European Commission›European Commission› offers Horizon Europe

Horizon Europe pools research funding from across the European Union, giving projects access to budgets beyond what a single national programme typically provides. Its instruments span individual investigator grants, doctoral and postdoctoral mobility, collaborative challenge-driven projects and support for innovation, so one programme covers several stages of the research pipeline.

Participation is open to legal entities from the European Union and associated countries, which lets consortia assemble expertise across borders. The programme complements national funding by co-financing projects and European partnerships that national instruments alone would find hard to support.

Applicants face strong competition for a limited number of grants, and stakeholder surveys report low success rates for many calls under the programme. Preparing a proposal for a collaborative consortium is demanding, requiring partners, budgets and administrative documentation before submission.

The programme's budget is set through the European Union's multiannual financial framework and can be revised, so funding levels are not fixed for its whole duration. Reporting and audit obligations add further administrative load on participating organisations.

Horizon Europe succeeded Horizon 2020 as the European Union's framework programme for research and innovation, after the European Commission put forward the proposal in 2018. It was established by Regulation (EU) 2021/695 and runs from 2021 to 2027 as the ninth framework programme in the series.

The programme builds on earlier framework programmes and was shaped by evaluations of Horizon 2020 and expert reports on mission-oriented research. The European Commission has since proposed a successor framework programme to continue the series beyond 2027.

Horizon Europe is the European Union's main funding programme for research and innovation, covering the 2021 to 2027 period. It supports collaborative research projects, researcher mobility and the innovation work of companies, universities and public bodies in the member states and associated countries.

The programme is structured in three pillars covering excellent science, global challenges and industrial competitiveness, and innovative Europe, together with measures that widen participation and support research infrastructures. Funding is awarded through competitive calls for proposals and calls for tender managed by the European Commission and its agencies.