GRANTIVITY INTELLIGENCE/HOW THE CHECK WORKS

Inside the Grantivity Sortbox

The funding check works from documents and rules recorded in structured form. Every finding then passes a verification step. The result is a reasoned selection that includes the programmes ruled out.

Basis: Calls and the legal texts behind them
Scope: Europe
Output: Report with cited passages
Evaluation: Discussed with an experienced grant consultant

The database

Recording the guidelines of thousands of programmes

A call text describes what a funder wants this round. Who may apply, which costs count and what has been funded before is often set out elsewhere: in the funding guideline, the framework programme and earlier rounds.

Grantivity records these documents in structured form, so the check works from the rules themselves.

Exclusion first

Applying exclusion, dimension and attractiveness criteria

Before anything is scored, each programme is tested against hard criteria: applicant type, region, subject area, size, deadlines. Most programmes fail at least one of them.

Each exclusion is listed with its reason and the passage it rests on. An excluded programme is a proposal nobody needs to write, which matters most when the number of submissions is limited.

Every finding has a source

Tracing each finding to its source

Each finding in a report names the document and the passage it comes from, for example a numbered section of a funding guideline. Readers can check every decision themselves and use the reference in their own planning.

Readiness

Identifying readiness gaps before applying

A programme can be open to an institution and still be out of reach this round. The readiness finding compares institutional and personal capacity with what the programme requires:

capacity to write and manage the proposal
co-financing and budget rules
track record and preliminary work
partners and consortium requirements

Gaps are named concretely, so it is clear what would need to change before an application has a chance.

Verification

Combining verified selection rules with automated data handling

1 · Rule-based: Exclusion criteria such as applicant type, region or deadline are applied to rule programmes out.
2 · Manual: Each cited passage is checked against the finding made about it.

Findings that fail either stage are removed or marked for review before a report goes out.

Sample report: Transformation design

Sortbox Report

Lead: Research group in transformation design at a public university of art and design in Germany; six members
Partners: A coastal municipality in Portugal and a climate research institute in Ireland
Project: Climate futures for the municipality and its region
Methods: Speculative design, future foresight and design thinking, with art, science communication and community engagement
Track record: Partner in one earlier EU project
Checked: About 5,000 programmes compared; 9 checked in depth

Funding Check · sampleDESIGN UNIVERSITY, GERMANY · 14.10.2026

GrantivityFunding Check · 14.10.2026

Funding Check

Profile Research group in transformation design at a public university of art and design in Germany, six members, partner in one earlier EU project; consortium with a coastal municipality in Portugal and a climate research institute in Ireland; climate futures for the municipality and its region through speculative design, future foresight and design thinking, with art, science communication and community engagement

Scope about 5,000 programmes compared; 9 checked in depth: 3 priorities, 3 further matches, 3 ruled out

Consortium and stakeholders · network

The municipality is the only link to residents, schools, local artists and the regional adaptation office. The research partners reach the region through it.
Germany and Ireland have worked together before. Both links to Portugal are new and need a joint activity before the first proposal.
Two roles the programmes require are missing: a youth or civil society organisation (WIDERA) and neighbourhoods in two more countries (New European Bauhaus).

Design university, Germany (lead) — Climate research institute, Ireland: existing link
Design university, Germany (lead) — Design students: existing link
Design university, Germany (lead) — Art and science museum, Germany: existing link
Climate research institute, Ireland — National climate data service: existing link
Coastal municipality, Portugal — Residents: existing link
Coastal municipality, Portugal — Schools: existing link
Coastal municipality, Portugal — Local artists: existing link
Coastal municipality, Portugal — Regional climate adaptation office: existing link
Design university, Germany (lead) — Coastal municipality, Portugal: planned in the project
Climate research institute, Ireland — Coastal municipality, Portugal: planned in the project
Design university, Germany (lead) — Youth or civil society organisation: required, still missing
Coastal municipality, Portugal — Youth or civil society organisation: required, still missing
Design university, Germany (lead) — Neighbourhoods in two more countries: required, still missing
Coastal municipality, Portugal — Neighbourhoods in two more countries: required, still missing

Grantivity · Funding Check · sample · page 2 / 5

GrantivityFunding Check · 14.10.2026

Priorities · up to three, examined in full detail

Apply in this round Horizon Europe, public engagement in research and innovation (HORIZON-WIDERA-2027-05-ERA-04) — Area 1 funds participatory science on complex social issues and names climate change, with communities of practice for science communicators and citizen scientists. Germany, Portugal and Ireland meet the rule of three entities in three countries. Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026–2027, Part 11 (WIDERA), p. 21; pp. 100–102 Readiness gap: A coordination and support action of about €1 million: it funds engagement; the design research needs other funding. Area 1 centres on young people, so a youth or civil society organisation joins the consortium. · Deadline: 11 March 2027, 17:00 Brussels (opens 8 December 2026)

Shape the project first Horizon Europe, maladaptation to climate change (HORIZON-CL5-2027-01-D1-10) — The topic asks for insights from the social sciences and humanities, stakeholder perspectives and local case studies, a clear role for the municipality and the participatory methods. Its core is climate-risk and adaptation research of €5–6 million. Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026–2027, Part 8 (Cluster 5), p. 37; pp. 73–74 Readiness gap: The Irish institute leads. More case-study regions and expertise in adaptation assessment join; speculative design becomes a method within the assessment. · Deadline: 4 March 2027, 17:00 Brussels (opens 17 November 2026)

Plan for a later round New European Bauhaus, participatory foresight for neighbourhoods (HORIZON-NEB-2027-01-BUSINESS-03) — The closest match in topic: a research action that develops and validates a participatory foresight approach, with scenarios and visions for neighbourhoods 20 years and more ahead, including climate conditions. Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026–2027, Part 13 (New European Bauhaus Facility), p. 21; pp. 77–79 Readiness gap: Validation in at least three neighbourhoods in different countries: neighbourhoods and local partners in two more countries. · Deadline: 1 December 2027, 17:00 Brussels (opens 5 May 2027)

Grantivity · Funding Check · sample · page 3 / 5

GrantivityFunding Check · 14.10.2026

Further matches

Shape the project first Horizon Europe, arts and cultural and creative industries as drivers of sustainable innovation (HORIZON-CL2-2027-02-HERITAGE-09-two-stage) — An open topic of €2–4 million; the project is framed around design and the arts as drivers of the transition. The first stage is evaluated blind. Deadline: first stage 4 May 2027. Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026–2027, Part 5 (Cluster 2), p. 20; pp. 127–129

Shape the project first Kulturstiftung des Bundes, general project funding — Funds artistic projects in an international context from €50,000, with at least 20% own or third-party funds secured by the deadline and visibility in Germany. Whether a university group is eligible is to be confirmed with the foundation. Deadline: 31 January 2027, 12:00. Kulturstiftung des Bundes, Allgemeine Projektförderung, call page and FAQ, as of 14 October 2026

Apply in this round MSCA Staff Exchanges — Funds secondments of one to twelve months between the partners; the municipality counts as the non-academic partner the scheme requires. It funds the exchange around the main grants; the research itself is funded through them. Deadline: 13 April 2027. Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026–2027, Part 2 (MSCA), pp. 38, 68, 86–88

Ruled out · with stage and reason

Opening · deadline Horizon Europe, artistic intelligence (HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-HERITAGE-01) — Art–science collaboration on societal challenges, a close match. The deadline passed on 23 September 2026, and the 2027 call has no follow-up topic. Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026–2027, Part 5 (Cluster 2), p. 12; pp. 78–82

Opening · region Interreg Atlantic Area, fourth call — Germany lies outside the programme area, so the university cannot lead. The fourth call also asks for partners from France, Ireland, Portugal and Spain. Interreg Atlantic Area Programme Manual V6 (April 2026), sections 1.2, 2.2.1, 2.2.4, pp. 10–12; call announcement of 1 September 2026

Opening · applicant type ERC Synergy Grant 2027 — Funds two to four principal investigators; consortia are explicitly excluded, and the municipality has no role. ERC Work Programme 2027, C(2026)4907, section 1.1.5, p. 12; footnote 39, p. 21

Grantivity · Funding Check · sample · page 4 / 5

GrantivityFunding Check · 14.10.2026

Next steps

By 30 November 2026 Name the youth or civil society organisation for the WIDERA proposal. Agree with the Irish institute whether it leads the maladaptation proposal; both deadlines fall in March 2027.

By 31 January 2027 Confirm with the Kulturstiftung des Bundes whether the university can apply for an artistic programme of the project, and secure 20% co-funding in writing.

By May 2027 Find neighbourhoods and local partners in two more countries for the New European Bauhaus foresight topic, which opens on 5 May 2027.

Funding strategy · to be explored with the group

Over several roundsTwo Horizon Europe proposals one week apart take about four months of preparation, so the design group leads one and joins the other. One possible path: the WIDERA action builds the engagement method with young people, the Irish institute leads the climate research with the design group as partner, and both feed the New European Bauhaus foresight proposal in December 2027. MSCA Staff Exchanges can carry the exchange between the partners. Whether the group's own line of work lies in climate adaptation or in the arts as drivers of change is discussed in conversation.

Grantivity · Funding Check · sample · page 5 / 5

Sample report: the research group and its partners are an example; programmes, deadlines and passages are real and were verified against the sources on 14.10.2026.

What the check covers, and where it stops

Working from stored documents, within Europe

The selection follows recorded rules applied to the stored documents, and every finding is checked against its source before the report is handed over.

The database covers programmes in Europe.

REQUEST A FUNDING CHECK Services →