€200 million earmarked for marine research in the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme in 2014-2015
Circa €200 million has been earmarked specifically for marine research and innovation in the first two years (2014/2015) of the EU’s seven year Horizon 2020 programme (2014-2020). In addition, significant other funding opportunities for marine research and innovation exist under the various generic headings (i.e. food, transport, energy, environment, climate change, security, etc.).
The €80 billion Horizon 2020 programme (2014-2020) was officially launched in the Dublin Convention Centre on 10th December by EU Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Maire Geoghegan Quinn and Minister for Research and Innovation, Sean Sherlock, TD. An audience of over 2,000 participants heard that more than €15 billion (18%) of the €80 billion budget would be allocated over the first two years. This funding is intended to help boost Europe's knowledge-driven economy, and tackle issues that will make a difference in people's lives. European Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn said: "It's time to get down to business. Horizon 2020 funding is vital for the future of research and innovation in Europe, and will contribute to growth, jobs and a better quality of life. We have designed Horizon 2020 to produce results, and we have slashed red tape to make it easier to participate. So I am calling on researchers, universities, businesses including SMEs, and others to sign up!"
Welcoming the announcement, Dr Peter Heffernan (CEO, Marine Institute) pointed out that “over the period (2007-2013), Irish marine researchers, including SMEs, participated in 127 successful FP7 projects[1] spanning a number of Thematic Priorities (e.g. Food, Transport, Energy, Environment, etc., bringing in EU grant aid of €48 million, adding value to national research and innovation expenditure and creating circa 200 contract research positions. With Blue Growth a prioritised focal area in Horizon 2020, we expect to significantly top this between 2014 and 2020”.
The Commission has identified funding priorities over the first two years (2014-2015) providing researchers and businesses with more certainty than ever before on the direction of EU research policy. Calls from the 2014 budget are already open for submissions with more to follow over the course of the year. Calls in the 2014 budget alone are worth around €7.8 billion, with funding focused on the three key pillars of Horizon 2020:
- Societal challenges: €2.8 billion for innovative projects addressing Horizon 2020's seven societal challenges, broadly: health; agriculture, maritime and bioeconomy; energy; transport; climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials; reflective societies; and security.
- Industrial Leadership: €1.8 billion to support Europe's industrial leadership in areas like ICT, nanotechnologies, advanced manufacturing, robotics, biotechnologies and space.
- Excellent Science: Around €3 billion, including €1.7 billion for grants from the European Research Council for top scientists and €800 million for Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowships for younger researchers.
For further information see:
Official Horizon 2020 Website:
Irish Horizon 2020 Website:
Horizon 2020 Researchers Portal (Call for Proposals):
Background
Horizon 2020 is the financial instrument implementing the Innovation Union, a Europe 2020 flagship initiative aimed at securing Europe's global competitiveness. Running from 2014 to 2020 with an €80 billion budget, the EU's new programme for research and innovation is part of the drive to create new growth and jobs in Europe.
As a result of a new strategic programming approach in Horizon 2020, twelve Focus Areas have been identified for special attention on the basis that they hold significant potential for high growth and innovation. One of these Focus Areas is Blue Growth: Unlocking the potential of the seas and oceans. Each Focus Area is embedded in the relevant parts of the work programme and, where appropriate, covered by specific calls for proposals.
Blue Growth is the EU’s long term strategy to support sustainable growth in the marine and maritime sectors and is the Integrated Maritime Policy's contribution to achieving the goals of the Europe 2020 Strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Implementation of the Blue Growth Strategy, including sea-basin strategies such as the EU Atlantic Action Plan (2014-2020), can be supported by EU co-funding programmes such as Structural and Cohesion Funds (e.g. INTERREG, Smart Specialisation, etc.), Horizon 2020, European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), etc.
[1] Blue Growth and Horizon 2020: http://hdl.handle.net/10793/921