You may already know the ERIS (European Research and Innovation Support) team for the key role they play in supporting VUB researchers with collaborative European funding applications, from admin support to proposal writing.
From time to time, ERIS also puts its own expertise to the test by writing and coordinating its own Horizon Europe proposals. With the newly approved InterACT project, the team has done just that, having obtained a top-ranking score and a total EU budget of € 2.368.800.
With interACT, ERIS moves from backstage to the podium. The project is an MSCA postdoctoral fellowship programme, co-funded under Horizon Europe and IOF, which will allow 14 international postdoctoral researchers to carry out a three-year fellowship at Vrije Universiteit Brussel. The programme will be launched in September 2026 and will be run over a period of five years.
Supporting impact-driven research
InterACT is designed to support postdoctoral researchers in working across disciplines, sectors and policy domains, with a strong focus on societal and policy-relevant impact. Through tailored training, the programme aims to strengthen the science–policy connection and help researchers translate excellent research into societal and policy-driven impact.
The call for applicants will open in September 2026. VUB supervisors will be contacted by potential applicants and/or will be able to share the call with postdoctoral researchers with whom they want to collaborate. For more information, please get in touch with Alessandra Rossetti (Alessandra.Rossetti@vub.be).
ERIS: expertise in practice
This success illustrates what ERIS offers VUB researchers every day: in-depth knowledge of Horizon Europe, hands-on proposal experience, and a strong understanding of what evaluators are looking for. It’s not the first time the ERIS team has coordinated a postdoctoral programme. With InterACT, they will build on the expertise gained from the IMPACT COFUND postdoctoral programme, which will end in 2026.
More information on the first call, which will open in September 2026, will be announced in the coming months. In the meantime, VUB researchers planning a collaborative Horizon Europe application are encouraged to contact ERIS for support.
EU funding acknowledgment: This project is co-funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 101260463.
