HORIZON EUROPE
The Science|Business has published draft work programmes for the next two years of the EU's Horizon Europe research programme.
The formal work programmes for 2023 and 2024 are expected before the end of the year, first calls could be opening within a few days of adoption.
Cluster 1: Health
More than €1 billion will be spent on health research next year and around €500 million in 2024. The largest chunk of funding, €551 million, will go to projects tackling diseases including cancer and other non-communicable diseases, as well as preparedness and response to health threats.
The work programme 2023-2024 of cluster 1 ‘Health’ is directed towards two Key Strategic Orientations (KSOs) for research and innovation set by Horizon Europe’s strategic plan 2021- 2024, notably to creating a more resilient, inclusive and democratic European society (KSOD) and promoting an open strategic autonomy by leading the development of key digital, enabling and emerging technologies, sectors and value chains (KSO-A).
It aims to complete the targets set out in the Strategic Plan 20321-2024, mainly along the four impact areas: Good health and high-quality accessible health care; A resilient EU prepared for emerging threats; High quality digital services for all; and A competitive and secure data economy.
Cluster 2: Culture, Creativity & Inclusive Society
This cluster will get €291 million in 2023 and €260 million in 2024, for research into democracy and governance, cultural heritage and creative industries, and social and economic transformations.
Cluster 2, ‘Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society’ aims to meet EU goals and priorities on enhancing democratic governance and citizens participation, on the safeguarding and promotion of cultural heritage, and to respond to and shape multifaceted social, economic, technological and cultural transformations. Cluster 2 mobilises multidisciplinary expertise of European social sciences and humanities for understanding fundamental contemporary transformations of society, economy, politics and culture. It aims to provide evidence-based policy options for a socially just and inclusive European green and digital transition and recovery.
Cluster 3: Civil Security for Society
The smallest of the six clusters for big collaborative projects will have a budget of €171 million next year and €161 million in 2024.
There’s €69 million for projects helping fight crime and terrorism, €48 million for the management of external borders, €26 million for protecting infrastructures, €101.6 for cybersecurity, €51.5 million for increasing Europe’s resilience to disasters, and €20.5 million for increasing the uptake of security innovation.
This Cluster 3 Work Programme will support the implementation of EU policy priorities on security, including cybersecurity, and disaster risk reduction and resilience. In addition, it will build on lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic to strengthen prevention, mitigation, preparedness and capacity building for crises (including health crises) and to improve crosssectoral aspects of such crises. In this respect, this Work Programme will therefore also ensure synergies and coordination of actions with other parts of Pillar 2.
Cluster 4: Digital, Industry & Space
This cluster is all about boosting the EU’s strategic autonomy, and there’s a strong focus on the green transition. It’s one of the biggest in the pack with €1.67 billion in 2023 and €1.12 billion in 2024.
The three biggest slices of this budget will go to environmentally sustainable and digitised production (€635 million), increasing autonomy in key strategic value chains (€560 million), and creating technologies for the Green Deal (€461.5 million).
Cluster 5: Climate, Energy & Mobility
As the EU’s 2050 carbon neutrality deadline nears, the Commission wants to ensure money for Green Deal-related research. There’s €1.655 billion for climate energy and mobility projects in next year’s calls and €1.112 billion the year after.
Over €1 billion will be available for energy supply-related projects in the next two years. There’s also €208 million for energy efficiency.
Transport is another big theme, with €420 million to be invested in clean and competitive transport research and €231.5 million in smart and resilient transport and mobility. There’s also funding for climate science and responses to it, and cross-sector Green Deal research.
Cluster 6: Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture & Environment
Total budget for next year is €1.056 billion and €903.9 million for 2024, including funding for Green Deal-oriented research missions.
Research in biodiversity and ecosystem services (€326 million), food systems (€453 million) and circular economy and bioeconomy sectors (€326 million) dominate the work programmes.
Funding to tackle pollution, reduce emissions, support for rural, coastal and urban communities, and governance for the EU’s Green Deal will be available.
Missions
The Commission will invest €614 million in the five missions in 2023. Funding to support implementation and demonstrators for all five missions, that are aiming to tackle cancer, help regions adapt to climate change, lead cities to climate neutrality, and improve Europe’s waters and soils, will be available.
European Innovation Council
Information aboud budgets and deadlines are not available, but Acceleration, Pathfinder and Transition innovation programmes will continue.
The EIC aims at identifying and supporting breakthrough technologies and gamechanging innovations with the potential to scale up internationally and become market leaders. It supports all stages of innovation from research and development on the scientific underpinnings of breakthrough technologies, to validation and demonstration of breakthrough technologies and innovations to meet real world needs, to the development and scaling up of start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
The MSCA researcher mobility and training schemes will continue over the next two years. There’s €885.95million for doctoral training programmes, €531.22 million for postdoctoral fellowships, €159 million for staff exchanges, and €195.85 million for co-financing existing and new doctoral and postdoctoral schemes.
Widening participation and strengthening the European Research Area
The EU will invest €910.52 million in making its research ecosystem more equitable.
The European Commission adopted the communication on a new ERA for Research and Innovation to improve the European research and innovation landscape, to accelerate the European Union's transition towards climate neutrality and digital leadership, to support the European Union’s recovery from the coronavirus crisis, and to strengthen its resilience against future crises. It sets out strategic objectives, in close cooperation with Member States, to prioritise investments and reforms in R&I, to improve access to excellence for researchers across the EU, to enable research results to reach the market and the real economy and to strengthen the mobility of researchers and free flow of knowledge.
Research Infrastructures
The funding pillar for big science labs will get €320.26 million in 2023 and €333.80 million in 2024 from Horizon Europe.
The overall objective of the Research Infrastructures Programme under Horizon Europe is to empower Europe through world-class and accessible research infrastructures, as part of an integrated European research and technology infrastructures landscape.
The Commission has set aside funding to improve Europe’s research infrastructures and maintain their global leadership, the European Open Science Cloud, and enabling the EU’s green and digital transitions.
European Innovation Ecosystems
The European Innovation Ecosystems work programme aims to create and expand more connected, inclusive and efficient innovation ecosystems that support the scaling of companies and spur innovation to address important challenges in a responsible way, as laid out in the New European Innovation Agenda.
European Research Council
The ERC puts particular emphasis on the frontiers of science, scholarship, and engineering. It encourages proposals of a multi- or interdisciplinary nature, which cross the boundaries between different fields of research, pioneering proposals addressing new and emerging fields of research, or proposals introducing unconventional, innovative approaches and scientific inventions.
ERC funding may also enable new ways of working in the scientific world, with the potential to create breakthrough results and facilitate commercial and social innovation potential of funded research.
DRAFT DOCUMENTS
A new round of draft documents is available. Below, you can find links to all the official leaked - draft versions.
2023-24 Work Programmes
Source: Science|Business.