Do you know which Horizon Europe call corresponds to your project?

12 July 2021

Find out Horizon Europe’s structure to identify funding opportunities for your project.

Horizon Europe’s structure maintains the H2020 Pillar structure, but with some changes compared to the previous programme.

The first new feature is the European Innovation Council, which supports disruptive innovations with the capacity to scale up projects and increase relevance at a European and global level. It brings together 70% of funding for SMEs.

The integration of the Missions is another new initiative found in Horizon Europe: the 5 main missions are a set of measures that aim to achieve ambitious and inspiring objectives, within a given timeframe.

In this framework programme, the Commission is committed to an open science policy and the accessibility of publications.

Finally, there is a change in the approach to partnerships and consortia: goal-oriented and coordinated with industry.

Horizon Europe’s structure

Horizon Europe’s Structure: Pillars

Horizon Europe is divided into 3 main pillars, let’s have a look at the budget breakdown in each of them:

PILLAR 1: EXCELLENT SCIENCE

Subdivided into 3 parts: European Research Council (ERC), with a budget of €16 billion; Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions, whose budget is €6.6K million and finally Research Infrastructures with €2.4K million.

PILLAR 2: GLOBAL CHALLENGES AND INDUSTRIAL AND EUROPEAN COMPETITIVENESS

The objective of this pillar is to generate knowledge, to increase the impact of research and innovation (R&I) in the development and implementation of EU policies and in support of these policies, and to foster the access to and uptake of innovative solutions in European industry, in particular SMEs, and in society, to address global challenges, including climate change and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The activities of this Pillar are carried out within different clusters:

Cluster 1 – Health	€8.2K million
Cluster 2 – Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society	€2.2K million
Cluster 3 – Civil security for society	€1.5K million
Cluster 4 – Digital world, industry and space	€15.3K million
Cluster 5 – Climate, Energy and Mobility	€15.1K million
Cluster 6 – Food, bioeconomy, natural resources, agriculture and environment	€8.9K million
Joint Research Centre (JRC)	€1.9K million

PILLAR 3: INNOVATIVE EUROPE

This pillar is defined to deliver tangible results to lead innovation at a global level, addressing challenges, such as increasing risk finance, the access to and transfer of research results, accelerating business transformation and tackling the fragmentation of the innovation ecosystem.

It includes: the European Innovation Council, with a budget of €10.6K million, the European Innovation Ecosystems (€0.5K million) and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, with €3.0K million.

Horizon Europe’s Pillars

Horizon Europe’s structure: Partnerships

Following the analysis of the H2020 results, one conclusion drawn was the need to streamline the funding landscape. As a result, this new approach to partnerships in Horizon Europe has emerged.

How are partnerships evolving with respect to H2020? In Horizon Europe, partnerships are divided into 3 categories:

Co-programmed
Co-funded
Institutionalised

This reform implies a reduction in the number of partnerships compared to H2020; but at the same time, it favours an increase in visibility.

Horizon Europe’s structure: Missions

Five research and innovation missions have been defined with the aim of better linking EU research and innovation with the needs of society and citizens, with high visibility and impact.

These are:

Adaptation to climate change, including societal transformation
Cancer
Soil health and food
Smart and climate neutral cities
Health of oceans, seas, coastal and inland waters

Download the Horizon Europe Guide

To fully understand the new framework programme and identify the opportunities it can offer for your project.

Download Horizon Europe Guide