ENLIGHT Calls 2025

Download the full guidelines below (see heading 'How to apply')

About

The aim of the call is to stimulate the design and upscaling of joint educational initiatives across all three study cycles, in one (or more) of the six ENLIGHT focus areas.

The call aims for sustainable educational activities in various formats with specific and measurable outputs implemented before summer 2027.This call consists of two strands:

• Strand A: Preparation and development of joint study programmes (bachelor or master), which are jointly designed and jointly implemented. The aim is to award joint degrees, but proposals with double/multiple degree awarding are also eligible.
• Strand B: Joint innovative education initiatives such as living labs, lifelong learning educational activities, virtual courses, virtual exchange, collaborative online international learning (COIL), joint minors, co-teaching formats for larger groups of students (e.g. 1st semester students), joint courses. Other formats are also welcome.

In the framework of this 1st call 7 education projects were selected. A 3rd call is planned in Spring 2026.

Funding

A selected Incubator project will receive a max. budget of 50.000 € (strand A) or 30.000€ (strand B).

Eligible for funding are the development costs of joint initiatives: purchase costs, personnel costs and (limited) subcontracting costs.

Duration

Projects define an own timeline, but must be completed by summer 2027.

Deadline for Application

30 June 2025

Selection criteria

Eligibility criteria

• Involvement of min. 3 ENLIGHT universities (min. 2 for virtual exchange, double degree schemes and microcredential programmes (cluster of programmes))
• Alignment with ENLIGHT’s six focus areas
• Award of Transcript of Records (ECTS credits)
• Outputs should be open to staff and students of the involved partners 

Evaluation criteria

• Quality
• Feasibility
• Proposed output
• Added value

How to apply?

Applications must be submitted by the Coordinator of the educational activity using the destined form.

Available for download are:

• the Full Incubator Grants Guidelines
• the Application form Strand A
• the Application form Strand B

Please submit your completed application form (as a single .pdf file) before the deadline via https://enlight-eu.org/index.php/university-about-us/funding/proposal-submission-form-2025

Evaluation process

After screening of the eligibility criteria, the proposals will be evaluated and ranked on the basis of the above evaluation criteria by a joint selection committee consisting of representatives from all ENLIGHT universities.

Results will be communicated in the second half of October 2025.

Reporting

Each project is required to report at mid-term and deliver an end-report upon completion.

Download the report templates for activity report and end report. 

Questions

Please check the below FAQ. Contact your institutional ENLIGHT Coordinator

Download the full guidelines below (see heading 'How to apply')

About

The aim of the call is to stimulate the creation of interdisciplinary cooperation networks of academics from at least three ENLIGHT universities, who join forces around a specific societal relevant theme, in one (or more) of the six ENLIGHT focus areas to develop joint challenge-driven activities in education, research and service to society.    

Each ENLIGHT Thematic Network (ETN) is expected to set up its own coordination structure and become a catalyst for long-term cooperation leading to various outputs, such as new joint seminars, summer courses, thematic conferences, Bachelor (BA), Master (MA) or PhD courses and programmes, co-supervision of PhDs, collaborative transnational projects, citizen science initiatives, mobility programmes, knowledge transfer programmes, leadership and entrepreneurship programmes, etc.  

In the framework of the 1st call 10 ETN were selected. In this 2nd and final call, 15 ETN will be granted.

Funding

A selected ETN will receive a max. budget of 100.000 €.

The budget is meant to cover the coordination and activities of the ETN. Eligible for funding are: purchase costs, personnel costs and (limited) subcontracting costs. 

Duration

24 months. Selected projects are supposed to start as from 1 November 2025. 

Deadline for application

30 June 2025

Selection criteria

Eligibility criteria

• Network composition: involvement of min 3 ENLIGHT universities
• Thematic scope: alignment with ENLIGHT’s six focus areas
• Budget distribution: a maximum of 40% of the total requested budget can be assigned to each partner

Evaluation criteria:

• Quality and Relevance
• Network and Team composition
• Feasibility
• Expected outputs and desired impact

How to apply?

Applications must be submitted by the Coordinator of the ETN using the destined form.

Available for download are:

• the Full ETN Guidelines
• the Application form

Please submit your completed application form (as a single .pdf file) before the deadline via https://enlight-eu.org/index.php/university-about-us/funding/proposal-submission-form-2025

Please abide the max. word count. Incomplete or fragmentary forms will not be considered for selection.

Evaluation process

After a screening on formal eligibility criteria, the proposals will be evaluated and ranked on the basis of the above evaluation criteria by independent reviewers consisting of representatives from all ENLIGHT universities.

Results will be communicated in the 2nd half of October 2025.

Reporting

Each ETN is required to report about progress and planning every 12 months.

Download the report template.

Questions

Please check the below FAQ. Contact your institutional ENLIGHT Coordinator

Download the full guidelines below (see heading 'How to apply')

About

The aim of the call is to facilitate the organisation of joint small-scale projects, collaborative events, or workshops, while also encouraging initiatives that actively contribute to the advancement of sustainability practices and the promotion of inclusivity within our academic ecosystem.

Academics, administrative staff members, PhD candidates, and students from ENLIGHT universities can apply.

The proposed initiatives involve colleagues from at least three ENLIGHT universities. Outputs (courses, events) should be open for participation of staff and students of all ENLIGHT universities.

Funding

The maximum funding amount and deadlines for implementing the proposed measures may vary depending on your university. See application guidelines (annex 1)

Eligible for funding are organizational costs and mobility (travel and accommodation).

Deadlines

31 May 2025 (more to be announced later)

Selection criteria

Eligibility criteria

• Involvement of min. 3 ENLIGHT universities
• Institutional affiliation with an ENLIGHT university
• Alignment with ENLIGHT+ objectives

Quality

• Quality
• Feasibility
• Accessibility to the target groups

Specific criteria

• Conformity of the proposal with the specific criteria of the applicant’s home university

How to apply? 

Applications must be submitted by the main applicant using the destined form.

Available for download are:

• the Full ENLIGHT+ Guidelines
• the Application form

Please upload your completed application form (as a single .pdf file) viahttps://enlight-eu.org/index.php/university-about-us/funding/proposal-submission-form-2025

Evaluation process

The evaluation process is coordinated by all partner universities, with budget decisions made individually by each applicant's home university.

Results are communicated no later than 6 weeks after the application deadline.

Reporting

Each project is required to provide a short report upon completion.

Questions

Please check the below FAQ. Contact your institutional ENLIGHT Coordinator

In case of technical issues, please contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Yes, your proposal can involve as many ENLIGHT institutions as needed. 3 was set as a minimum in all calls.

Please note that the maximum budget still applies, regardless of the amount of partners involved in your application.

Each proposal requires a main applicant to submit it. Multiple applicants from the same university can be involved in an application, as long as there are colleagues involved from at least three partner universities (or two partner universities in the case of virtual exchange) collaborating on the initiative.

A double degree scheme is an arrangement between two educational institutions where each offers its own separate study programme, rather than a joint study programme. Students can choose to complete part of their studies at a partner institution, allowing them to earn two separate diplomas—one from each institution. The specific terms and structure of the double degree scheme are formalized in an agreement between the partner institutions. This arrangement can apply to both bachelor's and master's programmes.

An integrated curriculum coordinated and offered jointly by different higher education institutions and leading to a joint degree or double/multiple degrees. The joint study programme should lead to new jointly developed programme-level learning outcomes, but can be based on existing and/or newly developed course offer at the respective participating institutions.

Possible outcomes in degree-awarding upon successful completion of the joint study programme:

• Joint degree: A single document awarded by higher education institutions offering the joint programme and nationally acknowledged as the recognised award of the joint programme.
• Double/multiple degrees: Separate degrees awarded by higher education institutions offering the joint programme attesting to the successful completion of the joint programme. If two degrees are awarded by two institutions, this is a ‘double degree’.

Please note that ENLIGHT is funded by Erasmus+ in the frame of the European Universities Initiative. The funding should therefore be linked to activities targeting education, research and service to society. The Erasmus+ funding is not designed to directly pay for any activities related to the preparation or development of applications to any other funding programmes. Pure research projects are not eligible, as there are other funding mechanisms for that. Research should be valorised in education and service to society. We quote from the European Universities call: "The European Universities call targets the strategic transformation of European Universities across all their missions. However, it is not designed to fund the research activities per se - e.g. life science research, applied research and/or social sciences research and humanities research - where ethic approvals are required and should be obtained from ethics committees. Ethics does not apply to this call. The proposals have not been ethically screened (as is the case for the research-related EU grants) - due to the fact that research activities raising ethics issues are not the eligible type of activities to be funded. There are specific funding programmes/mechanisms (eg. Horizon Europe) designed for this purpose."

Applicants should note the main objectives of an alliance:

• Promote common European values and a strengthened European identity by bringing together a new generation of Europeans who are able to cooperate and work within different European and global cultures, in different languages, and across borders, sectors and academic disciplines.
• Reach a substantial leap in quality, performance, attractiveness and international competitiveness and enable deep institutional transformation of involved European higher education institutions and contribute to the European knowledge economy, employment, creativity, culture and welfare by making best use of innovative pedagogies and striving to make the knowledge square4 a reality. European Universities will be key drivers to boost the quality of higher education and where possible to strengthen its links to the research and innovation landscape in Europe and its outreach towards the society and economy.

With this call, ENLIGHT aims to achieve the following specific objective:

Build European knowledge-creating teams (“challenge-based approach”) of academics, possibly together with researchers, students, entrepreneurs, companies, local and regional actors, and civil society actors – depending on the overall strategy and vision of the alliance – working together to address societal and other challenges of their choice in an inter-disciplinary approach through:

• Challenge-based approaches combining shared education, teaching and learning, pedagogical innovation, research and innovation and allowing involved parties to work jointly and across disciplines through investigation and invention, thus reinforcing excellence in education and research and engagement with citizens.
• Innovative learning and training that develop knowledge and equip students, lifelong learners and researchers with critical thinking, entrepreneurial, creative and transversal skills, and innovative spirit relevant for a fast-changing labour market and profound structural transition-driven changes in markets, technologies and society, including through the transfer of research results back into education e.g. in teaching, re-skilling, through student traineeships in research teams.
• Innovative solutions adaptable to different regions in Europe.

The budget is lump sum funding: this implies that you must provide a realistic cost estimation for your budget. The total amount per partner you propose in the application form is a lump sum: you can spend this lump sum as you see fit, provided the project is carried out as described in your proposal. The records and supporting documents must show that the action tasks have been carried out as described, and by whom. The actual costs of the work are not relevant. The European Commission will not focus on financial and budgetary aspects but on output, results, activities and content reporting. You should however follow your internal/national financial regulations. The budget share of each partner will be granted by the home university.

In the application form, we only ask for a total amount per beneficiary. The type of costs you can use to calculate your total budget are:

• purchase costs: travel, accommodation, subsistence, other goods/works/services: consumables, supplies (other than office equipment), services for meetings/seminars, services for communication/dissemination , website, other
• personnel costs: for staff employed by an ENLIGHT university
• subcontracting (limited)

Research activities per se are not funded, as this is Erasmus+ funding there must be a link with education and service to society. See FAQ: 

General principles for eligible costs: they must be in line with your normal practices, reasonable/not excessive, in line with and necessary for the activities proposed. Double funding is not allowed: a cost item cannot be declared more than once in the budget and a cost cannot be declared under another EU grant.

Having doubts? Please reach out to your institutional ENLIGHT office for assistance.

Yes, the University of Bern is eligible for funding, but since Switzerland is not part of the Erasmus+ program, its funding comes from Swiss Movetia rather than Erasmus+. Each partner receives funding from their home university, with Bern's share specifically covered by Movetia.

When applying, you must allocate the total budget among the partners. For example, if you apply for a Thematic Network with four partners, including Bern, you can divide the maximum budget of €100,000 among them. Each partner will then receive their allocated budget from their respective home university. In Bern's case, their share of this funding will come from Swiss Movetia instead of Erasmus+.

Yes, colleagues from non-ENLIGHT universities can take part in a project proposal and in the proposed activities. However, external partners cannot be granted any ENLIGHT budget and will have to fund their participation with other funding. 

Any member of the ENLIGHT community, professor, postdoc, administrative staff member, (PhD) student can submit a project as coordinator, as long as this person is entitled to manage a budget at his/her university and remains in position for the duration of the proposed project.

Please note that regulations differ between the ENLIGHT universities. Please contact your ENLIGHT coordinator in case of doubt.

Activities funded with the Erasmus+ grant can only take place in eligible countries:

• EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs)).
• Non-EU countries: third countries associated to the Erasmus+ Programme (including EEA countries: Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein), countries which are in ongoing negotiations for an association agreement to the Erasmus+ programme and where that agreement enters into force before the grant signature (North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey) and
• Non-EU countries: Western Balkans third countries not associated to the programme: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Kosovo (This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.)

   

Please note that all three calls have different purposes. In general, different types of activities are targeted.

Colleagues can be involved in similar proposals and quality will be the first criterion for selection. However, we do not recommend parallel applications in different calls, if they are submitted by the same group of people about the very same topic and proposing the same activities. In any event, the same activities cannot be double funded.

Further, ENLIGHT+ applications are preferably not used with the only direct purpose to develop another application for one of the ENLIGHT calls (Incubator Grant or ETN). Applicants are encouraged to show ambition, but this ambition should not be to apply only for other ENLIGHT funding.