Horizon Europe is the European Union’s framework programme for research and innovation, aiming to address societal challenges and enhance the scientific and innovative excellence of the EU. For the 2021-2027 period, its overall budget is nearly €100 billion, making it the world’s largest research funding programme to support innovation, competitiveness, and practical problem-solving.
It focuses on transforming the European economy and society towards sustainability and digitalisation, enabling the EU to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
Regularly published calls for proposals by Horizon Europe cover a wide range of themes such as health, space, manufacturing, sustainability, mobility, energy, and digitalisation.
Three roundtable discussions
To delve into the details, Luxinnovation is organising the Horizon Europe Day event on 7 December 2023 at the Chamber of Commerce. This informative afternoon will revolve around three roundtable discussions:
- Identifying innovation: Funding breakthrough research and development
- Fostering innovation: Funding for piloting and demonstrating solutions
- Expanding innovation: Resources for scaling up, deploying, and bringing solutions to market
Companies that have received financial grants from the European Commission for their project proposals will share their experiences.
“All stages of an innovative project, from identifying the best funding mechanism to its maturity, through growth phases, will be reviewed,” emphasises Francesca Borrelli, Senior Advisor, European R&D and Innovation Support at Luxinnovation.
“Horizon Europe is open to a wide range of participants: researchers, large and small businesses, startups, public organisations, NGOs, citizen associations, cities, administrations, etc.,” she adds. “Each participant brings something unique to the project: manufacturing products and production lines for the industry, access to end users for NGOs and citizen associations, testing platforms for cities and regions, etc.”
The majority of Horizon Europe’s budget is dedicated to creating collaborative projects, involving partners from other EU member states and associated countries. However, there are also projects as a single entity, especially for startups – with access to funding to develop a business.
National Contact Point
For Luxembourg companies interested in embarking on the Horizon Europe adventure, the first step is to engage with Luxinnovation, the national contact point for the programme. The multidisciplinary teams at the national innovation agency can identify the best financing scheme, tailor the project, and provide support throughout the project submission process. Once the project is underway, they can also address all legal and financial questions.
Beyond the purely financial aspect, there are numerous benefits to participating in a Horizon Europe project. “The collaborative nature of projects allows everyone to benefit from each other’s research expertise and skills, while fostering the establishment of strong and fruitful international relationships,” Ms. Borrelli states. “Furthermore, companies participating in such European projects reach a new level of maturity and visibility. They expand their market access and create new networks. They can also have a certain influence on the achievement of the European Union’s political objectives.”