Horizon Europe (HE) is the European Union’s key funding programme for research and innovation (2021–2027), designed to tackle global challenges, support excellent science, and strengthen Europe’s competitiveness.
It is built on three main pillars:
The programme also includes funding for Widening Participation & Strengthening the European Research Area, ensuring inclusiveness and capacity-building across all EU regions.
Researchers, universities, SMEs, start-ups, industry players, public institutions, and non-profits are all welcome to apply and collaborate under Horizon Europe.
Horizon Europe offers a variety of funding instruments to support research, innovation, and institutional capacity building across Europe and beyond.
Horizon Europe Pillar 2 (Global Challenges & European Industrial Competitiveness) is organised into Work Programmes, which are structured around thematic Clusters (e.g. Health, Digital, Climate, Energy, Mobility, Food, etc.). Each Cluster defines the EU’s R&D priorities in that area and publishes a set of calls for proposals. Within these calls, projects are typically funded through three main types of actions:
Found mainly in early-stage research topics within the Clusters. Aim to generate new knowledge, technologies, or scientific evidence to address the thematic challenges of a Work Programme.
Example: A RIA under the Health Cluster might fund fundamental research on new disease biomarkers.
Purpose: Support collaborative research to advance scientific knowledge and develop new technologies.
Consortium: Typically 3+ partners from different countries.
Funding: 100% of eligible project costs.
Appear in Work Programme topics that are closer to market deployment. Aim to demonstrate, pilot, or scale up innovative technologies and solutions in line with EU policy priorities.
Example: An IA under the Climate, Energy & Mobility Cluster could support large-scale demonstration of renewable hydrogen technologies.
Purpose: Support projects closer to the market, focusing on prototyping, testing, piloting, and scaling up.
Consortium: Usually 3+ partners from different countries, often with strong industry involvement.
Funding: 70% of eligible costs for companies (100% for public and non-profit entities).
Included across all Clusters, typically linked to policy support, stakeholder engagement, standardisation, or best-practice sharing. Do not fund core R&D but help create the conditions for successful research and innovation.
Example: A CSA under the Digital Cluster might support coordination of European AI research networks.
Purpose: Fund networking, policy coordination, best-practice sharing, and dissemination activities.
Consortium: Flexible size, often 3+ partners.
Funding: 100% of eligible costs.
Under Pillar 1 – Excellent Science – funding frontier research, fellowships, and world-class research infrastructures applicants can apply for:
Purpose: Support individual researchers conducting ground-breaking frontier research.
Consortium: Single Principal Investigator with a host institution.
Funding: Up to €1.5–2.5 million (depending on grant type) over 5 years.
Purpose: Promote researcher mobility, training, and career development across sectors and countries.
Consortium: Varies; individual fellowships or larger training networks (DN, SE, COFUND).
Funding: 100% of eligible costs (fellowships, mobility, training, institutional support).
Under the Widening programme the funding is provided within ERA Chairs, Twinning, and Teaming which targets to strengthen institutional research excellence, capacity building, and international partnerships. Projects are typically led by institutions in widening countries with EU/international partners. Funding size depends on the scheme (from €1–15 million for capacity-building projects).