TL;DR: National Contact Points (NCPs) are the free, official advisory network for Horizon Europe. Every participating country designates its own NCP structure — recognised by the European Commission — to give applicants guidance on topic fit, help find consortium partners, review draft proposals informally, and explain how a call connects to national research priorities. This guide covers what the network does and how to use it; for the programme itself, see Horizon Europe and EU Research Funding: An Overview.
What is a National Contact Point?
A National Contact Point is a person, team, or office that a country has formally designated to provide guidance and support on Horizon Europe participation, and that the European Commission recognises as the official information channel for that country. NCPs exist in every EU member state and in the non-EU countries associated to Horizon Europe, and in a more limited advisory capacity in some non-associated (“third”) countries as well.
The network operates under a common minimum standard — the NCP Guiding Principles, agreed by the participating countries — which sets out the baseline services every NCP should offer, even though how each country implements that baseline varies considerably. Some countries run a single centralised NCP office covering the whole programme; others operate a decentralised network with a separate contact point per pillar or thematic cluster (for example, a dedicated NCP for Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, one for the European Research Council, and others for individual Cluster areas such as Health, Digital and Industry, or Climate). NCPs are hosted by a range of organisation types depending on the country — ministries, national research funding agencies, universities, research councils, and in some cases private consulting firms working under a national mandate.
Critically, NCP guidance is free of charge to applicants, and NCPs are not evaluators. Their feedback on a draft proposal is informal advice, not a prediction of how an independent expert reviewer will score it, and using an NCP carries no bearing on eligibility or outcome. This is a different mechanism from the EU Funding & Tenders Portal registration steps (PIC, LEAR) an organisation must complete regardless of whether it uses NCP support.
What services NCPs provide
The exact offer varies by country and by how centralised or thematic that country’s network is, but the NCP Guiding Principles establish a common core:
- Topic and instrument guidance. Help matching a research idea to the right Horizon Europe call, topic, and type of action (Research and Innovation Action, Innovation Action, Coordination and Support Action, and so on) before an applicant commits time to a full proposal.
- Proposal feedback. Many NCPs will read a draft proposal and give informal comments on clarity, structure, and how well it addresses the call’s expected outcomes — distinct from and no substitute for the formal, scored evaluation carried out by independent experts after submission.
- Partner search assistance. Since most Horizon Europe collaborative calls require a multi-country consortium, NCPs help applicants find partners abroad, often through their own networks of counterpart NCPs in other countries and through partner-search tools linked from the EU Funding & Tenders Portal.
- Administrative and contractual advice. Explaining participation rules, eligibility conditions, the Grant Agreement structure, and other procedural questions that come up between a call opening and a signed award.
- Training and documentation. Proposal-writing workshops, information days tied to specific calls, and distribution of official templates, guides, and work programme documents.
- National-priority and complementary-funding guidance. NCPs are typically the best-placed source on how a given call connects to that country’s own research and innovation priorities, and on national top-up or complementary funding schemes that can sit alongside a Horizon Europe grant.
Support is not limited to the application stage: NCPs generally remain a point of contact through submission and, for some questions, into the early stages of project implementation.
How to find and use your country’s NCP
Two official directories cover the whole network:
- The EU Funding & Tenders Portal‘s National Contact Points page lists official NCPs by country and topic area, maintained directly by the European Commission.
- The Horizon Europe NCP Portal (the network’s own coordination site) provides a “Find your NCP” lookup by country and thematic area, along with shared resources the network produces collectively.
UK-based applicants have an additional route: since the UK’s formal re-association to Horizon Europe, UKRI operates its own Horizon Europe contact and support services alongside the standard NCP structure.
To get the most out of an NCP, it generally helps to approach them early and be specific:
- Contact your NCP before finalising which call or topic you intend to target, not after a full draft is written — topic-selection guidance is one of the most valuable and time-sensitive services they offer.
- If you already have a consortium role in mind (coordinator vs. partner), say so — it changes what partner-search and administrative advice is relevant.
- Ask specifically for feedback against the call’s evaluation criteria (excellence, impact, implementation) rather than a general read, since that is how proposals are actually scored.
- If your project spans several thematic areas, ask whether your country’s network has a dedicated NCP for each relevant pillar or cluster — you may need more than one contact.
What an NCP is not
An NCP is not a reviewer, does not sit on evaluation panels, and cannot influence or predict a proposal’s score. It is not a replacement for the mandatory organisational steps on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal (registration, PIC, LEAR appointment), and it is not a professional grant-writing or consulting service in the commercial sense — the guidance is advisory and free, and capacity varies: a heavily subscribed NCP during a popular call’s final weeks may have less time available than earlier in the cycle, which is another reason to make contact early.
Frequently asked questions
Is using a National Contact Point mandatory for a Horizon Europe application?
No. NCP support is optional and free. Many successful applicants never contact one, particularly experienced consortia; NCPs exist to lower the barrier for newer or less experienced applicants and institutions.
Do NCPs write or edit proposals for applicants?
No. NCPs give feedback and guidance, but authoring the proposal remains the applicant’s and consortium’s responsibility. Some institutions separately maintain internal grant-writing support through their research office, which is a different service from the national NCP network.
Can an NCP help find consortium partners in other countries?
Yes — partner search is one of the network’s core services, typically carried out through the NCP’s own contacts with counterpart NCPs abroad and through partner-search functionality on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal.
Is there one NCP per country or one per topic?
It depends on the country. Some operate a single, centralised NCP covering all of Horizon Europe; others designate separate NCPs for different pillars or thematic clusters (for example, a distinct contact for Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions or the European Research Council versus one for Cluster-specific topics). Check your country’s listing on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal or the Horizon Europe NCP Portal to see which model applies.
Does contacting an NCP affect how a proposal is evaluated?
No. NCPs are not evaluators and have no role in scoring. Their feedback is informal advice offered before submission; the independent expert evaluation that determines funding decisions is entirely separate.
Related CASRAI guides
- Horizon Europe and EU Research Funding: An Overview — the programme’s three pillars, funding instruments, and eligibility rules.
- Horizon Europe Success Rates: What the Data Shows by Pillar and Call — current success-rate data by pillar and instrument.
- EU Funding and Tenders Portal: Registration, PIC, and LEAR Role — the organisational registration steps every applicant needs regardless of NCP use.
