The successes and shortcomings of Horizon 2020

The review of the €75.6B eighth framework programme will feed into evidence to be published this year that will shape the future of EU research and innovation.

The €75.6 billion Horizon 2020 framework research programme that ran from 2014 – 2020 had a huge impact on the European economy, its scientific output, and on society, but was short on budget, needed simplification and should have included better support for women researchers and entrepreneurs, a review shows.

The Horizon 2020 evaluation, carried out by the European Commission, is one of the first major documents that will inform the scope and aims of the next research programme, Framework Programme 10 (FP10), which will start in 2028.

Horizon 2020 helped fund over 35,000 projects around the world, but was €159 billion short of being able to fund all proposals judged to be “above the quality threshold” in each call. In addition, it lacked the support needed to make the most of the quality research it funded, and despite seeing the introduction of Widening measures, failed to close the research and innovation gap between Europe’s top and bottom performers.

Some of the shortcomings in this final evaluation were also identified in the mid-way review, published in 2017. That led to improvements being put in place for the current programme, Horizon Europe.

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