Horizon Europe is well underway, but the world of European R&D policy goes well beyond the confines of the €95.5 billion R&D programme. EU climate, digital, agriculture and regional policies all have significant research and innovation components. National governments often come up with new R&D policies, decide to fund new research avenues, and set up international cooperation deals. This blog aims to keep you informed on all of that and more.
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You can read the full archive of this blog here.
The European University Association (EUA) has launched a higher education observatory and scoreboard to support evidence-based policymaking in the sector.
The EUA's tools have four components:
The Sector Scoreboard tracks the policy agenda of the European Education Area,
The Benchmarking Tool for Higher Education Institutions enables comparison between institutions,
The Microdata Access provides core data from European universities,
And a dedicated repository for additional tools and reports.
At the launch event, stakeholders emphasised this is an early version of the tools and further enhancements are in the works. Future improvements will include less jargon-heavy terminology, transparency about data sources and a more user-friendly interface.
The European Commission has announced the winners of three calls under its WIDERA programme – Widening Participation and Strengthening the European Research Area.
The €29 million will be spread across three large projects:
- Science comes to town 2026 (€6 million)
- Talent ecosystems for early research careers (€20 million)
- Turning research into real-world impact (€3 million)
“By connecting citizens with science and researchers with new opportunities, we are shaping a Europe where innovation is part of everyday life,” said Ekaterina Zaharieva, EU Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation.
More information here.
The US and China produce more scientific knowledge and hold more patents across twelve clusters of emerging technologies analysed in a new report by the European Commission’s Joint research Centre (JRC).
Although it does not lead the US and China, Europe holds a strong position in research for digital twins, artificial intelligence, therapeutics and biotechnologies, energy, and agriculture, the report says.
Also, European R&D organisations file fewer patents on their research results than organisations in China or in the United States.“Europe’s scientific excellence and its pivotal role as knowledge broker, [...], do not consistently translate into patenting and commercialization as effectively as in other regions [...],” the paper says.
The JRC report looks at 221 emerging technologies to identify current trends in science and technology in different regions. Read it in full here.
Less than 6% of applying companies succeeded in the latest competition for European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator funding, European Commission data shows.
The EIC selected 71 companies out of a total of 1,211 applications, for what the Commission says has been “the most competitive funding round so far since the launch of the Accelerator under Horizon Europe”.
Of the 1,211 proposals, 431 were further scrutinised in jury interviews. The EIC also offered “Seals of Excellence” for 330 applications that scored high in the evaluation but for which there was insufficient funding available. The Seals help applicants pursue other EU funding sources.
Read more here.
The European Commission has asked innovators, businesses, investors, policymakers, researchers, universities and other interested parties to send in ideas for a new EU strategy for start-ups and scale-ups.
The strategy would be aimed at removing barriers for small innovative companies looking to grow their business.
Ekaterina Zaharieva, EU Commissioner for start-ups, research and innovation said fresh ideas from the sector would help the Commission set up “an effective and comprehensive strategy to support our start-ups and scale-ups”.
Contributions can be submitted online until 17 March.
Synergies between research and innovation funding under the EU’s Cohesion Policy and the Horizon Europe programme are improving but progress has been slow, according to a report by the European Parliament.
The two programmes are not always aligned strategically and suffer from administrative duplication, especially in the so-called Widening countries, the report says.
Read the full report here.
EU research and university bodies called on the European Commission to bolster research, development and innovation as part of its plans to boost competitiveness in the bloc.
Together, they asked for a “robust and dedicated” EU Research Framework Programme to succeed Horizon Europe. This goes alongside “a substantially increased budget” for R&D&I of more than €200 billion, and a simplification of the regulatory and application processes.
“It is encouraging to see different sectors coming together to call for a more strategic and ambitious approach, that will ensure excellent, cooperative, inclusive and impactful R&I across Europe,” European University Association Secretary General Amanda Crowfoot said in the joint statement. “Strengthening Europe’s leadership in R&I requires bold action, and universities are ready to contribute to this.”
Read the full statement here.
The European Commission has announced the six finalists for the European Innovation Procurement Awards, which promotes organisations investing in innovative solutions to tackle societal and industrial challenges.
Focused on turning research and ideas into applicable solutions, the award aims to drive demand for innovation. It is supported by the European Innovation Council under Horizon Europe.
“These projects demonstrate how smart purchasing is key for propelling groundbreaking innovations from SMEs and start-ups in Europe,” Ekaterina Zaharieva, the commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, said in a statement.
At the EIC Summit on 2 April, the winners will be awarded up to 75,000€.
Read more about it here.
The gender gap in research and innovation is widening in critical sectors like information and communications technology, according to a report by the European Commission.
Although more women than men complete a university education, women remain underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, information technology and mathematics careers, the report found.
This deepens the existing skills shortage and is a threat to Europe’s competitiveness.
Gender disparities also persist at the highest fields of research and innovation, the report explains, citing that only 9% of inventors are women and 98% of EU research fail to integrate a gender dimension.
“Talent has no gender, but opportunity too often does,” Ekaterina Zaharieva, the commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, said in a statement. “A truly competitive and innovative Europe is one where every mind, regardless of gender, gets the chance to thrive.”
Read more about it here.
The European Commission has launched InvestAI, a new programme that will spur public-private partnerships on artificial intelligence in a bid to “make Europe an AI continent.”
As part of the efforts to boost AI adoption in the EU, InvestAI will mobilise €200 billion in investments, including a new European €20 billion fund for AI gigafactories, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at the AI Action Summit in Paris this week.
“This unique public-private partnership, akin to a CERN for AI, will enable all our scientists and companies – not just the biggest – to develop the most advanced very large models needed to make Europe an AI continent,” she said in a statement.
The EU plans on financing four gigafactories across the EU that will have some 100,000 last-generation AI chips – around four times more than the AI factories being currently set up. This will be a pilot case for the strategies announced earlier this month in the Competitiveness Compass, the Commission said.
Brussels also intends to set up a European AI Research Council and an ‘Apply AI’ initiative to help industry adopt AI in key sectors.
Read the full statement here.
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