• to strengthen the EU’s scientific and technological bases and the European Research Area;
• to boost Europe’s innovation capacity, competitiveness and jobs;
• to deliver on citizen’s priorities and sustain Europe’s socio-economic model and values.

The programme encourages collaboration as a means of strengthening the impact of research and innovation in response to both EU policies and global challenges. It therefore supports the creation and circulation of knowledge and innovation; aims to implement the European Green Deal and the digital and sustainability transition; and aims to boost the EU’s recovery from the coronavirus crisis. Global challenges addressed through the programme include tackling climate change, promoting sustainable development and fighting cancer.

Participation is for legal entities from within the EU, as well as from other countries that have chosen to associate to the Horizon Europe programme.

How does Horizon Europe work? Three pillars

Pillar 1 Excellent Science: aims at strengthening and developing the excellence of the EU science base. It encompasses the following grant schemes:

• European Research Council (ERC): offers individual grants for researchers and their teams to pursue ground-breaking, high-risk/high-gain research.
• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions: offers grants for doctoral education and postdoctoral training with an emphasis on mobility, equipping researchers with new knowledge and skills and exposing them to international, interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral opportunities.
• Research Infrastructures: aims to provide resources and services to conduct research and foster innovation and which are open and accessible to external users.

Pillar 2 Global Challenge and European Industrial Competitiveness:  promotes collaborative projects which are organised in the following interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral, cross-policy and cross-border clusters:

• Health
• Culture, Creativity and Inclusive society
• Civil security for society
• Digital, Industry and Space
• Climate, Energy and Mobility
• Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources,
• Agriculture and Environment

Pillar 3 Innovative Europe: aims to make Europe a market-creating innovation through a new European Innovation Council (EIC). It also supports the integration of business, research, and higher education and entrepreneurship to lead to development of new technologies through European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT)

Widening participation and spreading excellence: contributes to building research and innovation capacity for countries falling behind. It helps researchers from such countries to strengthen their participation in international research and innovation processes.

The European Commission publishes a Work Programme for each of these schemes that includes various calls for proposals. Note that the ERC and EIC schemes are provided with separate Work Programmes.

EU Missions in Horizon Europe

Aim to enhance the success rate of funding by pursuing defined targets and objectives. They are designed to encourage the pooling of resources in working towards specific goals and to deliver concrete results by 2030.
The five missions are:

• Adaptation to Climate Change: support at least 150 European regions and communities to become climate resilient.
• Restore our Ocean and Waters.
• 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities.
• A Soil Deal for Europe: 100 living labs and lighthouses to lead the transition towards healthy soils.
• Prevention, cure, and solutions for cancer: working with Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan to improve the lives of more than 3 million people through prevention, cure and solutions to live longer and better.

How to apply with our support

• IXA-UvA grant advisors support UvA researchers in individual as well as consortium applications. Reach out to your grant advisor to receive advice on choosing a suitable call, developing a project or consortium and preparing and submitting an application.
• Our Grant-Update newsletter provides an overview of calls, deadlines and trainings relevant for UvA researchers. Subscribe so you know what is coming up.
• The Grant Support IXA-UvA Microsoft Teams page contains training materials, presentations, templates and other useful information that you can use for preparing your research proposal.

More useful information and sites

Wegwijzer Horizon Europe – RVO

Team IRIS, a part of the Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (RVO), is the national contact point (NCP) for Horizon Europe in the Netherlands. They provide information on the Horizon Europe programme and a convenient Wegwijzer giving information on many of the current calls. This information is currently provided only in Dutch.

Europeans Commission's funding and Tenders Portal

The EC's Funding and Tenders Portal enables you to search past, present and future calls for funding across Horizon Europe and other funding programmes. This is the most authoritative source of information about any particular call.

EU Login and UvA Participant Identification Code (PIC)

The EU Login is the European Commission's user authentication service. It allows authorised users to access a wide range of information systems, including the Funding & Tenders portal, using a single username and password.
Organisations are identified to the European Commission by a unique Participant Identification Code (PIC), which should be used in all Horizon Europe applications. The PIC for the UvA is 999985708.

HR Excellence in Research Logo

The UvA has developed a human resources improvement programme integrating the principles of the European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers. In recognition of this proposed plan of improvement, the UvA has been awarded the HR Excellence in Research logo. You should refer to this policy and include this logo in your Horizon Europe applications.