The International Excellence Hubs Week 2026 will take place online from 23 to 30 October 2026, offering prospective applicants opportunities to learn about the Excellence Hubs call under the Widening component of Horizon Europe, explore existing projects and build partnerships for future proposals.
Organised by the Polish National Contact Point for EU Research Programmes (DKPK/NCBR), the event series will bring together representatives of universities, research organisations, businesses, clusters, public authorities, NGOs and other stakeholders interested in strengthening regional innovation ecosystems and developing a place-based innovation culture.
The HORIZON-WIDERA-2027-04-WIDENING-01: Excellence Hubs call allows innovation ecosystems in Widening countries and beyond, to team up and create better linkages between academia, business, government and society. The focus is on place-based innovation support and boosting regional and national smart specialisation strategies. Coordination of the calls is limited to legal entities established in Widening countries and proposals must involve at least two R&I ecosystems from two different Widening countries.
The HORIZON-WIDERA-2027-04-WIDENING-01: Excellence Hubs call is open until 4 March 2027. For more information visit the call page.
Programme overview
The programme includes an Info Day, live streams of presentations from funded Excellence Hubs projects, a brokerage event to support consortium building, and a dedicated question-and-answer session with coordinators of ongoing projects.
Excellence Hubs Info Day – 23 October 2026
09:00–13:00 CEST | Online via Microsoft Teams
No registration required.
The Info Day will provide practical guidance on preparing a competitive Excellence Hubs proposal within WIDERA Horizon Europe EU Framework Programme, including the call objectives, consortium building, budgeting rules and lessons learned from previous calls.
WIDERA National Contact Points from Poland, Czechia and Türkiye will share advice on proposal preparation, discuss outcomes of previous calls and highlight common evaluator comments.
Join the Info Day online via Microsoft Teams
Excellence Hubs project presentations – 26 and 27 October 2026
The two online sessions will stream presentations from the Excellence Hubs Community Joint Event in Athens, showcasing the work of funded projects and their approaches to building regional innovation ecosystems.
Prospective applicants will have the opportunity to learn about existing projects’ objectives, activities and results, explore different thematic areas and implementation approaches, and draw inspiration for developing their own proposals. No registration required.
Day 1: Monday, 26 October, 08:00–11:30 CEST
Day 2: Tuesday, 27 October, 08:00–11:45 CEST
The sessions will be broadcast live, without direct interaction between online participants and presenters. A dedicated Q&A session on 30 October will provide a further opportunity to raise questions and exchange views with members of the Excellence Hubs community.
Excellence Hubs Brokerage Event – 28 October 2026
Online via the b2match platform, register here.
The brokerage event will help prospective applicants identify potential partners and build strong consortia for the Excellence Hubs call. It offers an opportunity to connect with organisations interested in collaborating on proposals and strengthening regional innovation ecosystems. The networking and registration are open during and 3 months after the event.
Access the International Excellence Hubs Week event information for further details.
Excellence Hubs Q&A session – 30 October 2026
The week will conclude with a dedicated online Q&A session, giving participants the opportunity to discuss key topics, clarify outstanding questions and exchange views with coordinators of ongoing Excellence Hubs projects.
Further information
All events will be held in English, are free of charge and open to interested participants. The events can be participated in independent of each other.
Call deadline: 4 March 2027. Prospective applicants are encouraged to use the event series to develop their understanding of the call, learn from funded projects and identify suitable partners.