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Waiting for the new Board – Interview with Roy Someshwar, MCAA Treasurer Waiting for the new Board – Interview with Snežana Krstić, MCAA Chair Waiting for the new Board – Interview with Axelle Viré, MCAA Vice-Chair Waiting for the new Board – Interview with Kiran Kumar Chereddy, MCAA Ordinary Board Member
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A peek into the second Horizon 2020 Work Programme – What to expect in 2016 - 2017

The Horizon 2020 Work Programme 2016-17 sets out the European Commission's plan for the next 12 months, when we will see  a broad range of funding opportunities through calls for proposals, public procurements and other actions like the Horizon Prizes.

This document includes separate work programmes for the European Research Council (ERC), the Joint Research Centre (JRC), Euratom, and the Strategic Innovation Agenda for the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).

The programme's structure reflects the overall aims of Horizon 2020, focusing on the EU's long-term priorities and addressing societal challenges while providing the flexibility to tackle new problems as they emerge.

Priorities

Through 23 initiatives, the programme will support the modernisation of Europe's manufacturing industry, the digitalisation of European industry, the development of strong and sustainable economies, and the integration of environmental, transport, energy and digital networks in Europe's urban areas.

A key objective is to c between countries and bring excellence to all corners of the EU. The second Horizon 2020 Work Programme will also address the emerging challenge of migration by funding research to ensure the security of the EU external borders and to facilitate the legitimate flow of people and goods.

The Work Programme is aligned with the priorities of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. Since the beginning of his mandate in November 2014, has seen one of his key tasks to be kick-starting jobs, growth and investment. Throughout the past year, the European Commission has put in place the building blocks of the Digital Single Market, the Energy Union, a Capital Markets Union and an ambitious roadmap for making Europe a stronger global actor.

Key figures on the Work Programme 2016 -2017

The European Commission will invest EUR 16 billion in research and innovation in the next two years. The budget for 2016 is expected to be around EUR 10 billion, with an increase of approximately 12 % compared to the 2015 budget.

  • Around EUR 2 billion of the total funding in the 2016-2017 Work Programme will go to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
  • In 2016, almost EUR 1.7 billion will be available through ERC calls. Around 10 000 fellows will also benefit from training and career development opportunities thanks to Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions.
  • EUR 340 million will be available for the development and operation of new pan-European research infrastructures and the integration of national infrastructures.
  • EUR 421 million will support research and innovation that leads to innovative digital solutions, including the European Open Science Cloud.
  • EUR 1.7 billion will be invested in wiser energy use and the fight against climate change.
  • A further EUR 1.7 billion will be invested to strengthen Europe's industrial base as well as maintain and reinforce the internal market.

In total, the Work Programme for 2016-2017 includes 63 calls for proposals and around 600 different topics.

Besides the new Work Programme, other funding opportunities are available through the calls of the Joint Undertakings Clean Sky 2, Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) 2, Electronic Components and Systems for European Leadership (ECSEL), the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH), as well as ERA-Nets and Joint Programming Initiatives (JPI).

More information

The Horizon 2020 Work Programme 2016-2017 is available here while the first calls for proposals have been published on the Participant Portal.

The European Commission has also published a factsheet summarising key initiatives and including an overview table of funding calls 2016-2017.

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