Started one year and half ago, the Horizon Europe Programme has generated a lot of interest from the CERN community. So far, the Organization has been involved in more than 60 proposals, if we exclude the individual Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowships. Success is clear. With over 30% of its projects selected of funding, CERN is doing very well compared to the average Horizon Europe rate, which stands around 15%.
As was the case in the previous EU Framework Programmes for Research and Innovation, most popular with our scientists and engineers are the European Research Council (ERC) Grants, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) and Research Infrastructure (RI) programmes. 13 of the 19 successful projects will be funded under one of these three programmes. This success includes 4 ERC Grants hosted by CERN and the Muon Collider Design Study, coordinated by CERN, which was recently selected for funding.
While these three programmes have been traditionally very popular and successful for CERN, a somewhat worrying trend is the declining interest in the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Networks, in particular those where CERN takes the lead. In the latest issue of the “EU Projects @ CERN” newsletter, we took a dive into this programme specifically aimed at highly skilled doctoral candidates, to train them, stimulate their creativity, enhance their innovation capacities and boost their employability in the long-term.
On the positive side is the enhanced participation of CERN in other Horizon Europe programmes. Worth mentioning are one of our flagship projects, ATTRACT, whose Phase 1B will be funded by the European Innovation Council, and the HEARTS project, coordinated by CERN, which will be funded under the Digital, Industry and Space Cluster of Horizon Europe.
From quantum-resistant cryptography to advanced robotics, from two-dimensional materials to extreme data mining, a dozen Horizon Europe calls have been identified by CERN’s EU Projects Office as being of potential interest for the organisation. If you are considering EU funding for your R&D projects, please do not hesitate to visit the CERN EU Projects website and contact the EU Office, for a discussion, advice or opinion, and support in the preparation of the proposal.