Final Work Programme of Horizon Europe is simplified and contains ‘Choose Europe for Science’ and cross-cutting challenge novelties

The European Commission has adopted the main Horizon Europe work programme for 2026-27, with over €14 billion of funding to support researchers and innovators in Europe to pursue key strategic goals, including achieving climate neutrality, boosting the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in research and innovation, and ensuring resilience in a rapidly changing world.

Covering the final two years of the €95.5 billion Horizon Europe programme, the Work Programme 2026-27 is designed to be simpler, shorter and more impactful, introducing a number of measures to simplify processes, enhance transparency and boost inclusiveness. These include:

• Less prescriptive topic descriptions – The average length of topic descriptions has been reduced, making these less prescriptive and thereby allowing applicants more flexibility in how they approach the topics. This includes more open topics introduced across clusters in Pillar II. The length of Work Programme 2026-2027 has therefore been reduced by 33% compared with the Work Programme 2023-2024.
• Fewer topics – The number of topics has been reduced by 35% compared with the Work Programme 2023-2024. This is intended to focus resources on fewer but larger topics, thereby increasing the potential impact. The number of topics funding only one project has also been decreased by 50%.
• Increased use of lump-sum funding – 50% of the call budget of the work programme will be implemented through lump sums. This particularly concerns topics intended to result in grants below € 10 million.
• ‘Newcomer-friendly’ and SME-friendly topics – The work programme includes topics that are specifically designed to be newcomer-friendly, encouraging participation by SMEs, start-ups and scale-ups, civil society organisations and small public administrations. These topics can, for instance, use the Fast Track to Research and Innovation Scheme. Similarly, there are more topics that allow for financial support to third parties than in previous work programmes.
• Use of two-stage calls – The programme includes 41 call topics with two-stage evaluation. These will allow applicants to submit a shorter summary proposal and only submit a full proposal if successful at the stage of the short proposal evaluation.
• Reduced complexity of proposal template – Standard templates for the most common type of actions have been updated, simplifying the requirements for the impact and implementation sections and reducing the overall page limits.

An additional key novelty in the work programme is the introduction of horizontal calls, which are designed to connect different parts of Horizon Europe in support of key strategic areas. By combining efforts and pooling resources, they aim to create critical mass and deliver greater impact. These topics are intentionally non-prescriptive, giving applicants the flexibility to propose different approaches for achieving the expected outcomes.

Horizontal calls include the €540 million ‘R&I in Support of the Clean Industrial Deal‘ call, which aims to accelerate the market deployment of cutting-edge clean technologies and decarbonised industry solutions, with a focus on both technological excellence and market readiness. In addition, the €90 million ‘AI in Science‘ call contributes to the implementation of the ‘Resource for AI Science in Europe‘ (RAISE) pilot, which supports safe, responsible, ethical and transparent AI applications across key sectors.

Elsewhere, the Choose Europe for Science initiative is an important element of the Work Programme 2026-2027 and is designed to make Europe a premier destination for scientific careers. For instance, around €50 million is allocated to the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCAs) to improve long-term fellowships, ensure postdoctoral career stability and offer relocation incentives. Additional measures include €240 million through the ERA Chairs to attract high-level researchers to a widening university or research centre; €50 million for measures to strengthen Europe’s world-class research infrastructures; and actions through the European Innovation Ecosystem to create conditions favourable for the growth of global, technology-driven companies.

Ekaterina Zaharieva, Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, said:

‘We have listened to researchers and innovators and made Horizon Europe simpler and more accessible to SMEs, start-ups and newcomers. We are also expanding Choose Europe and making our continent even more attractive to researchers and innovators worldwide.’

The Work Programme 2026-27 can be accessed in full at the European Commission website.