Consortium members

DLR Project Management Agency - DLR-PT
For more than four decades, the DLR Project Management Agency has been committed to strengthening Germany as a hub of research, education and innovation. As one of the largest project management agencies in Germany, our highly qualified employees currently man-age more than 10,000 projects with total annual funds of around 1.4 billion Euros.
Having a strong background in R&D strategy and policy implementation with particular emphasis on international relations, DLR-PT is especially dedicated to international cooperation activities. It supports bilateral cooperation in science, technology and education with about 50 countries worldwide in an effort to facilitate the preparation and implementation of international cooperation activities. DLR also coordinates the German Network of National Contact Points (NCPs), including the NCP for MSCA Actions. DLR-PT coordinates the MSCAdvocacy project and leads various work packages, while contributing in all of them.


Centre for Regional and International STI Studies and Support - CeRISS
The Centre for Regional and International STI Studies and Support – CeRISS (Athens, Greece) is an independent organisation dedicated to Studies and Research-support activities in the field of Science, Technology and Innovation, with a specific expertise in International Cooperation. CeRISS has longstanding experience in supporting the STI policy dialogue between EU and other countries and regions.
Building on that expertise related to the development of policy intelligence, CeRISS will provide support to the preparation of the R&I Joint Committee meetings and the regional policy dialogue fora with regards to promoting MSCA cooperation with the countries and regions targeted by the project. In parallel CeRISS implements a qualitative monitoring of participation in MSCA calls of the 20 countries and regions targeted by the project, while is overall responsible to liaise with the Eastern Partnership countries. Last but not least, CeRISS will be in charge of the preparation of recommendations for MSCA strategic promotion, based on the intelligence that will be developed throughout the project’s lifetime.


Sociedade Portuguesa de Inovação - SPI
Sociedade Portuguesa de Inovação (SPI) is a consulting company, created in 1996, with a deep knowledge of the private and public sectors as well as of the processes that allow its clients to foster innovation, be competitive and generate growth. SPI’s strong links with companies, business associations, cluster, universities, research centres, municipalities, regional and central administrations and leading international organizations such as the European Commission, allow it to provide high value-added services in the different areas of innovation.
Based on its rich experience in network cooperation in different world regions, SPI takes the lead on” Towards cross-cutting strategic international cooperation in MSCA”. The work will focus on supporting joint committee meetings, local/regional dialogues and policy dialogue fora while collecting and channelling information that will orient project activities and MSCA promotion plans. This will also include monitoring and evaluation activities regarding the implementation of the mutually-agreed MSCA promotions plans, a continuous interaction with the relevant MSCA stakeholders identified and the production of recommendations for strategic promotion in MSCA consistent with broader EU R&I policies. SPI is responsible to liaise with Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, India, Mexico and the ASEAN region.

CIHEAM BARI – Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari
CIHEAM is a Mediterranean intergovernmental organisation composed of 13 Member States (Albania, Algeria, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia and Turkey). The headquarters are based in Paris while operations are articulated through 4 institutes: Bari (Italy), Montpellier (France), Chania (Greece) and Zaragoza (Spain).
CIHEAM BARI is a centre for post-graduate training, applied scientific research and design of in loco partnership actions within the framework of international research and cooperation programmes. Its mission is to promote sustainable agriculture in the Mediterranean focusing on training, research and cooperation. In line with CIHEAM’s Action Plan 2025 for the Mediterranean (CAPMED 2025), CIHEAM Bari is involved in a number of activities which provide a platform for institutions and organizations wishing to cooperate across the Mediterranean area.
Cooperation and research actions concern important issues such as food security, poverty alleviation, capacity building at institutional level, more efficient use of natural resources, improvement of agricultural production and productivity, promotion of organic farming, development of sustainable food systems, resilience to climate change, integrated management of coastal areas, gender empowerment, fisheries, and aquaculture, etc. The networking activities conducted by CIHEAM Bari involve hundreds of institutions located in several countries, consolidating professional contacts, institutional and multi-stakeholder partnerships, country-to-country relationships, and joint initiatives with the private sector. This paves the way to self-generating exchange of information, technical and professional expertise, publications, innovative research and educational activities, conferences, and seminars.


Zentrum für Soziale Innovation GmbH - ZSI
Zentrum für Soziale Innovation GmbH (Centre for Social Innovation) is a trans-disciplinary, non-for-profit, social science research institute. Located in Vienna, Austria, the institute employs around 60 people, most of them researchers from different disciplinary backgrounds. ZSI offers analyses and concepts for promoting and implementing social innovation in its thematically focused areas from a transdisciplinary perspective.
Based on rich experience in network cooperation in different world regions, ZSI takes the lead on ”Coordination and Support Mission: Promotion of MSCA cooperation opportunities”. Efforts focus on strengthening the complementarities with other relevant cooperation initiatives funded through Horizon Europe and other EU programmes in order to promote the international cooperation opportunities under MSCA programme with regard to broader EU policies in a more coherent way. ZSI supports the coordinator with regard to “Dissemination, Exploitation and Communication” and is responsible to liaise with Switzerland, South Africa, Ukraine and the Western Balkan region.