PRIMA - Call 2026 - Section 2

Since 2018, PRIMA Foundation has launched annual joint Euro-Mediterranean transnational calls for collaborative R&I projects, aiming to create a collaboration framework to promote stability and prosperity in the Mediterranean area. More information about PRIMA Partnership can be accessed at FCT webpage dedicated to PRIMA (see Useful Links).

The thematic areas foreseen in PRIMA call - section 2 for projects, 2026, are focused in the three pillars of the PRIMA Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA), which are:

Thematic Area 1 – Water management in the Nexus

Topic 2.1.1-2026 (RIA): Leveraging Ecosystem Functions and Enhancing Water Allocation for the Protection and Restoration of Non-Perennial Watercourses in the Mediterranean;

Thematic Area 2 – Farming systems in the Nexus

Topic 2.2.1-2026 (RIA): Novel remote and non-invasive ICT monitoring and control systems against disease and pest infestation;

Thematic Area 3 – Food value chain in the Nexus

Topic 2.3.1-2026 (RIA):  Empowering Mediterranean Food Value Chains through Context-Aware Digital Traceability;

integrating the water-energy-food-ecosystems (WEFE) Nexus approach across all the topics.

Depending on the research questions addressed, projects may deliver tangible outputs and enhance technological and social innovation.

1. The following are individual or co-promotion beneficiaries:

a) Non-entrepreneurial entities of the R&I system, namely:

    i. Higher education institutions, their institutes and R&D units;

    ii. State, Associated or International Laboratories based in Portugal;

   iii. Private non-profit institutions whose main purpose is R&D activities, including Collaborative Laboratories (CoLab) and Technology and Innovation Centres (TIC);

   iv. Other non-profit public and private institutions developing or participating in scientific research activities.

b) Companies of any nature and in any legal form.

The information contained in this section does not exempt you from consulting Article 3 of the Regulation of projects financed exclusively by national funds, Regulation no. 5/2024, of 3 January, which amends and republishes Regulation no. 999/2016, of 31 October (see FCT Regulation in Call Documents).

PRIMA section 2, 2026 call presents a double submission phases for proposals, evaluated and selected, based on the Horizon Europe Programme Participation Rules.

Each Proposing Institution (PI) that is part of a transnational consortium can only apply for funding from the Participating Funding Agencies (PFA) of its country or region. See the Call Text (under Call Documents), for information on the eligibility rules of each PFA and on the transnational eligibility rules. For a proposal to be eligible, it must comply with the national and transnational eligibility rules.

To submit their application, each Portuguese PI wishing to apply for funding from FCT should:

1. Consult the Call Documents area.
2. Consult FCT eligibility rules in national regulations.
3. Submit, by the transnational consortium coordinator, the proposal form on the application submission platform (see Important links) until 12:00 GMT in mainland Portugal on 15/05/2026 (1st phase) and 29.09.2026 (2nd phase).
4. Send to FCT, within 10 working days after the deadline for submitting the application, a Statement of Commitment (SoC) completed and signed by the Portuguese Researcher in Charge (RC) identified by the PI and by a qualified representative of the PI. The SoC should be sent to the email address indicated in Contacts.

Please note:

• Failure to send the SoC to FCT on the date referred to in paragraph 4, or the unjustified delivery of the SoC after that deadline, or the delivery of an incomplete SoC, without one of the two parts – RC and PI – that make it up or without the signatures of the Portuguese RC and/or a qualified representative of the Portuguese PI, will result in the application being declared ineligible.
• If two or more Portuguese applicants from the same transnational consortium apply for funding from FCT, each must send a completed and signed SoC to FCT.
• One SoC must be sent to FCT for each application submitted by the same RC and PI.
• Portuguese partners of transnational consortia that do not apply for funding from FCT do not need to submit the SoC to FCT.
• The PI stamp or white seal is only required on manually signed SoC.

The information on this page is only a summary of the call, does not exempt the candidates from carefully reading all the call documents available on this page and on the call website (see Important links) and refers only to FCT’s participation in this call, unless expressly indicated.

Minimum constitution of a PRIMA project consortium - section 2, consists of:

Three legal entities established in three different countries and belonging to any of the States participating in PRIMA program (PS), of which:

- at least one entity must be established in a Member State of the European Union (MS), or in a Third Country associated with Horizon Europe (AC), not belonging to a Third Country not associated with Horizon Europe (TC).

- at least one entity must be established in a Third Country bordering the Mediterranean Sea (MPC): Algeria, Jordan, Israel, Tunisia, Morocco, Lebanon, Egypt and Turkey.

The remaining entity(ies) may be from an EU Member State (or Associated country or MPC).

The three entities from the three countries must be independent of each other.

The list of eligible countries can be found in pages 94 and 95, section 2, B – Eligibility, in PRIMA Annual Work Plan 2026 (AWP 2026).

Elegibility

The eligibility check of applications is carried out at both stages of the call (pre-proposal submission stage and full proposal submission stage):

• National/Regional Funding Agencies check national eligibility of applications, ensuring compliance with the formal requirements in the applicable national/regional regulations and other applicable documents (see FCT Regulation, Normas de execução financeira and national annexes in the Call Documents area).
• Transnational eligibility check of applications will be performed by the Call Secretariat, according to the transnational eligibility criteria presented in the Call Text in the Call Documents area.

Please note:

• For a proposal to be declared eligible it must fulfil both the national and transnational criteria.

Evaluation

The call includes two evaluation phases:

• Pre-proposal evaluation stage.
• Full proposal evaluation stage.

Applications will be assessed by an evaluation panel, consisting on independent international experts, in accordance with the evaluation criteria described in the Call Text in the Call Documents area, according to the following criteria:

1. Excellence

2. Impact

3. Quality and efficiency of the implementation

It is up to the participating national/regional funding agencies to decide which applications to recommend for funding.

• FCT financial commitment for the call: 1.200.000€
• Maximum requested funding for a consortium with Portuguese coordination: 250.000€
• Maximum requested funding for a consortium with Portuguese participation: 120.000€

Please note:

• Portuguese institutions funding must follow FCT’s Regulation no. 5/2024, of 3 January, which amends and republishes Regulation no. 999/2016, of 31 October (see FCT Regulation and Normas de execução financeira, in the Call Documents area, and the applicable national and European legislation).
• If more than one Portuguese applicant from the same transnational consortium applies for funding from FCT, the combined budget requested from FCT by the Portuguese applicants may not exceed the maximum funding limit for a consortium with Portuguese coordination 250.000€ or with Portuguese participation 120.000€. The Portuguese applicants of the same transnational consortium will have to share the funding that will be granted by FCT.
• The dedication (FTE) in transnational projects is not considered for the 100% (FTE) dedication to national projects.
• Under the terms of number 2 of Article 7 of the Regulation on projects funded solely by national funds, payments made directly or indirectly to companies through the Proposing Institution cannot exceed 50% of the total cost of the company’s participation

Call Website

Reference Documents

Rules for Participation of Horizon Europe

Sílvia Silva

silvia.silva@fct.pt

Tel: (+351) 213924366