In the final stretch leading up to the April 2026 deadline for Horizon Europe WIDERA Twinning proposals, the coordinator of the ChatMED project, prof. Monika Simjanoska Misheva, delivered a targeted capacity-building session aimed at strengthening the proposal writing capabilities of the academic staff at the Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering (FCSE), Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje.
The session, titled “ChatMED as an Inspiration for Successful WIDERA Twinning Proposals”, provided a structured and experience-driven overview of how a competitive Twinning proposal is conceptualized, written, and positioned for success within the highly competitive Horizon Europe framework.
The full training materials are publicly available and can be accessed here:
👉 https://chatmed-project.eu/knowledge-repository/bonus-training-session-for-fcse-chatmed-as-an-inspiration-for-successful-widera-twinning-proposals/
Drawing directly from the successful ChatMED project (Grant No. 101159214), which secured funding under the HORIZON WIDERA-2023-ACCESS-02 call, the presentation offered practical insights into key elements that differentiate winning proposals. As highlighted in the training, ChatMED stands as a strong example of a well-balanced consortium combining Widening and Advanced partners, with a clear mission focused on accelerating the adoption of Generative AI in healthcare.
The session emphasized several critical success factors:
- Clear strategic focus and impactful narrative, ensuring the proposal tells a compelling and long-term story;
- Complementary consortium design, aligning Widening institutions with advanced research leaders;
- Measurable objectives and KPIs, with precise indicators for evaluation;
- Structured capacity-building plans, including trainings, staff exchanges, and summer schools, and
- Sustainable impact beyond the project lifecycle, including follow-up proposals and institutional transformation.
In addition, practical writing guidelines were shared with the participants, outlining both recommended practices and common pitfalls in proposal preparation. The coordinator stressed the importance of avoiding generic content, ensuring balanced budgeting, and maintaining a strong dissemination and exploitation strategy.
This internal training reflects ChatMED’s broader mission of capacity building within Widening countries, not only through international collaboration but also by strengthening institutional readiness and competitiveness in European research funding.
By leveraging real project experience and translating it into actionable guidance, the session provided FCSE researchers with concrete tools to approach the upcoming Twinning calls with increased confidence and strategic clarity.
As the April deadline approached, this initiative served as a timely and impactful step toward enhancing proposal quality and increasing the success rate of future submissions from the institution.
