Societal Challenges

The independent High-Level Group of Innovators advising the European Commission has published its recommendations on how a European Innovation Council (EIC) should fund and nurture breakthrough innovation from start-up to scale-up. In their report, entitled 'Europe is back: Accelerating breakthrough innovation', they recommend that a future EIC provides simplified and flexible financing, tailor-made for the needs of the innovator and which incentivises private investment for rapid scaling u

The brochure "Horizon 2020 In Full Swing -Three Years On – Key facts and figures 2014-2016" provides a snapshot of the programme's main achievements, taking into account more than 300 calls for proposals

Europe must step up investment in research and innovation in order to maximise impact, while also further refining the success story that is Horizon 2020, the EU research and innovation programme. This is one of the key messages from the Communication on the Horizon 2020 interim evaluation that the European Commission presented today. It also calls for a mission-oriented approach, focusing on cracking specific challenges, as a way of boosting the impact of the programme. Other key messages inclu

The European Commission has launched a new online presentation of implementation data of Horizon 2020, the EU's research and innovation programme. The Horizon 2020 Dashboard is user-friendly but at the same time offers powerful new analytical functions that will inform programme reporting, impact analysis, feedback to policy-making as well as decisions on future priorities.

Today, the European Commission awarded the 2017 European Capital of Innovation (iCapital) prize of €1,000,000 to Paris. The award, granted under the EU's research and innovation programme Horizon 2020, recognises Paris for its inclusive innovation strategy. Tel Aviv and Tallinn were selected as runners-up, and were both awarded €100,000.

Spanning seven years (2014 - 2020) and with a budget of €77 billion, Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU research and innovation funding programme ever. It is implemented via multi-annual work programmes.

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The main objective of this event is to promote the uptake of Horizon 2020 projects’ results in the field of ICT-enabled Open Government, both at policy and market level. It is also the occasion to foster peer learning and networking activities among developers of Govtech solutions, potential clients, support service providers and policy makers.

The My-AHA (My Active and Healthy Ageing) project aims to reduce frailty risk by improving physical activity, cognitive functions, psychological state, social resources, nutrition, sleep as well as overall well-being. The project is recruiting volunteers over 60 years old for its test phase.

inDemand is a new European project based on a model where healthcare organisations and companies co-create eHealth solutions, with the economic support of regional funds. Regions that are interested in this model can receive free coaching.

On 10 October 2017, during the European Week of Regions and Cities, the European Commission (DG GROW and DG REGIO) and the Committee of the Regions launched the Digital Cities Challenge. The challenge invites cities in Europe to improve the life of their citizens through the development and implementation of digital policies.

Research partnerships between the EU, the private sector and the Member States are on track to deliver on their objectives, to improve people's lives and to increase Europe's international competitiveness. This was confirmed by the results of interim evaluations of public-private and public-public partnerships supported by Horizon 2020, the EU's €77 billion research and innovation framework programme, which the European Commission published today.

Nine PhD students funded by the European Commission were involved in the discovery behind the Nobel Prize in Physics 2017.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2017 has been awarded jointly to Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson for the development of cryo-electron microscopy, which simplifies and improves the imaging of biomolecules. Two of the laureates, Jacques Dubochet and Richard Henderson, have participated in EU-funded research projects.

The Commission has presented key policy recommendations that will help enhance the performance of the Polish research and innovation system. This Peer Review of Poland's Higher Education and Science system, requested by the Polish government, was carried out between January and September 2017 by an independent panel of experts under the Policy Support Facility (PSF) of Horizon 2020, the EU's research and innovation programme.

An independent high level group of leading experts chaired by Pascal Lamy, President Emeritus of the Jacques Delors Institute, presented today to the Commission a new report on the future of EU research and innovation.

'H2020 Waterborne Research Conference: Competitive, Safe and Sustainable', 8 June, 2017- Brussels, Madou Auditorium Presentations now available!

The European Union and China will boost their research and innovation cooperation with a new package of flagship initiatives targeting the areas of Food, Agriculture and Biotechnologies, Environment and Sustainable Urbanisation, Surface Transport, Safer and Greener aviation, and Biotechnologies for Environment and Human Health.

As part of the interim evaluation of Horizon 2020 the EU Research and Innovation Programme, a public stakeholder consultation was launched on 20 October 2016 and closed on 15 January 2017. The results of around 3500 responses and about 300 position papers will be presented at an event organised in cooperation with the European Economic and Social Committee on 28 April.

The European Commission has today officially re-launched the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies (EGE) by appointing 15 high-calibre members. The Group will advise the Commission on all areas of policy where ethical, societal and fundamental rights issues intersect with the development of science and new technologies.