Programme: Horizon 2020

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Programme	Horizon 2020
Acronym	H2020
Type of Fund	Action programme
Description of programme "Horizon 2020"	Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU Research and Innovation programme with nearly 80 billion € of funding available over 7 years (2014 to 2020). Apart from classic research projects, Horizon 2020 also funds innovation projects and pilot-projects in different fields. The programme is divided into three different sections: Excellent Science Industrial Leadership Societal Challenges
Link	Link to Programme
Thematic Focus	Research & Innovation, Technology Transfer & Exchange
EU Macro-Regions	Danube Region, Adriatic and Ionian Region, Alpine Region, Baltic Sea Region
Funding area	EU Member States Albania / Shqipëria Bosnia and Herzegovina Iceland / Ísland Moldova Montenegro / Crna Gora/Црна Гора North Macedonia / Северна Македонија Norway / Norge Serbia / Сpбија Switzerland / Schweiz / Suisse / Svizzera Turkey / Türkiye Ukraine / Україна Oukraïna Others
Origin of Applicant	EU Member States Albania / Shqipëria Bosnia and Herzegovina Iceland / Ísland Moldova Montenegro / Crna Gora/Црна Гора North Macedonia / Северна Македонија Norway / Norge Serbia / Сpбија Switzerland / Schweiz / Suisse / Svizzera Turkey / Türkiye Ukraine / Україна Oukraïna Others
Project Partner	Yes
Project Partner Details	As a principle all projects (except coordination and support activities) must comprise at least 3 partners from at least 3 EU Member States or other eligible countries.
Eligible applicants	Research Institution, Education and Training Centres, Lobby Group / Professional Association / Trade Union, Federal State / Region / City / Municipality / Local Authority, International Organization, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, SMEs (between 10 and 249 employees), Microenterprises (fewer than 10 employees), NGO / NPO, Public Services, Start Up Company, University, Enterprise (more than 250 employees or not defined), Association, Other, National Government
Applicant details	All legal entities located in the EU or in Third Countries can participate in Horizon 2020.
Type of Funding	Grants
Contact Details	SANDOR Dusan Policy Analyst Dusan.SANDOR@ec.europa.eu Link to the National Contact Point Finder.

Subprogrammes of Horizon 2020

Societal Challenges

A challenge-based approach will bring together resources and knowledge across different fields, technologies and disciplines, including social sciences and the humanities. This will cover activities from research to market with a new focus on innovation-related activities, such as piloting, demonstration, test-beds, and support for public procurement and market uptake.
Funding focuses on the following challenges:

Health, demographic change and wellbeing;
Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine and maritime and inland water research, and the Bioeconomy;
Secure, clean and efficient energy;
Smart, green and integrated transport;
Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials;
Europe in a changing world - inclusive, innovative and reflective societies;
Secure societies - protecting freedom and security of Europe and its citizens.

Cross-cutting Activities

This work programme part contains the following cross-cutting calls:

Industry 2020 in the Circular Economy,
Internet of Things, and
Smart and Sustainable Cities.

Horizon Prizes

Horizon Prizes are challenge prizes (also known as 'inducement' prizes) which offer a cash reward to whoever can most effectively meet a defined challenge. They act as an incentive for innovation. They prescribe the goal but not who the innovator should be or how the goal should be achieved.

Shift2Rail

Shift2Rail fosters the introduction of better trains to the market, which operate on an innovative rail network infrastructure at a lower life-cycle cost, with more capacity to cope with growing passenger and freight mobility demand. All this are developed by European companies, thereby increasing their competitiveness in the global marketplace. Shift2Rail also contributes to the paradigm for the modal shift to attract users to rail. For EU passengers, this represents more travel options, more comfort and improved punctuality. For freight forwarder/shippers, rail freight offers a more cost-effective, punctual and traceable shipment option.
Shift2Rail contributes to:

Cutting the life-cycle cost of railway transports by as much as 50%
Doubling railway capacity
Increasing reliability and punctuality by as much as 50%

Science with and for Society

This sub-programme of Horizon 2020 specifically aims to establish a cooperation between science and society. On the one hand, "Science with and for Society" seeks to recruit new talent for science and, on the other hand, it has the purpose to pair scientific excellence with social awareness and responsibility.