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 university association CESAR says the European Innovation Councils (EIC) should facilitate cooperation between technology developers and “problem owners”.
“Bringing in problem owners early—whether from industry, government, or civil society—helps ensure we’re solving the right problems with the right mix of expertise,” said Tim Bedford, Vice-President of CESAER.
More info here.
The European Regions Research & Innovation Network (ERRIN) says the next Framework Programme (FP10) should be more flexible and improve coordination and synergies across partnerships.
“European Partnerships are crucial for fostering research and innovation collaboration across Europe, but their governance structures often marginalise regional and local actors,” ERRIN said in a statement.
“Practices such as imposing mandatory entry fees for participants or retaining a percentage of grants to support common services create a negative perception of the instrument as a whole.”
Read the statement here.
The European Commission has annonced the projects that will receive a total of €116 million from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Pathfinder call, which provides high-risk funding on early-stage technology development.
This EIC Pathfinder call mainly funds participants from higher education institutes (38%) followed by private organisations (34%) and research organisations (23%).
More info here.
Preliminary results of a public consultation organised by the European Commission shows European start-ups want better access to finance, markets and talent, fewer regulatory burdens, as well as improved access to research facilities, innovation hubs, and accelerators.
The final results of the consultation will feed into EU’s upcoming strategy for start-ups and scale-ups, to be presented in May.
"The insights gathered from this consultation will inform our efforts to create a more supportive environment for startups and scaleups, driving innovation and competitiveness across the EU,” said Ekaterina Zaharieva, EU commissioner for start-ups, research and innovation.
More here.
The European Commission has invited stakeholders, experts and the public to provide feedback on the strategy for European life sciences.
The strategy aims to speed up innovations in the life sciences by removing key barriers and providing new opportunities to speed up knowledge deployment.
Stakeholders can submit their views here until 17 April.
Researchers can apply for a new round of Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Staff Exchanges.
The European Commission will support around 85 projects with a total of €97.7 million. Applications are open until October 2025.
Read more here.
The tripartite governance of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) has held a meeting in Krakow to discuss the next steps towards an improved system for sharing research data and digital resources across Europe.
EOSC will soon publish a “federation handbook” on how research organisations can join.
In a second meeting later this year, the group will meet to discuss the future of EOSC after 2027.
More info here.
The European Commission is to organise this years’ annual conference on research and innovation, the R&I days, on 16 and 17 September 2025.
The Commission plans to discuss the EU’s next long-term budget and the next Framework Programme.
More information is available here.
The EU should have a comprehensive long-term strategy for research, education and innovation that could help the European Commission deliver on its competitiveness agenda, according to a paper by The European University Association (EUA).
The EUA says a long-term strategy for research, education and innovation should be part of the Commission’s dialogue on ensuring and promoting economic competitiveness.
Read it here.
The European Commission welcomes applications for the 2026 edition of the European Capital of Innovation Award (iCapital).
Participating cities should have a population of at least 250,000 people to be able to compete over the €1 million in funding.
Smaller cities starting at 50,000 inhabitants can participate in the Rising Innovative City award.
More information here.
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