The EXCELES program puts a great emphasis on open science. 

Section 4 of the tender documentation explicitly states that 

An essential part of the project must be the identification of the application potential of the expected knowledge and a plan for the protection of intellectual property and rights to the results, the identification of the possibilities of applying the "open access" regime in the publication of results and sharing of verified scientific data to the maximum extent possible, where this is possible in compliance with all applicable regulations for the protection of personal data, sensitive data and intellectual property. 

The beneficiaries should, therefore, share the research results (publications and data alike) in accordance with a well-known rule “as open as possible, as closed as necessary”.  

The project proposal must now include the plan for the protection of intellectual property and rights to results in relation to the results and outputs of the project and the functioning of the consortium, and identify opportunities for the application of an “open access” regime in the publication of results, sharing of validated scientific data and compliance with FAIR principles. This plan and the application of the “open access” regime are the subject of evaluation in the selection of projects. 

Following Directive (EU) 2019/1024 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on open data and the re-use of public sector information, the beneficiary will submit to the grantor in each interim and final project report its plan for sharing the scientific data generated by the project (“data management plan”). The data management plan (DMP) should include, in particular, the method of handling the scientific data obtained, including the categories and the way of providing open data to other interested parties, the method of protecting the results and the plan for their further sharing and use.  

Expenditure on the dissemination of results in open access mode and on sharing and protecting the scientific information and data generated by the project are eligible project costs.