Responsible AI in European Funding — Virtual Summit
Five half-days. Twenty expert sessions. One practical framework for using AI in EU funding without losing your ideas, your integrity or your score. Independent expert training on responsible AI across Horizon Europe, Erasmus+ and EIC — covering the facts, the rules and the practical workflows that stand up to evaluation.
Responsible AI in European Funding — Virtual Summit
Virtual Summit · 9–13 November 2026 · Live Online
Responsible Use of AI for Horizon Europe Success
Five half-days. Twenty expert sessions. One practical framework for using AI in EU funding without losing your ideas, your integrity or your score.
Independent expert training on responsible AI across Horizon Europe, Erasmus+ and EIC — covering the facts, the rules and the practical workflows that stand up to evaluation.
Dates
Monday 9 – Friday 13 November 2026
Time
09:30–13:45 CET daily
Day 1 opens at 09:15.
Format
Live online virtual summit
Access
Free live attendance
VIP Access — EUR 145
Why attend
AI is already being used across the EU funding lifecycle — from proposal preparation to evaluation and programme management. The question is no longer whether to use AI, but how to use it responsibly, safely and strategically.
Across five days, the summit covers:
- Where AI is actually being used in EU funding.
- What the Commission and REA allow, expect and prohibit.
- Disclosure, responsibility for AI-generated content and evaluation restrictions.
- GDPR, AI Act and confidentiality considerations.
- Practical AI workflows for proposal writing and self-evaluation.
- Responsible AI use in Horizon Europe, Erasmus+ and EIC.
- A practical Responsible AI in EU Funding Checklist built throughout the summit.
What you will walk away with
Four practical outcomes
01 — A true map of AI in EU funding
Understand where AI is already being used from idea to submission, evaluation and programme management.
02 — The rules, stated plainly
Understand current expectations around AI-assisted proposal writing, disclosure, responsibility, evaluation, GDPR and the AI Act.
03 — Workflows you can apply immediately
Learn how to protect confidential ideas, verify AI-assisted claims and use AI without weakening your proposal.
04 — The Responsible AI Checklist
Five daily panels collectively develop 3–5 principles per day, forming a practical checklist delivered in full to VIP participants.
The Programme
Day 1 · Monday 9 November
AI penetration in Horizon Europe and other EU funding programmes
The evidence day — for everyone
Understand where AI already operates on both sides of the funding process.
Sessions
- 60 min: The applicant journey — where and how AI is used from idea to submission.
- 45 min: The other side of the table — AI inside submission, evaluation and programme management.
- 45 min: The rulebook — what the EU actually says about AI in funding.
- 30 min: Case study — the European Ombudsman inquiry into AI use by expert evaluators.
- Closing panel: How much AI is really in the system — and who controls it?
By the end of Day 1:
You will be able to map AI across the EU grant lifecycle, state the current EC/REA rules and anticipate where AI use may develop next.
Day 2 · Tuesday 10 November
Ethical use of AI: protecting proprietary knowledge, privacy and integrity
The trust day — for everyone
Learn how to use AI without exposing confidential ideas, personal data or your own credibility.
Sessions
- 60 min: Protecting proprietary knowledge — what happens to your text inside an AI tool.
- 45 min: Privacy and the law — GDPR, AI Act and contracts.
- 45 min: Integrity — the honest use of AI in competitive funding.
- 30 min: Building your organisational AI policy — with a ready-to-adapt template.
- Closing panel: Where exactly is the ethical line — and who draws it?
Day 3 · Wednesday 11 November
Responsible AI for research proposals: from basic to applied
For researchers, research managers and consultants — ERC, MSCA and Pillar 2
Focus on what AI genuinely improves in a research proposal, what it damages and how experienced evaluators read AI-assisted text.
Sessions
- 60 min: AI across Part B, section by section.
- 45 min: The evidence — AI-generated sections versus funded proposals.
- 45 min: The evaluator's eye — reading AI from the other side of the table.
- 30 min: Simulated review — AI-supported self-evaluation before submission.
- Closing panel: Does AI raise the quality of research proposals — or flatten it?
Day 4 · Thursday 12 November
Responsible AI in Erasmus+ and other education, training and youth programmes
For schools, universities, VET providers, NGOs and youth organisations
Learn how smaller organisations can use AI responsibly without producing generic, interchangeable applications.
Sessions
- 60 min: AI across the Erasmus+ application — KA1 and KA2.
- 45 min: Beyond the application — AI across the project lifecycle.
- 45 min: The system view — agencies, AI literacy and equity.
- 30 min: The two-person NGO — AI workflows for small organisations.
- Closing panel: Democratisation of access — or a flood of identical applications?
Day 5 · Friday 13 November
Responsible AI for innovation funding, growth and market penetration
For startups, SMEs, tech transfer offices and innovation consultants — EIC and beyond
Focus on AI where the proposal itself is one of the company's most sensitive assets, as well as AI for exploitation and growth.
Sessions
- 60 min: AI in EIC and innovation proposals — opportunity and confidentiality.
- 45 min: From grant to market — AI for exploitation and growth.
- 45 min: Choosing AI platforms responsibly — an independent buyer's guide.
- 30 min: The next three years — scenarios for AI in EU funding.
- Closing panel: Responsible AI in EU funding: what must change — including the live assembly of the summit checklist.
Who should attend?
The summit is designed for different audiences across the five days:
- Researchers & research managers — proposal writers, RMAs and consultants working on ERC, MSCA and Pillar 2.
- Education, training & youth organisations — schools, universities, VET providers and NGOs.
- Innovators & SMEs — startups, TTOs and innovation consultants working with EIC.
- Institutional & policy staff — agency staff, evaluators and policymakers.
- Compliance, ethics & data professionals — anyone responsible for confidentiality, GDPR or research integrity.
- Trainers & coaches — professionals teaching EU funding who need to answer the AI question credibly.
20 Independent Expert Sessions
Each session is delivered by one expert on one bounded topic.
The summit is built around independent expertise rather than vendor-led sessions, with contributors including experienced evaluators, ethics and data specialists, national agency insiders and EU proposal practitioners.
No vendor sessions.
Access Options
Free Live Pass
EUR 0
Attend the summit live at no cost.
Includes:
- Live access to all 20 sessions.
- Live access to every daily panel and Q&A.
- Freedom to attend individual days or the full five-day summit.
Register Free
VIP Pass
EUR 145
For participants who want to keep the summit materials and use them beyond the live event.
Includes everything in the Free Live Pass, plus:
- Recordings of all 20 sessions and daily panels.
- Watch the sessions anytime after the summit.
- The complete Responsible AI in EU Funding Checklist, assembled from the five daily panels.
- A reusable practical reference for your organisation's AI workflows.
OpenCosmos Members: FREE VIP Access
OpenCosmos members receive the full VIP pass free of charge.
Non-OC VIP Access — EUR 145
Independent by design
Sponsors appear only in clearly labelled 10-minute break spotlights.
They have no role in sessions, panels or the summit checklist. The Day 5 buyer's guide is delivered by an independent expert without vendor participation.
Five mornings in November.
One clear, defensible approach to responsible AI in EU funding.
9–13 November 2026 · 09:30–13:45 CET · Live Online
Free to attend.
VIP access: EUR 145.
