What is Horizon exactly?
Horizon Europe is the EU’s leading funding programme for research and innovation, with a budget of €95.5 billion. It will combat climate change, contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and strengthen EU competitiveness and growth. The programme promotes cooperation and enhances the impact of research and innovation in developing, supporting and implementing EU policies and addressing global challenges. It supports the creation and better dissemination of world-class knowledge and technologies. The project also aims to create jobs, make the most of the EU talent pool, promote economic growth, strengthen industrial competitiveness and maximise the return on investment within a strengthened European Research Area. Legal entities from the EU and its neighbouring countries are welcome to participate.
Focus of the project
The funding project has a number of so-called pillars underpinning its various objectives.
The “Science” pillar aims to increase the EU’s global scientific competitiveness. Through the European Research Council, the project provides support for frontier research projects defined and driven by leading researchers themselves, grants for experienced researchers, networks for doctoral training or support for the exchange of researchers. The aim is also to attract more young people to careers in research through measures and to invest in first-class research infrastructure.
The pillar “Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness” supports research related to societal challenges and strengthens technological and industrial capabilities through clusters. It sets out the EU’s mandate with ambitious goals to solve some of our biggest problems. This includes the work of the Collaborative Research Centre, providing independent scientific advice and technical support to policy makers at EU and national level.
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The Innovative Europe Pillar aims to make Europe a leader in market-creating innovation through the European Innovation Council. It also contributes to the development of the innovation landscape across Europe through the European Institute of Innovation Technology (EIT), which aims to facilitate the development of the European innovation ecosystem and the integration of the knowledge triangle of education, research and innovation.
Horizons benefits
An additional component, which is intended to encompass all the pillars mentioned above, is the extension and strengthening of participation in the European Research Area (ERA). This underpins the overall programme, maximises the country’s research and innovation potential and encourages the participation of researchers and scientists in the ERA. The focus is on helping member countries with traditionally low R&I performance to better participate in Horizon Europe. The total budget of the programme is €95.5 billion, compared to Horizon 2020 which had a budget of around €80 billion.
