Horizon 2020, the EU’s new Research & Innovation programme, and Erasmus+, its Education Training and Youth programme, went live on Wednesday 1 January 2014.

Horizon 2020, the EU’s €80bn Research & Innovation programme will last for seven years. The first calls, with funding of €15bn over two years, have been issued.

The new Horizon 2020 programme is central to the EU’s wider objective of creating smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and jobs and is designed to achieve this through its three ‘Pillars’ Excellent Science, Industrial Leadership and Societal Challenges. More information online.

Emphasising the importance of increasing the innovative capacity of the EU, Horizon 2020 incorporates the European Institute of Innovation & Technology, which aims to facilitate transitions; from idea to product, from lab to market, and from student to entrepreneur through its Knowledge & Innovation Communities (KICs). The Institute has launched a call for two new KICs, in ‘Innovation for Healthy Living and Active Ageing’ and ‘Raw Materials: Sustainable Exploration, Extraction, Processing, Recycling and Substitution’.

Erasmus+ is the EU’s €14.7bn programme aimed at boosting skills and employability, and at modernising education, training and youth work. In addition to providing grants for individuals, Erasmus+ will support transnational partnerships among education and training institutions and other organisations to foster cooperation and to bridge the worlds of education and work in order to tackle skills gaps. Details of the first Erasmus+ call can be found online.

Further Information

• Warwick’s European Strategy, including the support available to staff.
• If you would like more information about Horizon 2020 (excluding KICs) you can talk to your Research Development Team contact.
• For more information about KICs, contact Dr Andrew Roadnight
• For more information about Erasmus+, you can contact: exchange@warwick.ac.uk for staff and student exchanges or quality@warwick.ac.uk for Joint Masters provision.