Science & Research

The focus area Science and Research covers issues such as science, knowledge, research and technology.

Regarding the global issues, such as ageing of the population and resource scarcity, innovation is needed to achieve economic growth and to sustain the high standard of living in Europe.

Europe 2020 strategy priorities

In this context, the Europe 2020 strategy puts forward three mutually reinforcing priorities:

Smart growth: developing an economy based on knowledge and innovation.
Sustainable growth: promoting a more resource efficient, greener and more competitive economy.
Inclusive growth: fostering a high-employment economy delivering social and territorial cohesion.

These targets are pursued by investments in research and innovation in all economic sectors coupled with promotion of sustainable use of resources to enhance Europe’s competitiveness and create new business and employment opportunities.

Building prosperity and developing knowledge society through research, education and information technologies is a priority of many EU Macro-Regional Strategies as well.

EU-Funding Programmes

Many EU-funding programmes address these issues, amongst others Horizon 2020, Connecting Europe (CEF), Central Europe, the Alpine space programme, the Interreg Danube Transnational Programme, and EUREKA Cluster. These programmes support scientists and companies, as well as regional cooperation and project cooperations.

Horizon 2020 is the new EU Research and Innovation programme. In addition to traditional research projects, funding is also available for innovation and pilot projects in various sectors.
The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) finances projects which complete the missing links in Europe's energy, transport and digital backbone.

CENTRAL EUROPE encourages cooperation among regions of nine central European countries: Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine. It aims to improve innovation, accessibility and the environment and to enhance the competitiveness and attractiveness of their cities and regions.
The Alpine Space programme is a European transnational cooperation programme for the Alpine region. It provides a framework to facilitate the cooperation between economic, social and environmental key players in seven Alpine countries, as well as between various institutional levels such as: academia, administration, business and innovation sector, and policy making.
The Interreg Danube Transnational Programme seeks to create synergies and coordination between existing policies and initiatives taking place across the Danube Region.
EUREKA Clusters are strategic initiatives proposed and led by the industry, developing generic technologies. Clusters facilitate R&D and innovation projects on the basis of a broad industrial participation spanning large industries and SMEs as well as research institutions and other public or private organization.

For more information on EU science and research policies, please consult the website of DG RESEARCH & INNOVATION.