The EU research and innovation framework
Rarely winnable alone. Partner selection decides it before the writing starts.
Europe's main research and innovation programme, organised into three pillars and, within the second, six thematic clusters. Most of its funding goes to consortia working across countries and disciplines.
Horizon Europe at a glance
- Pillar 1
- Excellent science: ERC, Marie Skłodowska-Curie
- Pillar 2
- Global challenges: the six thematic clusters
- Pillar 3
- Innovative Europe: including the EIC
- Typical applicant
- A consortium across several countries
- Funding rate
- Varies by action type and organisation
What applicants get wrong
The consortium is the application
Who is in the partnership (which countries, which capabilities, who has delivered before) is weighted heavily and cannot be fixed by better writing. Coordinators assemble from the people they happen to know, which caps quality at the size of their address book. Getting the partnership right, early, is worth more than any amount of redrafting.
Who it is for
Formal eligibility is set by the call text and changes between rounds. This is the shape of a typical applicant.
- Research organisations and universities
- Companies able to join or lead a consortium
- Public bodies and large institutions
- Projects with a European rather than national scope
This funds part of the project, not all of it
Work out what you would need to fund yourself, and what typically covers the gap.
Common in these sectors
If you are a
Other programmes
Find out whether you qualify for Horizon Europe
Upload a project description and the platform assesses it against this programme's published criteria, and against everything else open to you.