Overview
Horizon Europe is the world’s largest research and innovation collaboration program, with a budget of €95.5 billion (CDN$140 billion) over 2021-2027. More than €53 billion (CDN$77 billion) has been allocated to Pillar II.
Recently, the Government of Canada completed substantive negotiations with the European Commission to join Horizon Europe as an associate country under Pillar II. Associate membership allows researchers at Canadian institutions to participate in applications to Pillar II calls for proposals and receive funding from Horizon Europe if the applications are successful.
Pillar II aims to translate the outcomes of excellent research into innovative solutions to global challenges through the following six clusters. Each cluster has a work programme which sets out funding opportunities for research and innovation activities. More information about each cluster can be found below, including Canada’s National Contact Points (NCPs). The NCPs provide guidance, practical information and assistance to those interested in participating in Horizon Europe.
Expandable List
Objectives:
- Improve and protect the health and well-being of citizens of all ages by generating new knowledge, developing innovative solutions and integrating where relevant a gender perspective to prevent, diagnose, monitor, treat and cure diseases
- Develop health technologies, mitigating health risks, protecting populations and promoting good health and well-being in general and at work
- Make public health systems more cost-effective, equitable and sustainable, prevent and tackle poverty-related diseases and support and enable patients’ participation and self-management
Areas of Intervention:
- Health throughout the life course
- Environmental and social health determinants
- Non-communicable and rare diseases
- Infectious diseases including poverty-related and neglected diseases
- Tools, technologies and digital solutions for health and care including personalised medicine
- Health care systems
National contact points:
- Berry de Bruijn, Senior Research Officer and Team Lead Digital Technologies Research Centre, National Research Council Canada
- William McRae, Policy & Planning Analyst, Vice President’s Office, Life Sciences, National Research Council Canada
Objectives:
- Strengthen European democratic values, including rule of law and fundamental rights, safeguarding our cultural heritage, and promoting socio-economic transformations that contribute to inclusion and growth
Areas of Intervention:
- Democracy
- Cultural heritage
- Social and economic transformations
National contact point:
- Maria Barnes, Director General, Enterprise Data Strategy, Governance & Partnerships, Employment and Social Development Canada
Objectives:
- Respond to the challenges arising from persistent security threats, including cybercrime, as well as natural and man-made disasters
Areas of Intervention:
- Disaster-resilient societies
- Protection and security
- Cybersecurity
National contact point:
- Berry de Bruijn, Senior Research Officer and Team Lead Digital Technologies Research Centre, National Research Council Canada
Objectives:
- Shape competitive and trusted technologies for a European industry with global leadership in key areas, enabling production and consumption to respect the boundaries of our planet, and maximising the benefits for all parts of society in the variety of social, economic and territorial contexts in Europe
- Build a competitive, digital, low-carbon and circular industry, ensure sustainable supply of raw materials, develop advanced materials and provide the basis for advances and innovation in global challenges to society
Areas of Intervention:
- Manufacturing technologies
- Key digital technologies including quantum technologies
- Emerging enabling technologies
- Advanced materials
- Artificial intelligence and robotics
- Next generation internet
- Advanced computing and Big Data
- Circular industries
- Low carbon and clean industries
- Space including earth observation
National contact point:
- Steeve Montminy, Director, Strategic planning, Space Science and Technology, Canadian Space Agency
Objectives:
- Fight climate change by better understanding its causes, evolution, risks, impacts and opportunities, and by making the energy and transport sectors more climate and environment-friendly, more efficient and competitive, smarter, safer and more resilient
Areas of Intervention:
- Climate science and solutions
- Energy supply
- Energy systems and grids
- Buildings and industrial facilities in energy transition
- Communities and cities
- Industrial competitiveness in transport
- Clean, safe and accessible transport and mobility
- Smart mobility
- Energy storage
National contact points:
- Stephanie Janetos, Director, Science Policy Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada
- Brian Smith, Manager, Science Policy Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada
Objectives:
- Reduce environmental degradation, halt and reverse the decline of biodiversity on land, inland waters and sea and better manage natural resources through transformative changes of the economy and society in both urban and rural areas
Areas of Intervention:
- Environmental observation
- Biodiversity and natural resources
- Agriculture, forestry and rural areas
- Seas, oceans and inland waters
- Food systems
- Bio-based innovation systems in the EU’s bioeconomy
- Circular systems
National contact points:
- Andrea (Andi) White, A/Director, Office of Partnership and Collaboration, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada
- Carol Adley, Science Advisor, Office of Partnership and Collaboration, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada
- Lynn Fortin, Deputy Director, Science Partnership Division, Partnership and Planning Directorate, Science and Technology Branch, Agriculture and Agrifood Canada
- Aimee Beboso, Senior Policy Analyst, Science Partnership Division, Partnership and Planning Directorate, Science and Technology Branch, Agriculture and Agrifood Canada
- Paula Esber, Director, Science and Research Enablement Division, Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Eligibility
For most calls for proposals, you must apply as a team of at least 3 partner organisations from 3 different European Union or associated countries. Canada is now considered an associated country. At least one of the 3 partners must be from an EU country.
In addition to these 3 partners, organisations from other countries might be able to join your consortium. Successful applications tend to involve 8-12 partner organisations.
Finding Calls for Proposals
European Commission calls for proposals are published on the Funding & Tenders Portal. You can search by Keyword, Programming Period (including 2021-2027), Programme (including Horizon Europe), and/or Programme Part (including the six clusters).
Finding Partner Organizations
Some calls for proposals include Partner Search Announcements where you can find organizations which have declared an interest in joining a partnership to respond to the specific Horizon Europe Pillar II call. In these announcements organizations may be requesting or offering expertise.
Using the Partner Search function on the Funding & Tenders Portal, you can also search for partners by Keyword, Programme (including Horizon Europe), Country, Organization Type, and Professional Profile (including Researcher).
You can also make your own expertise known to potential partners by 1) creating an EU login account, 2) completing your My Person Profile, and 3) making your profile public.
Please note, McMaster is already registered as a participating organization. You do not need to register McMaster University in order to participate on an application.
Recommendations
Register as an expert
Since Horizon Europe is new to most Canadian researchers and institutions, to learn more about the program it is recommended that you consider registering as an expert.
Experts may be asked to assist with and/or provide advice regarding:
- Evaluation of proposals, prize applications and tenders;
- Monitoring of actions, grant agreements, public procurement contracts;
- Preparation, implementation and evaluation of EU programmes and design of policies.
Partner with collaborators familiar with the Horizon Europe program
To gain an understanding of the complexity and expectations of Horizon Europe Pillar II, organizations with experience with the Horizon Europe program have recommended that researchers participate on grant applications as partners before trying to lead an application.
Start early
Given the complexity of establishing a consortium which includes multiple institutions in different countries, organizations with experience with the Horizon Europe program have advised that development of a competitive Pillar II application requires a minimum of six months and up to one year.
If you are interested in leading an application, it is recommended that you plan to respond to the calls for proposals which will be included in the 2025 work programmes to be released sometime this spring.
Pursue a gender-balanced consortium
Horizon Europe prefers to see gender-balanced consortia. It is recommended that you keep this in mind when developing a consortium.
Forthcoming Calls for Proposals
Expandable List
View upcoming calls for proposals in each cluster. Please note: Calls may not be available for all clusters at this time. The information on this page will be updated as more calls are announced.
If you have questions and/or intend to apply to a Horizon Europe Pillar II call, either as a lead applicant or as a co-applicant on an application led by another institution, please contact Christina Pellegrini or Virginia Viscardi, Senior Advisors, ROADS.
More Information
In the coming weeks, information sessions about Horizon Europe Pillar II will be organized, and this webpage will be updated with more information and guidance regarding Pillar II as it becomes available.
In the meantime, we encourage you to consult the following resources for additional information:
- EU Science and Innovation YouTube Channel
- CORDIS
- includes information about every research and innovation project every funded by the European Commission
- may be helpful when searching for potential partners with a track record of success securing Horizon Europe funding
- Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) Canada
- ISED will be posting information for Canadian organizations about Horizon Europe Pillar II on their website as it becomes available
If you have questions and/or intend to apply to a Horizon Europe Pillar II call, either as a lead applicant or as a co-applicant on an application led by another institution, please contact Christina Pellegrini or Virginia Viscardi, Senior Advisors, ROADS.
Events
Horizon Europe Project Call on AI – Canadian Partners Sought – Pitch and Matchmaking Online Session
Please see below this unique chance to network and pursue an Horizon Europe project call on AI worth over C$10 million where Canadian participation is actively sought.
Project call theme is: “Trustworthy, explainable and robust AI.” Budget C$10+ million. It states: to achieve expected outcomes, international cooperation is encouraged, in particular with Canada and India.
Details of the project call could be published on April 17th. Deadline, not yet known, will likely be three months after the effective date.
This is an exceptional opportunity for Canadians – companies, researchers, innovators – who excel in AI and wish to co-innovate with European partners on projects that typically are valued at C$2 to $6 million.
More importantly, pursuing these calls will help Canadian innovators build on an innovation that can take 3-5 years to develop, and connect with potential future partners, clients and markets.
This hybrid matchmaking session (online and in-person) will be hosted by ADRA, the EU based AI, Data and Robotics Association which is the private side of the public-private partnership under Horizon Europe Cluster 4.
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
| 07:30am – 08:30 ET | Presentation on the European AI, Data and Robotics ecosystem |
| 08:30am – 09:30 ET | Roundtable discussion on the upcoming Horizon Europe calls and interactions with Euro HPC, Copernicus, Galileo |
| 09:45am – 10:50 ET | Horizon Europe call pitching sessions – participants present their concept ideas |
To both register for this event and partake of the matchmaking portal that can facilitate finding the right partners go to REGISTRATION.
This matchmaking portal is NOT limited to this one project call. Please take the time to draft and upload your profile for consideration for this and upcoming project calls for co-innovation with European partners.
For questions, please contact ADRA’s Secretary General Philip Piatkiewicz at secretary-general@adr-association.eu.