Horizon Europe (2021 - 2027)
The current EU Framework Programme for the period 2021 to 2027 is the ninth of the EU's research framework programmes, which have been running since 1984.
Horizon Europe focuses on research in the areas of health, environment, transport and digital transformation. The EU's overarching goal is to build a knowledge- and innovation-based society and a competitive economy, while contributing to sustainable development.
Programme structure
The structure of Horizon Europe consists of three pillars and an overarching programme part:
© EU Office (CC BY 4.0) - based on the graphic " Preliminary structure of Horizon Europe" by the European Commission - published under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence and the Partial General Approach to the Specific Programme of Horizon Europe of 15 April 2019: ST8550/19
Pillar I: Scientific Excellence
This pillar contains well-known programme lines for open-topic individual funding, such as the European Research Council (ERC) and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), as well as a programme area for funding research infrastructures.
Pillar II: Global challenges and European industrial competitiveness
Pillar II comprises six clusters:
1. health;
2. culture, creativity and inclusive society;
3. civil security for society;
4. digitalisation, industry and space;
5. climate, energy and mobility;
6. food, bioeconomy, natural resources, agriculture and environment.
Pillar III: Innovative Europe
The instruments focusing on innovation and market uptake are located in the third pillar. The European Innovation Council (EIC) aims to promote radical and market-creating innovation through open-topic instruments.
- EIC Pathfinder (formerly FET Open & FET Proactive)
- EIC Accelerator (SME instrument): grants and equity capital
- EIC Fast Track to Innovation (FTI)
- EIC Horizon Awards
The "European Innovation Ecosystems" and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) are also components of the "Innovative Europe" pillar.
Programme part: "Increasing participation and strengthening the European Research Area".
This part of the programme comprises measures aimed at increasing the participation of EU Member States that were previously less strong in research and innovation and at improving European research and innovation systems as a whole.
Current status
For more information on the current status of Horizon Europe, please visit the official website of the European Commission on Horizon Europe or the website of the BMBF.
Calls for proposals on the website of the European Commission
The Participant Portal online provides an overview of all calls in Horizon Europe. With the new keyword search function, you can find relevant calls for your own research priorities in the "Work Programmes".