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The European Commission has presented a new EU Action Plan on Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Its objective is to strengthen Europe's digital resilience while accelerating the development and deployment of trustworthy AI. For universities, research organisations, companies, start-ups and SMEs, the action plan signals important opportunities: by the end of 2026 and throughout 2027, the EU plans to launch new Horizon Europe calls, establish European AI testing and evaluation infrastructures, and introduce additional investment instruments for deep-tech and AI innovation.

The European Commission has launched a public consultation on the future of contractual European Partnerships under Horizon Europe. Until 16 October 2026, universities, research organisations, companies, industry associations, start-ups, SMEs and other stakeholders are invited to share their experience and recommendations. The consultation will help shape the future development of European Partnerships and strengthen Europe's research, innovation and competitiveness.

Germany continues to rank among Europe’s strongest innovation performers. This is confirmed by the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) 2026 published by the European Commission. Germany ranks ninth among the 27 EU Member States and is once again classified as a “Strong Innovator”. Its innovation performance increased by 3.0 percentage points compared with the previous year. The report confirms the strength of Germany’s research and innovation system, while also highlighting areas where further action is needed.

The European Union and India are set to significantly expand their cooperation in research, innovation and strategic technologies. At the third meeting of the EU-India Trade and Technology Council (TTC), both partners agreed to launch formal negotiations on India's association to Horizon Europe, with the aim of concluding the process by the end of 2026. The move marks an important step towards strengthening scientific collaboration between Europe and one of the world's fastest-growing research and innovation ecosystems.

The European Union is supporting international research and innovation projects across the entire raw materials value chain through Horizon Europe – from extraction and processing to recycling and reuse. Around €41 million is available under the first funding call launched by the EU partnership RAMP (Raw Materials Partnership for the Green and Digital Transition). International consortia can submit their pre-proposals by 22 September 2026.

The European Commission has unveiled new initiatives to implement the EU Bioeconomy Strategy. The Bio-based Europe Alliance (BEA), the Bioeconomy Investment Deployment Group (BIDG) and a new expert group on the bioeconomy are designed to bring innovations to market more quickly, facilitate investment and strengthen the competitiveness of Europe’s bio-based circular economy.

The Scientific Coordination Office (WKS) Bavaria-Africa at the Bavarian Research Alliance (BayFOR) is inviting applications for the Bavaria–Western Cape Biotechnology Mobility Grant 2026. The grant supports travel to initiate new research and innovation collaborations between partner organisations in Bavaria and the Western Cape. Applications are open until 10 August 2026.

Further information and the application forms can be found here.

The European Commission has unveiled the new ‘EU Innovation Platform’ at the European Innovation Summit in Brussels. The platform is designed to help innovators, start-ups and scale-ups find suitable funding opportunities, events and networks more quickly, thereby facilitating the journey of innovative ideas to market.

On 2 June 2026, the European Research Council (ERC) published the first call for proposals for the new ERC Plus Grants. The new pilot programme is designed to support excellent researchers in implementing particularly ambitious and transformative research projects in Europe. A total of €210 million is available for the first round of calls.

With the Investment Readiness Assessment, innovative start-ups, scale-ups, and SMEs can analyse and further develop their investment readiness in a targeted way. BayFOR supports companies through free advisory services to help them prepare for investor meetings and funding rounds.