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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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.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen urged at the AI Action Summit to step up efforts to train, integrate and collaborate on AI in a bid to boost productivity across Europe.
“The development of AI for public good demands not just competition – but also collaboration,” Von der Leyen said in a speech at the AI Action Summit which gathers in Paris governments, representatives from academia and industry and NGOs.
The EU is hoping to lead the global digital transition race, but “is far from widespread adoption of AI in economy and society,” Von der Leyen warned, as she shared plans to expand open cooperation to host frontier innovation in AI.
The Commission’s head also brought to attention the plans to create a CERN of AI, providing further involvement from the private sector. The next step for the EU is to set up AI giga factories with huge computational power, she said, with related resources made accessible to all.
“Europe has a long and successful tradition of pooling knowledge, sharing research – think of Horizon … and working together,” Von der Leyen concluded. “This is the European way.”
Read the full speech here.
Horizon Europe's Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) has announced €417 million in funding for its 2024 postdoctoral fellowships.
The goal of MSCA is to build long-term careers of excellent researchers in Europe. As Europe’s leading funding programme for young researchers, they equip them with the necessary resources to enable their scientific research and innovations.
All the fellows of the programme are receiving supervision and training by skilled professionals while developing their own projects. “I look forward to seeing your projects and expertise enrich the EU's research and innovation landscape,” Ekaterina Zaharieva, the commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, said in a statement.
Th biggest number of fellowships was granted in social sciences and humanities with 23%. Projects in life science received 21% of fellowships and projects in information sciences and engineering 16%. The fellows will not only conduct their research in universities and research centres, but also in public institutions and private companies.
Young researchers can apply for the next funding period from 8 May 2025.
Read more about it here.
Universities should create a “culture of academic freedom”, according to a new paper by the European University Association (EUA) published today.
The paper includes guidelines and practical advice on how universities could do a better job protecting themselves and their teaching and research staff from interference and attempts to limit their autonomy. “[…] It is essential to support universities as central actors in the protection and promotion of academic freedom,” the paper said.
As the institutional autonomy of universities in Europe is under increased pressure, the paper offers some basic guidelines on how universities, individuals and university communities can act to protect researchers’ freedoms.
"It is within universities themselves that the seeds of academic freedom take root. While policy makers have a significant responsibility to uphold academic freedom, its protection cannot be left to public authorities alone," the EUA said.
Several MEPs have been trying to push freedom of research at the top of European Parliament’s agenda, citing concerns over violations of academic freedom across EU member states. However, the Parliament has not put forward any legislation on the topic.
Read the full paper here.
More than 80% of European citizens think that the overall influence of science and technology in society is positive but have doubts about the use of AI in research according to new Eurobarometer data published by the European Commission today.
Half of the respondents believe that AI can advance scientific discoveries, while 25% do not trust science made with the help of AI.
The data also shows that 8 in 10 respondents believe the results of publicly funding research should be made available online free of charge. A large majority of the respondents (87%) are interested in renewable energy, while 79% are interested in communication technologies), and 77% in combatting infectious diseases.
“We should […] continue to promote openness, transparency and integrity, while enhancing public engagement of citizens and other stakeholders in research and innovation,” said Ekaterina Zaharieva, EU Commissioner for start-ups, research and innovation.
Read the survey here.
Only 44% of researchers funded by the European Research Council (ERC) have commercially utilised their patents, a new survey by the ERC found.
As the European Commission’s new competitiveness strategy emphasised, the EU’s share of global patents is comparable to the US and China, but only a third of them are commercially exploited.
Most researchers are licensing their patents to companies located in the same country of their host institution or neighbouring countries, the analysis says.
Meanwhile, the main obstacle that they face when licensing is the need for extensive proof of technology viability and, therefore, the lack of interested buyers.
“Translating such research into economic and societal benefits remains a key challenge – one that is crucial for the EU’s future competitiveness,” the ERC notes.
Read the full report here.
The European Commission and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) have launched the 2025 SME Fund to help SMEs protect their intellectual property (IP) rights.
Building onto the success of the last funding period, the grant scheme will help SMEs apply to and set up patents, trademarks and industrial designs – among other possibilities, thanks to EU funding of up to €1,500.
This time around, their goal is to help even more enterprises to protect their IP.
As the Commission stresses, the 2024 SME Fund was already highly successful, as almost three quarters of applicants were funded. For 76% of those, it was the first time protecting their IP.
“This proves that protecting IPR is essential to increase the value of a company, become more attractive for investments and gaining a solid base for future growth”, the statement reads.
More about it here.
The European Commission has adopted the 2025 European Defence Fund (EDF) Work Programme, under which key collaborative defence technologies and capabilities projects will receive more than €1 billion.
In line with Brussels’ Competitiveness Compass, the Work Programme will allocate around or over €100 million to address future challenges in the fields of ground combat, space, air combat and energy resilience and environmental transition.
“This year’s focus is on technologies supporting ground combat and force protection capabilities,” the Commission said. “For the first time, Ukrainian entities will be eligible to receive acceleration support as third parties in this type of calls.”
Of the nine competitive calls for proposals addressing 31 topics that will be launched, one will collect 4% of the EDF 2025 budget for applicants to work on disruptive technologies.
More than €40 million of EU funding is also allocated to R&D efforts in critical areas like cyber and underwater warfare.
Calls for proposals are set to be opened in mid-February 2025. The deadline for submission is 16 October 2025.
Read the full statement here.
FP10 should help unify fragmented EU initiatives, promote collaboration with international partners and anticipate technological developments, according to a paper by EU affairs forum CEPS, health research foundation Wellcome Trust and Imperial College London.
The paper says that FP10 should be split into two parts: one dedicated to industrial competitiveness, the other to multistakeholder partnerships for public goods.
“FP10 cannot simply be designed to distribute funds to European researchers, or to cater to Europe’s strategic need,” the paper reads. “It is pivotal to balance the European strategic dimension with Europe’s ambition to lead on key global challenges.”
The report says FP10 should be include more international partners but also address disparities within Europe.
Read the full paper here.
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