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EU programme guide

Horizon Europe

Open-call snapshot checked 2026-04-18

Horizon Europe is the European Union's main research and innovation funding programme for 2021-2027, with a budget of around €93.5 billion. It funds collaborative research, technology development, and innovation across science, industry, and societal challenges.

Budget period 2021-2027
Total budget ~€93.5 billion
Funding rate 70-100% of eligible costs
Typical setup Consortium, 3+ countries

What Horizon Europe funds

Horizon Europe is organised into three pillars. Pillar I, Excellent Science, funds frontier research through the European Research Council and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. Pillar II, Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness, funds collaborative projects across six thematic clusters — health; culture and society; civil security; digital, industry and space; climate, energy and mobility; and food and natural resources. Pillar III, Innovative Europe, includes the European Innovation Council.

Most Pillar II funding goes to consortia: groups of companies, universities, and research organisations working together on a defined call topic with measurable outcomes.

Who is eligible

Companies of any size, universities, research institutes, public bodies, and non-profits established in an EU member state or an associated country can take part. Most collaborative calls require at least three independent legal entities from three different eligible countries.

Funding rates are typically 100% of eligible direct costs for research and innovation actions, and around 70% for innovation actions when the participant is a for-profit company, plus a flat-rate overhead.

How calls work

Funding is released through work programmes that define specific call topics, each with its own scope, budget, expected outcomes, and deadline. Proposals are evaluated by independent experts on excellence, impact, and quality of implementation.

The window between a call opening and its deadline is often short, so tracking topic openings — rather than scanning the portal occasionally — is what separates teams that apply from teams that miss the round.

Common reasons proposals fail

The most frequent issue is a weak fit between the project and the exact call topic. A strong project answering the wrong topic still scores poorly. Other recurring problems are a thin impact section, an unbalanced consortium, and an unrealistic work plan. A specialist who has won the relevant cluster before can flag these before submission.

Open Horizon Europe calls

These Horizon Europe calls are open in the current index snapshot, soonest deadline first. fundingme.eu tracks the EU Funding & Tenders Portal continuously — run a free match to see everything open today and how your company fits.

Frequently asked questions

How much funding can a Horizon Europe project receive?

It depends entirely on the call topic. Collaborative projects commonly range from around €1 million to €10 million or more in total budget, shared across the consortium. Each call topic states its own indicative budget and the number of projects expected to be funded.

Do I need a consortium to apply?

For most Pillar II collaborative calls, yes — typically at least three independent organisations from three different eligible countries. European Research Council grants and some European Innovation Council schemes are exceptions and can be single-applicant.

Can a startup apply to Horizon Europe?

Yes. Startups and SMEs are eligible and are actively encouraged in many calls. Smaller companies often join collaborative consortia first, and the European Innovation Council Accelerator is designed specifically for single SMEs with breakthrough innovations.

Is Horizon Europe a grant or a loan?

Pillar I and Pillar II funding is grant funding — it does not have to be repaid. The European Innovation Council Accelerator additionally offers optional equity investment alongside its grant component.

Horizon Europe by sector

EU grants for AI companies AI companies in Europe can access EU grant funding mainly through Horizon Europe (for research and innovation), the Digital Europe Programme (for AI deployment and testing facilities), and the EIC Accelerator (for breakthrough single-company innovation). EU grants for healthtech companies Healthtech and digital-health companies can access EU funding through Horizon Europe's health cluster (for research and innovation), the EIC Accelerator (for breakthrough products), and EU4Health (for health-system deployment and prevention). EU grants for climate & energy companies Climate and clean-energy companies can access EU funding through Horizon Europe (for research and innovation), the Innovation Fund (for first-of-a-kind clean-tech demonstration), and the LIFE Programme (for environment and climate-action projects). EU grants for deeptech companies Deeptech companies can access EU grant funding mainly through the EIC Accelerator (for single-company breakthrough innovation), Horizon Europe (for collaborative research and innovation), and Eurostars (for SME-led international R&D projects).

Other EU funding programmes

EIC Accelerator The EIC Accelerator is the European Innovation Council's flagship scheme for single startups and small companies. Eurostars Eurostars is a funding programme for research-and-development-performing SMEs that lead international collaborative innovation projects. Digital Europe Programme The Digital Europe Programme is the EU's funding programme for deploying digital technology, with a budget of around €7.5 billion for 2021-2027. LIFE Programme The LIFE Programme is the European Union's dedicated funding instrument for environment and climate action, with a budget of around €5.4 billion for 2021-2027. Innovation Fund The Innovation Fund is one of the world's largest funding programmes for the demonstration of innovative low-carbon technologies. European Defence Fund The European Defence Fund supports collaborative defence research and capability development across the EU, with a budget of around €8 billion for 2021-2027. EU4Health EU4Health is the European Union's funding programme for health, with a budget of around €5.3 billion for 2021-2027.