MBIE Horizon Europe top-up funding scheme

MBIE’s top-up funding is intended to help New Zealand partners in Horizon Europe projects cover the full cost of their participation, recognising that the way we fund our research organisations is different than in Europe.

Projects funded under Horizon Europe receive a flat rate of 25% of eligible direct costs from the European Commission to cover indirect costs (i.e., overheads), such as administrative and institutional running costs. The MBIE top-up funding will bring the overheads rate to 100% of the eligible direct costs for eligible New Zealand participants.

The funding available

Funding is available through the Catalyst: Strategic fund for New Zealand entities contracted by the European Commission under Horizon Europe Pillar 2 actions. MBIE does no additional assessment of the merits of the individual projects.

A cap of NZD$1.05 million (excluding GST) of top-up funding will apply per project. If multiple New Zealand partners are involved in a project and the combined top-up funding exceeds the cap, the funding will be pro-rated according to their share of the budget.

To be eligible for the top-up funding, New Zealand entities must notify MBIE of their participation in Horizon Europe proposals by providing basic information within 10 working days of proposal submission to the European Commission through the process outlined below. Entities that are not registered with MBIE will be deemed ineligible for top-up funding (funding from the Horizon Europe project is not affected).

Please note that where there are multiple New Zealand partners in the same project, each entity must register their participation separately to be eligible for top-up funding.

Eligibility

To be eligible for funding, each New Zealand entity must:

• be a consortium partner in a Horizon Europe Pillar 2 action
• have registered its participation with MBIE no later than 10 working days after the Horizon Europe submission closing date.
• meet the administrative requirements of MBIE; this may include providing supporting documentation.
• not be a department of the public service as listed in Schedule 2 of the Public Service Act 2020.

Projects must not benefit a Russian state institution (including but not limited to support for Russian military or security activity) or an organisation outside government that may be perceived as contributing to the war effort.

Application information

The top-up funding scheme is managed through MBIE’s Pītau investment management system, a secure online portal that lets applicants view, edit, and submit funding applications and manage contracts.

• Pītau investment management system

If you are not already registered, you will first need to request access to Pītau. Once you have been sent an activation code for Pītau you will also need to login with RealMe.

• Request access to Pītau

Application for the top-up scheme is a two-stage process.

Stage 1: Registration.

• Each entity must complete its registration no later than 10 working days after the proposal submission deadline 
• You will need to provide some basic information about the project, such as your consortium partners and requested budget.
• We recommend you use the registration template provided to draft the required information. When ready to submit, you can copy and paste the information into the appropriate Pītau fields.

Stage 2: Application.

• Successful Horizon Europe consortia will prepare a Grant Agreement with the European Commission. Once the Grant Agreement is signed, you can proceed to the application stage to request MBIE top-up funding.
• You will need to confirm the final project details and provide some additional information about the project.
• We recommend you use the application template provided to draft the required information. When ready to submit, you can copy and paste the necessary segments into the appropriate Pītau fields, and upload your supporting documentation where directed.
• The information in the application will form the basis of the MBIE funding contract.

Key documents

The following templates are available to assist you with your registration. You can use these to prepare the required inputs in advance, and then copy the content into Pītau when you are ready.

Horizon Europe Top-up Scheme Registration Template - Catalyst Fund [DOCX, 167 KB]

• Use this template to help you register

Horizon Europe Top-Up Scheme Application Template - Catalyst Fund [DOCX, 143 KB]

• Use this template to help you submit your application

Sample funding contract for Horizon Europe top-up-fund [PDF, 456 KB]

Contracting, reporting and monitoring

Contracting

Successful applicants will enter into a funding contract with MBIE (see key documents sections for an example), subject to any special conditions being met. The total value of the top-up contract will be set based on the applicant’s eligible direct costs in the Horizon Europe project budget, converted from EUR to NZD using the Reserve Bank of New Zealand – Te Pūtea Matua daily exchange rate. The exchange rate will be fixed to the date the Horizon Europe Grant Agreement is signed with the European Commission and will not be adjusted throughout the life of the contract.

Payments

Subject to specific contract conditions, funding will be provided in monthly instalments of equal value, spreading the total contract amount over the duration of the project. The first payment will be made on the next available payment date after the contract has been signed by both parties.

Reporting and monitoring

MBIE has reporting and monitoring requirements for all funding contracts, including for the top-up scheme. Reporting will mostly include an annual declaration that the organisation remains an active partner and has met all project requirements.
MBIE may request copies of the New Zealand partner’s reporting to the European Commission (through the Coordinator).

Contact details

For more information, email:
HorizonEuropeBidRegistration@mbie.govt.nz