How do I register as a Horizon Europe evaluator?

Register yourself, at any time, in the "Work as an expert" area of the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. You need an EU Login account and a detailed professional profile: your expertise areas, publications and conflict-of-interest declarations. Registration is open and carries no obligation; the Commission then draws on the database when it builds panels for specific calls.

How much do evaluators get paid?

Around €450 per full day of evaluation work (remote work is now calculated per task/work unit; consensus meetings are paid at a higher rate). Travel and subsistence are covered for in-person sessions, usually in Brussels. Work typically comes in sessions of up to about 15 days a year, and an expert may earn up to roughly €90,000 over a four-year period, excluding allowances.

Can I register to evaluate for the ERC?

Not by self-registration. ERC evaluators are appointed and invited by the ERC Scientific Council, selected on scientific merit from the expert database. You cannot directly sign up for ERC panels. For Horizon Europe pillars like MSCA and the collaborative clusters, self-registration in the portal is the route.

Why would I do this as an applicant?

Because seeing the evaluation from the inside is one of the most effective ways to improve your own proposals. You learn how the criteria are actually applied, why specific feedback in Evaluation Summary Reports stays general (evaluators are bound by confidentiality), and what makes a proposal clear to a non-specialist on the panel.

How to become a Horizon Europe / MSCA expert evaluator

Q: Do I need to be an EU national?

No. Registration is open to experts of any nationality, including from outside the EU and Associated Countries, provided you are not under EU sanctions or in an exclusion situation. The Commission selects on expertise match, with attention to geographic and gender balance and evaluator rotation.

Becoming a Horizon Europe expert evaluator is open, well-paid for the time involved, and (for anyone who also applies for EU funding) one of the best ways to understand how proposals are actually judged. This guide covers who can register, how, what the work pays, and how the ERC differs.

What an expert evaluator does

All Horizon Europe funding applications are reviewed by independent external experts in a peer-review process. Evaluators read assigned proposals, score them against the published criteria, and take part in consensus discussions that reconcile scores across a panel. The same pool also supplies monitors for running projects and reviewers for ethics. You work in your personal capacity as an individual, not on behalf of your organisation.

How to register on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal

Registration is self-service and open at any time:

Create an EU Login account.
Go to the "Work as an expert" area of the EU Funding & Tenders Portal.
Complete a detailed profile: expertise areas, professional background, publications, and conflict-of-interest declarations.

Once registered, you sit in the central expert database. When the Commission assembles a panel for a specific call, it selects from that database on expertise match, with attention to geographic and gender balance and rotation (so the same person doesn't repeatedly assess the same topic).

Eligibility and selection

Registration is open to experts of any nationality, including from outside the EU and Associated Countries, as long as you are not under EU sanctions or in an exclusion situation. Selection for an actual panel depends on the call's needs and your declared expertise; registering does not guarantee an assignment.

What it pays and what it involves

Daily fee: around €450 per full day of evaluation work. Remote evaluation is now calculated per task/work unit, and consensus meetings are paid at a higher rate.
Expenses: travel and subsistence are covered for in-person sessions (usually Brussels).
Volume: work comes in sessions of up to about 15 days a year; an expert may earn up to roughly €90,000 over four years, excluding allowances.
Obligations: you sign a non-disclosure agreement and are bound by strict, permanent confidentiality and conflict-of-interest rules: you cannot assess proposals from your own organisation or close collaborators.

How the ERC is different

You cannot self-register to evaluate for the European Research Council. ERC evaluators are appointed and invited by the ERC Scientific Council, selected on scientific merit from the expert database. For the rest of Horizon Europe (MSCA, the collaborative clusters and more), self-registration in the portal is the way in.

Why it makes you a better applicant

Reading proposals from the panel's side is a genuine strategic advantage. You see how the criteria are weighted in practice, why funded proposals score near the top, and why Evaluation Summary Reports read as they do (evaluators can't reveal deliberations). Most applicants never get that view, and it directly improves how you write your own Excellence, Impact and Implementation sections.