Horizon Europe: SECCA Project Supports Central Asian Universities in Partner Search Among European Institutions

Astana, Kazakhstan – An initial study by the European Union (EU) funded SECCA Project on Kazakhstan’s potential to participate in the EU's Horizon Europe programme revealed that, while the country has significant research capacity, its universities face challenges in finding European partners, which is a prerequisite for participation as a third country. Many Central Asian institutions cited this as one of the main barriers to their involvement in the programme.

To address this, in cooperation with Kazakhstan's Science Fund SECCA has developed a user-friendly Cooperation profile template for research organisations. This template is designed to highlight key capacities, research interests, and areas of expertise of interested universities in a structured manner. The Science Fund of Kazakhstan has disseminated this template among the country’s higher educational and research institutions. To date, SECCA has received more than 20 completed templates. The next step will involve SECCA assisting these institutions in improving their cooperation profiles and supporting their partner search for Horizon Europe calls.

The EU-funded SECCA project is assisting Central Asian (CA) countries in creating conditions and building capacity for more active participation in the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme. The project aims to maximise the programme’s impact in Central Asia by providing opportunities for networking, collaboration, and cross-border knowledge-sharing.

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Read more about Horizon Europe on the SECCA website:

What is Horizon Europe?

How to participate? (Download Cooperation profile template from this page)

Participation of CA countries.