THEPS Newsletter #19: Our first Top Ten list!
Your weekly guide to writing better EU projects!
Hello,
Аre you a new subscriber? Welcome to the club! For the newcomers and those of you who don’t like to keep too many emails in your inboxes, the old issues are available here.
We are in a good April mood, are you? Maybe you’re on your way to work, or maybe you have just woken up, and you'll start the working day later… either way, we’re here to make our European life much better! (Did you hear about Americans moving to Europe because here we live the good life? Speaking of the European Dream!)
Life’s not easy, and we should work hard to achieve our goals. As we promised in the last issue, we have an interesting Top Ten!
Enjoy this issue:
- Top Ten European Tools
- Montenegro to Join the EU
- VITAL 2026
- Local Opportunities for Denmark and multiple countries
- What the Future Holds
Top Ten European Tools
We are firm believers in the European way. Therefore, we are presenting you with the top 10 European tools you should use to improve your projects (and impress the evaluators). The list is in alphabetical order, we’re not biased. There are many, many more local tools you can use, consider this a Part 1!
1. Apply&Go
Travel and work abroad.
Are you close to… a breakdown? If you’ve ever organised an Erasmus+ project and thought, “Why am I juggling 14 spreadsheets, 3 forms, 2 WhatsApp groups and one mild existential crisis?”, Apply&Go is the universe telling you to calm down. It’s an all‑in‑one platform where organisers can run events, collaborate with partners, and manage participants without duplicating anything. Not even your stress. lol (yes, we said “lol”, young people don’t say “lol”, we don’t care, we're Millennials, ha!)
You can browse and create partnership requests, auto‑generate infopacks (yes, instantly), build application forms, review applicants, and filter them by country, gender, and nationality. You can mark events as unavailable, let people edit their applications, share everything with a single link, and even get your project featured on their IG page or in users’ push notifications.
In short: Apply&Go helps you reach a bigger audience with zero-ish effort.
2. Eurostat
The home of high-quality statistics and data on Europe.
We know what you’re going to say now… “Everyone knows Eurostat!” But do they? Do they? Tell that to the evaluators who need a kind reminder that the official Eurostat statistics can never, ever be considered “too broad” (even though your target groups must be narrow).
Use Eurostat as your official source. It will support your motivation and target group choice and won’t make your project look hollow.
3. EUSurvey
Create better online surveys and forms.
Do you need to ask your focus groups about certain aspects of your project? Make it look serious! It’s available in 24 official EU languages, so no language struggle (we’re looking at you, Youthpass!)
4. KOOFR
One storage for all coworkers.
The coolest of names, isn’t it? Here’s what they promise: “The only cloud storage that doesn't track your activities, protects your privacy, and is GDPR compliant by default. Your data is encrypted and stored across several secure, EU-based data centres. We don't scan your files or keep hidden copies after you delete them, either.” We trust them with our files.
5. LibreOffice
Write it, open-source style.
If it can be for free, why pay? LibreOffice comes with everything you need to get work done: Writer for documents, Calc for spreadsheets, Impress for presentations, Draw for vector graphics, Base for databases, and Math for all those formulas you pretend to understand. It speaks fluent OpenDocument, but it also gets along nicely with Microsoft Office formats, so your files won’t start a diplomatic incident when you share them.
6. monnett
Made for humans.
Zuki Buki, Muskowitz and all those democracy-challenging non-Europeans have done more than enough to ruin the European Dream. So let’s disseminate our project results not through FB, Insta and X! Use the local monnett!
7. OpenAIRE
Open scholarly communication.
OpenAIRE is basically Europe’s giant, well‑organised library of everything researchers create, but with superpowers. It’s not just a place where papers go to retire. It connects publications, datasets, funders, institutions, researchers, and even the occasional forgotten PDF into one big, searchable knowledge galaxy. If it’s part of the research ecosystem, OpenAIRE probably knows who it is, who funded it, and what it’s related to!
Think of it as the EU’s scholarly matchmaking service: it helps you deposit your work, track your project outputs, explore who’s doing what, and dive into statistics you didn’t know you needed. It’s open, interconnected, and surprisingly fun to wander through. Kind of like Wikipedia, but with fewer conspiracy theories and more peer‑reviewed data.
8. OpenTalk
Talk openly in European.
Do you need to video call your partners for the regular online meeting? Get rid of Zoom and Google Meet, and invite everyone to OpenTalk. The free plan is for 30 minutes, which is an excellent opportunity to be productive. We said it gently.
9. Webnode
Website in a few clicks.
Gone are the days when we had to pay thousands of euros to have a project website. The evaluators are not stupid, so they know that in 2026, spending a lot on a few online pages is not serious. It will literally take you an afternoon to create the project website. Maybe even your organisation's official one too!
10. Zenodo
EU’s research vault.
We love Zenodo. It’s not only European, but it’s also the best way to prove to the NA that you have actually disseminated your project’s outputs. We covered it in Issue #14, so take a look there.
And there you have them! The ten tools you should be using! Feel free to save this email and to print this list, share it with your colleagues, but do tell them it's from THEPS!
Montenegro to Join the EU
Montenegro has just taken a major step toward the EU membership, and our EU family will grow bigger! The EU countries have formally agreed to start drafting their Accession Treaty, a move described as a “historic moment” and a clear signal that accession by 2028 is within reach.
If Montenegro becomes an EU Member State in 2028, its status in Erasmus+ would shift to a full Programme Country. This would mean:
- Full access to all Erasmus+ actions, including those currently restricted to EU Member States.
- A national Erasmus+ agency in Montenegro, managing mobility and cooperation projects directly.
- Higher funding allocations, because Erasmus+ budgets are distributed per Member State.
- Simpler partnerships, with no restrictions or special budget categories.
For Montenegrin organisations, this would unlock more mobility, more cooperation projects, and the ability to coordinate large‑scale actions. For partners across Europe, Montenegro would become a “regular” EU partner, meaning easier to work with, easier to fund.
And since CERV is primarily an EU‑Member‑State‑only programme, Montenegro’s accession would therefore:
- Make Montenegro fully eligible for all CERV strands.
- Allow Montenegrin organisations to coordinate CERV projects, not just join as partners.
- Open access to town‑twinning, networks of towns, citizens’ engagement, and rights & values actions without restrictions.
VITAL 2026
VivaTech and Nestlé Health Science have launched VITAL 2026, a challenge for startups building innovative solutions that help people age better - mentally, physically, and everything in between. They’re looking for fresh ideas in preventive health, wearable tech, nutrition science, coaching platforms, and digital tools that help users build long‑term healthy habits. If your startup can turn “I should take better care of myself” into something people actually do, this challenge is for you.
Selected teams get visibility at VivaTech 2026, access to experts, and the chance to join a growing ecosystem focused on healthy longevity. Think of it as Europe’s search for the next generation of wellbeing innovators, the ones who can make healthy ageing feel less like a medical brochure and more like a lifestyle upgrade.
Here’s the sweet link.
Local Opportunities
Denmark: The Novo Nordisk Foundation has opened a local funding call supporting projects that reduce childhood vulnerability through health‑promoting social initiatives. The programme is aimed specifically at Denmark, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands, and focuses on children aged 0-10 in vulnerable situations. Eligible applicants include non‑profit organisations and public institutions based in these territories, with research institutions allowed as co‑applicants.
With a total budget of DKK 35 million, the foundation will fund projects that strengthen physical and mental well-being, improve cross‑sector collaboration, and integrate health promotion into existing social initiatives. Grants range from DKK 1-
4 million for projects lasting up to five years, with applications open until 20 August 2026.
More here.
Multiple countries: The Social Impact Award (SIA) has opened applications across multiple countries, offering young people the chance to turn early‑stage ideas into real social‑impact ventures. The programme runs locally in each participating country (including Bulgaria, Croatia, Austria, Serbia, Romania, and others) but follows a shared international model that supports youth‑led solutions to social and environmental challenges.
The applicants gain access to workshops, mentoring, community events, and the opportunity to join a global network of young changemakers. Each country selects its own finalists and national award winners, making SIA a great entry point for young innovators who want structured support, visibility, and a pathway to launch their first impact‑driven project.
More here.
What the Future Holds
Attention, all passengers! The THEPS survey plane is about to land, so please take the last opportunity to tell us what you think: click here.
What to expect in the next few months (in addition to our regular content):
May: We will ask you what you really think about the NAs, the funding opportunities in general and your work with other partners.
June: We will tell you more about the AgoraEU.
July: This will be a BIG month for everyone who is subscribed to the THEPS newsletter! We will give you extensive tips and tricks for writing excellent projects!
August: We’ll be online but more chill, maybe writing the issues with a cold rakia or a shot of limoncello. And we'll share with you which countries are worth submitting your projects in October (as in, serious statistical data).
September: …something BIGGER.