Horizon Europe is the European Union’s flagship funding program for research and innovation, running from 2021 to 2027 with a budget of €95.5 billion. It aims to tackle global challenges and boost EU competitiveness and growth. The program supports collaboration among researchers, institutions, and businesses, and its funding schemes span from fundamental to applicative research.
Key Benefits of applying and participating in the Horizon Europe program
- Access to European Expertise: Collaborate and exchange knowledge with top research and innovation groups and companies in Europe
- Networking: Work with relevant players in your field across Europe
- Funding: Potential access to a share of the €95.5 billion budget
- Global Challenges: Contribute to addressing major societal, scientific, technological and environmental issues
What Non-EU researchers must know about participating in the program?
- The program is open for participation of researchers of any nationality.
- Researchers of any nationality who live and work in institutions established in EU member states (EU) or Associated Countries (AC) are automatically eligible for funding.
- Researchers from the USA, Canada or New Zealand who do not reside and work in institutions in the EU/AC are eligible for funding in specific cases only.
In this article we will briefly describe the options available for researchers from the USA, Canada or New Zealand in the Horizon Europe program.
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Collaborative grants (Pillar 2 and 3)
Pillar 2 of the Horizon Europe program includes a wide range of opportunities for collaborative projects, attending to major challenges grouped in the following six clusters:
- Cluster 1: Health
- Cluster 2: Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Societies
- Cluster 3: Civil Security for Society
- Cluster 4: Digital, Industry & Space
- Cluster 5: Climate, Energy and Mobility
- Cluster 6: Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture & Environment
and the following 5 missions:
- Adaptation to Climate Change
- Cancer
- Healthy Oceans, Seas, Coastal and Inland Waters (“Mission Starfish 2030”)
- Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities
- Soil Health and Food (“A Soil Deal for Europe”)
Pillar 3 includes the European Innovation Council (EIC), which is a flagship innovation program under Horizon Europe, designed to support breakthrough technologies and game-changing innovations throughout their lifecycle, and more…
Participation in collaborative grants is institutional-based.
What funding for Collaborative projects is available for institutions in the USA, Canada or New Zealand?
Canada and New Zealand
Canada and New Zealand have signed association agreements to Pillar 2 of the Horizon Europe programme. This means that institutions established in Canada and New Zealand and any researcher working in these institutions, can apply, participate and automatically receive funding in all calls under Pillar 2 on equal terms as their EU counterparts.
The USA
Institutions established in the US, and any researcher working in these institutions, can apply, participate and automatically receive funding for participation in calls under Cluster 1 – Health (Pillar 2) only.
All other collaborative grants are open for participation of institutions from the USA, Canada or New Zealand, however, they will participate without receiving EU-funding.
Applying to Horizon Europe collaborative grants can be overwhelming for beginners. It requires background work as well as good understanding of the program structure.
As a first step, we’d recommend our compiled guide that can help you in the process.
In addition to that we can assist with dedicated courses and consulting services.
European Research Council (ERC) grants
The European Research Council (ERC) grants are considered to be the most prestigious funding opportunities for frontier research across all fields, emphasizing scientific excellence. ERC grants are designed to support individual researchers or small teams (2-4 researchers) in conducting groundbreaking and ambitious projects.
Key Features:
- ERC supports investigator-driven fundamental research, fostering innovation and unconventional approaches across disciplines.
- Grants are awarded based solely on scientific excellence.
- Participation is individual and open to researchers worldwide, regardless of nationality or age, provided they are hosted and conduct the research in institutions established in EU member states (EU) or associated countries (AC).
- Grants are awarded based solely on scientific excellence and are portable between host institutions within the EU/AC.
Below is an overview of the main ERC grant schemes:
- Starting Grant (StG):
- Purpose: Supports early-career researchers starting their independent research team or program.
- Eligibility: Researchers who completed their Ph.D. between 2-7 years prior to the respective deadline’s year.
- Funding: Up to €1.5 million (additional €1 million possible).
- Duration: Up to 5 years.
- Minimum time dedication to the ERC project: 50%
- Minimum time spent in the EU/AC: 50%
- Consolidator Grant (CoG):
- Purpose: Helps researchers consolidate their independent research program.
- Eligibility: Researchers who completed their Ph.D. between 7-12 years prior to the respective deadline’s year.
- Funding: Up to €2 million (additional €1 million possible).
- Duration: Up to 5 years.
- Minimum time dedication to the ERC project: 40%
- Minimum time spent in the EU/AC: 50%
- Advanced Grant (AdG):
- Purpose: Supports established research leaders with a strong track record of achievements.
- Eligibility: Senior researchers with significant accomplishments over the past decade.
- Funding: Up to €2.5 million (additional €1 million possible).
- Duration: Up to 5 years.
- Minimum time dedication to the ERC project: 30%
- Minimum time spent in the EU/AC: 50%
- Synergy Grant (SyG):
- Purpose: Funds collaborative projects involving 2-4 Principal Investigators addressing complex research questions.
- Eligibility: Open to researchers at any career stage with complementary expertise.
- Funding: Up to €10 million (additional €4 million possible for specific needs).
- Duration: Up to 6 years.
- Minimum time dedication to the ERC project: 30% for each investigator.
- Minimum time spent in the EU/AC: 50%. One Principal investigator may be hosted by an institution outside the EU/AC
- Proof of Concept Grant (PoC):
- Purpose: Bridges the gap between ERC-funded research and its commercial or societal application.
- Eligibility: Only available to researchers with prior ERC grants.
- Funding: Lump sum of €150,000.
- Duration: Up to 18 months.
What ERC funding is available for researchers from the USA, Canada or New Zealand?
All individual ERC grants (StG, CoG and AdG) require that the Principal investigator spends a minimum of 50% working time in an institution based in the EU/AC. Therefore, applying to these grants is possible for those who are hosted, or wish to be hosted, fully or partially (>50%) by an institution in the EU/AC.
Synergy grants allow for one member of the synergy team to be hosted by an institution outside the EU/AC, while receiving direct funding from the ERC grant. Essentially, this opens this opportunity to researchers from all over the world.
In order to have a better understanding of this unique grant, we recommend reading this article.
On top of that, we recommend visiting our knowledge base about the ERC grants which includes many practical articles, guides and tools that can assist you in the process of accessing and winning an ERC grant. Our ERC knowledge base is available here.
Additionally, we offer a variety of consulting and training services for all ERC grants.
The official ERC website is available here.
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) – mobility grants
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) grants are a key component of the Horizon Europe program, designed to support researchers at various career stages. These grants aim to foster excellence in research, promote international collaboration, and enhance researchers’ career development through mobility and training.
The main grants available under MSCA are:
- Doctoral Networks (DN): Collaborative actions supporting innovative doctoral programs and enhancing doctoral training excellence in Europe
- Postdoctoral Fellowships (PF): Individual grants empowering researchers with PhDs to acquire advanced skills through international and interdisciplinary mobility. These fellowships take the form of “Global” (from Europe to anywhere in the world, eventually returning to Europe) or “European” (from anywhere in the world to Europe).
- Staff Exchanges (SE): Collaborative initiatives fostering international collaboration and knowledge exchange through secondment of staff across research and innovation domains, sectors and disciplines
- COFUND: Mono-beneficiary actions co-financing doctoral and postdoctoral programs to promote best practices in research training and mobility
What MSCA funding is available for researchers from the USA, Canada or New Zealand?
Researchers and institutions from the USA, Canada or New Zealand, may receive EU-funding in the following three specific cases:
- A researcher who wishes to engage in research and innovation activities by moving to Europe for 12-24 months (MSCA-PF European Fellowship).
- A research group in the USA / Canada / New Zealand can host European post doctoral fellows (MSCA-PF global fellowship)
- EU/AC institutions that have a funded MSCA-COFUND project publish PhD/postdoc vacancies to which USA, Canada or New Zealand nationals can apply.
While direct EU-funding is only possible the cases above, MSCA offers USA, Canada or New Zealand based institutions and research groups the following possibilities:
- Hosting seconded fully-funded staff from EU/AC based institutions (MSCA-SE)
- Hosting seconded fully-funded Doctoral candidates (MSCA-DN) and in some cases, receiving indirect funding for training activities provided in the scope of the project.
We offer a variety of training and consulting services supporting all MSCA grants.
Additionally, our knowledge base offers several guides and articles to help potential applicants better understand the nature of the different MSCA grants.
Conclusion
Horizon Europe offers several opportunities for researchers and institutions from the USA, Canada or New Zealand, supporting collaboration, knowledge exchange and access to world leading research and innovation. But navigating the possibilities, understanding eligibility conditions and how to apply, may be overwhelming. If you are interested in learning more about these opportunities, do not hesitate to contact us.
Note: this article is dedicated to the cases of researchers and institutions located in the USA, Canada or New Zealand, however note that other countries can be eligible to participate in the Horizon Europe program under specific terms.