Horizon 2020 - Review
Horizon 2020 – Successes and impact of the EU research programme
With a budget of €75.6 billion, Horizon 2020 (2014–2020) was the EU's largest funding programme for research and innovation. The programme aimed to strengthen economic growth, competitiveness and employment in Europe through research and innovation.
Impressive results
- Over one million applications from 177 countries
- Funding for 35,000 projects involving 40,000 organisations
- Enormous additional demand: €159 billion would have been needed to fund all high-quality proposals.
Scientific excellence
Publications from Horizon 2020 are cited twice as often as the global average.
- 33 Nobel Prize winners have benefited from the programme.
- Strengthening new fields of research, such as medicine, quantum mechanics, chemical engineering, and composite materials.
- Open access: 82% of publications are freely available.
- Support for 50,000 researchers through international mobility
Societal impact
- 32% of funding for climate action
- Important contributions to research on the current health crises, such as the ones caused by the viruses Ebola and Zika.
- Advances in sustainable energy, urban mobility, fisheries, health and security
- Strong involvement of the social sciences and humanities
- Greater gender balance, but room for improvement
Economic benefits
- Expected contribution of €429 billion to EU GDP by 2040.
- Up to 220,000 new jobs will be created.
- Every euro invested generates five euros in benefits
- 4,000 patent applications and thousands of innovations
- Strengthening of SMEs, start-ups and venture capital financing through the European Innovation Council (EIC).
Conclusion
Horizon 2020 has had a lasting impact on the European research and innovation landscape, achieving greater excellence, stronger international cooperation, and concrete contributions to climate protection, health, digitalisation, and security.
The lessons learned from Horizon 2020 are being incorporated directly into its successor, Horizon Europe (2021–2027), to create an even greater impact on science, society and the economy.
4. Links
Official website of Horizon 2020
Work programmes in Horizon 2020
Calls for proposals in Horizon 2020
The successor to the Lisbon Strategy is the Europe 2020 strategy, for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth;
Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF; in German)
Competent Support for Excellent Research in Bavaria, Europe and the World
Competent Support for Excellent Research in Bavaria, Europe and the World
