European funding programs

Horizon Europe is the program for funding research and innovation in Europe for the period 2021-2027. With 95.5 billion euros, it is the most ambitious funding program ever. Horizon Europe aims to promote scientific excellence and increase the ambition and scientific, economic and social impact of European research.

The program is structured in 3 pillars and one cross-cutting action

Pillar 1: Excellent Science

Supporting the creation and dissemination of high-quality researchers, methodologies, skills and knowledge:

• European Research Council: frontier research with a bottom-up approach;
• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions: intersectoral mobility and training for researchers with a bottom-up approach;
• Research Infrastructures: closer collaboration between infrastructures to extend the frontiers of knowledge.

Pillar 2: Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness

Jointly, aligned and flexible actions to address global challenges through industrial and technological competitiveness for inclusive and sustainable growth.

• Clusters: through missions and partnerships, the six clusters will develop and introduce innovative technologies and solutions as a result of collaborative projects in these areas:
  1. Health
  2. Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society
  3. Civil Security for Society
  4. Digital, Industry and Space
  5. Climate, Energy and Mobility
  6. Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment
• Joint Research Centre

Pillar 3: Innovative Europe

Promoting and stimulating new ideas and forms of ethical, responsible, and sustainable innovation to continue to bring prosperity to citizens and meet the challenges of the future, in cooperation with other European policies and the InvestEu Program:

• European Innovation Council (EIC): supporting ideas with pioneering and market-creating potential;
• European Innovation ecosystems: creating an enabling environment for the diffusion and development of innovation at all levels;
• European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), through Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs): combine the core elements (research, education and business) around a common goal to foster innovation.

Transversal Action: Widening Participation and Strengthening the European Research Area

Implementing concrete measures to support widening participation and strengthening the European Research Area:

• Increasing and Widening Participation and Spreading Excellence
• Reforming and Revitalizing the European Research and Innovation System

All reference documents are available in the "Reference Documents" section of the portal "Funding & tenders opportunities", the official website of the European Commission that brings together all information regarding not only HE but also previous and other active European programs for the period 2021 -2027.

Find information about UNIPR's participation in Horizon Europe here.

COST is an intergovernmental framework established in 1971 that aims to increase European cooperation in science and technology research. Although it does not directly fund research activities, COST supports the cooperative effort of research teams in Europe, in particular by funding costs related to the organization of meetings, conferences and workshops, travel and communication and dissemination.

Thanks to a flexible 'bottom-up' approach, COST Actions can cover different scientific and technological areas and involve the participation of a minimum number of 7 member states. Typically, an action lasts 4 years.

The Creative Europe program promotes European cooperation on cultural and linguistic diversity and cultural heritage in order to strengthen the competitiveness of the cultural and creative sectors, including the audiovisual one.

The program has the following objectives:

• enhance the economic, social and external dimensions of cooperation at the European level in order to develop and promote European cultural diversity and cultural heritage
• strengthen the competitiveness of the European cultural and creative sectors, and the international cultural relations;
• promote the competitiveness and scalability of the European audiovisual industry;
• promote programmatic cooperation and innovative actions in support of all sections of the program, including the promotion of a diverse and pluralistic media environment, media literacy, and social inclusion.

In order to facilitate the achievement of its stated objectives, the program is divided into three subprograms:

1. CULTURE: it supports cultural participation in Europe by strengthening the cross-border dimension and circulation of cultural and creative works and practitioners.
2. MEDIA: it aims to nurture talent and expertise and stimulate collaboration and innovation in the creation and production of European audiovisual works, and to improve the cinematic and online distribution of audiovisual works. It also supports the widening and diversification of audiences within and outside Europe.
3. Trans-sectoral Sector: it supports transnational, cross-sectoral programmatic cooperation and promotes program awareness by fostering transferability of results; it promotes innovative approaches to content creation, access, distribution, and promotion in all cultural and creative sectors; and it fosters a free, diverse, and pluralistic media environment of quality journalism and media literacy.

Please note that program is under adoption and information may be subject to change.

The Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) program in the 2021-2027 seven-year period will merge the "Europe for Citizens" and "Rights, Equality and Citizenship" programs, with a view to simplification, mutual reinforcement and greater effectiveness of the two programs.

The overall objective of this new program is to protect and promote the rights and values enshrined in the EU Treaties and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, while also giving support to civil society organizations in order to foster the formation of open, democratic and inclusive societies. Corresponding to this general objective are the following three specific objectives:

• promote equality and rights (section "Equality and Rights"): focus on preventing and combating inequalities and discrimination, support comprehensive policies to promote and mainstream gender equality and anti-discrimination, as well as policies to combat racism and all forms of intolerance, protect and promote the rights of the child, the rights of persons with disabilities, the rights of Union citizenship, and the right to protection of personal data;
• promote citizens' involvement and participation in the life of the European Union (section "Citizen Involvement and Participation"): focus on increasing citizens' understanding of the European Union, its history, cultural heritage, and diversity, and promoting exchange and cooperation between citizens of different countries;
• fighting against all forms of violence ("Daphne" section): focus on preventing and combating all forms of violence against children, youth, women, and other groups at risk, and on supporting and protecting victims of such violence.

Based on what was decided by the Extraordinary European Council held last July, the new Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values program has been included in the 2021-2027 Union budget with a total financial envelope of 841 million euros.

Please note that program is in the process of adoption and information may be subject to change

The Justice Program supports the Commission's efforts to build an effective European area of justice by focusing on activities characterized by greater added value at the Union level.

The Program finances the following types of action:

• analytical activities (e.g., data collection and statistics; the development of methodologies; studies, research, analysis and surveys; evaluations; the development and publication of guides, reports and teaching materials, etc.);
• training activities (staff exchanges, conferences, seminars, etc.);
• activities for mutual learning, cooperation, awareness and dissemination;
• support for key actors whose activities contribute to the implementation of the objectives of the program, such as support for Member States in the implementation phase of Union law and policies; support for key European actors and European-level networks, including in the field of judicial training; and support for European-level networking among specialized bodies and entities as well as among national, regional and local authorities and nongovernmental organizations.

The LIFE program is the EU's financial instrument dedicated to the  environment and the climate action. The overall objective of the program is to contribute to the implementation, updating and development of European policies on the environment and climate change by co-financing projects that have added value at the European level.

During the 2021-2027 programming period, LIFE will help Europe achieve the ambitious goals of the European Green Deal by helping to achieve: the transition to a clean, circular, energy-efficient, low-carbon economy, including through the transition to clean energy, resilient to climate change; the protection and improvement of the quality of the environment; and halting and reversing the process of biodiversity loss.

The Program will be structured into two Sectors and four Subprograms:

- the Environment Sector, which includes:

1. the Nature and Biodiversity subprogram;
2. the Circular Economy and Quality of Life subprogram;

- the Climate Action sector, which includes:

1. the Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation subprogram;
2. the Clean Energy Transition subprogram.

The purpose of the Program is to develop innovative and multidimensional solutions in the areas of agriculture, food industry and water use, and to promote their concrete implementation by end users, a prerequisite for Euro-Mediterranean societies to be inclusive, sustainable, and health-conscious.

Implementation of the Program is entrusted to a specific implementation structure, the PRIMA Foundation (PRIMA-IS), an international body based in Barcelona that will govern the Initiative on behalf of the Partnership and will be responsible, in particular, for managing the EU contribution (€220 million).

Funded Activities

PRIMA is configured in 3 distinct sections, the activities of which will be implemented as follows:

Section 1: Actions and activities organized, managed and financed entirely by PRIMA-IS. The relevant calls are evaluated, selected and funded in line with the Horizon 2020 Rules and are centrally managed by PRIMA-IS. Grant agreements must be signed directly with PRIMA-IS, based on the H2020 Grant Agreement typology.

Section 2: Actions selected as a result of open and competitive transnational calls, organized by PRIMA-IS and funded by the national funding bodies of the states participating in the Program.

Section 3: Activities organized, managed, and funded by the states participating in the Program.