EN

Horizon Europe
Work Programme 2023-2025

1. General Introduction(European Commission Decision C(2024) 2371 of 17 April 2024)

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General introduction
Welcome to the Horizon Europe work programme 2023 - 2025
Horizon Europe is the EU flagship programme for research and innovation. It sets the best minds in
Europe and the rest of the world to work on delivering excellent solutions to the key issues of ourtime, supporting the EU’s policy priorities and building a better future for the next generations in
Europe.
This work programme will cover the years 2023-2024. It includes some actions for 2025 in order toensure continuity of certain recurrent actions1. This work programme will foster excellence inresearch and support fellowships, training and exchanges for researchers through Marie SkłodowskaCurie Actions, build more connected and efficient European innovation ecosystems, create worldclass research infrastructures, support the green and digital transitions and target global challenges
while supporting European industrial competitiveness, including through the EU Missions. Finally, it
will widen participation in the programme and strengthen the European Research Area.
This introduction describes how these actions will underpin EU policy priorities, and presents themain features of this work programme, which are aimed in particular at enhancing its impact anddelivering results.

The Commission expects to roll out the full range of actions for 2025 in a separate work
programme.
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About this work programme
Horizon Europe supports research and innovation especially through work programmes, which set
out funding opportunities for research and innovation activities.2
This introduction covers the following components of Horizon Europe for 2023-2024:
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Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions;
Research infrastructures;
Health;Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society;
Civil Security for Society;
Digital, Industry and Space;
Climate, Energy and Mobility;
Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment;
European innovation ecosystems;
Widening participation and spreading excellence, and reforming and enhancing the European
R&I system;
EU Missions.

In addition to the work programme parts mentioned in the above, the General Annexes to this work
programme set out the general conditions applying to the calls of the work programme such as
eligibility rules; details on how to submit an application; and how the Commission services evaluate
applications.
This work programme also includes some calls for 2025 in order to ensure continuity of certain
recurrent actions, for instance calls for the 2025 Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions (MSCA)3 and for‘Teaming for Excellence’ and ‘ERA Fellowships’ in the part ‘Widening participation and spreading
excellence, and reforming and enhancing the European R&I system’. The EU Award for Gender
Equality Champions and the European Union Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS) are also confirmedfor 2025. The Commission expects to roll out in early 2025 the full range of actions for 2025 for all
the above-mentioned components of Horizon Europe in a separate work programme.

Getting started
Are you interested in applying for funding through Horizon Europe? On the Funding and Tenders
Portal you can see which topics are currently open for applications. The network of National Contact
Points stands ready to answer any questions you might have on the application process in your own
language.
You can also find more about the Horizon Europe programme at the Horizon Europe web page.

2

See Council Decision (EU) 2021/764.
including calls for MSCA Doctoral Networks, MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships, MSCA Staff Exchanges, MSCA Cofunding of regional, national and international programmes, and MSCA and Citizens.
3

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Delivering on EU policy priorities
With this work programme, the EU will invest nearly €15.6 billion4 in research and innovation thatwill shape the future of Europe. A substantial part of this funding will be dedicated to targeted
actions that support the green and digital transitions for our societies and economies as well as our
security, resilience and a sustainable recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of Horizon
Europe in general, and this work programme in particular, is to create opportunities for the EU andthe world of tomorrow from the challenges of today.
In the light of the new geo-political situation following Russia’s unjustified military invasion of
Ukraine, this work programme places a special emphasis on actions that contribute to a safe andsecure Europe, help reduce energy- and other dependencies and build a more robust economic base.
In particular, actions included will help accelerate the clean energy transition in line with the
REPowerEU Plan5, improve food security, cybersecurity, help ensure open strategic autonomy andreduce dependencies on critical raw materials, and accelerate delivery of the Green Deal. For
example, a package of actions across the ‘Climate, Energy and Mobility’, ‘Digital, Industry and Space’and ‘Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment’ clusters in particular will
aim to speed up the clean energy transition. In addition, this work programme includes targeted
actions to support Ukraine such as providing additional fellowships to displaced researchers from
Ukraine to resume their research activities at host organisations established in EU Member States or
Horizon Europe Associated Countries, reinforcing Ukrainian researchers’ access to European research
infrastructures and assessing the state of research infrastructure in Ukraine, while the EU Mission for
Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities will support a number of Ukrainian cities in integrating theprinciples of climate neutrality in their reconstruction.
The European Commission encourages all potential participants in actions in this work programme tocreate, where possible, opportunities for the affected persons and entities, in particular researchers
and innovators previously active in Ukraine, Ukrainian researchers and innovators who are unable toreturn to Ukraine in the given circumstances as well as those who remain in Ukraine but have limitedmeans to continue their work.6
In order to support our commitment to make the EU the world’s first climate-neutral continent by
2050, Horizon Europe will direct a minimum of 35% of the funding available to climate objectives.
These funds will be used for projects that advance the science of climate change, develop solutions
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and to adapt to the changing climate. For example, activities
will accelerate the transition towards zero-pollution production, clean energy and mobility in asustainable, fair and inlcusiveway, help adapt food systems and support the circular and bioeconomy, maintain and enhance natural carbon sinks in ecosystems, and foster adaptation to climatechange. Jointly such activities will be fundamental to create the new products, services and businessmodels needed to sustain or enable EU industrial leadership and competitiveness, and to create newmarkets for climate neutral and circular products and services.
The New European Bauhaus is an initiative in the wider context of the European Green Deal, whichaims to show the benefits of the green transition in people’s daily lives and living spaces. Research4of which €1.2 billion for 2025
See the RePower EU plan here.
6
Please note that the criteria for evaluation of proposals remain unchanged. The creation of such opportunities
is voluntary and does not affect the ranking of proposals.
5

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and innovation policy is an integral part of the New European Bauhaus’s enabling framework7.
Horizon Europe contributes by supporting, across many areas and disciplines, the holistictransformation of the built environment and land-use complex with a regenerative design approach.8
In 2024, a new destination is added in the Missions and cross-cutting activities part, which will buildon the New European Bauhaus activities, calls and experiences so far and anchor the New European
Bauhaus values of sustainability, aesthetics and inclusion in R&I, paying special attention to the green
transition at the level of neighbourhoods and communities. By adopting the New European Bauhaus’
integrated approach that brings together sustainability, inclusion, and aesthetics through the active
participation of citizens and the integration of arts and cultures in transformation processes, theDestination will contribute to developing a new generation of solutions, closer to people and theirneeds.
In support of the digital transition, this work programme will foster research and innovation to makethis decade Europe’s digital decade and lay the ground work to ensure that all actors of society,including enterprises, master the complex interplay of technology and humankind, for a better
society and life, fully respecting universal human rights and planetary boundaries. For instance,
actions supported by this work programme will help to maximise the full potential of human-centric
digital tools and data-enabled research and innovation in a wide range of sectors, such as healthcare,
cultural and creative industries, energy and mobility as well as food production, and support the
deep transformations required for the modernisation of traditional industrial models. Investing in
new digital infrastructures has the potential to foster collaboration across the EU, as for instanceinitiatives such as the Cultural Heritage Cloud, which aims at helping this sector to successfully copewith the challenges the digital transition brings. Using an EU- coefficient type calculation system it isestimated that 33.6%9 of funds in the present work programme, and 36.5% of funds across all partsof Horizon Europe contribute to the digital transition. This equals overall investments of €9.9 billion
during 2023-2024. The overall investment into main digital activities, i.e. the development of core
digital technologies, is estimated at €3.7 billion in 2023-2024.
Finally, this work programme will direct investments of more than €1 billion in 2023 from
NextGeneration EU to help repair the immediate economic and social damage brought about by the
COVID-19 pandemic and to create a post-COVID-19 Europe that is greener, more digital, more
resilient, more inclusive and better fit for the current and forthcoming challenges. This is done
through topics contributing to a green, digitally-enabled recovery, , improving health systems,
transport and education., topics contributing to research capacities, including for vaccine
development, and supporting actions to increase preparedness for future crises.

7

COM(2021) 573 final. Read the Communication here.
European Commission, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, Schellnhuber, H., Widera, B., Kutnar,A., et al., Horizon Europe and new European Bauhaus NEXUS report, 2022, can be found here.
9
The calculations presented do not include actions funded by the 2025 budget included in this work
programme. They will be included in calculations in the upcoming full work programme for 2025
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Investing in the green transition, climate action and biodiversity
The green transition guides significant parts of Horizon Europe’s investments. The commitment tospend at least 35% of resources on climate action and strengthen investments in biodiversity applies
to the entirety of Horizon Europe including the European Research Council (ERC), the European
Innovation Council (EIC) and Institutionalised European Partnerships. These are not included in thiswork programme.
Taking into account all work programmes for Horizon Europe 2023-202410 it is estimated that overall
35.6% of funds will contribute to climate action; and 8.8% to biodiversity related policy objectives.
The parts of the present work programme dedicated to the clusters of Pillar II, ‘Global Challenges andEuropean Industrial Competitiveness’, research infrastructures, widening participation &strengthening the European research area, European innovation ecosystems and the EU Missions
together contribute €6.07 billion to climate action, equal to 42.6% of the present work programmebudget. Furthermore, these parts will contribute €1.67 billion to biodiversity, equal to 13.3% of thepresent work programme budget. €461 million of the contributions to biodiversity are from theactivities described in the EU Missions. The investment in climate action is a good approximation of
investments in the green transitions, monitoring of expenditure will provide more precise data also
on other aspects like investments in ‘clean air’ or specific SDGs.
Contributions to climate action are made by 90% of the budget of cluster ‘Climate, energy, andmobility’ (€2.27 billion), 55% of the cluster ‘Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture andEnvironment’ (€998 million), 48% of the cluster ‘Digital, Industry and Space’ (€1.32 billion) and 5.5%of the cluster ‘Health’ (€80 million). The actions described in the work programme part on EU
Missions allocate €806 million, equal to 65% of the Missions’ allocated budget, to climate action.
To ensure a contribution over 35% in the lifetime of the Horizon Europe programme the expenditure
estimates will be updated continuously. The methodology to generate these estimates is based onthe ‘EU-coefficients’ methodology11.
Horizon Europe is committed to the ‘Do no harm’-principle (Green Oath), that applies to all EU
programmes as expressed in the agreement on the Multiannual Financial Framework12. To that end,10

The Horizon Europe components European Research Council, Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions, the European
Innovation Council, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, as well as the Institutionalised
European Partnerships based on Articles 185/187 TFEU and the direct actions by the Joint Research Centre
have a combined budget of 12.043 billion equal to 46.81% of Horizon Europe total.
11
EU-coefficients are based on the internationally recognized Rio-markers methods originally developed by
OECD (see further information here.) The EU coefficients assigns 0-40-100% markers to actions and theirbudgets depending on climate action having a major impact (100%), a significant impact (40%) or a marginal
impact (0%) of an activity. In this work programme the coefficients are applied to every topic described forclimate action, biodiversity, clean air, digital transition and artificial intelligence. For other parts of Horizon
Europe they are applied to larger groups of actions and in general to awarded projects for expendituremonitoring and documentation. Actions can be assigned more than one coefficient if they contribute
substantially to more than one of the related objectives.
12
https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/eu-budget/how-it-works/budget-law/interinstitutionalagreement_en

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the proposed outcomes of topics in this work programme have been screened for potential
detrimental effects on the green transition and on the objectives of the Green Deal related policies13,
and on supporting mid- and long term policy objectives notably of the green and digital transitionand societal and economic resilience– Horizon Europe funds research conducted according to highest
ethical standards, expressed in the ethics appraisal (for details see the Horizon Europe programme
guide14). Ethics standards include an environmental ethics dimension to which proposals have toadhere. Evaluators may ask for ethics screening of proposals as part of the evaluation or ask forchecks and audits during project implementation. Potential applicants and participants to actions inthis programme can contribute to this aim by reflecting on minimising the direct environmental
impacts from their activities in their application form (proposal part B template) e.g. in their choice of
methods, the organisation of work, notably the related travel, and from future use of the results15.

Delivering on the Horizon Europe Strategic Plan 2021-2024
This work programme for 2023-2024 is a key step in delivering on the priorities set out in the Horizon
Europe Strategic Plan for 2021-202416. Based on the overarching EU policy priorities, the Strategic
Plan sets out four key strategic orientations and 15 impact areas. These are based on 32 expected
impacts that have been defined in an inclusive and ambitious strategic planning process. Each
expected impact is targeted via dedicated packages of actions in the work programme. These aretermed ‘destinations’, because they indicate both the specific direction and the ultimate point ofarrival of the projects to be supported through Horizon Europe. An overview of all expected impactsof the Strategic Plan and the corresponding destinations in the work programme parts for the six
clusters can be found in the appendix to this introduction.
From EU priorities to work programme destinations

13

For Horizon Europe’s innovation support provided closer to commercialisation by this work programme aswell as by the European Innovation Council, the European Commission wants to apply standards that are notlower than those of the EU taxonomy regulation that apply to commercial activities and investments. The
ambition to raise standards and environmental performance is reflected in the formulation of topics, theirscope and expected outcomes.
14
https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/programmeguide_horizon_en.pdf
15
Please note that the criteria for evaluation of proposals remain unchanged. Evaluators will not scoreapplications in relation to their compliance with the principle unless explicitly stated in the work programme.
16
C(2021)1602: COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION adopting the 2021-2024 strategic research andinnovation plan in the framework of the specific programme implementing Horizon Europe – the Framework
Programme for Research and Innovation. The Strategic Plan 2021 – 2024 can be found here.

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The four key strategic orientations in the Horizon Europe Strategic Plan 2021-2024 each define a setof higher-level objectives where research and innovation investments are expected to make adifference. The four key strategic orientations are:
Key Strategic Orientation A

Key Strategic Orientation B

Promoting an open strategic autonomy byleading the development of key digital,
enabling and emerging technologies, sectors
and value chains to accelerate and steer thedigital and green transitions through humancentred technologies and innovations

Restoring Europe’s ecosystems andbiodiversity, and managing sustainably
natural resources to ensure food security anda clean and healthy environment

Key Strategic Orientation C

Key Strategic Orientation D

Making Europe the first digitally enabled
circular, climate-neutral and sustainableeconomy through the transformation of its
mobility, energy, construction and production
systems

Creating a more resilient, inclusive anddemocratic European society, prepared andresponsive to threats and disasters, addressing
inequalities and providing high-quality healthcare, and empowering all citizens to act in thegreen and digital transitions

Below, each key strategic orientation is presented along with its impact areas. For each impact area,some examples are given to illustrate the activities in the work programme that will implement it.

A - Promoting an open strategic autonomy17 by leading the development of key digital,
enabling and emerging technologies, sectors and value chains
As set out in the Versailles declaration18 following Russia’s unjustified military invasion of Ukraine on
24 February 2022, Europe’s economic base needs to be more resilient, competitive and fit for thegreen and digital transitions, while leaving no one behind. Current strategic dependencies related tosensitive areas such as critical raw materials and the digital area are evident across the EU society
and economy and need to be addressed. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, new technologies
have kept our businesses and public services running and our family and social bonds afloat. A
number of these are now thoroughly ingrained in our everyday lives, and today, the data economy
lies at the heart of innovation and job creation. The European Union has the ambition of empowering
European citizens with digital solutions rooted in our common values and enriching the lives of all of
us. This work programme will help shape innovative technologies and solutions in a wide range ofapplications, paving the way to a resilient, inclusive, regenerative and circular economy, reducing
strategic dependencies. Thereby, it will also underpin the open strategic autonomy of Europe and its
global leadership in digital and emerging enabling technologies.
A total number of eleven expected impacts contribute to this key strategic objective and its four
impact areas, all of which are being put into effect through this work programme. The following
examples provide an illustration of how this is achieved:
17‘Open strategic autonomy’ refers to the term ‘strategic autonomy while preserving an open economy’, asreflected in the conclusions of the European Council 1–2 October 2020.
18
The declaration is available here.

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Horizon Europe - Work programme 2023-2025
General Introduction➢ To promote industrial leadership in key and emerging technologies that work for people,
the co-programmed Partnership on Artificial Intelligence, Data and Robotics will drive thedevelopment of human-centric, trustworthy, safe and robust technologies that will boost
new markets and applications and that are compatible with Europe’s ethical standards andvalues. A dedicated action will also examine humanistic deployment of artificial intelligenceand related technologies. Within the quantum field, this work programme will target efforts
to ensure that Europe will have its first computer with quantum acceleration by 2025, alsopaving the way for Europe to be at the cutting edge of quantum capabilities by 2030. Efforts
will also support the ambitions of the future European Chips Act, including by supporting
research at lower Technology Readiness Levels (TRL)19 in micro-electronics and integration
technologies for industrial solutions.
➢ In order to attain secure and cybersecure digital technology, this work programme supports
research and innovation on cybersecure technology and its implications. For this work
programme, efforts will include actions aimed at enhancing prevention and deterrence ofadvanced forms of cyber threats and cyber-dependent crime and tracing of cryptocurrencytransactions.
➢ With a view to supporting a competitive and secure data-economy, a wide-ranging effort on
critical raw materials is undertaken, targeting all steps of the value chain from exploration,
extraction, processing and up- and recycling. Furthermore, this work programme will support
efforts to develop advanced materials that can substitute critical raw materials, for instancein applications for the new energy innovation, promoting a circular economy and resource
efficiency while reducing strategic dependencies.
➢ To make available high quality digital services for all, it fosters research and innovation on,
for example, innovative approaches to empower the cultural and creative industries,
including its many micro enterprises, to reap the benefits of using digital technologies,
creating more appealing and valuable products, services and experiences for its users.
Collaborative platforms for cultural heritage and cultural and creative industries will besupported, including a cloud platform for European cultural heritage institutions. Suchplatforms will strengthen the collaboration and co-creation among cultural heritage
institutions and with other stakeholders in the cultural heritage domain, widen access for
citizens and strengthen research.

B - Restoring Europe’s ecosystems and biodiversity, and managing sustainably natural
resources
Human activities create pressures on natural resources that go far beyond sustainable levels. This isaffecting ecosystems and their capacity to provide multiple services for human well-being, while
natural resources are being further degraded because of the impacts of climate change. The
European Union has the ambition to halt biodiversity decline, protect and preserve ecosystems,
manage natural resources on land and sea in a sustainable way, thereby ensuring food and nutrition
security as well as a clean and healthy environment for all. Horizon Europe will thus advanceknowledge, build capacities and provide innovative technologies and solutions to support the stateand functioning of ecosystems, to ensure a clean and healthy environment and sustainable

19

The definition of Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) is available in the General Annexes to this work
programme.

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management of natural resources that provides for our needs and contributes to climate neutrality
and adaptation.
The following examples give an idea of how the three impact areas under this orientation are being
implemented through this work programme:➢ With a view to developing sustainable food systems from farm to fork on land and sea, thiswork programme supports research and innovation on sustainable farming, fisheries andaquaculture as well as the transformation of food systems. It does so through a wide rangeof actions, including the European partnership on accelerating farming systems transition
and the European partnership on safe and sustainable food systems for people, planet andclimate, also focusing on R&I to promote the production, provision and safe consumption ofalternative sources of protein. Actions also aim to make use of the latest digitaltechnologies to revolutionise fisheries control and contribute to ensuring sustainable fishing.
A number of initiatives also aim to enhance collaboration with Africa on these topics.
Furthermore, specific initiatives aim to use advanced materials for sustainable agriculture,by creating more sustainable agrochemicals. At the other end of the food system, this work
programme will also help create biodegradable polymers for sustainable packaging materials.
➢ As a contribution to clean and healthy air, water and soil, this work programme will support
research and innovation to prevent environmental contamination, for example with actions
focusing on halting emissions of pollution to air, soil and water; also promoting sustainable
use of pesticides; protecting drinking water and managing urban water pollution, enablingchemicals and materials that are safe and sustainable by design 20 and increasing
environmental performances and sustainability of processes and products, e.g. inconstruction products and textiles. Related actions will also create new knowledge about therole of environmental pollution in human health.
➢ To enhance ecosystems and biodiversity on land and in waters, actions will focus onunderstanding and addressing the main drivers of biodiversity loss; promote biodiversity
protection and restoration and help develop new biodiversity friendly practices inagriculture, forestry, industry and aquaculture, for instance by promoting pollinator friendly
farming systems. This work programme also supports the European Biodiversity Partnership:
Biodiversa+.

C - Making Europe the first digitally enabled circular, climate-neutral and sustainableeconomyThe European Union has the ambition to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% in
2030, to become climate neutral by 2050 and turn into a more sustainable, bio-based, climateneutral, circular, non- toxic and competitive economy. This requires unprecedented changes in theway we produce, trade, build, move around and consume, which will spur our technological,
economic and societal transformation and contribute to a green recovery. This work programme will
help transform the EU into a provider of green solutions for the benefit of all, and position Europe asa technological and industrial leader in the green transition industry, in order to make the EU climate
neutral by transitioning all economic sectors.
20

Read more about the Safe and Sustainable by Design Framework and the Strategic Research and Innovation
Plan for chemicals and materials here.

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This work programme contributes significantly to achieving the four impact areas under thisorientation through seven expected impacts, as shown by the following examples:➢ To promote climate change mitigation and adaptation, this work programme supports
climate sciences and responses and cross-sectoral solutions for the climate transition
through dedicated destinations and topics throughout the work programme.
➢ With a view to reducing energy dependencies and promote affordable and clean energy, thiswork programme supports a broad portfolio of clean and efficient demand sidetechnologies as well as renewable energy technologies – helping to improve thecompetitiveness of more mature technologies and nurturing emerging technology solutions– and their smart integration into the overall energy system, thus boosting the energy
transition in all its dimensions. One focus area in this regard is supporting a competitive andsustainable European battery value chain.
➢ To further advance smart and sustainable transport, research and innovation activities will
pave the way for zero-emission, safe, resilient transport and Smart Mobility services forpassengers and goods, for example in the field of Connected, Cooperative and AutomatedMobility (CCAM). Efforts are also focused to promote zero-emission road transport;
accelerating climate neutral hydrogen-powered/electrified aviation and sustainable
waterborne transport.
➢ As a considerable contribution to regenerative, circular and clean economy, this work
programme will advance research and innovation on climate neutral, circular and digitised
production and support the European Partnerships Made in Europe, Processes4Planet andClean Steel, which will demonstrate EU leadership in the transformation of the
manufacturing and energy-intensive industries into circular and carbon-neutral sectors. This
work programme will also pave the way to the development of chemicals and materials fit
for the twin digital and green transition through the Safe and Sustainable by Design
approach 21 . Finally, efforts include a project to create one hundred circular model
households, which will pilot efforts aimed at making European households sustainablethrough inclusive circular practices.

D - Creating a more resilient, inclusive and democratic European society
Social cohesion and inclusiveness and the health, well-being, rights and security of its citizens arecentral aims of the EU’s policies and programmes. To uphold such objectives, the EU needs to tackle
the negative consequences of manifold challenges, such as those arising from demographic change,
globalisation, climate changes, evolving security threats and rapid technological change. These are
putting the well-being of citizens and communities under strain, thereby challenging businessmodels, public services, as well as the foundations of the single market and social rights. Investments
under Horizon Europe will be instrumental for the EU to develop stronger health systems, improvehealth technologies and develop the knowledge and innovations that underpin the health and wellbeing of all its citizens. Furthermore, Horizon Europe will facilitate the development of innovations,policies and institutions to safeguard democratic governance, foster civic participation and enhancetrust in democratic institutions, tackling populism, polarisation and extremism. These will safeguard

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https://ec.europa.eu/info/research-and-innovation/research-area/industrial-research-and-innovation/keyenabling-technologies/advanced-materials_en#sustainable-by-design-approach-towards-a-sustainable-future

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and promote Europe’s common values and cultural heritage, and support creative ways of cultivating
independent critical thinking and inclusive debates. It will support innovative solutions for connecting
education and training to emerging social and labour market needs while improving societal
adaptation and citizens’ engagement in the green and digital transitions. It will also reinforce civil
security research for disaster risk management, border management and law enforcement while
mitigating the negative effects of acute crises.
This key strategic objective and four impact areas encompass ten expected impacts, all of whichbecome operative through the Horizon Europe work programme, as these examples illustrate:➢ To secure good health and high-quality accessible healthcare, this work programme willcontribute with a wide-ranging number of activities targeting the young as well as the ‘silver’
generations, with personalised medicine and special care for people in vulnerable
situations22, as we are adapting to the post-pandemic life, for instance with actions aimed tocreate evidence-based interventions for promotion of mental and physical health in changing
working environments (post-pandemic workplaces).
➢ To promote and defend a secure, open and democratic EU society, it will foster research on
how to protect, nurture and reshape democracies, through topics such as ‘Detecting,analysing and countering foreign information manipulation and interference’;‘Disinformation by state authorities: developing a better understanding of information
suppression’ and ‘Computational Social Science approaches in research on democratic
legitimacy, resilience of democratic institutions and the new patterns of democratic
participation’. It will also support actions to combat hate speech on the internet and beyond.
It will support critical infrastructures against physical and cyber threats to reinforce the EU
resilience of critical entities, in order to anticipate the future risk landscape, the increasingly
tight interdependencies between different sectors, and also the increasingly interdependent
relationships between physical and digital infrastructures.
➢ To create a resilient EU prepared for emerging threats, research and innovation will
enhance Europe’s disaster-resilience, including through actions to enhance pandemic
preparedness, e.g. by developing new broad spectrum anti-viral therapeutics for infectious
diseases with epidemic potential, and creating new knowledge to better understand therelationship between infectious and non-communicable diseases. It will also support actions
aimed at improving preparedness for health emergencies. With a view to supporting theEuropean Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA)’s objectives, thiswork programme will promote investments in research to improve Europe’s preparedness
and ability to respond to serious cross-border threats to health.
➢ Finally, to foster inclusive growth and new job opportunities, research and innovation under
this work programme will help assessing and strengthening the complementarity between
new technologies and human skills; and tackling inequalities in the green and digitaltransitions through specific topics.

22

E.g. .groups of people and/or patients vulnerable from a social, financial, or health perspective, or at risk of
discrimination, such as migrants, Roma people, trans and intersex people, specific age and gender groups (thatintersect with other aspects of vulnerability, such as elderly women), indigenous people, homeless people,
people in poverty or at risk of poverty, people with disabilities or patients with complex conditions.

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The EU Missions
Horizon Europe has introduced the EU Missions as a new concept for the EU frameworkprogrammes. EU Missions address some of the greatest global challenges that affect our daily lives.
They have ambitious, clear and targeted objectives that are time-bound, realistic and measurable.
They are rooted in research and innovation and they will employ a portfolio approach to tackle
these challenges using instruments across diverse disciplines and policy areas in a joined-up way.
With this work programme, the Commission launches an investment of more than €1 330 million
for 2023-2024. That investment will support research and innovation which is expected to result in,for example, better prepared local and regional authorities to face climate-related risks, restorating
at least 25 000 km of free-flowing rivers, Climate City Contracts with 100 cities, the establishment of
100 living labs and lighthouses to lead the transition towards healthy soils, optimised minimallyinvasive diagnostic cancer interventions and support to the physical and mental health of young
people who live with and beyond cancer. The actions included directly support key overarching EU
priorities such as the European Green Deal, a Europe fit for the Digital Age, the Europe’s Beating
Cancer Plan and an Economy that works for people.
Regulation (EU) 2021/695, Art. 8(5), set out than an assessment of the first missions establishedunder the Programme should take place no later than 2023 and before any decision is taken on
creating new missions, or on continuing, terminating or redirecting ongoing missions.
As a result of the exercise, the Commission Communication “EU Missions two years on: assessmentof progress and way forward” sets out the main findings of a thorough assessment of EU Missions
highlighting the main achievements of the current five individual Missions, while also identifying
challenges they have encountered, and sketches the way forward for this instrument.
The Commission invites researchers and innovators as well as citizens and all interested
stakeholders to take part in the five Missions:
Adaptation to Climate Change: support at least 150 European regions and local authorities tobecome climate resilient by 2030.
This Mission is turning the urgent challenge of adapting to climate change into an opportunity tomake Europe resilient, fair and prepared to deal with climate disruptions, such as heatwaves,drought, wildfires, floods or sea level rise. The Mission is accelerating adaptation efforts acrossEurope, helping European regions and local authorities to adapt to climate change in smarter, fasterand more systemic way.
Cancer: improving the lives of more than 3 million people by 2030 through prevention, cure andfor those affected by cancer including their families, to live longer and better.
The Mission on Cancer supports Member States, regions and communities on cancer control, evenmore so in light of the disruptive effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. It will enhance understanding ofcancer, boost prevention, optimise diagnosis and treatment, improve quality of lives of patients andtheir families and ensure equitable access to care across Europe. The Mission puts citizens,
including patients, at the centre of research and innovation, and research and innovation at thecentre of policy development. It contributes to the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan23, e.g. bygenerating knowledge and evidence for the implementation of new actions in the areas of

23

eu_cancer-plan_en_0.pdf (europa.eu)

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understanding, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and quality of life.
Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030
Man-made and climate-driven changes are putting our ocean and waters and consequently oursocieties at a serious risk. The Mission’s new, systemic approach addresses the ocean and waters as
one and plays a key role in achieving climate neutrality and restoring nature. The aim of the Mission
is to contribute to preserving aquatic ecosystems and biodiversity by protecting 30% of the EU’s sea
area as well as to restoring marine eco-systems and 25.000 km of free flowing rivers, preventing
and eliminating pollution by reducing plastic litter at sea, nutrient losses and use of chemical
pesticides by 50% and to making the blue economy climate-neutral and circular with net-zero
maritime emissions.
Participatory approaches and citizen engagement, such as citizen science and ocean literacy actions,
are important elements of the Mission implementation. One of the key deliverables of the Missionis the European Digital Twin of the Ocean that will make ocean knowledge readily available tocitizens, entrepreneurs, scientists, and policymakers. The stakeholders and citizens are further
mobilised through the Mission Charter, a simple, inclusive and inspirational framework, calling for
concrete actions to enhance cooperation to deliver on Mission objectives. By endorsing the Charter,
stakeholders are expressing strong support for the Mission and mobilising bottom-up actions andresources. More than 500 actions were pledged in the first year of the Charter.
100 Climate neutral and smart cities by 2030
Producing more than 70% of global CO2 emissions, cities play a pivotal role in achieving climate
neutrality by 2050. Through the novel instrument of Climate City Contracts that closely involve
citizens and with dedicated support through the Mission Platform, 100 EU cities and 12 cities from
Associated Countries are being supported in their ambition to become climate-neutral by 2030.
They are leading in green and digital innovation and demonstrating solutions that will enable allother European cities to follow suit by 2050.
A Soil Deal for Europe: 100 living labs and lighthouses to lead the transition towards healthy soils
by 2030
Life on Earth depends on healthy soils, but they are under threat, making us more vulnerable tofood insecurity and extreme weather events. The Mission is engaging with people (2 400 signatoriesof the Mission Manifesto since its launch in April 2023) and creating effective partnerships acrosssectors and territories to protect and restore soils. It contributes to Green Deal targets relating tosustainable farming, climate resilience, biodiversity and zero-pollution through specific knowledge
generation on biodiversity, carbon farming, soil pollution and the circular economy. The Mission
provides support to the Commission’s proposal for a Directive on Soil Monitoring and Resilience 24
contributing to the development of a soil health monitoring framework. Its living labs will test andscale-up innovative solutions for sustainable management of soil health on real-life settings,
mobilising additional funding to undertake the transtition towards healthy soils.

Supporting EU priorities through international cooperation in research and innovation
International cooperation in research and innovation is essential for tackling global challenges more
effectively and underpins all the key strategic orientations of the Horizon Europe Strategic Plan 2021-

24

Proposal for a Directive on Soil Monitoring and Resilience

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2024. It also enables Europe to access resources, know-how, scientific excellence, value chains andmarkets that are developing outside the EU.
In line with the EU global approach to research and innovation25, this work programme will tap into
the opportunities offered by international cooperation in order to maximise the impact of its actions.
It includes dedicated actions to support and strengthen cooperation through international initiatives
in areas such as renewable energies, global health, environmental observations, ocean- coastal andarctic research, disaster management, and fair, healthy and environment-friendly food systems. It
also builds on the ambitious and comprehensive ‘Africa Initiative’ and introduces the‘Mediterranean Initiative’, which identifies relevant topics across different clusters to respond to the
new R&I Agenda developed with the Union for the Mediterranean.
The openness of the work programme to international cooperation will be balanced with the need tosafeguard EU interests in strategic areas, in particular to promote the EU’s open strategic autonomy
and its technological leadership and competitiveness. In a limited number of cases for actions related
to Union strategic assets, interests, autonomy or security, actions will be limited to cooperation
between legal entities established in Member States only, Member States and Associated Countries,
and/or certain third countries. For duly justified and exceptional reasons, participation can also be
limited to legal entities established in the Union or in Associated Countries that are not directly or
indirectly controlled by non-associated third countries or by legal entities of non-associated third
countries, or make the participation of the controlled entities subject to conditions set out in thework programme.
The EU is a front-runner of international openness in R&I, at the same time, international
cooperation can involve risks and challenges that must be taken into account. To support R&I actors
in mitigating such risks, the Commission has published a toolkit for tackling foreign interference in
R&I26. It is strongly recommended that participants in Horizon Europe actions familiarise themselveswith this publication and consider its relevance for the proposals they intend to submit.

Strengthening framework conditions for research and innovation
This work programme will also strengthen the framework conditions for research and innovation
within the EU by contributing to a stronger European research and innovation ecosystem, including
through wider participation, greater mobility for researchers and world class research
infrastructures.
The work programme part for Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) responds to Europe’s
continuing need for a highly-skilled and resilient human capital base in research and innovation thatcan easily adapt to, and find sustainable solutions for, current and future challenges. The MSCA makean important contribution by supporting researchers’ training and mobility through bottom-up andexcellence-driven research in the framework of doctoral networks, postdoctoral fellowships27, staff
exchanges and citizen outreach, thereby equipping researchers with new knowledge and skills andproviding them with international and inter-sectoral exposure. A special area of focus is providing25

COM(2021) 252. Read the Communication here.
Tackling R&I foreign interference: staff working document, 2022. See the document here
27
Aiming to enhance nuclear expertise and excellence as well as synergies between Horizon Europe and theEuratom Research and Training Programme, nuclear researchers are eligible to participate in MSCA
Postdoctoral Fellowships supported by an annual financial contribution from the Euratom Research andTraining Programme.
26

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researchers at risk with tailored support in their new geographical area. The MSCA also have astructuring impact on higher education institutions and other R&I entities way beyond academia by
widely spreading excellence and setting standards for high-quality researcher education and training,
not only across the European Research Area (ERA) but also worldwide.
Europe’s research and innovation system depends on world-class research infrastructures that areopen and accessible to all researchers in Europe and beyond. Through the dedicated work
programme part, excellent research and breakthrough science and innovation will be supported with
cutting-edge, interconnected, specialised and sustainable Research Infrastructures. Special focus
areas will be the further development of the European Open Science Cloud, thereby supporting open
access to digital services for all European researchers; the support for access and integration of otherresearch infrastructures services, including in the field of health and the green and digital areas but
also to enable curiosity driven research in all scientific domains, and the development of the next
generation of scientific tools and solutions for research and innovation.
As also set out in the New European Innovation Agenda28, the urgent challenges of today are
inherently complex and systemic and will not be solved by individual actors or territories in isolation.
To foster enabling innovation ecosystems across Europe requires a systemic approach that isinclusive and collaborative, involves diverse actors, institutions and places, maximises the value ofinnovation to all and ensures equitable diffusion of its benefits. The work programme part on
European Innovation Ecosystems (EIE) supports concrete actions to help create interconnected,
inclusive and more efficient innovation ecosystems across Europe that draw on the existing strengthsof European, national, regional and local ecosystems and pulls in new, less well-represented
stakeholders and less advanced in innovation territories. Furthermore, it supports cooperation
between innovation players, for instance with actions aimed at strengthening cooperation between
academia and industry, or deep tech companies led by women. It also provides opportunities forinnovative SMEs cooperation with European and/or international partners through funding marketled, cross-border, R&I collaborative projects and providing accompanying measures.
The European Research Area (ERA) foresees a single, borderless market for research, innovation andtechnology across the EU based on excellent, competitive, open and talent driven research. Actions
on Open science, Citizen Science, Gender and Ethics as well as a broad spectrum of actions toprioritise investments and reforms, improve access to excellence and reduce the research divide andgeographical disparities in research and innovation performance, translate R&I results into theeconomy and deepen the ERA are presented in the current work programme part on Widening
participation and strengthening the European Research Area. The goal is to have a Union, whereknowledge and a highly skilled workforce circulate freely; where research outputs are shared rapidly
and efficiently; where researchers benefit from attractive careers and gender equality is ensured.

Ensuring continuity and bringing in new features
This work programme is shaped around the successes of and lessons learned from the work
programme 2021-2022 and EU’s previous research and innovation framework programmes. It
continues and builds on a number of key elements, such as open access to research data and results,

28

A New European Innovation Agenda: COM(2022) 332 final. See the communication here.

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which have proven their worth and relevance. It also features a number of important novelties
introduced with Horizon Europe to further streamline and enhance the programme:
Gender equality – Gender equality is a cross-cutting priority in Horizon Europe and concerns all
programme parts. The appropriate consideration of the gender dimension in research and innovation
content29 is mandatory for all applicants across the whole programme, unless the non-relevance ofsex and/or gender analysis is indicated at topic level. Furthermore, Horizon Europe is promoting
gender equality through sustainable institutional change by requesting that applicants (public bodies,
research organisations and higher education establishments) have in place a gender equality plan as
an eligibility criterion.
Widening participation - While keeping excellence as the main feature, a wide spectrum of measures
will foster participation in the work programme actions and facilitate collaborative links. For instance,
the ex-post ‘Hop on’ feature will allow existing project consortia to expand by including participantsfrom so-called ‘low R&I performing countries’, in order to build collaborative links and reduce theresearch and innovation divide.
Synergies by design – The deployment and uptake of research results and innovative solutions
developed in this work programme, and Horizon Europe in general, will be facilitated in cooperation
with EU funding programmes. To foster synergies between Horizon Europe and other EU
programmes and policies, they are considered in the design of the work programmes, level, as wellas throughout all relevant implementation steps, such as project selection, management,
communication, dissemination and exploitation of results. For instance, a set of guidelines on newopportunities to maximise the synergies between Horizon Europe and the European Regional
Development Fund programmes was published in July 2022.30
Social innovation – i.e. innovation for societal impact and innovation with citizens, academics,
entrepreneurs, and public administrators as co-designers, co-developers, and co-implementers is across-cutting priority in Horizon Europe. Social innovation recognises the sociotechnical nature of all
innovations, benefits the need for society to own innovation, and serves the profound changes insocial practices required, inter alia, to achieve, the digital,energy and mobility transition, climateneutrality, sustainable management of natural resources, circularity, and greater societal resilience inthe face of health, climatic and other hazards.
Trustworthy technologies - All projects supported by this work programme will be in line with EUvalues and adhere to the highest ethics and integrity standards. Horizon Europe is spearheading theartificial intelligence ethics by design agenda. Due diligence will be required to make sure all AI-based
systems or techniques used or developed will be trustworthy: ethical, lawful and robust, withparticular attention to safety, accuracy, reliability and explainability.

29

Integrating the gender dimension in research and innovation content is an umbrella term for integrating sex
and/or gender analysis, that is, ensuring that the biological characteristics and the social/cultural features ofboth women and men, as well as gender equality objectives, are taken into account as relevant in the content
of research and innovation projects. For more information see: https://ec.europa.eu/info/news/genderedinnovations-2-2020-nov-24_en
30
See the guidelines here.

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What you will find in this work programme
Each part of this work programme, except for this Introduction, the MSCA part and the General
Annexes, is designed around a series of coherent packages of calls for proposals and impact-driven
destinations and topics.
Each destination describes socio-economic challenges to be addressed and the related expected
impacts that R&I activities will contribute to.
In many cases, destinations correspond directly to an expected impact identified in the Horizon
Europe Strategic Plan 2021-2024, as shown in the overview below. Together, the destinations of thiswork programme cover the 32 expected impacts in the Horizon Europe Strategic Plan 2021-2024.
Under each destination, one or more topics describe the expected outcomes and the scope of theresearch and innovation activities to be supported. The expected outcomes are the desired effectsof the project in the medium term such as the uptake, diffusion, use and/or deployment of the
project’s results by direct target groups. The scope describes the area of research/innovation thatneeds to be tackled if the expected outcomes are to be successfully addressed, without prescribing
the method to achieve them. It is therefore up to the creativity and skill of the applicants to design a
project that will generate results and substantially contribute to the expected outcomes and impacts.
Each topic also sets out the general conditions, deadlines, budget, and any specific conditions that
may apply. The topics are grouped under calls for proposals, which is a technical term for a numberof topics that share the deadline for the opening of the topic for submission of applications.
The graphic below gives an overview of the relationship between policy priorities and project results
and explains the various terms used in this context.
Horizon Europe implementation logic – overview

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