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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You can read the full archive of this blog here.
European co-funded biodiversity partnership Biodiversa+ has launched BiodivConnect, a new call dedicated to support research on the restoration of biodiversity in various ecosystems and habitats.
The call, which has a budget of around €40 million, will cover the setting of restoration targets, as well as the transferability and scaling and resilience and sustainability of nature restoration efforts.
More details here.
The Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA) is calling for an independent, researcher-centred and better funded Framework Programme to succeed Horizon Europe.
The MCAA advises preserving FP10’s autonomy and bottom-up approach to funding, strengthening researcher careers and mobility, ensuring sufficient investments for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions to meet demand and support Europe’s growing research workforce, and promoting an inclusive European Research Area.
Meanwhile, it raised concerns over the budget proposed by the European Commission in July.
“The proposed FP10 budget of €175 billion, while an increase, remains significantly below the €220 billion recommended by the Heitor Report,” the statement reads. “This potential gap is particularly concerning for programmes like the MSCA.”
Read the full statement here.
The European Commission’s Expert Group on the Economic and Societal Impact of Research and Innovation (ESIR) advises in a new report that EU research and innovation policies consider both the short- and long-term competitiveness of European firms to guarantee a strong financing ecosystem.
“Europe needs layered and structured policy solutions spanning the short, medium, and long term to cultivate a mature, risk-tolerant financing ecosystem,” the report says.
ESIR recommends that on the long-term, the EU streamlines the formation of corporate foundations in efforts to reinforce funding for technological development and innovation; boosts its venture capital ecosystem in the medium term; and finally, on the short-term, proposes attractive stock-option schemes for start-ups.
Read the full report here.
EU research Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz have inaugurated Europe’s first exascale supercomputer, known as JUPITER.
Designed by the Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC) and funded through the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, JUPITER is the first supercomputer of the continent to be capable of performing one exaflop, which is equivalent to one billion times one billion calculations per second.
“The most complex AI models can now be trained and applied – something that was not possible without JUPITER,” said Thomas Lippert, director of the JSC.
More details here.
The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) has published the KIWi Knowledge Security Checklist, a tool for researchers and universities to weigh up security-related issues in cross-border cooperation projects.
“In times of growing geopolitical tensions, questions of opportunities, risks and security in international scientific cooperation are becoming increasingly important,” said Joybrato Mukherjee, president of the DAAD. “With the new KIWi checklist, we are responding to the latest recommendations of the Science Council for strengthening knowledge security in Germany.”
The checklist looks into partners and financing, export control regulations, the use of results and intellectual property rights, and scientific ethics issues in academia.
More details here.
As part of its new quantum strategy, the EU must work on attracting private capital, building a competitive industrial base, developing sovereign capabilities and global standards, and investing in talent, the European Quantum Industry Consortium (QuIC) said on behalf of over 210 quantum stakeholders.
“The Commission’s strategy sets an ambitious vision for Europe’s role in quantum technologies,” Thierry Botter, executive director of QuIC, said in a position paper. “Success will depend on adequate means as well as fast, coordinated and determined implementation.”
Read the full position paper here.
The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded €761 million in starting grants to 478 early-career researchers, who will carry their projects at universities and research centres across 25 European countries.
The ERC received 3,928 proposals, up 13% from last year’s starting grant call.
“Yet, we could do more!” ERC president Maria Leptin said in a statement as just over 12% of all proposals will be funded. “More investment in this type of science is needed for Europe to reach its full potential.”
Read the full statement here.
The European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) has opened new calls for proposals as part of efforts to strengthen the EU’s crisis preparedness and response to health emergencies.
Under the 2025 EU4Health Work Programme, the funding calls will focus on the development of innovative medical countermeasures for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats, advanced diagnostics for vector-borne diseases, and crisis preparedness.
More details here.
The European Commission has announced senior leadership changes at its Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD), which is responsible for shaping and implementing EU research and innovation policy.
James Morrison, former director of the European Commission Regulatory Scrutiny Board, has been appointed director of Directorate B, Healthy Planet, which focuses on sustainability, climate, and environmental research. He succeeds John Bell, who retired earlier this year.
Maria Pilar Aguar Fernandez, former Director for Health and Food Audits and Analysis at the Directorate-General for Health & Food Safety, has been appointed Director of Directorate D, People: Health & Society. In her new role, she will oversee programmes on health research and life sciences, bridging science with societal needs. She succeeds Irene Norstedt.
See DG RTD organigramme here.
More than 200 former EU ambassadors and senior officials are calling in an open letter for the “immediate implementation” of the measures the EU proposed in July against Israel.
The proposed measures include restrictions for certain companies to access funds under Horizon Europe and the newly announced Security Action for Europe programme for defence.
“We express our profound disappointment that, in response to the deteriorating situation in Gaza, no substantive measures have been taken by the EU to pressure Israel to end its brutal war, to resume vital humanitarian assistance by mainstream providers, and to dismantle its illegal occupation of both Gaza and the West Bank,” the signatories wrote.
Read the full open letter here.
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