EU research funding
The European Commission’s priorities include the European Green deal, a digital future, an economy that works for people, promoting and strengthening European democracy. Many staff will be familiar with the previous Horizon 2020 funding programmes. The current programme is called Horizon Europe.
Horizon Europe is the EU's research and innovation programme for 2021-2027 with a budget of €95.5 billion. It tackles climate change, helps to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and boosts the EU’s competitiveness and growth.
The programme facilitates collaboration and strengthens the impact of research and innovation in developing, supporting and implementing EU policies while tackling global challenges. It supports creating and better dispersing of excellent knowledge and technologies.
The UK can participate in applications to Horizon Europe on the same terms as any European Member State. The first calls ran in 2021, offering opportunities for individual fellowships, doctoral training networks, and European Research Council awards on topics put forward by the applicants themselves. There are also extensive opportunities to apply for collaborative research and innovation projects, organised around a large number of priority topic areas/work programmes. Find out more in our Horizon Europe pages and useful links.
Our web pages also provide information on the UK's status in Horizon Europe.
Support for EU research funding
High quality support is provided at every stage of the EU research funding process by staff within your department, Research, Innovation and Knowledge Exchange and the wider University support functions, such as the HR team.
We may also be able to provide access to early information about the content of forthcoming calls, please contact your relevant Research Development Manager in the first instance.
Building research networks with COST
The European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) funds interdisciplinary networks for researchers of all disciplines and career stages to strengthen Europe's capacity to address scientific, technological and societal challenges.
The UK can lead applications or be a participant and receive COST funding. Staff can join an existing COST network or submit a new application. 70 new projects are awarded annually and COST networks expand so there are opportunities to join existing COST groups (over 290 currently live). The COST Association’s website includes a searchable database of all live Actions, and each network lists details of how to get involved in Working Groups, training events, conferences and research visits.
Factsheet about the UK's participation in COST Actions
95% of researchers who participate in COST find it helps their research and career to advance. Success in COST leads to joint publications (productivity increases by 55%) and a higher success rate for applications to Horizon calls (37%).
Global cooperation is encouraged. COST membership spans 41 countries, including near neighbour countries (16) as well as Israel and South Africa.
Topics are bottom-up, spanning a wide range of research. Actions include a high proportion of early career staff and a strong gender balance.
The UK is one of the top ranking countries with over 1k of researchers involved. Networking activities taking place in the UK have almost doubled compared to 2021. In the 2022 call the UK came second in terms of successful representation.
The annual application deadline is in October. Details of the call, guidance documents and a video on preparing a successful application are available on the COST website. Networks are supported by an average of 155k euros p.a. over 4 years, with flexible funding to enable collaborations to grow over time.
We have produced a briefing note for staff highlighting some of York's successes.
More resources include the COST Info Day 2024, Presentations, Q&A document
and Video.UKRO/DSIT ran webinars in July 2023.
COST information event - session 1 - an overview of COST Actions and a case study.
COST information event - session 2 - structure/roles, budget, and the application process.UKRO is the UK National Contact Point for COST for more in-depth guidance.