Free Horizon Europe Webinar Sessions September 2026

Two free live webinars where we will share practical lessons learned directly from our own experience managing, coordinating and implementing Horizon Europe projects.

Let me see the webinars

Monday 21 september at 11:00 CEST (1 hour)

AI in Horizon Europe Proposal Writing: Benefits, Pitfalls and Lessons Learned

Artificial Intelligence is rapidly becoming part of the Horizon Europe proposal writing process. But where does it actually add value, and where can it create risks? As many applicants have already discovered, not all proposal writing activities are equally suitable for AI, and relying on AI in the wrong way can introduce risks that ultimately weaken a proposal. While the technology itself continues to evolve rapidly, the official guidance and regulations remain limited, and best practices are far from established. AI systems are not always transparent in how they generate content, their outputs are not always reliable, and their limitations are not yet fully understood by many users.

This webinar is intended as a collective knowledge-sharing platform for the Horizon Europe community to exchange experiences, practical examples, success stories, frustrations, concerns and lessons learned from their own use of AI. Following a short introductory presentation, the session will provide space for participants to talk about the use of AI throughout the proposal development process, from analysing call texts and generating proposal concepts to drafting sections and mock evaluations. We will explore where AI can genuinely add value, where it should be used with caution, and where applicants should think twice before using it at all.

Whether you are an enthusiastic adopter, a sceptic, or simply curious about the role of AI in proposal writing, join us to hear a balanced and realistic perspective based on collective experience rather than hype. 

Together, we will discuss questions such as: 

- During which phases of proposal preparation can AI be used with confidence? 

- Which proposal development tasks are particularly well suited to AI support? 

- Where should AI-generated outputs be carefully reviewed and validated? 

- What are the most common pitfalls, limitations and risks encountered by applicants? 

- Are there specific proposal development activities where the use of AI should be avoided altogether?

Trainer: Ömer Ceylan, Trainer & Consultant, Managing Director of Geonardo

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wednesday 23 September at 11:00 CEST (1 hour)

Grant Writing for Young Researchers - MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships and ERC Starting Grants

Starting your research funding journey can feel overwhelming: different schemes, different rules, different expectations, and very little time to understand what really matters. This free webinar will give early-career researchers a practical introduction to grant writing, with a focus on MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships and ERC Starting Grants.

In 45 minutes, we will explain how these calls work, what reviewers usually look for, and how proposal writing differs from writing a research paper. You will get practical tips to shape your project idea, avoid common mistakes, and outline the core elements of a convincing proposal concept. 

This session will cover:

- Quick overview of key funding schemes: MSCA, ERC  

- How proposal preparation  and evaluation processes work 

- What evaluators value in early-career researcher proposals 

- Research paper vs. project proposal: key differences and common mistakes 

- Practical tips to draft your project idea in 5–10 clear lines

Trainer: Paolo Simonelli, External expert - European partnerships and innovation projects manager

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Registration

Feel free to join one session or attend both.

Our trainers are excited to offer these free and live webinar sessions to you! 

However, please note that presentations and recordings will not be available afterwards, so we encourage you to join us live to get the most out of this opportunity!

Tick the webinars you would like to register to and we will send you the login details.

Why Europa Media?

Europa Media is Europe’s leading provider of practical training courses on EU’s research and innovation programmes. We have 25 years of experience in developing and implementing projects under the Framework Programmes. Under Horizon 2020, we have been involved successfully in over 30 projects, coordinating six of them. Under the first work programmes of Horizon Europe, we are currently involved in 11 collaborative projects, coordinating one of them. Europa Media’s trainers are actual project managers, coordinators, and financial administrators of these projects, sharing their stories and providing you with hands-on tips based on their everyday experience. For the past 20 years, they have been supporting all the major institutions as well as several of the NCPs in the Member States and countries associated to the Framework Programmes. This event, as always, has been designed based on our direct hands-on experience with EU research and innovation proposals and is, therefore, 100% practice-driven. Our practical approach has attracted over 10,000 participants from all over the world in the past 15 years. Read more about our projects here. 

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