EU funding programmes

The European Union offers a wide range of funding opportunities. Support is provided for projects and programmes in all EU Member States and beyond, including in the areas of regional and urban development, employment and research. The content is aligned with the EU's research, structural and economic policy priorities.

In addition to numerous topic-specific funding programmes, the seven-year Research Framework Programme forms the central component of European research funding.

The Research and Transfer Unit (StFT) provides information on funding opportunities at EU level and assists with application procedures by supporting the development and submission of funding applications.

THI is particularly active in the following EU funding initiatives:

Horizon Europe

Horizon Europe is the European Union's ninth framework programme for research and innovation and follows on from Horizon 2020. With a budget of around €95.5 billion for the period 2021–2027, it is one of the world's largest public funding programmes.

The programme covers a wide range of funding opportunities – from basic research to application-oriented projects and market launch measures. Other priorities include the mobility of researchers, strengthening the European Research Area and expanding research infrastructures. Individual projects, consortium projects and company participation, especially by small and medium-sized enterprises, are eligible for funding.

Information on programmes, calls for proposals, regulations, application procedures and project management is available centrally on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal.

Selected funding formats in Horizon Europe

The second pillar of Horizon Europe aims to address global challenges and support sustainable development in line with the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement on climate change. It is divided into six thematic clusters:

Health
Culture, creativity and inclusive society
Civil security
Digitalisation, industry and space
Climate, energy and mobility
Food, bioeconomy, natural resources, agriculture and environment

Funding is mainly applied for by interdisciplinary research consortia led by a coordinating institution. Thematic calls for proposals are published in two-year work programmes on the EU Funding and Tender Portal.

Successful applicants usually have a good research network and are generally familiar with the typical procedures and requirements of the application process.

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) promote the career development of researchers, with a particular focus on international mobility. Support is provided for scientific activities in an international, interdisciplinary and intersectoral environment. The aim is both to expand individual research skills and to strengthen institutional structures.

A total of €6.6 billion is available for MSCA in the EU's Horizon Europe programme. The five funding lines are open to all research areas and support projects ranging from basic research to market development.

EU missions are visible and ambitious projects that highlight the added value of European investment in research and innovation. Together with experts and the public, five mission areas have been defined that will shape the European research landscape in the coming years:

Adaptation to climate change
Cancer
Healthy oceans, seas, coastal and inland waters
Climate-neutral, smart cities
Soil health and nutrition

For each mission area, a mission with clearly defined goals will be implemented by 2030.
The corresponding calls for proposals can be found in section ‘12. Missions and Cross-cutting Activities’ of the Horizon Europe work programme. The respective work programmes are available on the EU Funding and Tender Portal under “Work programme & call documents”.

Links to national advice centres for international funding projects

European Structural and Investment Funds

The Structural and Investment Funds are managed by the European Commission in cooperation with national and regional authorities. The aim is to improve living conditions in European regions by investing in key areas of development. The EU provides funding for this through several funds, including the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF).

Further links:

European partnerships

European Partnerships bring together joint research and innovation programmes run by the European Commission with private and public partners. They support key EU policy objectives, including the green transition, digitalisation and pandemic preparedness.

In Horizon Europe, they are intended to simplify the research and innovation landscape. The approach is clearly impact-oriented, focusing on the partnerships' intended and already achieved contributions to research and innovation.

Examples of the 49 European Partnerships are:

Co-programmed European Partnerships
CCAM - European Partnership on Connected, Cooperative and Automated Mobility
2Zero Emission
BATT4EU Partnership – BATT4EU (bepassociation.eu)
Calls for proposals in the Horizon Europe Pillar II work programme
Co-funded European Partnerships
ERA4HEALTH
Clean Energy Transition Partnership (cetpartnership.eu)
Driving Urban Transitions to a sustainable future - DUT Partnership
Calls for proposals are usually published on the websites of the partnerships and/or the national funding organisations involved
Institutionalized European Partnerships
Clean Hydrogen Partnership (europa.eu)
European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) | EIT (europa.eu)
Chips JU (europa.eu)
Calls for tenders are usually published on the websites of the partnerships

A complete overview can be found here

EUREKA networks

EUREKA is a European-international network for application-oriented research and development (R&D) in Europe and offers companies and research institutions a framework for smaller cross-border co-operation projects.

EUREKA projects can be submitted ass network projects, as open-topic Eurostars- and Globalstars-projects in all technological fields or as thematically orientated projects as EUREKA-clusters.

The minimum requirement is usually the participation of two independent companies from different EUREKA member countries and a balanced distribution of activities and budgets between the partners.

Before submitting an application, it is recommended that you seek advice from the national contact points.

Contact

Please direct enquiries preferably to the central e-mail address:

E-Mail: forschung@thi.de

Contact person

Research- and EU-Consultant
Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Christian Duft
Phone: +49 841 9348-6140
Room: F110
Fax: +49 841 9348-996140
E-Mail: Christian.Duft@thi.de