The Horizon 2020 Programme

The EU's Horizon 2020 funding programme has an €80 billion budget to fund thousands of research & innovation projects, carried out by research organisations and companies all over the world. It drives real breakthroughs, discoveries and innovation by helping take great ideas from lab to market. €45 billion of Horizon 2020 funding still remains to be awarded before December 2020, as of June 2018.

By connecting excellent research directly to innovation, Horizon 2020 aims to secure Europe's global competitiveness. It achieves this through funding excellent science, industrial leadership, and collaborative efforts to tackle societal challenges. The overall goal is to ensure Europe produces world-class science, removes barriers to innovation, and makes it easier for the public and private sectors to collaborate in delivering market-ready innovations. 

Horizon 2020 Key Features

  • Horizon 2020 is open to any organisation, anywhere in the world
  • Horizon 2020 couples research to all forms of innovation, from research to retail.
  • Horizon 2020 offers at least € 8.6 billion of direct funding for small and medium sized companies
  • Horizon 2020 focuses on tackling key societal challenges facing the EU, e.g. health, clean energy, and transport
  • Horizon 2020 offers simplified access for companies, universities and research organisations

The Vision2020 Platform

  • Vision2020 is a collaboration platform open to any organisation with the ambition to succeed in Horizon 2020. 
  • Vision2020's members include leading research & technology organisations and innovating SMEs from across Europe.
  • Vision2020 hosts communities called "Helixes" that act as a focus for collaborations on a particular research topic.
  • Online collaboration is facilitated by the purpose-built Crowdhelix Open Innovation platform.
  • Vision2020's Helixes also hold topic-focused events to help launch successful Horizon 2020 project proposals

Contact us to discuss how Vision2020 can help your organisation succeed in Horizon 2020 (subscriptions apply).

Horizon Structure

Horizon 2020's calls for proposals are organised into multiannual "Work Programmes", in the following categories:

  • Excellent Science
    • European Research Council (ERC)
    • Future and Emerging Technologies (FET)
    • Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions
    • Research Infrastructures
  • Industrial Leadership
    • Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies (LEIT)
      • Information and Communication Technologies
      • Nanotechnologies
      • Advanced materials
      • Biotechnology
      • Advanced manufacturing and processing
      • Space
    • Access to risk finance
    • Innovation in SMEs
  • Societal Challenges
    • Health, demographic change and wellbeing
    • Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine and maritime and inland water research and the bioeconomy
    • Secure, clean and efficient energy
    • Smart, green and integrated transport
    • Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials
    • Europe in a changing world - inclusive, innovative and reflective societies
    • Secure societies - protecting freedom and security of Europe and its citizens
    • Spreading excellence and widening participation
  • Science with and for Society
  • Euratom Research and Training Programme 2014-2018