Consortium partners and participants take on various roles to ensure a project's success. Canada's association to Horizon Europe allows Canadians to hold any of these roles within Pillar 2 project. Learn about consortium roles and how to create a successful consortium.
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Main consortium roles
Consortium roles can vary depending on the nature of the project, but below are the main ones:
Coordinators (project coordinators)
Coordinators are the primary contacts for the European Commission (EC) and are responsible for managing the project. They ensure that the project runs according to the agreed timelines, budget, and work plan.
Work package leaders
Work package leaders are responsible for specific tasks within the project. The work package leader is essentially responsible for the successful delivery of the work package within the project, managing time, resources, and risks, and ensuring alignment with the project's overarching objectives and Horizon Europe expectations. They lead the work package and ensure that the objectives within their area are met.
Partners/beneficiaries
Partners, also known as beneficiaries, are organizations or entities (such as universities, research centers, small- and medium-sized enterprises, industry partners) that contribute their expertise to the project.
Identifying an appropriate consortium partner
The partners added to a consortium depend on both the topic of interest and the idea/project proposed. The first step is to carefully read the call topic to identify potentially relevant partners. Identifying and narrowing down the number of topics of interest will help effectively communicate to potential partners your added value to those topic(s).
All partners must have a clear role and contribution to the project. For help on finding consortium partners, consult our How to find Partners information sheet.
Project roles and responsibilities
Horizon Europe projects aim to provide solutions to challenges that affect society. The input of Canadian citizens and organizations are key for the acceptance of project results and solutions.
As most Horizon Europe projects focus on research and innovation, academic and research institutions often play a large role and usually lead on these activities. This is because the programme is fundamentally structured to use their expertise in foundational, long-term research and their ability to act as neutral coordinators for collaborative projects. However, as the projects' societal impact is equally important, institutions that do not focus on research can participate in a different role. Each project is made up of different tasks:
- Research oriented
- Innovation oriented
- Administrative (such as management)
- Practical (such as communication)
These allow participants to take on different roles within a project: an advisor offering input based on experience, a partner testing a new solution, the owner of a database used for research and innovation, or a stakeholder interested in the results.
Given this, a multi- and interdisciplinary approach involving many actors is encouraged. For example:
- A museum can provide access to its cultural objects, identify needs, and test solutions developed within a project
- An organization focused on migrants can offer knowledge, advise on measures or policies, and facilitate communication with migrants for data collection. This also allows them to learn from the project and contribute to more practical policy recommendations
- A municipality can help implement a living lab or pilot study, allowing theories and methodologies to be tested on the ground on a larger scale, and benefitting from project results
Creating a robust network of collaborators
Because collaborative projects require a consortium of various entities from different countries, a solid network of collaborators is key. Investing in long-term collaborations and networks increases your chances of participating in Horizon Europe. This can involve participating in relevant international conferences, info days, and matchmaking events, and reaching out to partners with complementary expertise to yours.
You can also apply for international collaboration opportunities on smaller projects with smaller consortia, and use these to grow your network for Horizon Europe projects.
Learn from other successful projects
Project websites often provide a good understanding of different partners and their roles. These past and ongoing projects show what is expected of various types of Horizon Europe projects:
- DECIPHER-MPOX – Understand monkeypox
- MBOTE-SK – Stop the South Kivu outbreak
- AIXPERT – Explainable, accountable and transparent artificial intelligence system
- DeepBEAT – Explore deep land deposits
- BLOOM – Extract critical raw materials
- UniMaaS – Manufacturing
- UNDERCOVER – Explore critical raw materials
- ANIPH – Reduce plastic material pollution
- BioFairNet – Sustainable agriculture and mining
- FCI4AFRICA – Enhance fair food and trade systems for Africa