Horizon 2020 - the 8th European Framework Programme for Investigation and Innovation - offers a lot of good opportunities for academic researchers and aspiring entrepreneurs. Dr Eva Servoli, University of Geneva, presents Horizon 2020 vision and ambitions and gives us a fast guide and a few useful guidelines for preparing the application. Get additional information about H2020
With Horizon 2020 and its EUR 80 billion price range in grants, the European Commission empowers scientists and research-intensive companies of any size to generate a concrete impact around the scientific, societal and financial progress of European countries, Switzerland integrated. The final aim is delivering and implementing efficient solutions for the benefits of citizens coping with the challenges of our fast-changing world. Customized medicine, cleaner atmosphere, new models for inclusive societies, user-friendly and secured processes covering all elements of everyday life are only couple of examples of how Horizon 2020 can resolve societal challenges and adjust the game in Europe and beyond.
The philosophy of Horizon 2020
How can these ambitious - even though needed research targets - be achieved? By altering the way we execute R&D and by involving citizens and policy makers as essential components of the innovation process, until novel technologies, products and services become part of a better each day life.
The philosophy of Horizon 2020 opens up the opportunity of making the best use of the enormous amount of knowledge and talents of our academic institutes and innovative companies. The calls are designed to foster international collaborations, integrate soft and hard sciences, share and consolidate available data, set common targets between the public and private sector though keeping in mind the central role of the citizen and the end beneficiary. The future competitiveness of European science and economy will strongly depend on how academia and industry will be able to meet this challenge.
Knowledge is power
Yes but true knowledge, combined with trustful and transparent facts, can only be accomplished by sharing. That’s why Horizon 2020 stresses around the value of exchanging ideas without borders (Open Innovation, Open Science, Open to the World). It goes in the same direction as the recent implementation of the Open Data policy for funded projects, which aims at making available to everyone data and results generated during the execution of European projects.