Horizon Europe

HORIZON EUROPE

Horizon Europe is the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation with a budget of €95.5 billion. For period 2021-2027.

It tackles climate change, helps to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and boosts the EU’s competitiveness and growth.

The programme facilitates collaboration and strengthens the impact of research and innovation in developing, supporting and implementing EU policies while tackling global challenges. It supports creating and better dispersing of excellent knowledge and technologies. It creates jobs, fully engages the EU’s talent pool, boosts economic growth, promotes industrial competitiveness and optimises investment impact within a strengthened European Research Area. Legal entities from the EU and associated countries can participate.

  New elements in Horizon Europe

European Innovation Council: Support for innovations with potential breakthrough and disruptive nature with scale-up potential that may be too risky for private investors. This is 70% of the budget earmarked for SMEs.

Missions: Sets of measures to achieve bold, inspirational and measurable goals within a set timeframe. There are 5 main mission areas as part of Horizon Europe.

Open science policy: Mandatory open access to publications and open science principles are applied throughout the programme Factsheet: Open science in Horizon Europe

New approach to partnerships: Objective-driven and more ambitious partnerships with industry in support of EU policy objectives

Three pillars

1. Excellent science – consolidating and expanding the excellence of the EU science base and encompassing the European Research Council, the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Activities and Research Infrastructures (budget: € 25.011 billion)
2. Global challenges and European industrial competitiveness – promoting key technologies and solutions that support EU policies and sustainable development goals (six clusters: cluster 1 – health, cluster 2 – culture, creativity and inclusive society, cluster 3 – civil security for society, cluster 4 – digitalisation, industry and space, cluster 5 – climate, energy and mobility, cluster 6 – food, bioeconomy, natural resources, agriculture and the environment and the Joint Research Center) (budget: € 53.516 billion)
3. Innovative Europe – fostering revolutionary innovation, creating new markets and innovation-friendly ecosystems, including the European Innovation Council, European Innovation Ecosystems and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (budget: € 13.598 billion)

Part: Widening participation and strengthening the European Research Area

Expanding participation and strengthening the European Research Area – coverage Expanding participation and excellence and Reforming and strengthening the European research and innovation system (budget: € 3.4 billion).

Special programs:

European Defense Fund – an initiative to support joint defense research and development, as well as to foster an innovative and competitive defense industrial base (budget: € 8 billion)

Euratom Research and Training Program (2021-2025) – research and training activities aimed at reducing safety risks and strengthening nuclear safety, development of nuclear technologies and optimal radiation protection (budget: 1.981 billion euros)

Five missions:

In addition to the three pillars, Horizon Europe has five specially identified mission areas that are an integral part of the Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness pillars. These research and innovation missions aim to provide solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing the world.

The five mission areas with some of their goals for 2030 are:

1. Adapting to climate change, including social transformation: preparing Europe to combat climate change.
2. Cancer: saving more than three million lives, living longer and better lives, a deeper understanding of cancer
3. Healthy oceans, seas, coastal and inland waters: cleanup of the sea and fresh water, restoration of degraded ecosystems and habitats
4. Climate neutral and smart cities: supports 100 European cities and demonstrates a systematic transformation towards climate neutrality by 2030.
5. Soil health and food: At least 75% of all land in the EU is healthy for food, people, nature and the climate.

More about Horizon Europe: https://ec.europa.eu/info/research-and-innovation/funding/funding-opportunities/funding-programmes-and-open-calls… 

Programme guide: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/programme-guide_horizon_en.pdf

Open Calls: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities