Project Establishment Scheme (PES) – Support for Project Establishment Aimed at Horizon Europe

The Project Establishment Scheme (PES) provides funding to improve the quality of applications with Norwegian participation to Horizon Europe and the European Defence Fund (EDF). It awards project-establishment support to cover preparatory costs for EU project proposals. Funding is conditional on the submitted EU proposal achieving the threshold score in the relevant EU call.

Financial support for preparatory costs such as travel, participation in meetings, staff hours and purchased services; fixed-price payments per submitted EU application (subject to proposal scoring conditions).

Norwegian actors with a formal role in an EU application may apply. Research organisations with a framework grant for 2025–27 are generally excluded from submitting individual applications except for EDF or certain Norway-coordinated applications involving African countries or Ukraine. Research organisations without a framework grant may receive a maximum of NOK 500,000 per year.

Submit an application through the Research Council's application portal; apply early and, if coordinating a collaborative project, contact a national contact point (NCP) no later than 12 weeks before the EU deadline.