A new phase of one of Europe's few dedicated standardisation support initiatives for researchers launched this month, with a broader scope, expanded services, and an ambition to become the continent's reference point for connecting research results with standards.
HSBooster II officially started in April 2026, building directly on HSBooster I, which ran from 2022 to 2025 under Horizon Europe. The first phase left a significant impact: 204 project applications received, 197 services delivered to research teams across 28 countries, with satisfaction scores of 4.5 out of 5 for expert quality and overall support. Projects came from fields as varied as AI and cybersecurity, clean energy, health technology, and smart cities — a range that reflects how broadly standardisation touches modern research.
The second phase does not start from scratch. It inherits the infrastructure, expert community, and tools built over three years, and uses them as a foundation to go further.
What is on offer
HSBooster II offers distinct services, all free of charge, to EU- and nationally-funded research and innovation projects.
- Proposal Support Service
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The Proposal Support Service is new. It targets researchers still in the writing phase, before a project begins. An expert reviews the proposal and helps identify standardisation opportunities and embed relevant strategies from the outset. This is a short engagement, timed to fit the proposal calendar.
- Mentoring Service
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The Mentoring Service is the continuation of what made HSBooster I work. A project team is matched with an expert in the field, and over up to three months, they map the standardisation landscape together, identify the relevant technical committees and bodies, and build a strategy for engagement. Projects with clear potential can be referred on to the Accelerator Service.
- Standards Accelerator Service
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The Standards Accelerator Service is the most intensive offering — up to six months of hands-on support for projects that are ready to go further. This means drafting new work item proposals, registering with technical committees, preparing for working group meetings, and actively contributing to standards processes at national or European level. It is not for every project, but for those with the right results and the right moment, it closes the gap between research output and a concrete standardisation deliverable.
- Training Academy
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Supporting all three is the Training Academy, which HSBooster I developed and which will be significantly expanded. Courses cover the fundamentals of standardisation through to advanced participation in technical committees, with dedicated modules for Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) and National Contact Points (NCPs), as well as emphasise soft skills essential for standardisation, including negotiation, consensus-building, and communication with diverse stakeholders. The Academy aims to reach more than 1,250 users through online courses, six standardisation workshops, nine gamification-based sessions, and ten expert webinars.
Most research is closer to a standard than its authors realise
Research produces knowledge. Standards turn it into products, services, regulations, rules and the everyday systems that people rely on without thinking about them. The gap between the two is often just a question of knowing where to start.
"Every standard you've ever taken for granted: a plug socket, a safety label, a data format, was shaped by someone's research. That is how research quietly shapes the world we live in. HSBooster helps researchers make that translation, from findings to tangible impact. And it is high time that contributing to a standard is properly recognised as part of an academic career."
Nicholas Ferguson, project coordinator, Trust-IT Services
The HSBooster Team
HSBooster II is coordinated by Trust-IT Services, with communications support from COMMpla. The consortium brings together Dansk Standard, the Danish national standards body; CEN, the European Committee for Standardisation, Fraunhofer ISI, and the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Organisational Sciences and META Group. The mix of standardisation bodies, research institutions, and communications specialists is deliberate — it reflects what the project asks of its beneficiaries.
Beyond the services — building towards a permanent European standardisation support system
Beyond the services, HSBooster II wants to establish things that do not yet exist at European level. One is a formal recognition system for researchers who contribute to standards — work that rarely appears on a CV despite its real value.
Another is a set of concrete recommendations for what a permanent European standardisation support service could look like, drawing on evidence from both phases of the project.
The project also aims to activate at least 20 synergies with standards development organisations and technical committees, recruit 100 experts into its pool, and build a strong collaborative community of more than 4,000 members.
How to get involved
Research projects funded through Horizon Europe, other EU programmes, or national schemes can apply for services through open calls at hsbooster.eu. The process is straightforward, the support is free, and applications are assessed on standardisation potential and readiness — not on project size or budget.
Organisations running project days, cluster meetings, NCP events, or thematic conferences can invite the HSBooster team to speak — bringing standardisation literacy directly into the conversation, for audiences at any level of familiarity with the topic. The team has done this across Europe; the sessions are practical and designed for mixed audiences.
For those who want to follow without committing, HSBooster publishes a newsletter and maintains active social media channels. Tools, training materials, and success stories are available openly on the platform. The project runs for three years. The first open call will be announced shortly.
