A consortium finishes a three-year project. The results are delivered, solid, peer-reviewed, maybe even patented. But six months after the final report is submitted, nobody outside the field has heard of them, and the technology sits exactly where it was when the funding ended: promising, but stuck. No market adoption, no new onboarded clients. This is the moment standardisation could have made the difference, and it is usually the moment
nobody thought about it.
In several domains, standardisation is not an optional extra. Medical devices, construction products, cybersecurity, and a growing list of digital and green technologies all require compliance with harmonised standards before they can reach the single market. A research result that never enters a technical committee's discussion has a much narrower path to actual use, whatever its scientific merit. HSbooster.eu II exists to shorten that path.
Support that follows the project, not the other way around
Building on the results of HSbooster I, HSbooster II expands the scope of support in two significant ways. Eligibility now extends beyond Horizon Europe: research and innovation projects funded through national programmes, as well as all EU-funded schemes such as EUREKA, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, the LIFE Programme, Digital Europe, and the European Defence Fund, can access the same free, expert-led services. Support also now spans the full lifecycle of a project — from the moment a proposal is being drafted through to direct contribution to the creation or revision of a standard.
That support follows three stages, matched to where a project actually is:
Proposal Support — for consortia still drafting their submission. An expert reviews the draft and flags standardisation opportunities and relevant technical committees before the proposal is even finalised, so the groundwork is already there once funding is confirmed.
Mentoring — for ongoing or recently closed projects. Up to three months with a matched expert to map the standardisation landscape and build a realistic engagement strategy.
Standards Accelerator — for projects with results ready to move. Up to six months of hands-on facilitation to draft work items, register with technical committees, and prepare for working group meetings.
A Training Academy supports all three services with courses running from standardization fundamentals through to advanced participation in technical committees, including modules built specifically for Technology Transfer Offices and National Contact Points, the people project managers usually turn to first when a standardisation question comes up.
Built on a track record, not a pitch
The numbers behind HSbooster.eu II come from its first phase: 300+ projects mentored, 28 countries reached, 90+ standardisation experts in the pool. As coordinator, Trust-IT Services brings its experience in managing European research and innovation projects, delivering booster-type services, and supporting the communities of stakeholders working at the interface between research, innovation, and standardisation. Within HSbooster.eu II, Trust-IT Services leads overall project coordination, open calls management and the communication and dissemination work package, work that is less about promotion for its own sake and more about making sure the initiative actually reaches the projects, experts, and organisations that stand to benefit from it. And more broadly, it is about positioning standardisation within the wider EU policy agenda, not as red tape, but as one of the more direct routes a research result has to actual, cross-border use.
See it in practice: first HSbooster.eu II webinar
That track record, and what it can mean for a project still weighing whether standardisation is worth the effort, is the starting point for the HSbooster II Info Session, taking place on 14 July 2026 at 14:30 CEST. Rather than a general overview, the session is built around the practical questions a project manager actually has: which service fits a project at its current stage, how the open call and expert-matching process works, and how to apply. A case study from the HSbooster I Mentoring Service will walk through how one project moved from first contact to a concrete standardisation outcome, giving attendees a sense of what to expect rather than a promise on paper.
Research consortia, Technology Transfer Offices, and National Contact Points working on EU- or nationally funded projects are welcome to join.
