Initially published on 18/02/2020, revised on 14/08/2020
Horizon Europe is considered the most ambitious European multinational collaborative investment with a particular focus on research and innovation and is open to participants globally. Therefore, the proposed budget of Horizon Europe was 100 billion euro for the period 2021- 2027.
After the coronavirus pandemic, the EU priorities have shifted, resulting in a significant cut from the European Commission’s plan of €80.9 billion. In the end, the core programme of Horizon Europe will be allocated €75.9 billion and a €5 billion boost from the pandemic recovery fund.
So, let’s discover together the importance of this new research programme.
"The programme aims at giving Europe a new push to global positioning. Horizon Europe is to be the biggest and most ambitious EU Research Innovation programme ever. It builds on the success of Horizon 2020. It improves it further by fostering stronger support to breakthrough innovation through the European Innovation Council, by creating greater impact through R&I missions and by streamlining partnerships landscape." Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education, and Youth
Horizon Europe's objectives highlight the need to foster the impact of research and innovation by supporting the implementation of the European Union's policies and communicating global challenges such as the climate crisis and the Sustainable Development Goals.
The impact is the most "political" section of your proposal. It should be aligned and reflect the EU's policy priorities!
Think of your proposal not so much in scientific terms, preferably as a tool for the EU to implement policies and achieve its short- and long-term goals. In practice, this means that it doesn’t matter how scientifically excellent your idea is; if it is not convincing enough to serve policy purposes, it will not be funded.
What is the role of impact in Horizon Europe?
Seemingly to H2020, Horizon Europe will be all about impact and contributing to EU policy priorities.
The new Strategic Agenda focuses on four main priorities:
- European Green Deal
- An economy that works for people
- A Europe fit for the Digital Age
- Protecting our European way of life
- A stronger Europe in the World
- A new push for European democracy
Achieving impact plays a pivotal role in the Horizon Europe programme, and the general objective will be to deliver scientific, technological, economic, and societal impact. In practice, beneficiaries should be ready to enhance their dissemination and exploitation activities and providing more data via new monitoring instruments. In summary, always keep in mind that your proposal needs to prove that it will have a high impact that meaningfully supports the Union's challenges and political priorities.
We have already launched our Autumn training courses and webinars where the Horizon Europe topic will be covered extensively.
Stay tuned!
