For a Horizon Europe call, count on up to eight months from the deadline to a signed grant: evaluation takes up to five months, and the grant agreement is generally signed within three months after that. By default, the first payment, the prefinancing, follows within 30 days. Plan the writing before all of it, from the day the call opens.
After you submit a Horizon Europe proposal
- Evaluation
- Up to five months after the deadline
- Grant agreement
- Generally signed within three months of being told you are funded
- First payment
- By default, prefinancing paid 30 days from the agreement entering into force or 10 days before the project starts, whichever is later. Each grant agreement sets its own in its Data Sheet, and some calls pay none.
- The rest
- Paid as the project reports. On a lump sum call, per completed work package.
EIC Accelerator and national schemes
The EIC Accelerator runs in steps. A short proposal is answered in about 4 to 6 weeks; the full proposal goes in at a cut-off date; the interview result follows about three weeks after the interview week. See the EIC Accelerator. National schemes set their own timelines, and each scheme's page links to the agency that runs it.
Questions
Can I start the project before the grant is signed?
You can, at your own cost. Costs count from the project's start date, which the grant agreement sets; work done before it is not funded.
Is the prefinancing the whole grant?
No. It is an advance that gives the project a float, and it remains EU money until the final payment. Part of it is kept back for the Mutual Insurance Mechanism, and the rest of the grant is paid as the project reports.
Sources, checked 23 Sep 2026
- Horizon Europe: how to apply, European Research Executive Agency (evaluation and signature)
- Horizon Europe Model Grant Agreement, Data Sheet point 4.2 and Article 22.3 (prefinancing)
- EIC Accelerator, European Innovation Council (EIC timings)
- EIC Accelerator FAQs, European Innovation Council (interview results)