split, attitude change, teacher satisfaction) enable benchmarking and evidence-based policy feedback.

- Successful consortia can turn into permanent “Science Engagement Hubs”, franchised or licensed across Europe using EU trademarks and best-practice toolkits.

8. Strategic Recommendations for Applicants

- Build geographically balanced consortia (minimum 3-4 countries) to avoid overlaps and maximise spread—this is positively viewed by evaluators.

- Secure letters of commitment from MSCA Alumni Associations, EIT KICs or European Schoolnet to demonstrate access to thousands of ready-trained communicators.

- Integrate the new “Science Comes to Town” initiative to tap its branding and dissemination channels.

- Include a dedicated work package on researcher training in science communication, aligned with the EU “Skills for Life” initiative, to enhance outcome credibility.

- Develop multilingual digital assets (AR apps, MOOCs) that remain online post-event, ensuring sustainability and EU-wide accessibility.

9. Unique Value of Operating at EU Scale vs. National-Only Projects

1. Critical Mass: pooling audiences, content and funding across borders delivers far larger societal reach than isolated national nights.

2. Diversity & Inclusion: EU-wide cooperation enables rural, outermost and socio-economically disadvantaged regions to benefit from high-quality science outreach.

3. Policy Coherence: harmonised messaging on EU priorities builds a shared European science culture and strengthens public trust in the Union.

4. Market Expansion: SMEs and start-ups demonstrating technology during the Night gain immediate exposure to customers, partners and investors Europe-wide.

5. Economies of Scale: joint procurement of digital platforms, promotional materials and evaluation tools reduces unit costs.

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Bottom Line: Leveraging Horizon Europe’s pan-European framework turns the “European Researchers’ Night & Researchers at Schools” from a series of local events into a strategic instrument that:

• amplifies citizen engagement across the internal market,

• accelerates cross-border knowledge circulation, and

• aligns grassroots outreach with the EU’s grand societal transitions—unlocking impact that no single national initiative could achieve alone.