A proposal for Horizon Europe, the successor to Horizon 2020, is due to be published on 7 June 2018. However there have been plenty of hints, suggestions and straightforward leaks already, and the current plan is the worst kept secret ever. So what do we know so far? Well, unless there are significant changes in the next couple of weeks, here are the seven take home points.
What’s on the Horizon?
- It’s bigger than ever. The European Commission has outlined plans for a €100bn budget for the programme which is due to run between 2021-2027. This is made up of €97.6bn for Horizon Europe, and €2.4bn for Euratom, the nuclear research programme. That’s a 30% increase on the €77bn for H2020. Although less than the €120bn that the European Parliament was angling for, the research programme is one of the few areas that is due to rise in the EU’s long term budget (or Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF)). It’s still to be agreed, so expect to see a lot of bargaining and horse trading to come. And there is some worry that this will carry us close to the finish line, as it did before H2020, so there might be a slightly startled and rushed first tranche of calls.
- It’s an evolution, not a revolution. Unlike the move between the last few framework programmes, there won’t be a major overhaul. There will still be three pillars, and there will be shifting around within the pillars, but they will broadly remain the same. So, the Horizon Europe pillars will look like this:
- Pillar I: Open Science. This was known as ‘Excellent Science’ under H2020. It is the responsive mode part of the European funding, and includes the ERC, MSCA, and research infrastructures. The only change here is that FET will shift to Pillar III as the ‘Pathfinder’ programme.
- Pillar II: Global Challenges. This is the former ‘Societal Challenges’ pillar. There has been some rejigging of the themes into larger ‘clusters’, and the current proposal is that there will be five, including elements that used to come under ‘industrial leadership’ (see below)’ They will be:
- Health
- Digital and Industry
- Food and Natural Resources
- Climate, Energy and Mobility
- Resilience and Security
- There’s a suggestion of tying them in more closely to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and, interestingly, of ‘partners from across the world…be[ing] invited to join EU efforts.’ The Framework Programme has not traditionally been particularly open to partners outside of Europe, so this might signal a shift to a more globalised view.
- Pillar III: Open Innovation.Formerly known as ‘Industrial Leadership’, this is all about commercialisation and collaborations with industry. This is where the European Innovation Council (EIC), which was piloted under H2020, is due to take flight.