🎓 EU Horizon / CORDIS Grant Awards Change Watch

Receive seed-zero, structured records for newly signed and changed EU research grant awards — the funded projects published on the European Commission's official CORDIS database (the Funding & Tenders Portal Projects & results, covering framework programmes such as Horizon Europe and H2020) — with per-page run receipts, not another historical CORDIS dump.

The actor reads the public, logged-out CORDIS project search (most-recently- updated first), parses each awarded project as published, and emits only qualified post-baseline awards and material changes. Each record carries its source-native CORDIS project id, the EU contribution amount, the official call reference and coordinator, and a run receipt.

Output is one eu_grant_award row per result; billing is pay-per-event, the value event being one grant-award delta (a $0.02 start fee per run, then $0.05 per grant-award delta plus one $0.10 source check per run that reads the source).

Use cases

Research consultants and grant-seeking startups track newly funded projects and competitors; tech-transfer offices monitor awards in their fields and find coordinators/partners; data teams ingest structured EU grant-award records.

📊 Sample Output

Real rows from run QwQeaMU0t63eCBqxG on build 0.1.15 (2026-09-17), the same input as the Quick start below — every value is as the source published it (emails masked, long text shortened):

project_id	composite_key	acronym	title	start_date	end_date
101267617	101267617	plantExtinct	Glacial Tundra–Steppe Plants: The Extinction Paradox	2027-06-01	2032-05-31

The run finished with the status message: CAPPED: cap_reached(maxPages 1 reached (59067 pages / 59067 projects available); capped_units=maxPages:1); emitted=1; dates_complete=1/2

✅ What you get

One of three record types, discriminated by record_type: eu_grant_award, eu_grant_award_delta, or source_receipt. Every item carries source_url and observed_at.

Each row is flat JSON with these fields (from the dataset schema and the sample run; a field the source does not publish for a given row is null):

• record_type (string) — Discriminator.
• project_id (string/null) — Source-native CORDIS project id (award composite key).
• composite_key (string/null) — Composite key = CORDIS project id.
• rcn (string/null) — CORDIS record control number.
• acronym (string/null) — Project acronym.
• title (string/null) — Project title.
• objective — e.g. At the end of the last Glacial, the tundra–steppe collapsed and megafauna vanish
• status (string/null) — Award status as published (e.g. SIGNED, CLOSED).
• total_cost (number/null) — Total project cost (EUR); null when omitted.
• ec_max_contribution (number/null) — Maximum EU contribution / grant amount (EUR); null when omitted.
• start_date (string/null) — Project start date.
• end_date (string/null) — Project end date.
• ec_signature_date (string/null) — EC grant signature date.
• duration (number/null) — Duration in months.
• framework_programme (string/null) — EU framework programme (e.g. HORIZON, H2020).
• call_identifier (string/null) — Official call reference.
• coordinator (object/null) — Coordinating organisation (best-effort from official relations).
• grant_doi (string/null) — Official grant DOI.
• content_update_date — e.g. 2026-09-17 10:03:15
• detail_url (string/null) — Public CORDIS project detail URL.
• parse_warnings (array/null) — Non-fatal parse warnings (e.g. absent amounts).
• source_url (string) — Exact public CORDIS request URL supporting this item.
• observed_at (string) — RFC3339 UTC time after shape validation.
• source_hash — e.g. 45c1deac8f1e0c71fea989081d6bcfc0b7b72e8e25a85e5fab9b46ebe7bd0a3c
• delta_type (string/null) — eu_grant_award_delta only.
• changed_fields (array/null) — Changed award fields on a delta.
• qualification_reasons (array/null) — Why this award qualified as a delta.
• terminal_state (string/null) — source_receipt only.
• canary_passed (boolean/null) — Whether the source-shape canary passed.
• reason_code (string/null) — Stable terminal reason code.

Output

Three record types, discriminated by record_type:

• eu_grant_award — a normalized awarded project (snapshot mode).
• eu_grant_award_delta — a post-baseline change, with before/after and changed_fields (watch mode).
• source_receipt — a per-page run receipt (terminal_state, canary_passed, request counters). Always emitted, never billed.

Every item carries source_url and observed_at.

Every run also writes a RUN_RECEIPT record to its key-value store with the source checks it made and the counts it charged — diagnostics never land in the paid dataset.

⚙️ Sample inputs

1. Quick start — the Store example (this is what the sample above came from)

{
  "maxPages": 1,
  "pageSize": 1,
  "watchMode": false
}

The sample run charged exactly: 1 × $0.02 apify-actor-start + 1 × $0.05 award_change + 1 × $0.10 source_check = $0.17 on the Free tier — every delivered row was billed.

2. A smaller, narrowed run

{
  "maxPages": 1,
  "pageSize": 1,
  "watchMode": false
}

A bounded run for checking the field shape before scheduling.

3. Watch mode on a schedule

{
  "maxPages": 1,
  "pageSize": 1,
  "watchMode": true
}

The first run seeds a private baseline and emits zero deltas; every later run emits one row per change, billed at $0.05 each plus the $0.10 source check; billed deltas are capped at 500 per run.

🧾 JSON sample record

One real record from run QwQeaMU0t63eCBqxG, exactly as it lands in the dataset (emails masked, long text shortened):

{
  "record_type": "eu_grant_award",
  "schema_version": "1.0",
  "project_id": "101267617",
  "composite_key": "101267617",
  "rcn": "292847",
  "acronym": "plantExtinct",
  "title": "Glacial Tundra–Steppe Plants: The Extinction Paradox",
  "objective": "At the end of the last Glacial, the tundra–steppe collapsed and megafauna vanished, yet no plant extinctions were recorded—an extinction paradox. With plantExtinct, I ask whether losses were real but invisible, masked by proxy limits, and t",
  "status": "SIGNED",
  "total_cost": 0,
  "ec_max_contribution": 3026817,
  "start_date": "2027-06-01",
  "end_date": "2032-05-31",
  "ec_signature_date": "2026-09-07",
  "duration": 60,
  "framework_programme": "HORIZON",
  "call_identifier": "ERC-2025-ADG",
  "coordinator": {
    "legal_name": "ALFRED-WEGENER-INSTITUT HELMHOLTZ-ZENTRUM FUR POLAR- UND MEERESFORSCHUNG",
    "country": "DE",
    "org_id": "999497507"
  },
  "grant_doi": null,
  "content_update_date": "2026-09-17 10:03:15",
  "detail_url": "https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101267617",
  "parse_warnings": [],
  "source_url": "https://cordis.europa.eu/search/en?q=contenttype%3D%27project%27&p=1&num=1&srt=contentUpdateDate%3Adecreasing&format=json",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-17T17:15:05Z",
  "source_hash": "45c1deac8f1e0c71fea989081d6bcfc0b7b72e8e25a85e5fab9b46ebe7bd0a3c"
}

🔧 How it works

Transport. Plain HTTPS from the Apify platform, no proxy.

Watch semantics. Snapshot mode (watch_mode: false) returns a preview. Watch mode keys every record on a source-native id, stores a private baseline in a named key-value store, and on each later run emits one delta row per change (new / changed / removed). A blocked fetch is never diffed, so a source outage cannot show up as a mass removal.

Terminal states. A run ends NORMAL, CAPPED (your cap was reached), PARTIAL (something was withheld and the message says what), GENUINE_EMPTY (the source was read and truly had nothing in scope) or BLOCKED (the source refused or changed shape — the run FAILS loud and bills nothing). A zero-row run is never reported as a silent success.

Charging. Each grant-award delta is charged at the moment it is pushed (award_change); a row that fails to charge is not delivered, so the dataset count always equals the charged count. One source_check is charged per run that actually read the source.

How it works

1. Queries the public CORDIS /search JSON for contenttype='project', sorted by content-update date (newest awards first), paginated and bounded.
2. Normalizes each awarded project — id, acronym, title, status, total cost, maximum EU contribution, start/end/signature dates, framework programme, call reference and coordinating organisation.
3. Applies your optional framework keep-filter (default HORIZON).
4. In watch mode, compares to a private baseline to emit NEW_AWARD for a newly listed funded project and AWARD_UPDATED when a buyer-visible field changes (status, EU contribution, dates).

The first watch run seeds silently (zero alerts). Later runs emit only new and changed awards.

Honest limits

A CORDIS award is an official record that a project was funded, not proof of outcome, quality, or that funds were disbursed. Some projects omit an amount (kept null with a parse warning). This actor watches a bounded, most- recently-updated window of the CORDIS awards stream, not a complete enumeration of every historical project — so, like an event feed, it never claims removal from absence. Coordinator and programme are extracted best-effort from the official relations block and are never inferred. No contact enrichment, scoring or recommendations. CORDIS outages/shape drift fail loud (BLOCKED / PARTIAL), never a silent empty success.

Compliance

Public, logged-out CORDIS only. No login, key, CAPTCHA or paywall defeating; no licensed source. The actor self-throttles to 2 requests/second and stops on any source objection.

Preview vs Watch mode

• Preview / snapshot (watchMode = false): returns current CORDIS grant-award records for the filter (billed per award_change). No baseline retained.
• Watch (watchMode = true, default): seeds a private baseline on the first run (zero deltas), then emits only qualified award_change rows against it — at most 500 billed per run, with any overflow delivered free and named in the status message. source_check bills per completed page. source_receipt diagnostics go to the RUN_RECEIPT key-value record and log — never the dataset.

What is not done. No login, no cookie or CAPTCHA bypass, no private or personal-account data, no browser automation.

⏰ Set it on a schedule

A single run is a snapshot. The value is the feed: open the actor in Apify Console → Schedules → Create new, add this actor with input 3 above (watch_mode: true), and pick a cadence:

• Daily — 0 7 * * * (07:00 UTC): catch changes within a day.
• Weekly — 0 7 * * 1: a Monday digest.

Each run is independent; keep the same input on the schedule so the results stay comparable. Schedules can also POST results to a webhook (Console → Integrations).

💰 Pricing example

Event	Free	Bronze	Silver	Gold
Actor Start (apify-actor-start)	$0.02	$0.02	$0.02	$0.02
Grant-award delta (award_change)	$0.05	$0.04	$0.04	$0.03
Awards page check (source_check)	$0.10	$0.09	$0.08	$0.07

Worked at the live Free-tier price (watch mode, one delta per change):

• 1 grant-award deltas: $0.02 start + $0.10 source check + 1 × $0.05 = $0.17
• 25 grant-award deltas: $0.02 start + $0.10 source check + 25 × $0.05 = $1.37
• 100 grant-award deltas: $0.02 start + $0.10 source check + 100 × $0.05 = $5.12

A run that delivers zero rows charges the $0.02 start fee plus the $0.10 source check (the source was read and reported empty). A BLOCKED run (source refused) fails loud and charges no value event. The start fee is charged once per GB of run memory; the default run memory is 512 MB.

Yield on the sample run: CAPPED: cap_reached(maxPages 1 reached (59067 pages / 59067 projects available); capped_units=maxPages:1); emitted=1; dates_complete=1/2.

⚖️ Legal & ToS

This actor reads public data only. It collects only what the source publishes to any visitor, identifies itself, and does not access accounts, private data or anything behind authentication. Use the output in line with the source's terms and your local law; the intended use is B2B research and monitoring.

❓ FAQ

Q: Do I need an API key or a login?
A: No. the input schema has no key field and the actor carries no secrets.

Q: Why did my run return 0 rows?
A: Read the run's status message. GENUINE_EMPTY means the source was read and had nothing in scope for your input (in watch mode the first run always seeds the baseline and returns zero deltas); BLOCKED means the source refused and the run failed without billing a value event — retry later or narrow the input. A zero-row run bills the start fee plus one source check.

Q: What does watch mode remember between runs?
A: A private baseline of source-native record ids in a named key-value store. Each later run diffs the live source against it and emits only changes.

Q: How fresh is the data?
A: Every run reads the source live at run time; nothing is cached between runs except the watch baseline. Put it on a schedule for a continuous feed.

Q: What formats can I export?
A: The dataset downloads as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML or RSS from the run's Dataset tab or the Apify API, and any run can push to a webhook or integration.

Q: How is this different from the other grant and research-funding watches actors?
A: Same output shape and billing model; this one covers EU Horizon / CORDIS Grant Awards Change Watch. The siblings under Related Actors cover the other sources or slices — run several on one schedule for a combined feed.

Q: Are there rate limits?
A: The actor paces itself against the source; there is no per-buyer limit beyond your Apify plan's concurrency.

🆘 Troubleshooting

• Run FAILED with BLOCKED → the source refused the request or changed its page shape → nothing was billed beyond the start fee; retry after a while, and if it persists open an Issue with the run id.
• Fewer rows than expected → the source had fewer items in scope → widen the input.
• Input validation error on start → a field is outside the schema's allowed values → start from the Quick start block and change one field at a time.
• Run TIMED-OUT → a very wide request on a slow day → raise the run timeout in Run options or narrow the input; what was delivered before the timeout is still in the dataset.
• First watch run shows no deltas → expected: it seeds the baseline; changes appear from the second run.

🔗 Related Actors

• Canada Federal Grant Amendment Watch — Amendments to federal grant and contribution agreements as Canada discloses them - which agreement moved, the amendment number and date, and the rest…
• Canada Federal New Grant Award Watch — New federal grant and contribution awards as Canada discloses them - the recipient, the programme, the agreement value, the dates and the reporting q…
• NIH RePORTER Grant Award Delta — NIH awards as they are noticed: new awards and changes to award amount, keyed on the source-native project number
• US NSF Research Award Change & Funding Momentum Watch — Auditable change deltas on US NSF research awards — new, amended, and funding-momentum shifts, keyed to the award id. Facts-only, seed-zero, one rece…
• SBIR/STTR Award Intelligence — One structured fundingintelligence per record from the robots-permitted sbir.gov HTML award search (cross-agency, all participating agencies). Public…
• 🏢 About NexGenData — NexGen Watch is NexGenData's fleet of 256 public monitoring and lookup actors built on official sources, pay-per-result. Browse the catalog at apify.com/nexgenwatch.

⭐ Found this useful?

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