Deadline:
Sep 23, 2026About Horizon Europe & Cluster 2:
Horizon Europe is the EU's €95.5 billion research and innovation programme for 2021–2027. Cluster 2 ("Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society") funds research on democratic governance, social transformation, cultural heritage, and inclusive societies. The 2026–2027 Work Programme explicitly emphasizes international cooperation — including increased collaboration with South-East Asian nations and partners across Africa, the Mediterranean, and Latin America — and notes that entities from most low- and middle-income countries are automatically eligible for EU funding.
About This Topic (HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-DEMOCRACY-02):
This Research and Innovation Action funds projects that build evidence-based understanding of the forms of local democracy in low-income and low-middle-income countries. Expected outcomes include equipping EU institutions and national decision-makers with science-based tools, toolkits, training models, monitoring frameworks, and recommendations to promote inequality reduction, human rights, and democracy — leading to more resilient and inclusive democratic societies in these countries. Crucially, the topic centres on a better understanding of actors at the local level, including their capacity and needs when engaging in democratic practices. In this call, "low- and middle-income countries" are defined as the low-to-middle-income non-associated third countries on the Horizon Europe list of participating countries — a list that includes Nepal.
Funding & Type of Action:
This is a Research and Innovation Action (RIA), funded at 100% of eligible costs. The topic has a total budget of EUR 12 million, with an expected EU contribution of EUR 3.5–4 million per project, and around three projects are expected to be funded. Funding covers personnel, research, travel, equipment, and related costs across the consortium for the project duration.
How Participation & Eligibility Work:
Horizon Europe RIA proposals must be submitted by a consortium of at least three independent legal entities, each established in a different EU Member State or Associated Country (with at least one in an EU Member State). Beyond that core, organizations from elsewhere in the world — including Nepal — can join the consortium as additional partners. Because Nepal is a low/middle-income country on the third-country list, Nepali partners are automatically eligible to receive EU funding for their part of the work. Nepal-based organizations generally participate as partners rather than coordinators, contributing local expertise, data, and field access.
Nepal Relevance & Context:
This call is unusually well-suited to Nepal — not just eligible, but thematically aligned. The research subject is local democracy in low- and low-middle-income countries, and Nepal's federalisation since 2017, its active local-government system, and its vibrant civil society make Nepali research institutions, universities, and CSOs natural and valuable consortium partners. Their local knowledge, fieldwork capacity, and community access are exactly what European-led consortia need for this topic. Nepal's place on the Horizon Europe third-country funding list means a Nepali partner's costs are covered by the EU. The practical pathway is to join (or be recruited into) a consortium led by an EU/Associated-Country institution — via the portal's partner-search, National Contact Points, or existing research networks — well before the 23 September 2026 deadline.
Who Should Apply:
Nepali universities, research institutes, think tanks, and civil-society organizations with expertise in democracy, governance, local government, public administration, political science, development studies, or related social sciences — as partners within an international (EU-led) consortium responding to this topic. Not a solo-applicant opportunity.
KEY DETAILS
Discover a wide range of careers across every industry from design and tech to healthcare and finance. Find roles that match your skills and passion, and take the next step toward your dream job.
Deadline: Sep 6, 2026
Numun Fund offers USD 10,000 to 100,000 in multi-year core funding for feminist tech activism. South Asia is eligible and unregistered groups can apply. Closes 6 September 2026.
Deadline: Sep 11, 2026
PhotoVogue 2026 Global Open Call: $12,000 in grants for photographers and video artists. Exhibition at PhotoVogue Festival + Vogue publication. Free entry. 18+. Any country. Nepal eligible. Sep 11 deadline.
Deadline: Sep 22, 2026
IOC Olympic Studies Centre: Up to $6,000 research grant for PhD students and early career academics researching Olympism/Olympic Movement. Global. Nepal eligible. Deadline: September 22, 2026.
Deadline: Oct 12, 2026
McGraw Fellowship: Up to $15,000 + editorial support for experienced journalists producing investigative/enterprise stories with business/economic angle. 5+ years experience. Twice yearly. Nepal relevant.
