EU invests €14 billion through Horizon Europe to boost global research and innovation leadership

On 11 December, the European Commission adopted the main Horizon Europe work programme for 2026-2027, a €14 billion investment designed to drive research and innovation (R&I) across the EU’s strategic goals. These goals include achieving climate neutrality, boosting the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in research and innovation, and ensuring resilience.

To achieve this, the programme, among other things, expands the ‘Choose Europe‘ initiative to attract global talent and makes applying for Horizon Europe funding and participation simpler.

The ‘Choose Europe’ initiative allocates €50 million to the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions for long-term fellowships, postdoctoral stability and relocation incentives, ensuring researchers can pursue careers in Europe. 

The programme invests €50 million in Research Infrastructures to improve transnational access and training, while the European Research Area Chairs component provides €240 million to attract top scientists to underperforming regions.

The European Innovation Ecosystems part supports startups and scaleups through initiatives like the European Startup and Scaleup Hubs, which create a transnational network of innovation hubs rooted in research and higher education systems. This work programme will also ensure continued access to critical research infrastructure and data.

Horizon Europe is the EU’s €93.5 billion research and innovation programme running from 2021 to 2027. Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine are associated to the programme.

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