EU Award for Gender Equality Champions

Nominations are open for the EU Award for Gender Equality Champions, an EU recognition prize in the field of gender equality and inclusiveness under the Widening participation and strengthening the European Research Area Work Programme of the Horizon Europe Framework Programme fro Research and Innovation.

The “EU Award for (Academic) Gender Equality Champions” is a Prize scheme meant as a booster and complement to the requirement for higher education and research organisations applying to Horizon Europe to have in place a Gender Equality Plan (GEP) as an eligibility criterion, and a tool for advancing inclusive gender equality plans and policies in the framework of the new ERA policy agenda, as well as an enabler for the transformation agenda for universities set in the new ERA, in synergy with the European Education Area (EEA) and the European Higher Education Area (EHEA, Bologna process), and in line with the new Communication on a European Strategy for Universities adopted on 18 January 2022.

Objectives

The Prize will be awarded to four academic or research organisations, and contestants can apply to one among the following three prize categories:
- Sustainable Gender Equality Champions: Organisations that can demonstrate a significant and sustained record of activity and a high level of achievement through the implementation of their GEP;
- Newcomer Gender Equality Champions: Organisations that have recently started implementing a GEP and can demonstrate the most progress in its implementation and achieved results;
- Inclusive Gender Equality Champions: Organisations that have developed the most innovative inclusive GEP addressing intersections with other social categories such as ethnicity, social origin, sexual orientation and gender identity (LGBTIQ) or disability.

Funding Information

Each prize winner will receive €100,000.
Each prize winner will receive EUR 0.1 million. The maximum prize budget is EUR 0.4 million. There will be two winners in the prize category “Sustainable Gender Equality Champions”, one winner in the prize category “Newcomer Gender Equality Champions”, and one winner in the prize category “Inclusive Gender Equality Champions”.

Expected Outcomes

Enable the creation of a European community of academic and research champions in institutional transformation towards inclusive gender equality.
Strengthening of the inclusiveness and connectivity objectives under the new European Research Area.

Expected Results

The prizes will boost public awareness of the importance of addressing gender equality in academic and research organisations through institutional change, incentivise a high degree of commitment to the implementation of inclusive GEPs, and create a community of champions inspiring other academic and research organisations into becoming gender equality champions themselves.

Eligibility Criteria

In order to be eligible, the applicant must:
- be a legal entity (public or private body)
- be a research performing organisation, including a higher education establishment (e.g. university)
- be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
  - EU Member State (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs))
  - non-EU country associated to the Horizon Europe (associated countries)
- comply with the mandatory requirements of the Horizon Europe Gender Equality Plan eligibility criterion. This means that the applicant’s GEP must meet the four following mandatory process-related requirements:
  - publication: a formal document published on the institution’s website and signed by the top management;
  - dedicated resources: commitment of resources and expertise in gender equality to implement the plan;
  - data collection and monitoring: sex/gender disaggregated data on personnel (and students, for the establishments concerned) and annual reporting based on indicators;
  - training: awareness raising/training on gender equality and unconscious gender biases for staff and decision-makers.
To be considered as complying with the Horizon Europe GEP eligibility criterion, the applicant must have filled in accordingly the corresponding self-declaration GEP questionnaire featured under the Legal Information tab of the Participant Register, accessible through the Funding and Tender Opportunities Portal.
Only applications submitted by a single legal entity will be allowed. Joint applications will not be allowed.
Applicants that have already received an EU or Euratom prize – cannot receive a second prize for the same activities. Winners of any category of the 2022 edition of EU Award for Gender Equality Champions are not eligible for any category of this prize.
All applicants must register in the Participant Register — before the call deadline — and will have to be validated by the Central Validation Service (REA Validation). For the validation, you will be requested to upload documents showing legal status and origin.

Ineligible

Applicants which are subject to an EU exclusion decision or in one of the following exclusion situations that bar them from receiving EU funding can NOT participate:
- bankruptcy, winding up, affairs administered by the courts, arrangement with creditors, suspended business activities or other similar procedures (including procedures for persons with unlimited liability for the applicant’s debts)
- in breach of social security or tax obligations (including if done by persons with unlimited liability for the applicant’s debts)
- guilty of grave professional misconduct (including if done by persons having powers of representation, decision-making or control, beneficial owners or persons who are essential for the award/implementation of the prize)
- committed fraud, corruption, links to a criminal organisation, money laundering, terrorism-related crimes (including terrorism financing), child labour or human trafficking (including if done by persons having powers of representation, decision-making or control, beneficial owners or persons who are essential for the award/implementation of the prize)
- shown significant deficiencies in complying with main obligations under an EU procurement contract, grant agreement, prize, expert contract, or similar (including if done by persons having powers of representation, decision-making or control, beneficial owners or persons who are essential for the award/implementation of the prize)