Horizon Europe

Excellent Science

The first pillar of Horizon Europe aims to strengthen the EU’s scientific leadership and promote the development of high-quality knowledge and skills. This includes support for frontier research projects through the European Research Council and increasing investments for research infrastructures.

Marie-Skłodowska-Curie

The European Commission has introduced the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) to promote the mobility and career development of researchers across country and sector boundaries.

The aim of these actions is to develop a strong pool of European researchers and position Europe as an attractive research destination for scientists.

The MSCA support networks for doctoral training, research stays for postdocs, staff exchange programs, and mobility programs. Existing European and international partnerships between universities, research institutions, companies (especially SMEs), and other socio-economic actors are utilized and expanded. The calls for proposals are open to all topics and follow a bottom-up approach. A key participation criterion is the international mobility of researchers. In addition, through the MSCA, the European Commission also promotes initiatives for science communication.

European Research Council

The European Research Council (ERC) supports outstanding researchers and their teams at various career stages through topic-independent funding schemes.

The ERC allows researchers of any nationality to receive project funding for up to five years through its Starting, Consolidator, and Advanced Grants. The funding amounts vary by scheme, ranging from 1.5 to 2.5 million euros. Additionally, the ERC facilitates team projects through its Synergy Grant, supporting teams of two to four researchers for up to six years with funding up to 10 million euros. Furthermore, existing grants can be extended for 18 months with up to 150,000 € through the Proof of Concept scheme.

ERC funding is open to all scientific disciplines and is provided without thematic restrictions, with excellence being the sole evaluation criterion. Research teams can be freely composed, and projects must be conducted at an institution of choice in Europe. A distinctive feature of the ERC is its governance by the Scientific Council.

Research Infrastructures

Large research institutions are of major importance in the European Research Area. They are essential for outstanding research and significantly contribute to addressing societal challenges such as climate change and pandemics.

Horizon Europe supports the development of a unified European research infrastructure landscape. The program helps the member states to plan and establish European research facilities, and to coordinate and utilize national facilities. It also promotes overarching tasks such as open research data and research networks.

Only activities that contribute to equipping Europe with world-class research infrastructures and making them accessible to the best researchers from Europe and worldwide recieve funding. The program also supports the use of existing research infrastructures, including those funded by the European Structural and Investment Funds. The aim is always to further develop the potential of research infrastructures, promote scientific progress and innovation, and enable open and excellent science.

Global Challenges & European Industrial Competitiveness

The second pillar promotes research and innovation that address societal challenges and industrial technologies. This pillar covers areas such as health, digitalization, climate, energy, mobility, civil security, food, and natural resources.

Health

The Health cluster includes the promotion of measures that enhance the understanding, therapy, management, and prevention of diseases, as well the optimization of healthcare and nursing.

A healthy population forms the foundation for a stable, sustainable, and inclusive European society. Improving health is crucial for reducing poverty and addressing the challenges of an aging population. Health is also crucial for social progress, prosperity, and economic growth. Healt-related research and innovation significantly contributes to these goals. The Health cluster aims to foster close connections between different areas such as basic and clinical research. Other relevant research fields include epidemiology, ethics, socioeconomics, and regulatory science.

The Health cluster supports activities across six intervention areas. Aspects such as “digitalization” and “personalization of health and care” are considered throughout all areas.

Culture, Creativity & Inclusive Society

The cluster “Culture, Creativity, and Inclusive Society” promotes broad research and innovation activities. These encompass topics such as democracy and political participation, justice and fundamental rights, education, employment, growth and investment, as well as inequalities and migration. The aim is to strengthen trust in democracy, foster citizen participation through social innovations, and address challenges such as inequality, marginalization, discrimination, and radicalization. This cluster also promotes research on the preservation of Europe’s cultural heritage with the goal of fostering cultural diversity.

Transnational, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary approaches, including the involvement of practice partners, are required to address these complex challenges. Researchers from social sciences, humanities, and cultural studies, as well as stakeholders from cultural and creative sectors, play a crucial role in the development of innovative solutions and the strengthening of the inclusiveness and diversity of Europe.

Civil Security for Society

Civil security research focuses on the developmet of solutions for a variety of challenges, including (cyber)crime, terrorism, pandemics, natural disasters, the protection of critical infrastructures, and the security of the EU’s external borders.

The „Civil Security for Society“ cluster was formed to target the specific needs of civil security research. The goal is to address the EU’s political priorities regarding crime and terrorism, the security of EU external borders, the protection of critical infrastructures, cybersecurity, and disaster resilience.

Digital, Industry & Space

The EU’s competitiveness relies partly on modern innovation and production capacities in the fields of digitalization, industry, and space technologies, as well as on the advancement of sustainable materials and raw resources.

By integrating these fields of research and ensuring a sustainable supply of raw materials, a faster and more comprehensive technological transformation can be achieved. The research and innovation outcomes of these sectors help to achieve the EU’s goals in the following policy fields: industry, digitalization, environment, energy, climate, circular economy, raw materials, advanced materials, and space.

Climate, Energy & Mobility

Through signing the Paris Climate Agreement in 2016, the EU has committed itself to fullfilling the United Nations sustainability goals.  As part of the Green Deal, the EU has set the ambitious goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050 while decoupling the economy from excessive consumption of natural resources.

Research and innovation play a crucial role in achieving these goals. Thirty-five percent of the Horizon Europe funds are earmarked for projects focusing on climate change. Innovative initiatives within the “Climate, Energy, and Mobility” sector are crucial for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and developing more sustainable energy and mobility systems.

Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture & Environment

It is the cluster’s aim to find ways to align the EU’s ecological, social, and economic goals to enable sustainable economic practices.

The goal is to bring about comprehensive economic and societal transformation to minimize environmental damage, halt biodiversity loss, and enhance the efficient use of natural resources. Simultaneously, it aims to achieve the EU’s climate targets and ensure the security of water and food supply within the EU.

Joint Research Center (JRC)

Sustainable policy relies on valid data and facts. Policy makers must consistently discern which information is crucial and accurate to make well-founded decisions.

The JRC operates at this juncture, providing the European Commission with data and facts that contribute to European policymaking. By doing this, the JRC always keeps the collective interests of the European Union at the forefront.

Innovative Europe

The third pillar’s aim is the promotion of groundbreaking and pioneering innovations through the European Innovation Council (EIC). As a central platform, the EIC supports promising innovators in unlocking future markets.

European Innovation Council (EIC)

The European Innovation Council (EIC) brings various EU funding instruments together. Applicants can largely choose their project themes themselves.

The EIC aims to develop pioneering innovations that pave the way for groundbreaking new products, services, processes, and business models.

The EIC seeks to promote innovation in the EU in a more direct, long-term, and sustainable manner. It aims to create a solid foundation for future innovations and to pave the path for market implementations.

The European Innovation Council unites important EU instruments under one roof, including the EIC Pathfinder, EIC Transitions, EIC Accelerator, and EIC Prizes. These funding instruments are largely open-topic and provide space for interdisciplinary approaches. In addition to technological innovations, social innovations or innovations in the service sector can also be supported.

European Innovation ecosystems

The European Commission has integrated certain measures in Horizon Eurpe to make better use of the innovation potential. The aim is to maximize the effectiveness of innovation ecosystems through improved framework conditions and increased cooperation.

The Innovation ecosystems should benefit from fruitful collaborations, networking, knowledge exchange, and the promotion of open innovation processes. Member states, associated countries, EU regions, and their key stakeholders are encouraged to foster innovation by participating in targeted initiatives. They can join the EIC Forum (European Innovation Council), joint innovation programs, scaling-up measures for companies, and joint educational strategies to share their insights. Synergies with other EU programs, national/ regional programs and funds, as well as cooperation with private institutions, are promoted.

European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT)

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) was established in 2008 as an autonomous body of the European Union. It brings together leading companies, educational institutions, and research organizations in dynamic cross-border partnerships known as Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs). Together, the KICs promote a new generation of entrepreneurs who launch start-ups. These start-ups bring innovative products, processes, and services to market, thereby creating jobs and fostering growth.

Outstanding scientists from both the education and research sectors often lack connections to the industry. At the EIT, actors from these three areas are brought together to close the gaps in collaboration between academia and industry. Results from science and research can be directly transformed into commercially viable innovation ideas, significantly shortening the path from research findings to marketable products.

The tasks of the EIT are carried out within the KICs, the Knowledge and Innovation Communities. Their goal is to develop innovative products and services, create new companies, and foster a new generation of entrepreneurs. They are independent in their internal structure and management. The internal organization and composition, as well as the timetable and working methods, are determined by the KICs themselves. Any organization involved in the knowledge triangle of higher education, research, and innovation can participate in a KIC. However, there must be at least three partner organizations from different member states.

Widening participation and strengthening the European Research Area

The aim of the program area ” Widening Participation and Strengthening the European Research Area ” is to increase the participation of Member States that have historically been less engaged in research and innovation efforts.

Widening participation & spreading excellence

The goal of this program is to promote scientific excellence across all EU member states and increase the participation rate of less active member states in Horizon Europe, known as “Widening countries.” Despite serious efforts at national and European levels, regional disparities in research and innovation performance have not been fully eliminated.

Efforts are focused on reducing the existing disparities in research and innovation performance between member states and regions, to make better use of the research and innovation potential. Achieving this goal requires closer ties between institutions and researchers from leading research and innovation countries and the “Widening countries”.

Within Horizon Europe, the EU-13 (Bulgaria, Estonia, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Cyprus) as well as Greece and Portugal are defined as “Widening countries”. Additionally, less innovation-intensive associated countries such as EU accession candidates, candidate countries, and countries in the European Neighbourhood also belong to this group.

3.3% of the total Horizon Europe funds are used for Widening initiatives. These funds support successful measures such as Teaming, Twinning, and ERA-Chairs, and contribute to the establishment of long-term political reforms.

Reforming & Enhancing the European R&I system

This program area focuses on strengthening research and innovation in Europe. It includes ambitious goals such as facilitating rapid and efficient knowledge exchange, enabling the free movement of highly skilled workers, and creating attractive career opportunities for researchers. Additionally, the program’s aim is to modernize universities, promote gender equality, and uphold high ethical standards. Member states and associated countries are expected to cooperate regarding the development of research agendas, the coordination of national plans, and the implementation of joint programs. Another goal is to bridge the gap between science and EU citizens.