- European Commission picks 28 cities for its urban twinning programme ahead of climate conference
- Horizon Europe should not be driven by ECF priorities, French agriculture research agency says
- European and African universities call for strengthened cooperation in higher education and research
- EU greenlights Ukraine’s participation in defence R&D programme
This live blog is tracking the latest developments in European research and innovation programmes, including the broader debate on the future of R&D policy and funding in the next multiannual budget due to start in 2028. Beyond that, we look at other EU policies with significant research and innovation components in climate, digital, agriculture and regional development. In addition, 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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The European Commission has announced the first beneficiaries of the City2City Programme, an EU-funded initiative that aims to connect cities across the world to help them develop joint climate solutions.
As part of the programme, 28 cities were selected, including Valencia in Spain, Salvador in Chile, and Miami-Dade in the United States. The cities are split into 11 groupings of up to three cities.
A second call for expression of interest is open until 8 January 2026 to expand participation to up to 50 cities.
More details here.
Agralife, France’s agency for agriculture research, warns that Horizon Europe’s ability to meet environmental, social and territorial challenges will be hindered by a too strong focus on industrial and technologies priorities under the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF).
“Innovation in agricultural, forestry, and food systems must go beyond developing and transferring technologies to businesses,” Agralife said in a statement. “European collaborative research delivers much more: it fosters knowledge exchange between stakeholders, supports change directly with those involved and helps inform public policy. It is this intertwining of economic, environmental, and societal dimensions that gives collaborative research its strength.”
Agralife also wants the different departments inside the European Commission to cooperate more to ensure EU policies in research and innovation are more coherent.
More details here.
European and African universities call for strengthened cooperation in higher education and research
Europe and Africa should boost cooperation in higher education and research, according to the European University Association (EUA) and the Association of African Universities (AAU).
The two university associations say that more cooperation would help Europe and Africa deploy mutually beneficial partnerships.
“The African Union, European Union and national governments must include universities in their plans and agree on more investment in research and education capacity building and collaboration,” said AAU secretary general Olusola Bandele Oyewole.
The next European Union-African Union Summit will take place on November 24-25 in Luanda, Angola.
More details here.
The European Parliament and EU member states have reached a provisional agreement the association of Ukraine to the European Defence Fund (EDF).
This decision comes as part of EU efforts to reinforce the integration of Ukraine into the European defence industrial base and strengthen its security resilience.
MEPs and member states have also agreed on measures to incentivise defence-related investments in the current EU budget as part of the ReArm Europe plan.
More details here.
The European Parliament and EU member states have reached a provisional agreement on allowing Horizon Europe and four other EU programmes to fund dual use projects. These include the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform, the Digital Europe programme and the Connecting Europe Facility.
“By opening key EU-programmes to defence-related investments, we are enhancing our efforts in strengthening Europe’s Defence Industrial and Technological Base,” said Marie Bjerre, minister for European Affairs of Denmark. “It is a necessary step towards a stronger, more resilient, and more capable Europe that is able to defend itself by 2030.”
More details here.
The European Commission has adopted the European Innovation Council (EIC) work programme for 2026, with €1.4 billion dedicated to supporting deep tech entrepreneurs and researchers.
The programme includes a simpler, faster application process for the EIC Accelerator.
“From 2026, the application process will be simpler, with full proposals forms cut from 50 to 20 pages; faster, with evaluations every two months instead of every six months) and more robust, with deeper technology assessment anticipating the due diligence needed for investments,” the Commission says.
A pilot Advanced Innovation Challenged, which aims to back high-risk projects in areas where Europe is ahead in research but lags the scaling capacities, will also be launched next year.
More details here.
The European Innovation Council (EIC) has received 667 proposals under its latest EIC Pathfinder Challenge, a large share of which focused on the circular production of materials and generative AI-based agents in the medical field.
The total indicative budget for this call is €120 million, which will be split in equal shares across the four Pathfinder Challenges.
More details here.
The European Research Council (ERC) will allocate €684 million to 66 research teams selected under its Synergy Grants to address topics ranging from new treatments for inherited diseases to the first microseconds of the Universe.
According to EU research Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva, 28 of the 66 teams include a researcher based outside Europe, mainly in the United States, but also Canada, Australia, Brazil, Ghana, South Africa and Singapore. “Europe’s frontier research has never been so international,” she said.
More details here.
The Copernicus Sentinel 1-D satellite, which aims to provide radar-based Earth observations to both public and private users, has launched aboard an Ariane 6 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana.
The satellite, which is developed under the EU Space Programme in close cooperation with the European Space Agency, will support environmental monitoring efforts by detecting oil spills, illegal maritime activities, floods and seismic activities, for instance.
More details here.
The European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) Association is advancing efforts to establish a federated, open, and trusted environment for research data which would be accessible across borders and scientific domains in Europe.
A total of 13 EOSC “nodes,” which are open research data platforms, have signed a memorandum of understanding to enter the “EOSC Federation,” a digital infrastructure that would enable researchers to access high-quality data and tools across disciplines and national borders.
“What matters most is to keep the momentum, the ambition and the shared purpose that have brought us this far,” said Marc Lemaître, director-general for research and innovation at the European Commission. “Let’s seize this moment, let’s act together to complete [the EOSC Federation] fast and make it the backbone of Europe’s digital research and innovation ecosystem,” he added.
More details here.
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