Horizon Europe

Horizon Europe budget

The new EU research and innovation programme will have a budget of around €95.5 billion for 2021-2027.

This includes €5.4 billion from Next Generation EU to foster recovery and make the EU more resilient for the future, as well as an additional reinforcement of €4.5 billion. The overall Horizon Europe budget represents a 30% increase comparing against Horizon 2020 and makes it the most ambitious research and innovation programme in the world.

Structure of the Programme

Horizon Europe supports an inclusive structure that widens collaboration and enhances research and innovation systems throughout the continent. The three pillars support the creation and diffusion of excellent knowledge, expected outcomes, including expanding access to research, improving economic opportunity, and innovating collaborative processes.

Mission boards propose and implement specific objectives, relating to areas of expertise, such as cancer prevention, climate change, and food resources. These proposals encourage engagement from citizens to ensure alignment with EU priorities. The overall impact aims to bridge the gap between citizens and the innovations that affect their daily lives.

Researchers expect to resolve global challenges and improve conditions worldwide by targeting ground-breaking initiatives. Sustainable goals address societal needs, as outlined in the proposal. Regional innovations also benefit Europe’s innovation ecosystems to ensure advantages for its citizens in technology, economics, science, and health.

Three pillars of Horizon Europe

• Excellent Science – this pillar supports researchers through fellowships, exchanges, and funding the projects defined and driven by researchers themselves. The pillar operates within European Research Council, Marie-Skłodowska-Curie Actions, and Research Infrastructures.
• Global Challenges & Industrial Competitiveness – this pillar fosters directly research related to societal challenges around issues that worry us daily, such as health, climate change, clean energy, mobility, security, digital, materials, etc. For that the Joint Research Centre provides EU with independent scientific evidence and technical support. Within this pillar and throughout the programme as a whole the industrial leadership is supposed to get prominent.
• Innovative Europe – this is a new pillar that aims to make Europe a front runner in market-creating innovation. A new funding body, the European Innovation Council offers a one-stop shop for high potential and breakthrough technologies and innovative companies. The pillar includes as well the activities of European Innovation Ecosystems and European Institute of Innovation and Technology.
• Widening Participation and Strengthening the European Research Area – the fourth component of Horizon Europe aimed to support European Member States in developing their national research and innovation capacities. A special focus is put on encouraging countries that perform lower in research and innovation to succeed in the Programme.

Horizon Europe work programmes 2021-2022

The work programmes & call documents for Horizon Europe are now officially published and can be all downloaded here:

• HE Main Work Programme 2021-2022
• EIC Work Programme 2021
• ERC Work Programme 2021

Following the link above, you’ll also be able to find other documents for the application package, including general guidance and requirements, grant agreements and contracts, as well as budget patterns and templates specific for this or that programme. Also, do not forget that all these templates are available in EMDocs – the online editor from EMDESK. It allows you to collaborate on the structure and write together the narrative part of your Horizon Europe proposal right away with the relevant template, rather than from scratch. Easily invite people to start collaborating and join the work on the proposal as your consortium grows.

What is new in Horizon Europe

The new framework funding programme has a number of remarkable novelties:

• The European Innovation Council (EIC): established as a one-stop shop to support breakthrough innovation.
• Research & Innovation (R&I) missions: mission-orientation is one of the great innovations under Horizon Europe aimed to address important societal challenges, such as cancer and climate change.
• Open Science policy: meaning open access to publications, data, and research data management plans.
• New approach to Partnerships: the European Partnership Instrument is simplified in order to rationnalize the funding landscape.
• Simpler rules: administrative burden is reduced in order to streamline the number of co-funded partnerships with partners like industry, civil society, and funding foundations.

Missions of the Programme

One of the main novelties in Horizon Europe is the mission-orientation – a set of certain objectives connected with the key societal challenges aimed to be achieved with project portfolios. The missions relevant to a broad range of stakeholders and to citizens should be completed using a bottom-up approach.

There are five mission areas aimed to address some of the world's biggest challenges:

• Conquering Cancer – the Mission’s goal is “By 2030, more than 3 million lives saved, living longer and better”
• Accelerating the transition to a climate-ready and climate-resilient Europe – "By 2030, the Mission will prepare Europe to deal with climate disruptions"
• Regenerating our oceans and waters – the Mission’s goal is to reach "full recovery and regeneration of European marine and freshwater ecosystems by 2030"
• 100 Climate Neutral Cities by 2030 - by and for citizens – the Mission’s goal is to "support, promote and showcase 100 European cities in their systemic transformation towards climate neutrality by 2030”
• Caring for the soil is caring for life – the Mission’s goal is to “ensure that 75% of soils are healthy by 2030 and are able to provide essential ecosystem services”

Finding the right Horizon Europe call

This article provides an overview of the Horizon Europe work programmes to help you choose the most relevant Horizon Europe call for your research project. Here, you'll also find a quick checklist on how to apply to the Programme.

The best project management software for Horizon Europe projects in 2022

How long do you spend on managing tasks and resources? What amount of time do you use for reporting over the lifecycle of your research projects? In this article, we outline the top 5 most popular project management software for Horizon Europe that help you streamline project collaboration.

3 steps to build winning Horizon Europe partnerships

This article is an expert guidance on how to build a winning consortium for a Horizon Europe project – from tips on devising the proper strategy and using the right tools for finding Horizon Europe partnerships to recommendations on considering different types of partners.

The comprehensive Horizon Europe Model Grant Agreement guide

In this article, we will make a brief but substantial introduction about the new Horizon Europe Model Grant Agreement that was officially announced by the European Commission in June 2021.

Introduction to Horizon Europe proposal development

How can one apply to the Horizon EU Programme? What’s the ideal time to start developing a Horizon Europe proposal? What are the main steps to make and the core evaluation criteria to keep in mind while creating your proposal? Read this article for expert guidance on the proposal development process.

How to successfully manage a collaborative Horizon Europe project

What do you and your teams need to know about managing a Horizon Europe project with numerous partners? Find out the 4 criteria for successful project management, as well as a list of must-haves a project management tool needs to fully support your projects.