2021 ended, and so did the last calls of Horizon 2020 (H2020). While H2020 projects will continue for several years, you may now submit your new proposals to Horizon Europe (HE) calls. But what difference does it make? What changes, and what doesn’t, with Horizon Europe?
As the first funded HE projects with CERN participation being announced, let’s highlight three key points regarding Horizon Europe, compared to Horizon 2020:
Horizon Europe is an evolution, not a revolution (with a slightly increased overall budget)
To make it simple, Horizon Europe is a €95.5 billion programme for research and innovation that will last for 7 years (2021-2027). HE is structured in three main areas, which are called pillars. In each Pillar, several calls are published each year on the Portal. CERN is mostly concerned by Pillar 1, but also to a lesser extent, by Pillar 2.
If you are familiar with H2020 pillars and calls, you will not be lost:
- HE is still structured into three Pillars.
- Pillar 1 barely changed (only Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) calls moved to Pillar 3).
- Pillar 2 now integrates Global challenges.
As novelty, we can name Missions which will be transversal calls (not linked to a given Pillar).
With HE comes a new Corporate MGA (Model Grant Agreement)
Easier to use thanks to a standardised data sheet at the beginning and the Annex 5 for Specific Rules (if applicable) at the end, Horizon Europe’s MGA gives also more importance to Open Science and FAIR data.
CERN remains eligible for funding
Associated Countries to Horizon Europe evolve. Although Switzerland is no longer associated to Horizon Europe (does it ring a bell, like in 2014?), CERN, as non-governmental organisation, remains eligible for funding.
You want to go into more details regarding the changes between Horizon Europe (FP9) and Horizon 2020 (FP8)? Please have a look to our website, where you will find a presentation with a comparative overview of both programmes, the main legal changes, the main financial changes, and the main changes in the MSCA.
May you have further questions, or want to apply to a Horizon Europe call, please get in touch with us: eu.projects@cern.ch