2023-2024 Science, Technology, and Innovation in Europe
2023-2024 Science, Technology, and Innovation in Europe
2023-2024 Science, Technology, and Innovation in Europe
Science, Technology
and Innovation
in Europe
and Joint Activities with South Korea
2023~2024
Science, Technology
and Innovation
in Europe
and Joint Activities with South Korea
Foreword
Back in 2021, the European Commission unveiled ‘Horizon Europe’.
Running over the period 2021-2027 and endowed with a budget
of almost €100 billion, Horizon Europe is the world’s largest
transnational research and innovation programme.
We are also supporting the EU digital transition to ensure European society and industry are
fit to a new world more dependent on digital information.
Global challenges require global solutions. Horizon Europe strengthens the EUs international
research and innovation cooperation in many key areas, such as renewable energies, food
systems, cybersecurity, or global health.
We will also support actions to better collaborate with many partner countries that want to
work with European researchers and innovators.
Sixty years ago, the EU and the Republic of Korea established diplomatic relations. Since
then, the EU and Korea have become strategic partners and major international actors. Our
cooperation has flourished and expanded to multiple fields.
In May 2023, President Yoon, President Michel, and President von der Leyen held the 10th
Korea-EU Summit in Seoul. During this Summit, our leaders welcomed the opening of official
negotiations on Koreas association to Horizon Europe and committed to building more vital
interaction in science and innovation by boosting collaboration and investment in research
and development, as well as researchers mobility.
As a complement to Horizon Europe, each EU Member State runs its own tailor-made
national research programme.
I commend the joint effort undergone by European Commission and EU Member States’
science administrations, as materialised in this book. This book will help each of us get better
acquainted with Europe-wide research and innovation programmes, and, eventually, will
pave the way to establishing fruitful EU-Korea scientific cooperation.
Maria CASTILLO-FERNANDEZ
Ambassador of the European Union to the Republic of Korea
2023~2024
Science, Technology and
Innovation in Europe
and Joint Activities with South Korea
CONTENTS
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10) France 154 21) Poland 236
11) Germany 162 22) Portugal 244
12) Greece 172 23) Romania 252
13) Hungary 178 24) Slovakia 258
14) Ireland 188 25) Slovenia 264
15) Italy 194 26) Spain 272
16) Latvia 202 27) Sweden 276
17) Lithuania 210
18) Luxembourg 220
19) Malta 224
20) Netherlands 228
005
1
Why Cooperate
with Europe?
Delegation of the
European Union to
the Republic of Korea
Why Cooperate with Europe?
The European Union is a world leader in research and innovation,
responsible for 20% of world expenditure on research, 32% of high
impact publications and 27% of patent applications.
With the largest internal market in the world the European Union is
home to many of the world’s leading innovative companies, and
has a leading position in many fields of knowledge such as health,
food, renewable energies, environmental technologies, transport, and
key enabling technologies. It has untold wealth stemming from its
highly educated workforce and its leading talent in creative industries.
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1. Why Cooperate with Europe? ●
009
2
HORIZON EUROPE
Delegation of the
European Union to
the Republic of Korea
PART 1
Horizon Europe
Fact Sheet
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December 2020
2. HORIZON EUROPE ●
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Novelties to advance progress
Deliver targeted solutions to societal challenges together with citizens > EU missions:
Ambitious, bold goals to tackle issues that affect our daily lives, ranging from fighting
cancer to adapting to climate change, living in greener cities, ensuring soil health for food,
nature, people and climate, and protecting our waters and ocean.
Reinforce openness > Open Science policy: Mandatory open access to publications, open
access to research data ensured. Use of European Open Science Cloud as appropriate.
Encourage participation and decrease the R&I gap in Europe > widening participation
and spreading excellence: A wide spectrum of measures to support lower R&I performing
countries, to build up excellence centres, to improve their capacity and facilitate
collaborative links.
Increase the R&I impact > synergies with other EU programmes and policies: A set of
practical solutions to implement Horizon Europe and relevant R&I-related programmes
and policies in synergy, for example InvestEU, Erasmus+, EU Cohesion Policy, Digital
Europe, European Structural and Investment Funds, Connecting Europe Facility, and the
Recovery and Resilience Facility, to promote faster dissemination at national and regional
level, and uptake of research and innovation results.
Reduce administrative burden > simpler rules: To increase legal certainty and reduce
administrative burden for beneficiaries and programme administrators.
Enhancing impact
Horizon Europe aims to boost growth, trade and investment and to create a significant social
and environmental impact.
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2023~2024 Science, Technology and Innovation in Europe
A BUDGET & STRUCTURE FIT FOR ITS AMBITIONS
Horizon Europe will have a budget of around €95.5 billion for
2021-2027 (current prices). This includes €5.4 billion (current
prices) from NextGenerationEU to boost our recovery and
make the EU more resilient for the future, as well as an
additional reinforcement of €4.5 billion (current prices).
Horizon Europe will be implemented also through the
European Defence Fund and complemented by the
Euratom Research and Training Programme.
Inclusive Society
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions • Civil Security for Society European innovation ecosystems
• Digital, Industry and Space
• Climate, Energy and Mobility
Research Infrastructures • Food, Bioeconomy, Natural European Institute
Resources, Agriculture and of Innovation and Technology
Environment
Widening participation and spreading excellence Reforming and Enhancing the European R&I system
2. HORIZON EUROPE ●
015
The Innovative Europe pillar aims to make Widening Participation and Strengthening
Europe a frontrunner in market-creating the European Research Area (ERA) increase
innovation via the European Innovation support to EU Member States in their
Council. It also helps to develop the efforts to make the most of their national
overall European innovation landscape, research and innovation potential and
by developing European Innovation promote an ERA where researchers,
ecosystems and through the European scientific knowledge and technology
Institute of Innovation and Technology circulate freely.
(EIT) which fosters the integration of the
knowledge triangle of education, research
and innovation.
HOW TO APPLY
Work programmes announce the specific research and innovation areas that will be funded.
The forthcoming calls for proposals will be accessible through the one-stop-shop Funding and
Tenders Portal. When ready each call gives more precise information on the research and
innovation issues that applicants for funding should address in their proposals.
MORE INFORMATION
http://ec.europa.eu/horizon-europe #HorizonEU
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PART 2
Horizon Europe
Programme Guide
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2023~2024 Science, Technology and Innovation in Europe
Horizon Europe (HORIZON)
Programme Guide
Version 1.2
04 October 2021
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HISTORY OF CHANGES
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Table of contents
1. Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 23
7. Missions ...................................................................................................................................................... 29
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021
Abbreviations and acronyms
FP HE Framework Programme
FR EU Financial Regulation
GA Grant agreement
MS EU Member State(s)
OS Open science
SP HE Specific Programme
WP EU work programme
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1. Introduction
This Programme Guide contains detailed guidance on the structure, budget and political
priorities of Horizon Europe. It also includes details on how to prepare proposals.
The purpose of this document is to help users understand the programme and its calls
and prepare their proposals, by avoiding technical vocabulary, legal references and jargon,
and seeking to help readers find answers to any practical questions they may have about
particular parts of the proposal.
The guide will be periodically updated with new guidance and explanations, based on
practical experience and on-going developments.
Potential applicants are invited to read the call documentation on the topic page in the
Funding & Tenders Portal (‘Portal’) carefully, and in particular this Horizon Europe Programme
Guide, the General Annexes, the EU Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual and the EU
Grants AGA — Annotated Grant Agreement. These documents provide clarifications and
answers to questions relating to preparing the proposal:
Please note that calls launched by the European Research Council (ERC), the European
Innovation Council (EIC), the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), the
Institutionalised European Partnerships based on Articles 185 and 187 of the Treaty on the
Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), calls under the Euratom Research and Training
Programme and the activities of the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC)
are subject to separate work programmes and thus not entirely covered by this Programme
Guide. This also applies to Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA).
2. HORIZON EUROPE ●
023
For calls launched by EIC, please consult https://eic.ec.europa.eu for specific guidance.
For calls launched by EIT, please consult https://eit.europa.eu for specific guidance.
For calls launched by ERC, please consult https://erc.europa.eu for specific guidance.
For calls launched under the MSCA WP part, please find specific guidance under the relevant
call topic pages on the Portal.
For calls launched by the other programme components and parts listed above, guidance will
be published on dedicated websites together with the calls.
2. Terminology explained
A critical risk is a plausible event or issue that could have a high adverse
impact on the ability of the project to achieve its objectives. Level of
likelihood to occur (Low/medium/high): The likelihood is the estimated
Critical risk
probability that the risk will materialise even after taking account of the
mitigating measures put in place. Level of severity (Low/medium/high):
The relative seriousness of the risk and the significance of its effect.
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2023~2024 Science, Technology and Innovation in Europe
The goals of the work performed within the project, in terms of its
research and innovation content. This will be translated into the project’
s activities. These may range from tackling specific research questions,
Objectives
demonstrating the feasibility of an innovation, sharing knowledge among
stakeholders on specific issues. The nature of the objectives will depend
on the type of action, and the scope of the topic.
2. HORIZON EUROPE ●
025
3. Structure and budget
HORIZON EUROPE EURATOM
Clusters
Marie Skłodowska-Curie • Civil Security for Society
• Digital, Industry and Space European innovation
Research Fission
Research Infrastructures • Climate, Energy and Mobility ecosystems
actions • Food, Bioeconomy, Natural
Resources, Agriculture and European Institute of
Environment Innovation and Technology
Widening participation and spreading excellence Reforming and Enhancing the European R&I system
* The European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) is not part of the Specific Programme
Horizon Europe is divided into three pillars and one part, corresponding to its main priorities
• The Excellent Science pillar aims to increase the EU’s global scientific competitiveness.
It supports frontier research projects defined and driven by top researchers themselves
through the European Research Council, funds fellowships for postdoctoral researchers,
doctoral training networks and exchanges for researchers through Marie Skłodowska-
Curie Actions, and invests in world-class research infrastructures.
• T
he Global Challenges and European Industrial Competiveness pillar supports research
relating to societal challenges and reinforces technological and industrial capacities
through clusters. It sets EU-missions with ambitious goals tackling some of our biggest
problems. It also includes activities pursued by the Joint Research Centre which
supports EU and national policymakers with independent scientific evidence and
technical support.
• The Innovative Europe pillar aims to make Europe a frontrunner in market-creating
innovation via the European Innovation Council. It also helps to develop the overall
European innovation landscape through the European Institute of Innovation and
Technology (EIT) which fosters the integration of the knowledge triangle of education,
research and innovation.
• The part Widening Participation and Strengthening the European Research Area (ERA)
increase support to EU Member States in their efforts to make the most of their national
research and innovation potential.
Finally, Horizon Europe will be implemented also through the European Defence Fund and
complemented by the Euratom Research and Training Programme.
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2023~2024 Science, Technology and Innovation in Europe
Horizon Europe will have a budget of around €95.5 billion for 2021-2027 (current prices). This
includes €5.4 billion (current prices) from NextGenerationEU to boost recovery and make the
EU more resilient for the future, as well as an additional reinforcement (i.e. in addition to the
MFF agreement in July 2020) of €4.6 billion (current prices).
Overall, the aim of the strategic plan is to ensure an effective interface between EU policy
priorities, and programme activities and ultimately, the research and innovation projects
funded by Horizon Europe. The intention is to stimulate research and innovation investments
where they are particularly needed to address the challenges we are facing, and, most
importantly, deliver results.
The Horizon Europe strategic plan defines four key strategic orientations:
• Promoting an open strategic autonomy by leading the development of key digital,
enabling and emerging technologies, sectors and value chains to accelerate and steer
the digital and green transitions through human-centred technologies and innovations.
• Restoring Europe’s ecosystems and biodiversity, and managing sustainably natural
resources to ensure food security and a clean and healthy environment.
• Making Europe the first digitally enabled circular, climate-neutral and sustainable
economy through the transformation of its mobility, energy, construction and production
systems.
• Creating a more resilient, inclusive and democratic European society, prepared and
responsive to threats and disasters, addressing inequalities and providing high-quality
health care, and empowering all citizens to act in the green and digital transitions.
Each of the key strategic orientations encompasses three to four cross-cutting impact areas,
which in turn link to a number of expected impacts. The key strategic orientations and
impact areas are formulated on the basis of the expected impacts, which have been defined
with input from stakeholders, largely bottom-up, during the strategic planning process.
The expected impacts are structured by the six clusters that make up Horizon Europe’s
second Pillar, ‘Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness’. The expected
impacts define the wider effects on society, the economy and science to be targeted by
research and innovation activities, but not the manner in which to achieve them. This is up
to the applicants when designing their project proposals. In total, the strategic plan defines
32 expected impacts that cover a wide range of social, economic, ecological and scientific
2. HORIZON EUROPE ●
027
aspirations. Each expected impact serves as the foundation for a corresponding destination in
the relevant work programme parts.
Furthermore, the strategic plan identifies European co-programmed and co-funded partnerships,
as well as the EU missions and contains orientations regarding cross-cutting elements of Horizon
Europe related to areas for international cooperation, and key specific issues, such as gender,
social sciences and humanities integration, key enabling technologies, ethics, open science
practices, as well as social innovation and the EU taxonomy.
The Horizon Europe strategic plan is the product of a series of intense co-creation activities
among Commission services and co-design activities with Member States, members of
the European Parliament, stakeholders and citizens at large. This has taken place through
successive rounds of public consultations, web surveys and interactive workshops, in
particular during the annual Research and Innovation Days.
It marks a paradigm change in the design of the EU R&I Framework Programmes from an
activity-driven to an impact-driven programme.
One of the novelties in the implementation of the Horizon Europe programme which facilitates
such an impact-driven approach is the strategic planning process (as described above), which
identifies the expected impacts of the first four years of Horizon Europe.
This represents a paradigm change also for the work programmes, that henceforth builds
on this strategic planning. The structure of Horizon Europe work programmes translates
this impact-driven nature: they are organised around ‘Destinations’, describing the expected
impacts identified in the Strategic Planning, and ‘topics’, describing the related expected
outcomes critical to the achievement of such impacts.
This impact design is also translated at project level, with revamped proposal and reporting
templates, allowing for a straightforward monitoring that aims at providing close-to-real-time
information.
Horizon Europe ground breaking approach to monitoring, the Key Impact Pathways2), aims
at capturing and communicating impact around 9 key story lines during and after the
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2023~2024 Science, Technology and Innovation in Europe
Framework Programme implementation. Its objective is to allow policy makers and the wider
public to get regular insights regarding the effects and benefits of the framework programme
on European science, the economy and wider society3).
6. European Partnerships
European Partnerships bring the Commission and private and/or public partners together
to address some of Europe’s most pressing challenges through concerted research and
innovation initiatives. They are a key implementation tool of Horizon Europe, and contribute
significantly to achieving the EU’s political priorities.
By bringing private and public partners together, European Partnerships help to avoid the
duplication of investments and contribute to reducing the fragmentation of the research and
innovation landscape in the EU.
The aim of European partnerships with EU and associated countries, the private sector,
foundations and other stakeholders is to deliver on global challenges and modernise industry.
The Horizon Europe proposal lays down the conditions and principles for establishing
European Partnerships. There are 3 types:
• E
uropean Co-programme Partnerships
These are partnerships between the Commission and private and/or public partners.
They are based on memoranda of understanding.
3) https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/horizon-dashboard.
2. HORIZON EUROPE ●
029
Read more about the European partnerships in Horizon Europe here4).
7. Missions
EU missions are commitments to solve some of the greatest challenges facing our world like
fighting cancer, adapting to climate change, protecting our oceans, living in greener cities and
ensuring soil health and food. They are an integral part of Horizon Europe.
Each mission will operate as a portfolio of actions – such as research projects, policy
measures or even legislative initiatives - to achieve a measurable goal that could not be
achieved through individual actions. EU missions will contribute to the goals of the European
Green Deal, Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan as well as the Sustainable Development Goals. A
wide range of studies and reports informed this approach.
EU missions will
• be bold, inspirational and widely relevant to society
• be clearly framed: targeted, measurable and time-bound
• establish impact-driven but realistic goals
• mobilise resources on EU, national and local levels
• link activities across different disciplines and different types of research and innovation
• make it easier for citizens to understand the value of investments in research and innovation
4) https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/funding/funding-opportunities/funding-programmes-and-open-calls/
horizon-europe/european-partnerships-horizon-europe_en
5) https://commission.europa.eu/horizon-europe/missions-horizon-europe_en
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2023~2024 Science, Technology and Innovation in Europe
Overseas countries and territories (OCTs) linked to Member States
Legal entities from OCTs can participate and receive funding under equivalent conditions as
legal entities from Member States.
Aruba (NL), Bonaire (NL), Curação (NL), French Polynesia (FR), French Southern
and Antarctic Territories (FR), Greenland (DK), New Caledonia (FR), Saba (NL), Saint
Barthélemy (FR), Sint Eustatius (NL), Sint Maarten (NL), St. Pierre and Miquelon (FR),
Wallis and Futuna Islands (FR).
The association agreements with the following countries have now started to produce legal
effects (either through provisional application or their entry into force):
1. Iceland 2. Norway
Until association agreements start producing legal effects either through provisional
application or their entry into force, the transitional arrangements set out in the General
Annexes to the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2021-2022 is applicable (for the entire
Programme, including ERC, EIC, EIT and the institutionalised European partnerships9)) with
regard to the following countries and legal entities established in these countries, with which
6) Regulation (EU) 2021/695 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 April 2021 establishing Horizon Europe –
the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, laying down its rules for participation and dissemination, and
repealing Regulations (EU) No 1290/2013 and (EU) No 1291/2013 (OJ 12.5.2021 L 170/1).
7) Based on Horizon Europe regulation article 22(5).
8) Based on Horizon Europe regulation article 22(6).
9) Subject to the adoption of the basic acts.
2. HORIZON EUROPE ●
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association negotiations are being processed or where association is imminent (listed in the
alphabetical order):
Legal entities established in Switzerland are currently not covered by these transitional
arrangements.
This list will be updated to reflect the status of the negotiations for association.
For the Euratom Research and Training Programme, Ukraine and United Kingdom are
expected to become associated to Euratom. The transitional arrangement described above
applies to legal entities established in these countries.
Moreover, some Horizon Europe calls are particularly relevant for international cooperation,
encouraging or even requiring the participation of entities from non-associated non-EU
countries in the funded actions.
Participants from non-associated non-EU countries can take part in Horizon Europe actions —
but not always with funding.
Participants from the following low to middle income countries are automatically eligible for
funding:
• A
fghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Azerbaijan
• B
angladesh, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi
• C
abo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Comoros,
Congo (Democratic Republic), Congo (Republic), Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba
• D
jibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic
10) This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on
the Kosovo declaration of independence.
11) The UK is associating to the full Horizon Europe programme with the only exception of the EIC Fund (which is the loan/
equity instrument of the EIC).
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• Ecuador, Egypt (Arab Republic), El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia
• Fiji
• Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana
• Haiti, Honduras
• Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic), Iraq
• Jamaica, Jordan
• Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Korea (Democratic People’s Republic), Kyrgyz Republic
• Lao (People’s Democratic Republic), Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya
• M
adagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius,
Micronesia (Federated States), Mongolia, Mozambique, Myanmar
• Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria
• Pakistan, Palestine12), Papua New Guinea, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines
• Rwanda
• S
amoa, São Tomé and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia,
South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sudan,
Suriname, Syrian Arab Republic
• Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu
• Uganda, Uzbekistan
• Vanuatu, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic), Vietnam
• Yemen Republic
• Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Participants from other countries (i.e. countries that are not EU Member States, countries
associated to Horizon Europe, or countries listed above) are not automatically eligible for
funding and therefore by deafult have to participate at their own cost. These participants
should explain in the proposal how their funding will be secured.
They can however receive exceptional funding, if:
• t heir country is explicitly identified in the Horizon Europe work programme and call for
proposals as being eligible for funding
• the granting authority considers that their participation as a beneficiary is essential for
implementing the project, for example in view of their:
◦
o
utstanding competence/expertise
◦
a
ccess to particular research infrastructures
◦
a
ccess to particular geographical environments
◦
a
ccess to particular data.
12) T
his designation is not be construed as recognition of a State of Palestine and is without prejudice to the individual
positions of the Member States on this issue.
2. HORIZON EUROPE ●
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Please note that entities subject to EU restrictive measures under Article 29 of the Treaty
on the European Union (TEU) and Article 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU
(TFEU)13) and entities covered by Commission Guidelines No 2013/C 205/0514) are NOT eligible
to participate in any capacity in Horizon Europe actions (including as beneficiaries, affiliated
entities, associated partners, third parties giving in-kind contributions, subcontractors or
recipients of financial support to third parties, if any).
International organisations
International European research organisations are automatically eligible to receive
funding from Horizon Europe. International European research organisations are defined
as international organisations, the majority of whose members are EU Member States or
associated countries, and whose principal objective is to promote scientific and technological
cooperation in Europe.
For what concerns participation in Horizon Europe actions, international European research
organisations are deemed to be established in a Member State other than the ones in which
the other legal entities participating in the action are established.
• For European Research Council frontier research actions, training and mobility actions
and when provided for in the work programme, international organisations with
headquarters in a Member State or associated country are deemed to be established
in that Member State or associated country, and thus automatically eligible for funding
from Horizon Europe.
• In all other cases, international organisations are not automatically eligible for funding
from Horizon Europe, and they may exceptionally receive funding only if:
◦
they are identified in the relevant Horizon Europe work programme as being eligible
for funding or
◦
the granting authority considers that their participation is deemed essential for
implementing the action, for example in view of their:
a) outstanding competence/expertise
b) access to particular research infrastructures
c) access to particular geographical environments
d) access to particular data.
13) P
lease note that the EU Official Journal contains the official list and, in case of conflict, its content prevails over that of
the EU Sanctions Map.
14) C
ommission guidelines No 2013/C 205/05 on the eligibility of Israeli entities and their activities in the territories occupied
by Israel since June 1967 for grants, prizes and financial instruments funded by the EU from 2014 onwards (OJEU C 205 of
19.07.2013, pp. 9-11).
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9. Gender equality and inclusiveness
Horizon Europe sets gender equality as a cross-cutting principle and aims to eliminate gender
inequality and intersecting socio-economic inequalities throughout research and innovation
systems, including by addressing unconscious bias and systemic structural barriers.
The strengthened provisions for gender equality under Horizon Europe address three different
levels and include the following:
• A
new eligibility criterion to get access to Horizon Europe funding: public bodies,
research organisations and higher education establishments from Member States and
Associated Countries are required, as of calls with deadlines in 2022, to have in place a
gender equality plan (GEP). Details on this requirement are specified in the General
Annexes to the Work Programme (B—Eligibility, section ‘Gender equality plans and
gender mainstreaming’) and additional guidance is available through this webpage,
including a link to Frequently Asked Questions accessible through the Funding & Tenders
Portal.
• T
he integration of the gender dimension into research and innovation content across
the Programme is an operational objective for Horizon Europe, and becomes a requirement
by default.
• P
articular attention is being paid to ensuring gender balance, with a target of 50%
women in Horizon Europe related advisory bodies such as boards and expert groups, as
well as in evaluation panels. Gender balance among researchers involved in projects is
strongly encouraged as well, and will be taken into account as a ranking criterion for ex
aequo proposals.
• R
esearchers have the possibility to self-identify in proposals and project reporting
according to three gender categories: woman, man, or non-binary.
In addition:
• S
pecific funding will be made available for actions supporting the development of
inclusive gender equality plans in research and innovation organisations across Member
States and associated countries, under the Widening Participation and Strengthening
the European Research Area Programme Part.
• Specific funding will also be allocated to gender studies and intersectional research, in
particular under Pillar II, Cluster 2 - Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society.
• Flagship measures and activities for promoting gender equality are introduced under
Pillar III, in particular through the European Innovation Council (EIC), including a
target of 40% women-led companies invited to pitch their projects in the Accelerator
instrument, a target of 50% women among members of EIC advisory structures, a
dedicated initiative to support women-led deep-tech start-ups, and the continuation of
the EU prize for women innovators.
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035
These strenghtened provisions are also detailed on the Commission’s Gender equality in
research and innovation policy webpage, and summarised in the factsheet Gender equality:
a strengthened commitment in Horizon Europe with a special focus on the new Gender
Equality Plan (GEP) eligibility criterion.
In this Programme Guide, we focus more specifically on the integration of the gender
dimension into research and innovation (R&I) content, and refer the reader to the links
provided above and to the following webinar for further guidance on the other gender
equality aspects addressed in Horizon Europe and to be taken into account by applicants.
This new requirement to integrate the gender dimension by default in R&I content in projects
is recalled in the General Introduction to the Horizon Europe Work Programme, and in the
General Annex D on Award Criteria (for Research and innovation actions, Innovation actions
and Programme co-fund actions) and it is thus reflected in the corresponding application
forms (proposal template) for Research and Innovation Actions, Innovation Actions and
Programme Co-fund Actions under the Excellence evaluation criterion (under Methodology ).
In the proposal template, applicants are invited to describe how the gender dimension (i.e.
sex and/or gender analysis) is taken into account in the project’s R&I content. If applicants
do not consider such a gender dimension to be relevant in their specific project, they should
provide a sound justification, which will be taken into account during evaluation of the
proposal, e.g. with appropriate scientific references .
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Definitions of key related terms:
• Sex
refers to biology. Sex is determined by several biological features, according to
functions that derive from the chromosomal complement, reproductive organs, or
specific hormones or environmental factors that affect the expression of phenotypic
traits (morphology) in sexually reproducing organisms. In humans, sex refers to the
biological attributes that distinguish male, female, or intersex. In non-human animals ,
sex refers to biological attributes that distinguish male, female, or hermaphrodite. In
engineering & product design research , sex includes anatomical and physiological
characteristics that may impact the design of products, systems, and processes. Sex
differences may be relevant for many R&I projects.
• Gender
refers to sociocultural norms, identities and relations that categorise people,
structure societies and organisations, and shape behaviours, products, technologies,
environments, and knowledge. Gender attitudes and behaviours are complex and
change across time and place, as cultural norms and values change. How we speak, our
mannerisms, the things we use and our behaviours all signal who we are and establish
rules for interaction. Gender is an organising principle that structures behaviours,
attitudes, physical appearance and habits. We generally consider three related
dimensions of gender: gender norms (socio-cultural expectations of what is appropriate
for women, men or gender-diverse individuals, often relying on gender stereotypes),
gender identities (how individuals or groups perceive and present themselves in relation
to gender norms, with most commonly used categories including: woman, man, and
non-binary or gender-diverse) and gender relations (how sex and gender shape social
interactions in families, schools, workplaces and public settings, often involving power
relations). As such, gender can be an important aspect of research and design.
• Intersectionality
describes overlapping or intersecting categories such as gender,
ethnicity/racial origin, age, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation and geographic
location, that compound to determine the identities and experiences of individuals.
Researchers and innovators should not consider gender in isolation. Gender identities,
norms and relations both shape and are shaped by other social attributes.
• W
hy do we observe differences between women and men in infection levels and
mortality rates in the COVID-19 pandemic? Does it make sense to study cardiovascular
diseases only on male animals and on men, or osteoporosis only on women? And did
you know that pheromones given off by men experimenters, but not women, induce a
stress response in laboratory mice sufficient to trigger pain relief?
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• Did you know that many aspects of taxation have a substantial effect on gender-related
socioeconomic inequalities, but that when designing tax laws, policymakers still rarely
consider gender inequalities?
• D
oes it make sense to design car safety equipment only on the basis of male body
standards?
• D
id you know that almost 3/4 of women Internet users worldwide have experienced
some form of cyberviolence?
• W
hy do household travel surveys, and thus mobility analysis and transport planning,
underrate trips performed as part of caring work, which are predominantly undertaken
by women?
• Is it ethical to develop AI products that could spread gender and racial biases due to a
lack of diversity in the data used in training AI applications?
id you know that climate change is affecting sex determination in a number of marine
• D
species and that certain populations are now at risk of extinction?
Integrating sex and gender analysis into R&I content improves the scientific quality and
societal relevance of the produced knowledge, technologies and innovation. It:
• a
dds value to research and innovation in terms of excellence, creativity, rigor,
reproducibility and business opportunities
• h
elps researchers and innovators question gender norms and stereotypes, and rethink
standards and reference models
• contributes to the production of goods and services better suited to new markets
• is crucial to secure Europe’s leadership in science & technology and support inclusive
and sustainable growth.
Reflect on why sex and/or gender could matter: Think about and present the ways
in which taking into account the gender dimension will provide added value in terms
of creativity, excellence, and return on investment, both from public and private
perspectives.
Consider the production of new knowledge on gender: Consider what is already known
in your area in terms of the gender dimension (e.g. related scientific literature ) and
identify what is missing. In many areas, gender knowledge still needs to be generated.
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a great opportunity to foster cooperation between scientists with gender expertise and
others. It helps concepts cross the borders of scientific fields and encourages research
methods to evolve.
Consider social categories/factors intersecting with sex and gender: the way a
research problem is formulated will determine which intersecting variables are relevant
for analysis. Intersectional research should be designed to illuminate the multiplicative
effects of different, but interdependent, categories and factors.
Guidance and concrete examples (including those mentioned above) on how to better
integrate sex and gender based analyses into R&I content under Horizon Europe have been
developed by the Commission’s Expert Group on Gendered Innovations under the coordination
of DG R&I’s Gender Sector.
A full policy report has been prepared and is available to support applicants. Entitled
Gendered Innovations 2: How inclusive analysis contributes to research and innovation and
publicly released by the European Commission on 25 November 2020, it is available here15),
through the Europa website dedicated to gender equality policy in R&I.
The report contains: full definitions of terms; both general and field-specific methods for sex
analysis, gender analysis and intersectional approaches; fifteen case studies covering health,
climate change, energy, agriculture, urban planning, waste management, transport, artificial
intelligence (AI) and digital technologies, taxation, venture funding, as well as COVID-19;
and policy recommendations to address the global challenges, targeted impacts and key
R&I orientations of the six Horizon Europe Clusters, as well as Mission Areas, and European
partnerships.
More information and examples on how to integrate the gender dimension into R&I content in
different fields of research and innovation may be found here:
• F
actsheets:
◦
f actsheet summarising the EC policy report’s contents
◦
f actsheet on the impact of sex and gender in the COVID-19 pandemic
◦
f actsheet on gender and intersectional bias in AI
◦
f actsheet on general provisions for gender equality under Horizon Europe
• G
ENDER-NET ERA-NET’s online tool for integrating gender analysis into research (IGAR
Tool)
15) https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/news/all-research-and-innovation-news/gendered-innovations-2-2020-11-24_en
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• ERC seminar on Sex and gender dimension in frontier research (16/11/2020)
• Interview of Commissioner Mariya Gabriel on the release of the new EC policy report on
Gendered Innovations, in the Norwegian KILDEN online news magazine (25/11/2020)
• N
ature magazine editorial on the release of the new EC policy report on Gendered
Innovations and the new Horizon Europe requirements on the integration of sex and/or
gender analysis (09/12/2020)
• S
ee also: Tannenbaum, C., Ellis, R. P., Eyssel, F., Zou, J., & Schiebinger, L. (2019). Sex and
gender analysis improves science and engineering. Nature, 575(7781), 137-146.
Therefore, where relevant, the R&I chain should include contributions from SSH disciplines
such as sociology, economics, psychology, political science, history, cultural sciences or/and
the arts. See the list of SSH disciplines below .
Proposals under these topics are expected to integrate the SSH perspective (social, economic,
behavioural, institutional, historical and/or cultural dimensions etc), as appropriate. Applicants
should therefore ensure that:
• contributions from SSH disciplines are integrated throughout their proposed project, and
• t he actions required, participants and disciplines involved as well as the added value of
SSH contributions are clearly stated in the proposal.
The SSH methodologies used in the projects should be described, or if the applicant consortium
considers that SSH is not relevant to their particular proposal, they should explain why.
Where relevant, applicants are also encouraged to include contributions from the SSH in a
project proposal under any call, even if it is not SSH-flagged.
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Evaluation
When evaluating a proposal submitted to a topic that was ‘flagged’ for SSH contributions,
experts will first refer to the topic description to identify what the expected contributions are.
With this in mind, they will evaluate the contributions from SSH in the proposal, according to
the criteria.
Experts should be mindful that a successful contribution from SSH, depending on the topic,
may require collaboration among various SSH disciplines and/or between SSH and non-SSH
disciplines.
Even if proposals do not belong to a topic ‘flagged’ for SSH contributions, they may contain
contributions from the SSH disciplines, which should be evaluated with other relevant aspects
of the proposal.
Social and behavioural sciences: economics, economic history, political science, sociology,
demography, anthropology (except physical anthropology), ethnology, futurology,
psychology, geography (except physical geography), peace and conflict studies, human
rights.
Business and administration: retailing, marketing, sales, public relations, real estate,
finance, banking, insurance, investment analysis, accounting, auditing, management,
public and institutional administration.
Humanities: religion and theology, foreign languages and cultures, living or dead
languages and their literature, area studies, native languages, current or vernacular language
and its literature, interpretation and translation, linguistics, comparative literature, history,
archaeology, philosophy, ethics.
Arts: fine arts, performing arts, graphic and audio-visual arts, design, crafts.
The list is adapted from the UNESCO International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED
2011).
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11. Social Innovation
Innovations originate from many sources. They stem not only from advances in science and
technology, but also from creative uses of existing knowledge and technologies as well as
inventiveness in the non-technical and social spheres.
Social innovation concerns the development of new products, methods, and services for and
with society involving citizens, public authorities, business and industry, and academia —
the Quadruple Helix — in their design, development, and implementation. Social innovation
engages and empowers citizens, enhances the resilience of communities, increases the
relevance, acceptance and uptake of innovation, and helps foster lasting changes in social
practices, therefore acting as a system changer.
It thus helps answering societal and environmental challenges, connecting society with innovation.
In Horizon Europe, social innovation will serve the environmental, economic, digital, cultural,
sovereignty, and democratic priorities set by the von der Leyen Commission. In particular,
social innovation will support changes towards socially, environmentally, and economically
sustainable social practices. More specifically, the integration of social innovation on Horizon
Europe is relevant to address global challenges – including in areas such as health and care,
also in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the twin green and digital transitions, climate
change mitigation and adaptation or citizen engagement and deliberative democracy.
The above has been reflected by flagging specific topics and encouraging applicants to
consider social innovation as a way to meet the topic’s objectives, and by dedicating topics to
social innovation.
Reference Documents
• Bureau of European Policy Advisors, Empowering people, driving change, 2011, p. 9.
• Oslo Manual, 2018, p. 252.
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12. Ethics and integrity
For all activities funded by the EU, the ethical dimension is an integral part of research
from beginning to end, and ethical compliance is seen as pivotal to achieve real research
excellence. There is a clear need to make a thorough ethical evaluation from the conceptual
stage of the proposal not only to respect the legal framework but also to enhance the quality
of the research. Ethical research conduct implies the application of fundamental ethical
principles and legislation to scientific research in all possible domains of research. This
includes the adherence to the highest standards of research integrity as described in the
European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity.
The process to assess and address the ethical dimension of activities funded under Horizon
Europe is called the Ethics Appraisal Procedure.
Objectives
In addition to the scientific evaluation focusing on the scientific merit, the quality of the
management and the potential impact, the Ethics Appraisal ensures that all research activities
carried out under Horizon Europe are conducted in compliance with fundamental ethical
principles.
The Ethics Review Procedure focusses on the compliance with ethical rules and standards,
relevant European legislation, international conventions and declarations, national
authorisations and ethics approvals, proportionality of the research methods and the
applicants’ awareness of the ethical aspects and social impact of their planned research.
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• human rights and protection of human beings
• animal protection and welfare
• data protection and privacy
• health and safety
• environmental protection
• artificial intelligence
It may also cover issues of research integrity, including, fabrication, falsification and plagiarism
in proposing, performing, or reviewing research or in reporting research results; this includes
misrepresenting credentials and improprieties of authorship.
Ethics Screening
The Ethics Screening is carried out during the scientific evaluation or soon after. The ethics
experts are asked to flag the proposals that have serious or complex issues (on the basis of
the Guidelines on serious and complex ethics issues) that will be the subject of a more in-
depth analysis (Ethics assessment). Proposals involving the use of human Embryonic Stems
Cells (hESCs) or human Embryos (hE) automatically proceed to the second step, the Ethics
Assessment.
Further to the Ethics screening, the proposals that will be funded and are not flagged as
serious or complex must handle the ethics issues in the proposed activities in line with
National and European legislation and practice and the How to complete your ethics self-
assessment guide. The ethics summary report will list the main ethics issues identified in your
proposal. Ethics screening will not issue ethics requirements but can lead to the obligation to
nominate an external independent ethics advisor or board to assist the project in adhering to
the relevant ethical and legal standards.
Ethics Assessment
For the limited number of proposals flagged as serious or complex and for all the proposals
involving the use of hESCs or hE, the Ethics Screening is followed by an Ethics Assessment
prior to the signature of the grant agreement.
The Ethics Assessment is an in-depth analysis of the ethical issues of the proposals, taking
into account the analysis made during the Ethics screening. The Ethics Assessment can lead
to ethics requirements that are inserted as obligations in the grant agreement.
If the proposal undergoes an Ethics Assessment, you will receive an ethics summary report
with an ethics opinion on your proposal. The possible outcomes of the ethics assessment are:
1. Ethics clearance
The ethics issues are appropriately addressed. The ethics section in the proposal can
be transferred mostly unchanged to the ethics section in Part B of the description of the
action (DoA).
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2. Conditional ethics clearance
In this case clearance is subject to conditions. Your ethics summary report will list one
or more ‘ethics requirements’. These may include:
Ethics requirements must be implemented during grant preparation or during the grant
implementation.
• Ethics requirements due before grant signature normally require that you update
the ethics section in the narrative part (Part B) of the DoA (Annex 1). However,
other parts of Annex 1 may also be affected. Exceptionally, additional supporting
documents may be required before the grant agreement can be signed.
• Ethics requirements due after project start are automatically included in the grant
agreement in the form of ‘ethics deliverables’.
• update the DoA whenever appropriate to address the ethics requirements and
describe how they are to be met in the course of the project
• take into account any recommendations set out in the ethics summary report.
4. No ethics clearance
After the second ethics assessment, if your proposal is not given ethics clearance, it is
not eligible for funding and will be rejected.
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Ethics requirements and ethics work package
Ethics deliverables: All ethics requirements due after project start are automatically included
in the grant agreement in the form of deliverables. These deliverables are known as ‘ethics
deliverables’ and will be placed in an automatically generated work package called ‘ethics
requirements’.
Work package ‘ethics requirements’ - if applicable - is added to your grant agreement as soon
as the ethics assessment has been completed. At this point in time it will appear as the last
work package in the list of work packages (WP). During grant preparation you can move this
WP to any other position in the list by drag & drop. It is recommended to keep the ‘ethics
requirements’ WP at the end of the list where it will not affect the numbering of the other
work packages.
The objective of the procedure is to assist the beneficiaries to deal with the ethics issues
raised by their research and if necessary to take preventive or/and corrective measures. The
Ethics check is an internal check by the project officer or ethics officer who may be supported
by ethics experts and the Ethics Review is an elaborate review and in-depth procedure
carried out by up to 5 external ethics experts. They are both conducted on the basis of the
information provided by the concerned beneficiaries, who may be invited to a meeting in
Brussels to discuss the issues at stake. Onsite visits can also be organised during the Ethics
Reviews.
In case of substantial breach of ethical principles, research integrity or relevant legislation, the
Commission can carry out an Ethics Audit following the provisions and procedures laid down
in the grant agreement.
The checks, post-grant reviews and audits can result in an amendment of the grant
agreement. In severe cases, it can lead, upon the decision of the Commission services to a
reduction of the grant, its termination or any other appropriate measures, in accordance with
the provisions of the grant agreement.
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Summary of the Ethics appraisal steps
Activity Who? When? How?
Consideration of
Ethics Self-
Applicant Application phase ethical issues of the
assessment
proposal
Ethics experts
(and/or qualified
Review of application
Ethics Screening staff in case a Evaluation phase
material
pre-screening is
conducted)
Ethics Assessment
(for proposals Evaluation/
Review of application
involving hESC/hE or Ethics experts Grant preparation
material
flagged as serious or phase
complex)
Review of project
Project Officer deliverables/
Ethics Implementation
and/or Ethics officer interview with
check/review/audit phase
and/or Ethics experts applicants/onsite
visit
For assistance please contact us at the Ethics Review Helpdesk (select subject 13. Ethics in the
enquiry form).
Reference documents
Rules & codes of conduct
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General guidance
Domain-specific guidance
• SIENNA Ethical guidance for research with a potential for human enhancement
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13. Security
Activities carried out under the programme must comply with the applicable security
rules and in particular, rules on the protection of classified information against
unauthorised disclosure, including compliance with any relevant Union and national law.
Where appropriate, the actions carried out under the Horizon Europe Programme must
comply with Commission Decision (EU, Euratom) 2015/444, and its implementing rules.
The Horizon Europe Model Grant Agreement includes specific security related obligations
(Article 13 and Annex 5). The Horizon Europe Programme Security Instruction (PSI) has
to be followed in case a proposal selected for funding will lead to a project that involves
classified information.
The process to assess and address the security dimension of activities funded under Horizon
Europe is called the Security Appraisal Procedure.
Security Self-assessment
When preparing a proposal to be submitted under any of the Horizon Europe calls, the
applicant is required to conduct a Security Self-assessment starting with the completion of a
Security Issues Table. In case the proposal is submitted under a call or topic, which is a priori
flagged by the Commission as security sensitive, the applicant is also required to complete
a Security Section. Further information and guidance can be found in the How to handle
security-sensitive projects guide.
Security Review
Only proposals above threshold and considered for funding will undergo a Security Review
carried out by granting authority and Commission qualified staff, as well as by national
security experts.
The Security Review includes three steps: the Security Pre-screening performed by the
granting authority, the Security Screening performed by the Commission and the Security
Scrutiny conducted by national security experts. The Security Review is organised based on
whether the call or topic, under which a proposal is submitted, is security sensitive or not and
it can lead to security requirements that become contractual obligations.
The Security Review Procedure focusses on the compliance with security rules and in
particular, on the protection of sensitive and classified information against unauthorised
disclosure. The objective of the Security Review is to identify and address security issues that
could emerge from the research by adopting appropriate mitigation measures.
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Security Pre-screening
The first phase of the Security Review Procedure, the Security Pre-Screening, is carried out by
qualified staff of the granting authority, during the scientific evaluation or soon after, in the
following cases:
• If the proposal has been submitted under a call or topic not flagged as security sensitive
and the applicant has replied positively to at least one of the questions in the Security
Issues table.
• If the proposal has been submitted under a call or topic not flagged as security sensitive
and the applicant has replied negatively to all the questions in the Security Issues table,
but the granting authority has, nevertheless, detected security issues.
Security Screening
The Security Screening is performed by qualified staff of the Commission. All the proposals
that have gone through the Security Pre-screening will be automatically sent to the second
phase of the Security Review. During this phase, the Commission (DG HOME) will assess
the results of the pre-screening and decide whether the launch of the third phase of the
procedure, the Security Scrutiny, is needed.
Security Scrutiny
The Security Scrutiny is the last phase of the Security Review and it is conducted by
the Security Scrutiny Group, comprised of national security experts appointed in close
cooperation with the relevant Programme Committee and the competent National Security
Authorities. It is chaired by the Commission. The Security Scrutiny will be carried out prior to
the signature of the grant agreement in the following cases:
• Automatically, if the proposal has been submitted under a call or topic flagged as
security sensitive.
• In other cases, if the Security Screening has concluded that the proposal is very likely to
raise security issues for which mitigation measures should be proposed.
The objective of the Security Scrutiny is to identify security concerns in a certain proposal,
assess if sensitive or classified information will be used or produced by a certain project, verify
whether the security issues have been properly addressed by the applicant and propose
recommendations in order to properly address the identified security issues. The purpose of
the Security Scrutiny is to address potential misuse of project results (e.g. results that could be
channelled into crime or terrorism or results that could adversely affect critical infrastructure).
For additional information, see the Guidance note on potential misuse of research . The
information is classified according to the Guidelines on the classification of information in
Horizon Europe projects .
The Security Scrutiny may result in security requirements that, in principle, will have to
be fulfilled by the beneficiaries before the signature of the Grant Agreement. The security
requirements may include limiting the dissemination level of certain deliverables for security
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reasons, classifying certain deliverables or other security recommendations. Other security
recommendations may include appointing a Project Security Officer, establishing a Security
Advisory Board, ensuring that personnel has followed security trainings, limiting the level of
detail, using a fake scenario, excluding the use of classified information, adjusting the scope
of a certain work package etc.
As the result of the Security Scrutiny a security summary report will be produced. It
will contain the security opinion and security recommendations. It will be provided to
the applicants at the stage of the grant preparation in order to implement the security
requirements.
a) No security concern
No security issues were identified in the proposal. No need for the Grant Agreement to
include a security section.
The security requirements must be implemented during grant preparation and before
grant signature. You will be required to update the security section in the narrative
part (Part B) of the DoA (Annex 1). In certain exceptional cases, security requirements
will be implemented during the grant implementation, e.g. issue of Personnel Security
Clearance .
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If this happens, your report will contain the following information:
Security Checks
Where appropriate, the Commission or the relevant funding body may carry out security
checks.
Reference documents
Rules
• Commission Decision 444/2015 on the security rules for protecting EU classified information
Guidance
Dissemination means the public disclosure of the results by appropriate means (other than
resulting from protecting or exploiting the results), including by scientific publications in any
medium.
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Exploitation means the use of results in further research and innovation activities other than
those covered by the action concerned, including inter alia, commercial exploitation such
as developing, creating, manufacturing and marketing a product or process, creating and
providing a service, or in standardisation activities.
Experience shows it is not always easy to meet these goals. As an applicant, it is useful to
keep in mind the following:
• At the stage of forming the consortium, before submitting your proposal, attention
should already be paid to eventual and expected results, ownership issues and the
associated intellectual property rights (IPR) with a view to disseminating and exploiting
the results efficiently.
The consortium agreement sets the framework for successful project implementation
and results exploitation including intellectual property management, and is meant to
settle where already possible all issues that might hamper the smooth and seamless
cooperation of the different actors for the different parts of the project.
Having a consortium agreement with clear IPR management and ownership rights
between the consortium members can maximise the exploitation potential of the
project’s results.
The consortium agreement should in principle be negotiated and concluded before
signing the grant agreement, and should complement the grant agreement but must
not contain any provision contrary to it.
The consortium agreement is a private agreement between the beneficiaries setting out
the rights and obligations amongst themselves, and does not involve the Commission/
Agency.
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In order to give you an idea of how these recommendations could be described in your
proposal, we have devised an example of a project involved in water treatment:
5) Explain what the outcome is (do not confuse it with the expected impact to be addressed
in the canvas of the application)
Example of the outcome: We would like to create a filtering membrane to treat tap
water. At the end of the project, the technology should be used by 10 water treatment
plants.
The expected impact will be: For companies and water treatment plants, our technology
is expected to reduce the costs in the long run (after the initial investment) and the use
of chemical product to treat the water. We plan on testing the technology in X region(s)
of the EU and this environmental friendly technology should encourage help reducing
the use of plastic bottles by consumers who would then drink tap water.
7) Describe some dissemination measures and channels to reach out to your target audience
Example of dissemination measures:
Organising visits for potential investors and/or B2B to the demo plant
Participation in events such as trade fair dissemination to increase awareness of
our project amongst target user base, including international conferences on water
management & environment
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8) Describe some exploitation measures
• Realize a Demo plant to show the UVP (Unique Value Proposition) of the novel solution
• Establish contacts with industry (B2B) e.g. scan main players in the water treatment and
gather information about the dynamics of each of the target markets
• Reach out to end-users (regional water authorities, consumers) identified during the
dissemination activities to redefine/improve features of the product
• Organise testbeds with end users (public authorities, companies in water treatment,
citizens)
9) How your results can feed back to policy making and how it contributes to EU priorities
Example:
Water treatment would contribute to higher quality of tap water at a lesser cost with a
better taste and the guarantee of a safer product (free of viruses), thereby encouraging
citizens to drink tap water instead of bottled water, and reducing the impact on the
environment, thereby contributing to the green deal. We will reach out to the local
authorities to raise their awareness and get their support. We will implement a mapping
of stakeholders at the local governmental level. For that we can rely on indicators as
level of interest in water management but also Go-to-market service from Horizon
Results Booster. We will create a white paper to be distributed to regional water
authorities from the region of A and B (where we intend to run the tests)
3. Say how you expect the results of your project to be exploited/further developed and
give the main advantages of the new solution(s) you expect to emerge.
The results could be for example: a manual, test, model, new therapy, better product or
process, or improved understanding of mechanisms and advantages for reduced material or
energy usage, improved safety, or better-trained staff.
Explain how you expect results like these to be exploited. This could also depend on progress
elsewhere in an innovation chain, in related projects or in adjacent fields - so outline these
dependencies and any progress to be made in these areas.
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4. Link your proposal to the policy context of the call for proposals.
Think of how your project’s results will contribute to the outcomes specified in the calls and
topics and how they are linked with the wider impact, in the longer term, specified in the
respective destinations in the work programe. Consider the following questions:
Open science practices are addressed and evaluated under ‘excellence’ as they are considered
a part of the methodology. However, open access in particular also results in the broad
dissemination of knowledge and is relevant in the context of dissemination.
Please consult the relevant sections under ‘open science’ for guidance on all of the above and
the Annotated Grant Agreement for further guidance regarding the requirements.
6. S
how you understand the barriers to any exploitation of your results. How will you
tackle them? Possible obstacles may include:
• inadequate financing
• skills shortages
• other R&I work within and beyond Horizon Europe
• regulation that hinders innovation16)
• intellectual property right issues
• traditional value chains that are less keen to innovate
• incompatibility between parts of systems (lack of standards)
• mismatch between market needs and the solution
• user behaviour
16) See Innovation Principle, a tool to ensure that EU policies and legislation support innovation
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Your proposal should show you understand these impediments and how you will tackle
them. You may involve in your projct experts in economics, business, marketing and public
administration that could help to overcome barriers.
7. T
hink ahead. Once your research and innovation is complete, will you need to take
further steps to apply it in actual practice?
Examples of further steps: standards to be agreed on, financing the testing and prototyping,
scaling up or production, promoting acceptance by consumers or other partners in a value
chain. Policymakers may also establish follow-up steps to integrate the results into policies.
You could also consider support schemes for follow-up steps, e.g. national programmes,
EIC, InnovFin and Invest EU schemes Regional Funds, Enterprise Europe Network (EEN),
European IPR Helpdesk, European exploitation support schemes (more on ESIC in the Work
Programme), Horizon Results Platform, or Horizon Results Booster services .
Communication activities must already be part of the proposal and be described in the
draft Dissemination and exploitation plan including communication activities which is an
admissibility criterion.
A good communication plan should define clear objectives (adapted to various relevant target
audiences) and set out a description and timing for each activity.
With your communication activities you should draw the attention of general and specialised
audiences to the EU policy area addressed by the call.
Good communication
• Starts at the outset of the action and continues throughout its entire lifetime.
• Identifies and sets clear communication objectives (e.g. have final and intermediate
communication aims been specified? What impact is intended? What reaction or change
is expected from the target audience? ).
• Is targeted and adapted to audiences that go beyond the project’s own community,
including the media and the public.
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• Chooses relevant messages (e.g. how does the action’s work relate to our everyday lives?
Why does the target audience need to know about the action? ).
• Uses the right medium and means (e.g. working at the right level — local, regional,
national, EU-wide; using the right ways to communicate — one-way exchange (website,
press release, brochure, etc) or two-way exchange (exhibition, school visit, internet
debate, et.); where relevant, include measures for public/societal engagement on issues
related to the action ).
Particularly in the case of projects aimed at economic and societal exploitation, the strategy
for IP management must be commensurate with the desired outcomes and impacts. Hence, a
weakness or failure to submit such a strategy would also need to be reflected in the proposal
evaluation (scoring) with view to the ‘credibility’ of the envisaged impact pathways.
Results ownership
What is the ownership of results?
The owner of results is the natural or legal entity that has generated the results.
Results are defined as any tangible or intangible effect of the action, such as data, know-how
or information, whatever its form or nature, whether or not it can be protected, as well as any
rights attached to it, including intellectual property rights.
The lack of clarity on the ownership of results can be one of the main obstacles for
exploitation and commercialisation, especially for SMEs. Clarity of results ownership is a
critical factor for attracting investors. Beneficiaries should also clarify their freedom to operate
without infringing on intellectual property owned by third parties that might require specific
action (e.g. licencing ) to fully exploit the own intellectual property.
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More practically speaking, it is important that potential future consortium members decide
on the ownership of results when drafting the proposal to simplify their lives as beneficiaries.
Indeed, beneficiaries must indicate the owner(s) of the results in the final periodic report
of the Horizon Europe project in the so called Results Ownership List. If the ownership of
results has not been carefully thought through at the proposal phase, beneficiaries may face
difficulties in filling in the Results Ownership List at the reporting stage. Knowing that failure
to fill in the Results Ownership List will block the submission of the final periodic report and
hence the payment, dedicating sufficient time on the allocation of the ownership of results at
the proposal phase will avoid hurdles at the end of the project.
Standardisation
What is standardisation?
A standard is a document that sets the technical requirements of a product, service or process
and its use. Standards are adopted by recognised standardisation bodies (such as ISO, CEN,
CENELEC, ETSI, and many more). In these organisations, representatives from industry,
research, governments and civil society, discuss and agree on what should be a standard.
Once a standard is published, its use is normally voluntary but in some cases certain specific
standards can be made mandatory by law.
In other words, standards form a common language that allows researchers, people, public
institutions and industry to communicate, produce and commercialise products and services
in a harmonised manner. This is especially important in the European single market.
Standards play an important role in the valorisation of research & innovation results:
They help researchers bring their innovation to the market and spread technological advances
by making their results transparent. In spreading the diffusion of new technologies, standards
provide both economic opportunities, facilitate realisation of SDGs and give confidence to
consumers that an innovative technology is safe.
They codify the technology requirements and inform both manufacturers and consumers on
what to expect.
They allow technologies and materials to be interoperable: since a standard provides details
on the use and content of a technology or a material, it is much easier to know when and
how it can be used in combination with other technologies.
In other words, by codifying information on the state of the art of a particular technology,
standards enable dissemination of knowledge (both within and outside the relevant industry
community). Moreover, standards bridge the gap between research and products or services
allowing the diffusion of the technology in the market and increasing the probabilities of
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its take-up. Standardisation facilitates the deployment of new technologies, interoperability
between new products and services. Innovations can more easily gain market acceptance and
consumer trust if they comply with existing standards for safety, quality, performance and
sustainability.
If the project is relevant for standardisation it is advised for applicants to involve standard
development organisations in the consortium in order to facilitate the valorisation of project
results through standardisation.
3. An economic activity is considered to do significant harm to the sustainable use and
protection of water and marine resources if it is detrimental to the good status or the
good ecological potential of bodies of water, including surface water and groundwater,
or to the good environmental status of marine waters;
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5. An economic activity is considered to do significant harm to pollution prevention and control
if it leads to a significant increase in emissions of pollutants into air, water or land;
References on the DNSH principle are included in the General Introduction of the Work
Programme 2021-2022 of Horizon Europe Pillar II and in Cluster 4 (Digital, Industry and Space),
Cluster 5 (Climate, Energy and Mobility), and Cluster 6 (Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources,
Agriculture and Environment) because of their particular relevance for environmental
outcomes and impacts.
At programming stage, the Horizon Europe work programme has been co-created to support
research and innovation activities that respect climate and environmental priorities of the
Union and cause no significant harm to them.
At project level, the reference to the DNSH principle in the Horizon Europe Work Programme is
included in the application form (proposal part B template) to offer researchers the possibility
to present the credential of their projects in relation to the DNSH principle. Applicants can
refer to the DNSH principle when presenting their research methodology and the expected
impacts of the project, to show that their project will not carry out activities that make a
significant harm to any of the six environmental objectives of the EU Taxonomy Regulation
listed above.
However, evaluators will not score applications in relation to their compliance with the DNSH
principle unless explicitly stated in the work programme (currently, this is the case only for
actions in the European Innovation Council Work Programme 2021).
Horizon Europe moves beyond open access to open science for which it features a
comprehensive policy implemented from the proposal stage to project reporting. The Horizon
Europe Regulation sets the legal basis for the open science obligations and incentives that
apply to Horizon Europe beneficiaries. The Annotated Grant Agreement provides guidance on
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how to comply with the open science obligations required in the Model Grant Agreement. The
present guide complements the information provided in the Annotated Grant Agreement,
with a particular focus on the preparation of proposals.
In Horizon Europe, open science practices are considered in the evaluation of proposals,
under ‘excellence’ and under the ‘quality and efficiency of implementation’.20) There are
mandatory open science practices, which are required for all projects through the Model
Grant Agreement and/or through the work programme or call conditions, and recommended
practices (all open science practices that are not mandatory). Recommended open science
practices are incentivised through their the evaluation at the proposal stage. Proposers should
be aware of both mandatory and recommended practices and integrate them into their
proposals.
Open science practices include early and open sharing of research (for example through
preregistration, registered reports, pre-prints, or crowd-sourcing); research output21)
management; measures to ensure reproducibility of research outputs; providing open access
to research outputs (such as publications, data, software, models, algorithms, and workflows);
participation in open peer-review; and involving all relevant knowledge actors including
citizens, civil society and end users in the co-creation of R&I agendas and contents (such as
citizen science).
These practices are explained and relevant resources provided in a separate section further
below (open science practices and resources).
20) T
his does not apply to the ERC programme that does not include open science in the evaluation. It also does not include
EIC transition calls for the WP 2021-2022 where open science practices are exceptionally evaluated under ‘impact’.
21) T
hese are results generated by the action to which online access can be given in the form of scientific publications, data
or other engineered outcomes and processes such as software, algorithms, protocols and electronic notebooks.
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in cases of public emergency, if requested by the granting authority, immediate open
access to all research outputs under open licenses or, if exceptions apply, access under
fair and reasonable conditions to legal entities that need the research outputs to
address the public emergency22).
These obligations are described in the Model Grant Agreement (Article 17) and detailed
guidelines on complying with them are provided in the Annotated Grant Agreement (Article 17).
• Some open science practices are mandatory per specific work programmes or call
conditions, which may provide for additional obligations to adhere to open science
practices.
Proposers will have to provide concrete information on how they plan to comply with the
mandatory open science practices. Failure to sufficiently address this, will result in a lower
evaluation score.
A clear explanation of how they will adopt recommended practices, as appropriate for their
projects, will result in a higher evaluation score.
If proposers believe that none of the open science practices (mandatory or recommended)
apply to their project, then they have to provide a justification.
Under the ‘excellence’ part of their proposals, in the section on methodology, proposers
should describe how open science practices (mandatory and recommended, as appropriate)
are implemented as an integral part of the methodology and show how their implementation
22) The additional provision on access in cases of public emergency does not apply to the ERC.
23) T
he information in this section does not apply to the ERC programme, which does not include open science in the
evaluation.
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is adapted to the nature of their work, therefore increasing the chances of the project
delivering on its objectives. Information relevant to the specific area of the proposal should
be provided in no more than one page. If open science practices are not applicable to the
proposal, justifications should be provided sp that, if evaluators agree, open science will not
be taken into consideration in the evaluation. Additionally, proposers generating or reusing
data should outline in a maximum of one (additional) page their plans for data management.
Under ‘capacity of participants and consortium as a whole’, proposers should describe how
the consortium brings together the necessary disciplinary and inter-disciplinary knowledge.
Proposers should show how this includes expertise and/or track record in open science
practices, relevant to what is planned for the project. If justification has been provided that
open science practices are not relevant for their projects, it is not necessary to demonstrate
track record and expertise.
Finally, in part A of their proposals, proposers are asked to list up to five relevant publications,
widely used datasets or other achievements of consortium members that they consider
significant for the action proposed. Open access is expected for publications, in particular
journal articles, while datasets are expected to be FAIR and ‘as open as possible, as closed as
necessary’. If publications are not open access, proposers are strongly encouraged to deposit
them retroactively in repositories and provide open access to them when possible. The
significance of publications will not be evaluated on the basis of the Journal Impact Factor of
the venue they are published in, but on the basis of a qualitative assessment provided by the
proposers for each publication.
Early and open sharing: Provide specific information on whether and how you will implement
early and open sharing and for which part of your expected output. For example, you may
mention what type of early and open sharing is appropriate for your discipline and project,
such as preprints or preregistration/registration reports, and which platforms you plan to use.
Research data management (RDM): RDM is mandatory in Horizon Europe for projects
generating or reusing data. If you expect to generate or reuse data and/or other research
outputs (except for publications), you are required to outline in a maximum of one
page how these will be managed. Further details on this are provided in the proposal
template in the relevant section on open science. A full data management plan (DMP) is
not required at submission stage. For those work programmes that require the use of the
European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) federated repositories, proposers should explicitly
discuss the use of such repositories in their proposals. By exception, in cases of a public
24) T
he information in this section does not apply to the ERC programme, which does not include open science in the
evaluation.
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emergency and if the work programme requires so, you should submit a full DMP already
with submission of proposals or at the latest by the signature of the grant agreement. A
template for a DMP is provided under the reporting templates in the reference documents
of the Funding and Tenders portal of the European Commission.
Reproducibility of research outputs: you should outline the measures planned in the project
that tend to increase reproducibility. Such measures may already be interweaved in other
parts of the methodology of a proposal (such as transparent research design, the robustness
of statistical analyses, addressing negative results, etc) or in mandatory/non-mandatory open
science practices (e.g. the DMP, early sharing through preregistration and preprints, open
access to software, workflows, tools, etc ) to be implemented. More detailed suggestions on
good practices for enhancing reproducibility and resources in the relevant section below.
Horizon Europe requires information via the repository where publications and data have
been deposited on any research output or any other tools and instruments - data, software,
algorithms, protocols, models, workflows, electronic notebooks and others - needed for the re-
use or validation of the conclusions of scientific publications and the validation and reuse of
research data. Further, beneficiaries must provide digital or physical access to data or other
results needed for the validation of the conclusions of scientific publications, to the extent that
their legitimate interests or constraints are safeguarded25). More details on these requirements
for reproducibility and guidance on how to meet them are provided in the AGA (article 17).
Open access: Offer specific information on how you will meet the open access requirements,
that is deposition and immediate open access to publications and open access to data
(the latter with some exceptions and within the deadlines set in the DMP) through a trusted
repository, and under open licenses. You may elaborate on the (subscription-based or open
access) publishing venues that you will use. You may also elaborate on the trusted repository/
repositories through which open access to publications and research data will be provided
(article 17). Open access to research data and other research outputs should be addressed in
the section on research data management of your proposal. Research data should be open
as a default, unless there are legitimate reasons for keeping them closed. On open access to
data and the legitimate reasons for restricting access, consult the AGA (article 17).
As a general rule, open access to other research outputs such as software, models, algorithms,
workflows, protocols, simulations, electronic notebooks and others is not required but
strongly recommended. Access to ‘physical’ results like cell lines, biospecimens, compounds,
materials, etc. is also strongly encouraged.
Open peer review: Anytime it is possible, you are invited to prefer open peer review for
your publications over traditional (‘blind’ or ‘closed’) peer review. When the case, you should
provide specific information regarding the publishing venues you envisage to make use of,
and highlight the venues that would qualify as providing open peer review.
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Citizen, civil society and end-user engagement: Provide clear and succinct information on
how citizen, civil society and end-user engagement will be implemented in your project,
where/if appropriate. The kinds of engagement activities will depend on the type of R&I
activity envisaged and on the disciplines and sectors implicated.
This may include: co-design activities (such as workshops, focus groups or other means
to develop R&I agendas, roadmaps and policies) often including deep discussion on the
implications, the ethics, the benefits and the challenges related to R&I courses of action or
technology development; co-creation activities (involving citizens and/or end-users directly
in the development of new knowledge or innovation, for instance through citizen science
and user-led innovation); and co-assessment activities (such as assisting in the monitoring,
evaluation and feedback to governance of a project, projects, policies or programmes on an
iterative or even continual basis).
The extent of engagement in the proposal could range from one-off activities alongside
other methodological approaches to being the primary focus or methodological approach
of the project itself. Engagement will require resources and expertise and is therefore often
conducted by dedicated interlocutor organisations or staff with relevant expertise. More
detailed information on these activities and useful resources developed over the course of
Horizon 2020 can be found in the relevant section below.
Preregistration of the research plan in a public repository makes available the research
hypothesis, study design and planned analysis before data is collected. Preregistration is
assisted by dedicated platforms; it increases the transparency, credibility and reproducibility
of the results and helps addressing publication bias toward positive findings.
Registered reports are research articles that are peer-reviewed and published in two stages.
The study design and analysis plan including hypothesis and methodology undergo peer-
review of the quality and suitability of the research question and protocol. If accepted,
research protocols are preregistered (see preregistration ) and the final research article is
provisionally accepted for publication. After the research is conducted, an article containing
the results and discussion as well as any changes is submitted and undergoes a second
round of peer-reviewing. Registered reports reduce publishing bias for positive results as the
acceptance for publication is based on the quality of the research, regardless of the outcome.
Preprints are scientific manuscripts that are publicly shared prior to peer-review and journal
publication via preprint platforms. An increasing number of journals accepts sharing of
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preprints prior to publication, but there are exceptions. Beneficiaries have to check the policy
of their target journal to clear that a preprint will not pre-empt its publication.
Resources
ORION open science factsheets on preregistration, preprints and crowd science: https://www.
orion-openscience.eu/public/2019-02/201810-VA-Orion-FactSheets-V5.pdf
The Centre for open science offers a wealth of resources on Registered Reports, including a
list of journals that support them: https://www.cos.io/initiatives/registered-reports
Sherpa Romeo can be used to check the journal submission policy and if the posting of a
preprint is considered as prior publication: https://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo
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data management should be in line with the FAIR principles26), to ensure that researchers can
find, access and re-use each other’s data, maximising the effectiveness and reproducibility of
the research undertaken.
RDM, in line with the FAIR principles is a requirement that should be carried out regardless of
whether the data generated and re-used in the project is intended to be openly accessible,
or if access restrictions are foreseen. FAIR data is not equivalent to open data (publicly
available to everyone to access and reuse). Data can, and should be FAIR even when access is
restricted.
RDM and the FAIR principles can be applied to research outputs other than data (i.e. workflows,
protocols, software, samples, etc ). Proposers are recommended to consider robust management
practices for data and other research outputs as early as the proposal stage of their project.
Below are important elements and resources for RDM useful already at proposal stage.
Persistent identifiers (PIDs) are key in ensuring the findability of research outputs, including
data. They are globally unique and long-lasting references to digital objects (such as data,
publications and other research outputs ) or non-digital objects such as researchers, research
institutions, grants, etc. Frequently used persistent identifiers include digital object identifiers
(DOIs), Handles, and others. For further reading on PID types, please refer to https://www.
dpconline.org/handbook/technical-solutions-and-tools/persistent-identifiers.
To enhance the findability of research outputs, and their potential reuse, standardised
metadata frameworks are essential, ensuring that data and other research outputs are
accompanied by rich metadata that provides them with context.
To enhance the re-usability of research data, they must be licenced. For more information on
the licences required for data under Horizon Europe, please refer to the AGA (article 17).
Trusted repositories assume a central role in the Horizon Europe for the deposition of and
access to publications and research data. For a definition of trusted repositories in Horizon
Europe please refer to the AGA (article 17). Proposers, with the help of data and research
support staff (e.g. data stewards, data librarians, etc ), should check whether the repositories
that they plan to deposit their data have the features of trusted repositories, and justify this
accordingly in their Data Management Plans.
Data management plans (DMPs) are a cornerstone for responsible management of research
outputs, notably data and are mandatory in Horizon Europe for projects generating and/or
reusing data (on requirements and the frequency of DMPs as deliverables consult the AGA
article 17). A template for a DMP is provided under the reporting templates in the reference
documents of the Funding and Tenders portal of the European Commission. Its use is
26) F
AIR data are data that are curated to satisfy the principles of findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability. For
further reading: https://www.go-fair.org/fair-principles
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recommended but not mandatory. DMPs are formal documents that outline from the start
of the project all aspects of the research data lifecycle, which includes its organisation and
curation, and adequate provisions for its access, preservation, sharing, and eventual deletion,
both during and after a project. Writing a DMP is part of the methodology of the project,
since good data management makes the work more efficient, saves time, contributes to
safeguarding information and to increasing the value of the data among the beneficiaries
themselves and others, during and after the research. DMPs are thus a key means of support
when planning and conducting a research project, and, ideally, filling in a DMP should be
started prior to the beginning of the project.
DMPs play a key role in helping researchers to adequately manage research outputs other
than data and publications, also in line with the FAIR principles. Such research outputs may
be physical or digital, and include original software created during the project, workflows,
protocols, new materials such as samples, cell-lines, antibodies, among many others. DMPs
should reflect an adequate management strategy for such outputs as well.
A DMP should be a living document, which is updated and enriched as the project evolves.
Such updates might occur after attaining milestones related e.g. to the generation of new
data or to reflect changes related to the original planning, changes in data/output access
provisions or curation policies, changes in consortium practices (e.g. new innovation potential,
decision to file for a patent ), changes in consortium composition, etc.
As practices with regard to data management, storage, and sharing differ widely across
disciplines, the DMPs should reflect common disciplinary practices. In addition to domain
specificities, DMPs across the board should address an overarching set of data-related
requirements including those aspects related to making the data FAIR. Common aspects that
need to be addressed in all DMPs include27):
• Data set description: a sufficiently detailed description of the data generated or re-used,
including the scientific focus and technical approach to allow association of their data
sets with specific research as well as information on data types and an estimate of the
data set’s size.
• Standards and metadata: the protocols and standards used to structure the data (i.e.
fully reference the metadata) so that other scientists can make an assessment and
reproduce the dataset. If available, a reference to the community data standards with
27) T
hese aspects are broadly in line with the requirements set forth in Science Europe’s Practical Guide to the International
Alignment of Research Data Management: https://www.scienceeurope.org/media/4brkxxe5/se_rdm_practical_guide_
extended_final.pdf
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which their data conform and that make them interoperable with other data sets of
similar type.
• Name and persistent identifier for the data-sets: a unique and persistent identification
(an identifier) of the data sets and a stable resolvable link to where the data sets can
be directly accessed. Submission to a public repository normally provides this; many
institutional repositories provide similar services.
• C
uration and preservation methodology: information on the standards that will be
used to ensure the integrity of the data sets and the period during which they will be
maintained, as well as how they will be preserved and kept accessible in the longer term.
A reference to the public data repository in which the data will be/is deposited with
relevant consideration on whether the chosen repository meets the requirements of a
trusted repository.
• Data sharing methodology: information on how the data sets can be accessed,
including the terms-of-use or the license under which they can be accessed and re-
used, and information on any restrictions that may apply or relevant security and privacy
considerations. It is also important to specify and justify the timing of data sharing. On
open access to research data see below relevant section on open access .
• Output management, for research outputs other than data and publications: The
section on output management should show efforts to manage outputs in line with
the FAIR principles, including a detailed description of the output, consider relevant
metadata standards and the provision of PIDs when depositing the output, or its digital
representation if it is physical. The plan should further detail the deposition, curation
and preservation methodology foreseen, identifying the right home for the output, and it
should set out an approach likely to maximise the re-use and adoption of the output by
the wider research community. If the output is physical, the plan should indicate how it
would be made available to potential users.
• Costs and personnel related to RDM: An estimation of costs related to RDM such as
costs for data collection, data documentation, data storage, data access and security,
data preservation, data availability and reuse as well as the person/team responsible for
data management and quality assurance processes.
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research and innovation data space foreseen in the European Strategy for Data.
Certain work programmes may require the use of trusted repositories that are federated in
EOSC for depositing research data. In that case, data must be deposited in repositories which
are registered to the EOSC and support (implicitly or explicitly) the FAIR principles. An initial
offering of EOSC resources and services can be found from the EOSC Portal. This offering is
expected to continue growing in function of the EOSC rules of participation.
Resources
Metadata standards and Research Data Management guidelines
• The FAIRsharing portal with information and resources on data standards, databases,
and policies in the life sciences and other scientific disciplines.
• DM guidelines and good practices for the Life Sciences, the Social Sciences and the
Humanities provided by relevant research infrastructures, ELIXIR, CESSDA and DARIAH,
respectively along with relevant data resources and repositories/databases.
• For more information on disciplinary metadata standards, visit Digital Curation Centre
and Research Data Alliance Metadata Standards Directory.
DMP
• A template for the Horizon Europe DMP is provided A template for a DMP is provided
under the reporting templates in the reference documents of the Funding and Tenders
portal of the European Commission.
• The RDA FAIR Data Maturity Model Working Group delivers a detailed annotated list of
indicators to address when increasing the FAIRness of data.
• For developing DMPs: The DMPONLINE tool (supports the development of project DMPs);
ARGOS (online tool); the Data Stewardship Wizard, a joint ELIXIR CZ and ELIXIR NL tool,
helps researchers understand what is needed for FAIR-oriented data stewardship, and
build their own Data Management Plans.
• The Science Europe Practical Guide to the International Alignment of Research Data
Management contains detailed guidance for drafting and evaluating DMPs.
Repositories
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increase the trust of citizens in science. Therefore, reproducibility is integral part of ‘Excellence’;
we expect the results of Horizon Europe to be reproducible, and planning should start at
proposal stage to make results reusable and reproducible.
Below is a list of practices which tend to increase reproducibility. Some of them may already
be required by the MGA (for example DMP, FAIR) or by specific calls and proposers may
interweave such practices in various parts of the methodology section as appropriate:
• Specify with precision and no ambiguities the research design and the methodologies
that you will be applying.
• S
pecify how you will deal with negative results, if any, so that others can lean from your
project regarding of its outcomes.
• Make prior searches and checks on existing results and data to ensure you are not
duplicating unnecessarily.
• S
pecify how you are making use of pre-prints, preregistration of protocols and registered
reports (see above, ‘Early sharing of research results’ ), to ensure that your method and
research questions are accountable, if applicable.
• Detail the steps you will take to make your research process and tools (software,
materials, protocols, flows, ...) transparent and available during and after the research.
• Mention the steps, if any, that you will take to ensure the validity and the quality of the
project’s process and results (e.g. peer review, knowledge sharing, independent testing,
supervision, quality control mechanisms ).
• Plan to use the DMP to the full extent possible to detail the assets and materials
underlying your data collection and analysis (see above, ‘DMP’ ).
• Ensure that your data are FAIR so that others can find them and re-use them to
reproduce your results (see above, ‘FAIR’ ).
• Specify how you will ensure robust statistical analysis, that can be repeated (power of
sample, robust experimental techniques, open software, ...).
• Specify what ‘common assets’ for research & innovation your project will be building,
if any, including knowledge bases, methodologies, evaluation frameworks, ontologies,
open repositories, etc.
• Make provisions to validate, demonstrate, make interoperable, scale-up and overall make
replicable the results of your R&I activities.
• Consider whether your project will produce digital copies of your results, e.g. Digital
Twins, virtual bodies, digital blueprints, that increase the likelihood of re-use and
reproducibility .
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Resources
• An extensive list of resources is provided by the Centre for open science
Open access enables increased quality and efficiency of research and accelerates the
advancement of knowledge and innovation by making results reusable and by improving
their reproducibility. It also offers the means for more creativity, more trust in science and
greater impacts by building on collective intelligence, facilitating cross-disciplinary research
and involvement of all relevant knowledge actors, including citizens.
While it is not mandatory to publish (if a project intends to exploit its results, it may decide not
to publish), if scientific peer-reviewed publications are produced then they must be open
access immediately at publication time under open licenses (such as Creative Commons),
providing specific minimum sets of rights of reuse (CC BY for articles and book chapters
in edited books and CC BY, CC BY-NC, CC BY-ND, CC BY-NC-ND or equivalent for long-text
formats. The following checklist shows what users can do with publications and other outputs
licensed under the following Creative Commons licenses.
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No
If you remix,
transform, or
CC BY ND Yes Yes buildupon the Yes Yes
material, you may
not distribute the
modified material.
CC BY NC ND Yes No No Yes Yes
CC0 Yes Yes Yes No No: Waived
It is important to be aware that Horizon Europe requires that enough intellectual property
rights are maintained by beneficiaries or authors to ensure the required open access to
scientific publications.
Proposers should be aware that beneficiaries are required to retain sufficient intellectual
property rights (IPR) to comply with their open access obligations. Authors may need to
interact with prospective publishers, in particular when they publish in venues that are
not open access. To facilitate compliance with their open access obligations, beneficiaries/
researchers are encouraged to notify publishers of their grant agreement obligations (including
the licensing requirements) already at manuscript submission. For example, by adding the
following statement to their manuscript: “This work was funded by the Εuropean Union under
the Horizon Europe grant [grant number]. As set out in the Grant Agreement, beneficiaries
must ensure that at the latest at the time of publication, open access is provided via a
trusted repository to the published version or the final peer-reviewed manuscript accepted
for publication under the latest available version of the Creative Commons Attribution
International Public Licence (CC BY) or a licence with equivalent rights. CC BY-NC, CC BY-ND,
CC BY-NC-ND or equivalent licenses could be applied to long-text formats.” If the publishing
agreement is contrary to the grant agreement obligations, authors should negotiate its terms
and, alternatively, look for a different publishing venue/options.
Data should be deposited in a trusted repository as soon as possible after data production
and at the latest by the end of the project. Data underpinning a scientific publication should
be deposited at the latest at the time of publication and in line with standard community
practices. Beneficiaries of Horizon Europe have to ensure open access to research data
generated in their projects under the principle ‘as open as possible and as closed as
necessary’. This means that data is in principle open, unless beneficiaries decide to restrict
access to some or all their research data for legitimate reasons. On open access to data and
the legitimate reasons for restricting access consult the AGA (article 17) and section above on
research data management.
Open access to other research outputs, such as software, workflows and others, will ensure
that these outputs that have been generated by Horizon Europe actions are also freely
accessible to all. This will promote transparency, efficiency and reproducibility, as well
as trust in science, and will facilitate access for citizens. Proposers/beneficiaries are also
encouraged to license research outputs other than publications and data under appropriate
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licenses. With regard to software, it should be noted that with the exception of CC0 (i.e. public
domain dedication) CC licenses are not appropriate (although they can be used for software
documentation). Instead, the use of appropriate software licenses, such as those listed as free
by the Free Software Foundation and listed as open source by the Open Source Initiative, is
strongly recommended.
Resources
Publishing
• Open Research Europe (ORE), the open access publishing platform of the European
Commmission for all disciplines, for research stemming from Horizon Europe https://
open-research-europe.ec.europa.eu
• Locate trustworthy open access journals in your field of work in the Directory of Open
Access Journals www.doaj.org
• Check whether a journal has an open access policy that is aligned to the Horizon Europe
requirements with the Journal Checker Tool https://journalcheckertool.org (tool to
become available toward the end of 2021).
• Locate trustworthy open access publishers and open access monographs in the Directory
of Open Access Books https://www.doabooks.org
Repositories
Search for open repositories in www.opendoar.org
www.re3data.org offers a Repository Finder to facilitate the search for a suitable general or
discipline-specific repository for various kinds of research outputs.
• GitHub is development platform to host and review code, manage projects, and build
software
• Savannah hosts free projects that run on free operating systems, with a focus on GNU
software
• SourceForge is an Open Source software community and hosting platform
• Launchpad is a software collaboration and hosting platform
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Repositories for experimental workflows and protocols:
• P
rotocol Exchange (open repository for sharing scientific research protocols) and
• P
rotocols (Platform for data management and protocol sharing)
Discipline-specific repositories:
• ELIXIR Deposition Databases and ELIXIR Core Data Resources (repositories recommended
for the deposition of life sciences experimental data)
Some journals and scholarly publishers apply open peer review. Some platforms, including
preprint servers, may also facilitate open peer review of preprints. For example, Open
Research Europe, the open access publishing platform of the European Commission uses
the open peer review model, where both names of authors and reviewers are public, and the
review report is open access.
Open peer review is an important aspect of open science. Opening up what has traditionally
been a closed process increases opportunities to spot errors, validate findings and to
increase the overall trust in published outputs. Open peer-review is considered by some
among the measures that increase the quality of the peer review process (by making it more
constructive), and the transparency of research (with ‘openness applying to all processes in
28) T
axonomy of open peer review elements based on Ross-Hellauer T. What is open peer-review? A systematic review listed
under ‘Resources’.
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the scientific workflow). Another argument to engage in open peer review is that it ensures
reviewers to get credit for their efforts.
Resources
Ross-Hellauer T. What is open peer review? A systematic review. F1000Research 2017, 6:588
(https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.11369.2)
Some discipline-specific venues support open peer review and are suitable for the life
sciences (e.g. eLIFE, Bio Med Central, BMJ, GIGA science and BioRxiv, ASAPbio ), the social
sciences (e.g. SAGE open, Wiley and SocArXiv ) and the arts and humanities (SAGE open, Wiley
and digitalculturebooks).
Opening up the R&I system towards society and supporting citizens, civil society and end-
users to participate in R&I – as sources of ideas, knowledge and/or data, as data collectors
and/or analysers, and/or as testers and/or end users – enlarges the collective intelligence,
capabilities and scope of the R&I and is likely to lead to greater creativity and robustness of
the outcomes and reduced time-to-market of the innovative products and services. It also
increases the relevance and responsiveness of R&I, ensuring that its outcomes align with
the needs, expectations and values of society. Moreover, it is a key element for improving
the transparency, co-ownership and trust of society in the process and outcomes of R&I.
Conducting R&I openly, responsibly, transparently, and in adherence to the highest standards
of research integrity and ethics is also important for responding to increased science denial.
Engagement can range from the identification and conceptualisation of R&I priorities (e.g.
through deliberative or other participatory processes ), to the implementation, utilisation
and assessment of R&I results (e.g. through data collection, data analysis, discussion and
publication or presenting scientific results, working in fab-labs to develop new innovations,
testing innovations and solutions, and evidence-based advocacy ).
The following are activities that proposers may consider including in their proposal:
Co-design activities could involve workshops, focus groups or other means to develop R&I
agendas, roadmaps or policies. These could be one-off activities in one or several different
2. HORIZON EUROPE ●
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localities or repeated consultations with the same or varying groups. They could involve citizens
and/or one or many organisation types at the same time. Co-design activities often include
deep discussion on the implications, the ethics, the benefits and the challenges related to
R&I courses of action or technology development. Co-design could be the overall focus of a
project (e.g. to develop a roadmap for a certain technology ), a Work Package within a project
that uses the outcomes of the co-design in subsequent Work Packages, or a supporting Work
Package that provides continual feedback on project activities throughout the project cycle.
Co-creation activities, such as citizen science or user-led innovation, involve citizens or end-
users directly in the development of new knowledge or innovations, through a range of
different levels of participation. These could include identifying R&I questions to be tackled by
the project, developing a methodology, observing, gathering and processing data, right up to
the publication and presentation of results. The co-creation activities could be the focus of a
proposal, or could be one of the methodological approaches taken alongside others.
Co-assessment activities, such as assisting in the monitoring and evaluation of the progress
of the project, portfolio of projects, policies or programmes, help ensure an iterative or even
continual process of interaction with citizens, civil society and end-users throughout the
project cycle on the quality, utilisation and (potential) impact of project outputs.
In certain cases, citizens, civil society and end-users may be involved across different stages of
the R&I and/or policy cycle, by deciding on the research to be conducted, conducting that research,
analysing and interpreting the data, and engaging in related advocacy or policy activities.
An important aspect to consider in many cases is the inclusivity of the engagement and
ensuring diversity of participation. The challenge of sustaining engagement should not be
underestimated and different forms of compensation or rewards could be considered, as well
as measures for two-way learning between scientists or innovators and the co-creators.
Generally, the greater the interaction from across the quadruple helix (academia-industry-
government-civil), the more the R&I results will be reliable, trusted and taken up by society.
Different organisation types, and different societal perspectives, help ensure that the
processes and the outcomes of the R&I align with the needs, values and expectations of
society. In many cases, the body of knowledge and practice built up in Horizon 2020 on
Responsible Research and Innovation will be relevant.
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Co-design, co-creation, and co-assessment, as (sometimes) radical departures from
more traditional forms of R&I, could imply changes to the institutional governance of the
participating beneficiaries that last beyond the lifetime of project funding.
Terminology:
• ‘Citizens’ should be understood as individuals acting on their own initiative and not on
behalf of their employer or sectoral interests. It does not refer to any legal citizenship(s)
that people may or may not hold.
• ‘Civil society’ refers to the ensemble of citizens and civil society organisations that are
active in the public sphere but distinct from government and business.
• ‘Civil society organisations (CSOs)’ include all non-state, not-for-profit structures, such as
citizens’ associations, patient groups, professional societies or groups, consumer groups,
humanitarian organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), foundations and
charities.
• ‘End-users’ are public, private or civil (i.e. civil society, see above) organisations that
constitute potential users of the R&I outputs.
• ‘Engagement’ means the involvement of citizens and civil society in co-designing R&I
agendas, in co-creating R&I contents, and/or in co-assessing R&I outcomes.
Resources
2. HORIZON EUROPE ●
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Innovation procurement is therefore a topic of cross-cutting importance for all pillars of the
Horizon Europe programme:
• Under the Excellence Science pillar , innovation procurement can help increase the
EU’s global scientific competitiveness in the field of research infrastructures. In the
field of supercomputing for example, innovation procurement actions financed under
FP7 and Horizon 2020 have paved the way for stronger European cooperation and
competitiveness through the joint undertaking for High Performance Computing (HPC).
• Under the Global Challenges and European Industrial Competiveness pillar innovation
procurement can trigger new research and development (R&D) and deployment of
innovative solutions to address societal challenges (e.g. in health, security, energy,
environment, transport… ) and reinforce technological and industrial capacities. For
EU-missions, innovation procurement can also play a key role to bring to the market
solutions that can tackle big problems. This online brochure29) bundles examples of
innovation procurement funded by the EU research and innovation programme that
successfully tackled societal challenges in several sectors.
nder the Innovative Europe pillar , innovation procurement links to SME support via the
• U
European Innovation Council.
Finally, innovation procurement is also central to the European Defence Fund and may also
be used in the context of the Euratom Programme.
29) https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/innovation-procurement-power-public-purse
30) I mpacts of EU funded PCP show 20%-30% efficiency and quality improvements in public services, doubling of the
amount of public procurement directly awarded to startups/SMEs, a factor 20 increase in the amount of cross-border
contract award to startups/SMEs and a factor 4 additional financing secured by startups/SMEs. The use of place of
performance and IPR/commercialisation conditions that fuel commercialisation in Europe, also contributes to EU
strategic autonomy.
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Two complementary types of innovation procurement are supported:
• Public Procurement of Innovative solutions (PPI) can be used by procurers when
challenges of public interest can be addressed by innovative solutions that are nearly or
already in small quantities on the market. PPI can thus be used when there is no need
for procurement of new R&D to bring solutions to the market, but as a clear signal from
a sizeable amount of early adopters/launch customers that they are willing to purchase/
deploy the innovative solutions if those can be delivered with the desired quality and
price by a specific moment in time. PPI may still involve conformance testing before
deployment.
• Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) can be used by procurers when there are no near-to-
the-market solutions that meet all the procurers requirements and new R&D is needed
to get new solutions developed and tested to address the procurement need. PCP can
then compare the pros and cons of alternative approaches to address the challenge and
eliminate risk from promising innovations step-by-step via solution design, prototyping,
development and first product testing. PCP is a public procurement of R&D services that
does not include the deployment of commercial volumes of end-products (see PPI for
the latter ).
Therefore, Horizon Europe provides different types of support for buyers from different
countries that want to collaborate together on innovation procurement:
• C
oordination and Support actions (CSA) support coordination and networking
activities for groups of procurers to investigate the feasibility and/or prepare the ground
for concrete future innovation procurement. CSA grants do not provide EU co-financing
for a procurement action.
• PCP or PPI actions co-finance both the procurement cost for groups of procurers to buy
the research, development, validation and possible first deployment (PCP) or wider scale
deployment (PPI) of innovative solutions as well as additional related costs to prepare,
manage and follow up such procurement. A minimum of two public procurers from two
different EU Member States or associated countries are required in the buyers’ group.
One of them will act as lead procurer to coordinate and lead one joint PCP or PPI action
or several separate but coordinated PPI actions for the buyers’ group. In addition other
procurers, e.g. private procurers or NGO procurers, can be part of the buyers’ group.
Both in PCP actions, PPI actions and CSAs that prepare PCP or PPI procurements, other
entities (e.g. experts, certification bodies ) can also participate in the additional activities
of the action, except entities that are potential suppliers of solutions for the procurement
action or have another potential conflict of interest with the procurement action. In
total there must be minimum three participants from three different Member States or
2. HORIZON EUROPE ●
081
countries associated to Horizon Europe in the action. Entities formed by several public
procurers from different countries can also apply for this type of funding (e.g. European
Groupings of Territorial Cooperation- EGTCs, European Research Infrastructure Consortia
– ERICs, Central Purchasing Bodies, etc ).
For more information about the CSA and PCP and PPI action instruments, refer to General
Annex H of the Horizon Europe Work Programme.
The EU itself can also implement innovation procurement from the Horizon Europe budget,
either alone or together with public buyers from Member States. An example funded by
Horizon Europe is the EU blockchain PCP implemented by the European Commission.
It is also possible for one single buyer to implement PCP and PPI actions on its own, under
the subcontracting activities of a regular research and innovation grant.
National Contact Points (NCPs) in every Member State offer information and guidance in your
own language on how to apply for Horizon Europe funding and may help with partner search.
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2023~2024 Science, Technology and Innovation in Europe
‘Contracting authority’ means the State, regional or local authorities, bodies governed by
public law, associations formed by one or several of such authorities or one or several of
such bodies governed by public law (for the full definition, see Article 2(1)(1) of Directive
2014/24/EU ). Bodies governed by public law also include entities financed mostly by the
State, regional or local authorities, or other bodies governed by public law and entities
controlled by those bodies (for the full definition, see Article 2(1)(4) of Directive 2014/24/
EU ). This includes for example ministries, regions, cities, road management authorities, public
hospitals, central purchasing bodies etc.
‘Contracting entities’ refers to entities operating in specific sectors (such as utilities for water,
energy, transport, postal services covered by Directive 2014/25/EU and contracting entities in
the field of security covered by Directive 2009/81/EC). They may be contracting authorities,
public undertakings or entities operating on the basis of special or exclusive rights (for the full
definition, see Article 4 of Directive 2014/25/EU ).
Under Horizon Europe, public procurers also include entities that are contracting authorities/
entities according to the above definition but to which the EU public procurement Directives
itself do not apply (e.g. international organisations such as ERICs - European Research
Infrastructure Consortia ).
Related links
• O
verview and links to EU policy initiatives on PCP and PPI31)
• In order to help procurers implement PCP and PPI, the EU also developed specific
guidance in the Annotated Model Grant Agreement and example template tender
documents for Horizon funded PCP actions34) and for PPI actions35).
31) https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/news/eu-policy-initiatives-pcp-and-ppi
32) https://sorry.ec.europa.eu
33) https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-search-cs;freeTextSearchKeyw
ord=;matchWholeText=true;typeCodes=1,2;statusCodes=31094501,31094502,31094503;programmePeriod=2014%20-%20
2020;programCcm2Id=31045243;programDivisionCode=null;focusAreaCode=null;geographicalZonesCode=null;programm
eDivisionProspect=null;startDateLte=null;startDateGte=null;crossCuttingPriorityCode=InnovationProcurement;callCode=nu
ll;cpvCode=null;performanceOfDelivery=null;sortQuery=sortStatus;orderBy=asc;onlyTenders=false;topicListKey=topicSearc
hTablePageState
34) http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/other/gm/h2020-guide-pcp-procurement-docs_en.docx
35) http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/other/gm/h2020-guide-ppi-procurement-docs_en.docx
2. HORIZON EUROPE ●
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18. Key Digital Technologies
Due diligence is required regarding the trustworthiness of all artificial intelligence-based
systems or techniques used or developed in projects funded under the Horizon Europe
Framework Programme. Wherever appropriate, AI-based systems or techniques must be
developed in a safe, secure and responsible manner, with a clear identification of and
preventative approach to risks.
To a degree matching the type of research being proposed (from basic to precompetitive)
and as appropriate, AI-based systems or techniques should be, or be developed to become
(implicitly or explicitly contributing to one or several of the following objectives):
• technically robust, accurate and reproducible, and able to deal with and inform about
possible failures, inaccuracies and errors, proportionate to the assessed risk posed by the
AI-based system or technique
• socially robust, in that they duly consider the context and environment in which they
operate
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2023~2024 Science, Technology and Innovation in Europe
2. HORIZON EUROPE ●
085
3
EURAXESS:
EU Research
Support Service
Delegation of the
European Union to
the Republic of Korea
1. What is “EURAXESS – Researchers in Motion” is a European Commission
EURAXESS initiative that aims to support development of the European
Research Area (ERA) by addressing barriers to the mobility of
researchers and to enhance scientific collaboration between
Europe and the world. EURAXESS is supported by 40 participating
countries across Europe (EU member states and countries
within the Horizon 2020 Associated Countries list). Designed
as a comprehensive tool-set, it provides researchers access
to a complete range of information and support services that
are structured around five areas: Jobs and Funding, Career
Development, Information and Assistance, Partnering and
Worldwide . Through its portal (euraxess.ec.europa.eu) it provides
a single access point for career development resources and
jobs, funding and hosting opportunities in Europe, as well as
information on the conditions of living and working in European
countries as a researcher. EURAXESS also provides personalised
assistance to incoming and outgoing researchers through
its network of more than 500 Service Centres in Europe. The
international arm of the EURAXESS initiative links Europe to the
rest of the world through its 7 hubs outside of Europe (ASEAN,
China, India, Japan, Latin American and Caribbean States, North
America and Korea).
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2023~2024 Science, Technology and Innovation in Europe
includes travel grants and fellowships. In addition, researchers
can find hosting offers on EURAXESS - Expressions of Interest
from research institutions in supporting applications to the Marie
Skłodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowships calls, as well as
offers from institutions which dispose of research infrastructures.
• The Information and Assistance section provides, via a central
portal (services.euraxess.org) and via 40 national portals
(euraxess.ec.europa.eu/choose-your-country) a full range of
useful information to researchers intending to relocate to Europe,
comprising 17 topics (in alphabetical order): access to the
culture of the host country & language courses; accommodation;
banking; career development; day care, schooling & family
related issues; departure conditions & formalities; entry
conditions & visas; funding opportunities; health insurance;
intellectual property rights; medical care; pension for researchers;
recognition of diplomas; taxation & salaries; unemployment;
and work permit. In addition to the online information services,
more than 550 centres and contact points in the 40 countries
participating in EURAXESS respond to researchers’ requests by
phone or personal visits and more than 1,500 staff yearly answer
to 350,000 of these requests.
• The Partnering section provides an online networking tool
(euraxess.ec.europa.eu/partnering) to researchers and RPOs who
have created a profile on the EURAXESS portal, with which they
can connect to other individuals or institutions for their research
collaboration or mobility projects.
• The Career Development section (euraxess.ec.europa.eu/
career-development) on the portal includes resources for both
researchers and research supporting organisations.
• The Worldwide section (worldwide.euraxess.org) provides
information and networking services both online and offline to
researchers from specific regions or countries outside of Europe.
All EURAXESS Korea services are free, and of easy access via its
website: korea.euraxess.org.
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3. EURAXESS: EU Research Support Service ●
091
4
Science, Technology
and Innovation
of the EU Member States
Delegation of the
European Union to
the Republic of Korea
Science, Technology
and Innovation
of the European Countries
1 AUSTRIA
1. Policies and Strategies in Science, Technology and Innovation
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2023~2024 Science, Technology and Innovation in Europe
AUSTRIA
Country Outline
■ GDP: 447,217 million euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ GDP per Capita: 38,080 euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ Areas of marked S&T specialisations: Life Sciences, Physics, Energy & Environment
Contact Information
■ Organisation: Embassy of Austria
■ Name / Position: Mr Wolfgang Köstinger / Commercial Counsellor
■ Phone no. / e-mail: (+82) 2 732-7330 / [email protected]
With research and development accounting for 3,22 % (2022) of the country’s economic output
(GDP), Austria is performing well above the EU and OECD average. Over the last decade, Austria has
built a mature and modern innovation system. One of its pillars is its educational system: there are
currently 22 state universities in Austria (including six universities of the Arts and three technical
universities), 21 universities of applied sciences and 17 private universities – with a total of around
391,644 students (2022), of which more than 112,500 come from abroad. Austrian researchers and
scientists are among the world’s elite in numerous areas, such as quantum physics, mathematics
and medicine, as well as the humanities and social sciences. One recent example is the quantum
physicist Anton Zeilinger who won the Nobel Prize in physics in 2022. In addition to higher
education institutions, Austria’s educational system is also aligned with the needs of companies
by having a longstanding tradition of dual vocational training for young adults, which operates
in parallel in apprenticeships and vocational schools. Furthermore, for all technical disciplines,
Higher Technical Colleges (HTC) offer highly qualified training courses that are often equivalent to
international Bachelor levels. The Austrian business landscape is characterized by innovative small
and medium sized enterprises, which form the backbone of Austria’s innovation economy. In terms
of R&D expenditure, which currently stands at EUR 15,5 billion, it is the business enterprise sector
that accounts for the biggest share of R&D expenditure in terms of total expenditure at approx. 50%
(or EUR 7.8 billion), with a - by international comparison - high share of foreign investment at 17% (or
EUR 2.6 billion). Also, innovative companies in Austria can make use of a research financing support
system that is recognized as a global model. The funding quota for company research projects
ranks at the top end of the international scale. From basic to applied research, the entire innovation
process is supported generously in Austria by public financing, with three agencies being mainly
responsible for administering those funds: the Science Fund “FWF” makes available almost EUR 273
million per year for basic research projects; the Austrian Research Promotion Agency “FFG” supports
industry-oriented research with an extensive program of grants (incl. with Korea) and services. Over
EUR 572 million are invested annually for application-oriented projects. Thirdly, the Austrian Federal
Promotional Bank “AWS” supports companies as a financing partner in all stages, from pre-seed to
company creation and international growth projects.
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2023~2024 Science, Technology and Innovation in Europe
more efficient technology transfer between the academic and the industrial sector and
measures increasing the innovation ability of SMEs.
Ⅲ) Support research for attaining climate targets: Technology neutral research activities as
well as key enabling technologies aiming at tackling climate change will be supported.
This will be complemented by participation in European programs and incentives for the
private sector to invest in new technologies.
Open Innovation Strategy: Austria also implements its open Innovation Strategy. The strategy
was adopted in July 2016 by the Austrian Government. In addition to accompanying studies
concerning specific aspects of open innovation, particular attention was given to intensive
and long-term participation by members of the public and relevant stakeholder groups.
The most important tool in this participation process was the online portal openinnovation.
gv.at. From the middle until the end of 2015 stakeholders, interested members of the public
and experts all had the opportunity to discuss their ideas for the Open Innovation Strategy
and to publish existing Best Practice examples. Parallel to the digital options a stakeholder
workshop was organized in January 2016 and also provided an opportunity to participate in
the process of drawing up the strategy and contributing specific content. The fact that 470
people from science, business and government took part in this process demonstrates the
high level of stakeholder interest in open innovation. This was followed in spring 2016 by an
online consultation in which the general public was invited to submit comments on the key
elements of the Open Innovation Strategy, Vision 2025 and the proposed measures, and to
suggest changes. This formed the basis for the drafting of the final text of the strategy.
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The Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) program Beyond
Europe supports Austrian companies, research and university
institutes and other organizations in creating and extending
collaborations with partners outside Europe (including Korea).
The program is open to collaborative projects in all thematic
National program
fields. Funding is available for projects in all technical disciplines.
Beyond Europe | FFG
Project proposals may be submitted for exploratory projects
www. ffg.at/en/funding
and cooperative R&D projects of the category Experimental
Development. In addition, funding by several thematic funding
programs is also accessible to Korean researchers in transnational
R&D projects. Furthermore, FFG provides a wide range of funding
options and support for participation in international programs and
initiatives.
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Many excellent Universities and Universities of Applied Sciences
Austrian Universities
with a very broad range of scientific departments with different
and Universities of
specializations are located in Austria. A list of the major Universities
Applied Sciences
is available on the website of the Federal Ministry of Education,
bmbwf.gv.at
Science and Research.
2 BELGIUM
1. Policies and Strategies in Science, Technology and Innovation
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BELGIUM
Country Outline
■ DP: 554,044 million euros (Eurostat 2022)
G
■ GDP per Capita: 37,040 euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ Areas of marked S&T specialisations: Chemistry, Pharmaceuticals, Space, Electrical
Contact Information
■ Organisation: Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium
■ Name / Position: Mr. Alexis DE HERDE / Second Secretary
■ Phone no. / e-mail: (+82) 2 749 0381 / [email protected]
The Federal Science Policy office (BELSPO) coordinates science policy at the federal level
and runs the bodies where the different Belgian authorities meet in order to agree on
international science policy issues of common interest. The regions and communities
coordinate their own specific policies through the regional governments and agencies.
Science has traditionally been linked to education and the public sector. But for some
time now, industry has also been heavily involved in scientific research, focusing on space
travel, biochemistry, medicine, pharmaceuticals and IT.
Belgium is a strong innovator and is known for its attractive research system, its very
generous support system for research, high firm investments in research and last but not
least the linkages between the private and public research actors. The country has a strong,
internationally competitive research infrastructure (most importantly its universities and a
handful of major research facilities) driven by a globally connected and highly productive
workforce. IMEC is a good example and is well connected to major Korean firms in the ICT
sector.
The business sector in Belgium is more active than the EU28 average in terms of both the
financing and performance of research and development (R&D). According to the OECD the
direct and indirect support of companies is among the highest of the world (7th position). The
R&D-intensity of the Belgian private sector is among the highest in Europe.
A small number of foreign-owned companies play a key role in underpinning this strong
performance, with the R&D investments of a few large companies in a limited number of
sectors and mostly managed overseas, making a significant impact on the R&D performance.
The country is characterized by a relatively large share of SMEs. Belgian SMEs are highly
innovative and have the highest absorptive capacity in the EU in terms of employment of a
highly skilled labour force.
The Belgian authorities are strongly committed to and participate in European initiatives,
especially the EU Framework Program for R&D. In a number of cases, this commitment
matches national priorities, such as the implementation of the European Partnership for
Researchers in both Communities, which should contribute to attracting and retaining
qualified human resources. With regard to cross-border cooperation, Belgium is actively
engaged in a range of initiatives, which include bilateral agreements, joint R&D projects, and
shared research infrastructures.
In Belgium, each region/community has its own multi-annual plan that covers research and
innovation.
The key R&I relevant aspects of Belgium’s National Reform Programme 2020 sets out the
structural measures taken by the Belgian governments over the last twelve months, as well
as those in the pipeline for the coming months. Needless to say that the policies regarding
the pandemic receive the greatest attention and they are also adjusted on a daily basis. At the
time of writing those lines below, new measures are being taken or existing ones adjusted.
(1) While fiscal consolidation was a priority for the previous government, the actual
governments are now focusing in the first place on combatting the negative effects of the
energy crisis.
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(2) All levels are working to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of public spending,
including through spending reviews. The resources freed up will be used for strategic
investments and long-term care. The National Pact for Strategic Investments Pact (NPSI) is
implemented at the inter-federal level. This plan focuses on mobility, energy, innovation
and digitisation.
(3) All the countrys governments are committed to achieving the objectives of the National
Energy Climate Plan 2021-2030. Support for innovation at the federal level was reflected
in particular by the continuation of the Digital Belgium programme and by major
investments, jointly with the Regions, in the framework of the European Battery Alliance
(275 million euros in total), the Euro-HPC project, etc. The regions are also involved in the
deployment of the European Digital Innovation Hubs (eDIH).
(4) On average, Government Budget Allocations for R&D (GBARD) represents about 50 % of
public expenditure and investment in research and innovation related policies; the rest
comes from support for other forms of innovation aid.
(5) In 2021, 14 projects were selected in the field of research under the Energy Transition
Fund. Moreover, Belgium considers it a priority to keep its nuclear knowledge and
expertise up to date with the support of its leading institutions such as SCK CEN and IBR.
(6) On 2 November 2021, the federal government approved the strategy on hydrogen to
make Belgium a hub for the import and transit of green hydrogen. In order to increase the
production of solar energy, the federal government decided on 18 March 2022 to reduce
VAT on solar panels, heat pumps and boilers to 6 % (2022–2023).
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2. National STI Programmes and Initiatives
asem-duo-grant ■■ Funding Scale and Scheme: 5,000€ per month for the two professors
■■ Programme names:
1. PhD and postdoctoral fellowships in Flanders
2. FWO incoming and outgoing mobility grants
3. FWO Junior/Senior Research Project
4. FWO Odysseus programme – Attracting top talent to Flanders
The Research 5. FWO Strategic Basic Research Program (SBO)
Foundation – Flanders 6. FWO Applied Biomedical Research with a Primary Societal
(FWO) finality (TBM)
www.fwo.be ■■ Funding Organisation: FWO
mobilite-monde
■■ Credits & Projects Call: https://www.frs-fnrs.be/fr/financements/
credits-et-projets
https://www.vlaio.be/ ■■ Funding Scale and Scheme: there are various types of mandates:
en/subsidies/ spinoff mandates that are 100% funded by IWT for up to 2 years;
innovation-mandates Innovation mandates involving cooperation with existing companies.
■■ Research Fields: all
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■■ Programme name: Excellence of Science (EOS)
■■ Cooperation Type: Research Project
■■ Funding Organisation: The Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO,
eosprogramme.be/ research institutions may not exceed 10% of total budget. Project
index.php/about-eos budget up to € 1,000,000 per year
■■ Research Fields: Fundamental research in all domains
Each year specific topics are selected. Matching fund from Korean
government: No
with South Korea ■■ Funding Scale and Scheme: costs for exchange of researchers
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4. Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation Partners
Organisation Name Detailed Information
3 BULGARIA
1. Policies and Strategies in Science, Technology and Innovation
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BULGARIA
Country Outline
■ GDP: 85,800 million euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ GDP per Capita: 7,680 euros (Eurostat 2022)
Contact Information
■ Organisation: Science Directorate Ministry of Education and Science
■ Name / Position: Kalin Mutavchiev / Chief expert
■ Phone no. / e-mail: + 359 2 921 7 691 / + 358 878 46 16 53 / [email protected]
National strategy for development of scientific research in the republic of Bulgaria 2017-2030
(Better science for better Bulgaria). The National Strategy defines the goals and corresponding
measures and actions by the state for the development of scientific research in the period
2017-2030. It is one of the necessary conditions for achieving the goals laid down in the
Partnership Agreement of the Republic of Bulgaria with the EC during the program period
2014-2020 and is bound to the Innovation Strategy for Smart Specialization 2014-2020. The
strategy is also in line with a number of national and European documents.
The operational plan for the implementation of the first stage of the National Strategy for the
Development of Scientific Research in the Republic of Bulgaria 2017-2030 was adopted by
Decision No. 640 of the Council of Ministers of September 5, 2018.
The National Roadmap for Research Infrastructure 2020-2027 includes the main research
complexes in the country and their respective prioritization at European and national
level, according to the areas of impact of the ESFRI (energy, environment, health and food,
natural and engineering sciences, social and cultural innovations and e-infrastructure) and
ISSS (information and communication technologies and informatics; healthy lifestyle and
biotechnology industries; mechatronics and clean technologies, and new technologies in the
creative and recreational industries), the infrastructures being grouped as follows:
The strategic document published by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic
of Bulgaria includes a total of 51 infrastructures, including 15 Centers of Competence and
Centers of Excellence, developed under the Operational Program “Science and Education
for Smart Growth”. The consistent scientific policy and investments in scientific infrastructure
affirm Bulgarias commitment to 8 existing European research consortia (ERICs, i.e., CLARIN,
Euro Argo, ESS, EuroBioImaging, BBMRI, SHARE, EATRIS, DARIAH) and the participation in 5
partnerships to establish new ones (ACTRIS, CTA, ELI, EPOS, AnaEE).
The Executive Agency “Programme Education” acts as a Managing Authority of the Operational
Programme Science and Education for Smart Growth” 2014-2020 and Programme
“Education” 2021-2027. In this capacity, the agency is responsible for the overall programming,
management and implementation of the programmes in accordance with the principle of
sound financial management and all obligations under national and European Union law
arising therefrom.
The activities of the Program will overcome structural deficiencies in the field of science
research, innovation and digitization identified in the reports of the European Commission
for Bulgaria from 2019 and 2020 and in particular the very low level of expenditure on R&D
from both the public and private sectors, fragmentation of the scientific system research and
higher education, poorly developed links between academia and business and low levels of
penetration of digital technologies in the economy and society.
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NB: Currently, there are no active specific/dedicated Programmes and Initiatives facilitating
international or bilateral cooperation (including with Korea). The EU Framework Programme
for research and innovation is Horizon Europe.
4 CROATIA
1. Policies and Strategies in Science, Technology and Innovation
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CROATIA
Country Outline
■ GDP: 67,989 million euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ GDP per Capita: 14,660 euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ Areas of marked S&T specialisations: Personalized Health, Smart and Clean Energy,
Smart and Green Transport, Security: Awareness, Prevention, Response, and Remediation,
Sustainable and Circular Food, Customized and Integrated Wood Products, Digital Products
and Platforms
Contact Information
■ Organisation: Ministry of Science and Education
■ Name / Position: Prof. Radovan Fuchs, Ph. D. / Minister of Science and Education
■ Phone no. / e-mail: (+38) 5 1 4569 000
Croatia recognizes science as developmental priorities that can enable its long-term
social stability, economic prosperity and secure cultural identity.
The quality of science and technology in Croatia is monitored by the Ministry of Science
and Education, the National Council for Science, Higher Education and Technological
Development and the National Innovation Council.
There are five types of institutions which carry out the scientific and research activities in
Croatia:
1. public institutes 2. institutions of higher education
3. other research legal entities 4. independent commercial institutes
5. corporate industrial institutes
As a basis for STI policies Croatia developed Smart specialization strategy of the Republic
of Croatia for the period from 2016 to 2020 (hereinafter: S3 16-20). S3 16-20 is a strategic
document that defines priority areas for encouraging investment in research, development
and innovation (RDI) with public funds. Croatian S3 16-20 identified 5 thematic priority areas
of investment (TPAs) with further sub-priority areas. Thematic priority areas were identified
by introducing triple helix approach, which implies the involvement of the public sector,
academia and business sector in identifying their innovation potential in business and
research sector as well as their market opportunities. This bottom-up process is known as an
entrepreneurial discovery process (a form of formal consultation of stakeholders or experts).
Upon lessons learned during implementation and mid-term evaluation of S3 16-20, the new
S3 2029 was developed and is expected to be adopted by Croatian Government in Q3 2023.
The program interventions envisaged by the new S3 2029 aim to improve overall Croatian
innovation efficiency and capacities for strengthening competitiveness and promoting
industrial digital and green transformation. This is planned to be realized through three
specific objectives of S3:
• Improved performance in conducting excellent research,
• Bridging the gap between the research and business sector,
• Improved innovation performance.
Specific objectives aim at research sector to generate the most up-to-date and influential
knowledge that can create knowledge spill over effects on the economy. Research and
business sectors to interact more intensively with the aim of encouraging technology transfer
and developing innovations based on research and development. The business sector to
increase its capacity and efficiency for R&D-based and non-R&D-based innovation in order to
strengthen competitiveness.
Five thematic priority areas defined in S3 16-20 are broaden to 7 TPAs, where investments
from ESI Funds, Recovery and Resilience Facility and national budget will be directed.
Seven TPAs are: Personalized Health, Smart and Clean Energy, Smart and Green Transport,
Security: Awareness, Prevention, Response, and Remediation, Sustainable and Circular
Food, Customized and Integrated Wood Products, Digital Products and Platforms. S3 2029 is
conceived as a flexible and living strategy that will be adjusted according to future trends
and needs of the national innovation system stakeholders. Entrepreneurial discovery process,
will play an important role in that respect, as it had in the creation of the Strategy. The
strategy foresees turning EDP into a continuous process and to strengthen the governing role
of National Innovation Council.
In order to address the above-mentioned goals, Croatia decided to carry out a comprehensive
reform of the Croatian scientific and research system. In addition to S3 analysis of Croatian
research system, findings and recommendations of the European Commission in the Reports
for Croatia and the Recommendations of the Council were taken into account. Interventions
that will support implementation of S3 2029 rely, in addition to national budget funding, on
the funds provided from the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027.
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The first step towards improvement, higher productivity and growth of investment in the
research system in Croatia is being implemented within the framework of the National Plan
for Recovery and Resilience 2021-2026 (hereinafter: NRRP). Ministry of Science and Education
(hereinafter: MSE) plans to improve the STI system through reform 3.2. Boosting research and
innovation capacity with total estimated value of the investment of 318.534.740 EUR. Reform
3.2. consists of three mutually connected structural reforms that target: insufficient result-
driven research in research organizations, fragmentation of the research sector, outdated
career advancement framework, insufficient targeting of market failures and beneficiaries’
needs in programming framework.
So far, the implementation of the NRRP has resulted in the adoption of three new laws that
correspond with three reforms; Act on Higher Education and Scientific Activity, Act on the
Croatian Science Foundation and the Act on Quality Assurance in Higher Education and Science,
which represent the backbone of the reform of the Croatian scientific and research system.
The new Act on Higher Education and Scientific Activity enables organisational and functional
reform of public universities and scientific institutes and funding aimed at achieving
institutional development objectives. It provides a legal and financial framework for the
organisational and functional integration of universities and scientific institutes, as well as a
dialogue on institutional objectives and a new results-based funding framework. The reform
of the research system is of key importance because by funding the science system through
the new model of programme agreements, results-based funding will be fully and consistently
put into practice.
The new Act on Quality Assurance in Higher Education and Science regulates the internal
quality assurance and improvement of higher education institutions and scientific institutes,
the external evaluation of the quality of higher education institutions and scientific institutes,
and the organization and tasks of the Agency for Science and Higher Education. The second
reform will improve the system of employment, advancement and career development of
researchers in the science system, and together with the research system reform will have
a lasting positive effect on the quality of research results, motivation and productivity of
researchers and on the efficiency of scientific institutions in the Republic of Croatia.
In addition, through the third reform, the program framework will be improved and programs
will be developed that will respond to market shortcomings and the needs of target users
in a targeted and more direct way than before. The new Act on the Croatian Science
Foundation more clearly defines the tasks of the Croatian Science Foundation in the field
of implementation, coordination, design, monitoring and evaluation of programmes and
for evaluating research and development project financing policies, thus creating a strong
and independent system for the implementation of the selection, funding and monitoring of
research and development projects.
In addition to NRRP, science and innovation programs will be financed through Program
Competiveness and Cohesion 2021-2027 (hereinafter: PCC 21-27). Investments of the MSE
listed under priority objective 1. “Strengthening the economy by investing in research and
innovation, supporting business competitiveness, digitalization and developing skills for smart
specialization” are planned following independent analysis of investments made in previous
period (OPCC 2014-2020). Investments planned in the PCC 21-27 build upon lessons learned
through implementation of investments in the NRRP and create a natural continuation of
funding Croatian scientific and research system. Investments listed under special objectives
1.i and 1.iv. focus on funding RTI infrastructure which will give more opportunities to research
organizations for market-driven research and will be open to the needs of business sector that
lacks necessary technology to perform R&D. In addition, funding will be given to encourage
in particular applied research and market-oriented R&D activities in research organizations
and collaborative R&D activities of two sectors as well. This will be accompanied by further
development of technology transfer practices, as the goal is to ensure their widespread
use in the RDI sector. Furthermore, investments will be focused on development of skills
and strengthening the competencies of researchers for smart specialization (including
entrepreneurial skills). Given that smaller and younger companies show higher productivity
growth and that the level of investment in the early product development is certainly
insufficient, support will be given to the emergence of new knowledge-based companies
and to their R&D activities. Support will also be given to innovations in the early stages of
development in both sectors.
http://www.hrzz.hr ■■ Contact point: Professor Ozren Polašek, PhD. MD, Director of the
Foundation
The Croatian Agency ■■ Organisation type: Agency for SMEs, Innovation and Investments
for SMEs, Innovation ■■ Major research areas/products…: All areas
and Investments ■■ Current cooperation status with Korea: None
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4. Science, Technology and Innovation of the EU Member States ●
121
Science, Technology
and Innovation
of the European Countries
5 CYPRUS
1. Policies and Strategies in Science, Technology and Innovation
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CYPRUS
Country Outline
■ GDP: 27,777 million euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ GDP Per capita: 27,490 euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ Areas of marked S&T specialisations: Energy, Food, Built Environment, Transport, Health,
ICT, Environment
Contact Information
■ Organisation: Directorate General Growth, Ministry of Finance
■ Name / Position: Mr Savvas Zannetos / Planning Officer
■ Phone no. / e-mail: (+357) 22602874 / [email protected]
The RTDI system in Cyprus is relatively new and is evolving with the aim to increase
efficiency and modernize the government, research and productive sector cooperation.
Recently a systematic effort was initiated in order (a) to evaluate the current research
and innovation system and procedures in Cyprus and to give recommendations for its
adjustment and upgrading it to become more effective and efficient and (b) to adopt
explicit multiannual RTDI priorities. The National Committee for Research, Innovation
and Technological Development (NCRITD), established by the Council of Ministers,
in September 2013, was entrusted with the task to evaluate the current research and
innovation system and procedures in Cyprus and to give recommendations for its
adjustment and upgrading to become more effective and efficient. The study was
submitted to the President of the Republic in March 2014.
R&D expenditure GERD/GDP is among the lowest in the EU with 0.47% or €83.3 million in
2012 (latest available data) and is slightly decreasing compared to 2011. In the National
Reform Programme 2013 Cyprus set an R&D intensity target of 0.5% for 2020. This target
was set taking seriously into consideration the particularities of Cyprus in terms of both
the size of the research community as well as the orientation of the economy in low value
added products and services (lack of big manufacturing firms) and the very small size
and low involvement of Cypriot enterprises and firms in research and innovation activities
in terms of participation and expenditure on R&D and innovation.
and was adopted by the Council of Ministers in March 2015. An extensive analysis of the
national R&I priorities has been conducted with the aim of maximizing the knowledge based
development potential of the Cyprus economy through targeted support to research and
innovation in the sectors where Cyprus has a competitive advantage. The sectors identified
through this process are Tourism, Energy, Agriculture/Food Industry, Construction, Shipping,
Health, and ICT and Environment as horizontal priorities.
Email: [email protected]
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Cyprus International ■■ Organisation type: University
Institute ■■ Major Research Area/Product: Environment and Public Health
www.hsph.harvard. ■■ Major activities with Korea: None
Cyprus University of
Organisation type: University
Technology
■■
6 CZECH REPUBLIC
1. Policies and Strategies in Science, Technology and Innovation
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CZECH REPUBLIC
Country Outline
■ GDP: 276,265 million euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ GDP Per capita: 18,460 euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ Areas of marked S&T specialisations: There are 6 defined priority areas and 24 subareas with
a total of 170 specific objectives. The priority areas include Competitive knowledge-based
economy, Sustainability of energetics and material resources, Environment for quality life,
Social and cultural challenges, Healthy population, Safe society.
Contact Information
■ Organisation: Embassy of the Czech Republic in the Republic of Korea
■ Name / Position: Mr Jakub Kopecký / Head of Economic Section
■ Phone no. / e-mail: +82 2 725 6763 / [email protected]
Czechia, a mid-sized country with outstanding industrial tradition and cultural heritage,
is well known for its high quality science and innovative spirit. Its universities, research
and innovative centres are open to bilateral and multilateral cooperation. The Czech
Government recognizes that new knowledge and technologies are key to future
prosperity and growth and for coping with global challenges. We stand ready to work
together with experts and officials from other governmental and RDI institutions as well
as with representatives of the academia and help forge partnerships between Czech
scholars, researchers and innovators and their possible international counterparts. We are
keen to identify new opportunities for collaboration, assist in networking across borders
and continents, and to support joint projects matching mutual interest of those willing to
work together bilaterally and multilaterally.
Czech research can build on advanced capacities and knowledge in a number of areas,
including mathematics and physics, digital technologies and AI, cyber security, organic
chemistry, biochemistry, and new materials. Hundreds of millions of people around the globe
have benefited from Czech discoveries and technologies: antiretroviral drugs used in the
treatment of diseases such as HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B (prof. Antonín Holý), soft lenses (prof. Otto
Wichterle), polarography (Jaroslav Heyrovský) or antivirus software (Avast).
Basic and applied research is in Czechia performed at universities and at the institutes of the
Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS). There are altogether 54 institutes of CAS with some 11,000
employees, more than half of them researchers with university degrees.
Large research infrastructures (RIs) funded by the Czech Government (Ministry of Education,
Health and Sports) provide unique, state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, and enable
advanced research (both basic and applied), technology development and innovation.
Their operating costs are covered from the state budget (EUR 85 mil. In 2023); up-grade and
investments are supported from the EU Cohesion Policy Funds (EUR 163 mil. In 2023-2026).
RIs have been built in recent years with the aim to interlink Czech universities, institutes of
CAS and other research centres.
RIs provide unique research facilities and bring together advanced knowledge and expertise.
They are open to collaboration with international partners from RDI organisations and
innovative firms. Many of them are international with English as working language, therefore
RIs could serve as hubs for international cooperation in RDI with involvement of the best
Czech teams.
Smart specialization should ensure long-term competitive edge of Czech private sector
and serve as a driver for technological transformation. Concrete areas and projects with a
high potential for applications have been identified. There are altogether nine “domains of
specialization ready for promotion.
Smart specialization is also implemented at regional level. Each Czech region is building its
own innovation ecosystem. To support that, regional innovation centres have been set up.
They are open to international collaboration.
Strategic documents regarding the National RDI Policy 2021+ can be found at: https://www.
vyzkum.cz/FrontClanek.aspx?idsekce=932081
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Strategic documents regarding the National Research and Innovation Strategy for Smart
Specialization (RIS3) can be found at: https://www.mpo.cz/en/business/ris3-strategy/ris3-
strategy--265275
Strategic documents regarding the National priorities of Oriented Research can be found at:
https://www.vyzkum.cz/FrontClanek.aspx?idsekce=782681
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2023~2024 Science, Technology and Innovation in Europe
■■ Organisation type: organizational unit of the state
Ministry of Education, ■■ Major research areas/products : preparation of the National Research
Youth and Sports and Development Policy of the Czech Republic
(https://www.msmt.cz/ ■■ Contact point:
diplomacy
(https://www.mzv.cz/jnp/
■■ Contact point:
en/foreign_relations/
- Ms Kateřina Joselová
science_and_technology/
- Head of Science Diplomacy Unit
index.html)
- e-mail: [email protected]
7 DENMARK
1. Policies and Strategies in Science, Technology and Innovation
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DENMARK
Country Outline
■ GDP: 380,617 million euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ GDP Per capita: 51,660 euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ Areas of marked S&T specialisations: Energy and environment, Health and Life Science,
Contact Information
■ Organisation: Embassy of Denmark, Innovation Centre Denmark Seoul
■ Name / Position: Ms Inie Madsen / Science & Innovation Counsellor,
Ms Go Wun Kim / ST&I officer
■ Phone no. / e-mail: (+82) 02-6363-4832 / [email protected], [email protected]
In Denmark, research is the key motor for growth and societal development. Denmark is
ambitiously investing in research and is among the strongest research nations, measured in
gross domestic expenditure on R&D. With the national strategy for investments in green research,
technology, and innovation, the government has set a long-term direction to use research
and technology as the pillars to accelerate the development of green solutions to realise the
climate targets of 2030 and 2050). Ambitions are founded in creating continued growth and
development in the public as well as the private sector, while also contributing to some of the
pressing challenges of the future.
In 2023, the European Innovation Scoreboard ranked Denmark as the most innovative EU
member state, highlighting public-private co-publications, international scientific co-publications,
lifelong learning, foreign doctorate students and environment-related technologies.
According to Universitas 21, Denmark has the third best higher education system in the world
in 2020. The ranking reflects the aims of higher education, highlighting the contribution to
innovation through research and the facilitation of interconnections between tertiary institutions
and stakeholders, both domestic and international.
research funds earmarked for green research of an amount equal to EUR 325 million.
Since 2021, the Danish government has invested public funds equal to approx. EUR 140
million to four green InnoMissions focused on challenges with a special need for cutting-edge
solutions to meet the 2030 targets and to set the direction towards carbon neutrality by 2050,
create new jobs and exports of green solutions contributing to a reduction in greenhouse gas
emissions globally:
1. Carbon capture and storage or utilisation
2. Green fuels for transportation and industry (Power-to-x etc.)
3. Climate and environment-friendly agriculture and food production
4. Circular economy with a special attention to plastics
While green research will be prioritized in the years to come, other classical Danish positions
of strengths such as life science, health and welfare technology, and technology and
innovation that can keep production and jobs in Denmark will receive funding.
In June 2023, the Danish government launched the first part of a new strategy on quantum
science. The strategy comprises an investment of one billion DKK to support ongoing
research endeavours in Denmark within the domain of quantum science. This commitment
underscores the prospective significance of quantum technology in crucial areas like
healthcare, the green transition, and cyber security. It solidifies Denmark’s aspiration to
establish itself as a preeminent quantum research hub.
All universities in Denmark are public, and due to a merger of most sector specific research
institutions in 2007, the majority of public research is conducted at Danish universities.
Research and innovation in Denmark is funded partly through universities’ basic funding, and
partly through external and competitive funds from various research and innovation financing
bodies. In addition to public funds, a number of private foundations provide research funding. In
2021, approx. EUR 700 million of Danish research funding came from private Danish foundations
and organisations. The major public and private research funding organisations are as follows:
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Public foundations
• Innovation Fund Denmark
• The Danish Council for Independent Research
• The Danish National Research Foundation
• GUDP, The Environmental Technology Development and Demonstration Program (MUDP)
& Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Programme (EUDP)
Private foundations
• Novo Nordisk Foundation • A.P. Møller Fonden
• Lundbeck Foundation • Carlsberg Foundation
• Villum Foundation • Velux Foundation
• Realdania • Tryg Foundation
• Augustinus Fonden • LEGO Foundation
• Nordea Foundation
Science
■■ Closing Date: August 15 2023
Global Innovation
■■ Participation Qualification: University, public research institution,
Network Program
RTO, research hospital, national cluster
■■ Project Duration: 1-2 years
Innovation Centre Denmark in Seoul facilitates exchanges and networking activities within
research and innovation, connecting Danish and Korean universities and research institutions.
It also supports Danish corporates, SMEs and start-ups with advisory services on navigating
Korea as an innovative hub and supports Danish companies’ innovation collaboration with
Korean partners.
Denmark
Denmark
■■ Collaboration with Korea: KIAT
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4. Science, Technology and Innovation of the EU Member States ●
137
Science, Technology
and Innovation
of the European Countries
8 ESTONIA
1. Policies and Strategies in Science, Technology and Innovation
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ESTONIA
Country Outline
■ GDP: 36,011 million euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ GDP Per capita: 16,250 euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ Areas of marked S&T specialisations: Digital solutions across all areas of life, Health technologies
and services, Valorisation of local resources, Smart and sustainable energy solutions
Contact Information
■ Organisation: Ministry of Education and Research
■ Name / Position: Ms Katrin Pihor / Head of the Research and Development Policy Department
■ Phone no. / e-mail: (+372) 735-0170 / [email protected]
Estonia boasts a long tradition of providing quality education. Its vibrant and international
education and research environment, endowed with the latest developments in
information technology, makes Estonia an attractive place for people looking to work
and study abroad. A top quality that unites Estonians is a reverence for science and
technology.
The general objective of the strategy is for Estonian research, development, innovation, and
entrepreneurship to work together to increase the well-being of Estonian society and the
productivity of the Estonian economy, providing competitive and sustainable solutions for the
development needs of Estonia and the world.
Taking into account the development needs of the Estonian RDI system and entrepreneurship,
the strategy sets the following sub-objectives:
1. Estonia’s development relies on knowledge-based and innovative solutions.
2. Research in Estonia is high-level, effective, and diverse.
3. Estonia’s business environment is conducive to the entrepreneurial spirit and to the
emergence and growth of knowledge-intensive enterprises, the creation and export of
higher value-added products and services, and investments in all regions of Estonia.
KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER
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2. National STI Programmes and Initiatives
International Cooperation Programmes/Initiatives
MSCA results are revealed. See more from the grant website.
Incoming postdoctoral ■■ Participation Qualification: The support can be applied for by a
grant postdoctoral researcher who has received a positive result (at least
https://etag.ee/en/ 70 points) in the MSCA postdoctoral individual grant application
funding/mobility- round within the two years preceding the application but has not
funding/postdoctoral- received funding. The application must include the unfunded MSCA
researcher-grant application and its outcome.
■■ Project Duration: 12-24 months
the 2023 application round is 72,000 euros per year, of which the
grant is 86%, i.e., 61,920 euros, and the co-financing is 14%, i.e.,
10,080 euros (direct costs of the project 57,600 euros, indirect costs
14,400 euros). Dependant on the national funding rates.
■■ Research Fields: The smart specialization fields (see above)
government are for Master and PhD students, however there are
some support schemes available for Bachelor students as well.
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■■ Organisation type: Governmental foundation
■■ The objectives of the Estonian Business and Innovation Agency are
to increase Estonia’s international competitiveness and to develop
entrepreneurship and the living environment. To do this, innovation
and research-intensive solutions are promoted. The organisation
offers grants, loans, venture capital, credit insurance, and guarantees.
■■ To grow R&D activities and investments of private entrepreneurs,
holder), a Center for Applied Research has been created, with focus
topics on biorefining, hydrogen technologies, health data valorization,
drone technologies and self-driving vehicles.
■■ Contact point. Phone: +372 6 279 700, E-mail: [email protected]
[email protected] / [email protected]
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■■ Organisation Type: Public University
■■ Major Research Area/Product:
- Civil Engineering
- Power Engineering
- Electrical Engineering
- Information and Communication Technology
- Chemistry and biotechnology
- Environmental technologies
- Mathematics and Physics
Taltech
- Materials Science and Technology
https://taltech.ee/en
- Social Sciences (incl. Economics)
- Healthcare technologies
- Production technologies, Mechanical and Instrumental Engineering
■■ Major Activities with Korea:
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■■ Organisation type: Public University
■■ Major research areas: musicology, theatre studies, music
education and cultural management
■■ Current cooperation status with Korea: reciprocal faculty visits,
Prof. Henry David Varema, Vice Rector for Artistic Affairs and
International Relations
[email protected], +372 6675703
Ms. Hanneleen Pihlak, International Relations Coordinator
[email protected], +372 6675779
9 FINLAND
1. Policies and Strategies in Science, Technology and Innovation
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FINLAND
Country Outline
■ GDP: 268,411 million euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ GDP Per capita: 37,670 euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ Areas of marked S&T specialisations: 5G/6G, quantum, space, nuclear, AI, photonics
Contact Information
■ Organisation: Embassy of Finland in Seoul
■ Name / Position: Mr. Antti Niemelä /
Minister Counsellor for Economy, Science, Technology, and Trade
■ Phone no. / e-mail: (+82) 02-37010300 / [email protected]
Finland is known for its high scientific and technological knowhow; for example
6G-Enabled Wireless Ecosystems, Artificial Intelligence and Atmosphere and Climate
Competences. In Finland, one of the most competitive and ecological supercomputers in
the world, is located in Kajaani, North-East Finland. LUMI started operating in 2022.
The current plan published in March 2023 seeks, inter alia, to strengthen the role of the Prime
Minister’s Research and Innovation Council (RIC) in the management and coordination of research
and innovation policy; to raise the population’s level of competences, skills and education;
to enhance RDI cooperation between different RDI actors; to direct R&D funding to identified
priority areas; and to tackle and identify societal challenges and advance the twin transition.
The Ministry of Education and Culture is responsible for the planning and implementation
of higher education and science policy and preparing statutes, national budget proposals
and government decisions that apply to these. 14 Universities, including National Defence
University, focus on scientific research and education supporting it. Universities of applied
sciences (24 in total, including sectoral and regional UAS), on the other hand, offer pragmatic
education that aims to respond directly to working life needs. The main emphasis of research,
development and innovation at universities of applied science is on applied research and
development. The science agencies and research institutes support the preconditions for
research activities. (More information on policies on science and higher education https://
minedu.fi/en/higher-education-and-research)
To ensure the freedom and independence of science and higher education, universities are
autonomous actors and independent legal entities that have the right to make their own
decisions related to their internal administration.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment is responsible together with other ministries
for formulating and implementing the governments policies related to STI in various policy
areas. The Ministry works to promote Finlands economic growth and competitiveness by
supporting R&D activities, innovation, and entrepreneurship. The key competences of the
Ministry in STI policy include national innovation policy, technology and industry policy, R&D,
skills, IPR, and international STI cooperation. Examples of initiatives produced by the Ministry
in this domain are The New Intellectual Property Strategy, Artificial intelligence Program and
Sectoral low carbon roadmaps. The Ministry through Business Finland funnels most of the
public RDI funding for businesses. Additionally, EU’s regional and structural policy funds are
also being channeled through the Centers for Economic Development, Transport and the
Environment (ELY Centers) to support the RDI activities of companies and corporations.
The Academy of Finland (Research Council) is a public organization under the Ministry of
Education and Culture. It is a key source of funding for scientific research through open
competition in Finland and an active stakeholder in Finnish and international science and
innovation policy. The Strategic Research Council (SRC) operates in connection with the
Academy of Finland. The majority of the Academys funds are channelled to the research
carried out at universities, and it finances research projects, Flagship Progamme, Academy
Programmes, Centres of Excellence, researcher activities, research infrastructures as well as
international cooperation. The Academys research councils decide on funding allocation to
research carried out in their respective fields. The Academy also carries national responsibility
for EU research programs and international research organizations together with relevant
ministries and Business Finland.
Business Finland is a public organization under the Finnish Ministry of Economic Affairs and
Employment. It is an agency for trade and investment promotion, innovation funding, travel
promotion and talent attraction. Business Finland provides innovation funding in the form of
grants and loans for universities, research institutes, enterprises and public organizations.
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2. National STI Programmes and Initiatives
The Academy of Finland’s Flagship Programme supports high-quality research and increases
the economic and societal impact emerging from the research. The Finnish Flagships
represent an effective mix of close cooperation with business and society, adaptability and a
strong commitment from host organisations. International collaboration is an integral part of
the Flagships’ activities.
The Academy of Finland’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) Programmes contribute to the renewal
of science by supporting new research topics, new methods and approaches, and new
research teams. The Academy of Finland selects CoEs based on international reviews and
science policy objectives. CoEs are at the very cutting edge of science in their fields, carving
out new avenues for research, developing creative research environments and innovations,
and training new talented researchers for the Finnish research and business sectors.
The national Strategic Research Council (SRC) funds high-quality research with great societal
relevance and impact. SRC-funded research seeks concrete solutions to grand challenges that
require multidisciplinary approaches. SRC operates in connection with the Academy of
Finland.
6G Bridge
https://www. The 6G Bridge program aims to make Finland the global leader in
businessfinland.fi/en/ providing new value with 5G Advanced and 6G technologies for
for-finnish-customers/ sustainable industries and societies e.g. in smart cities, smart energy,
services/programs/ smart ports and smart factories with different ecosystem players.
6g-bridge
Quantum Computing
https://www.
The Quantum Computing campaign is developing a globally attractive
businessfinland.fi/en/
ecosystem in Finland to solve significant business problems for both
for-finnish-customers/
Finnish and foreign customers with quantum computing.
services/programs/
quantum-computing
Business Finland is providing innovation funding for joint research projects between Finnish
and South Korean research institutes and universities through its programs and campaigns
in close cooperation with the South Korean Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) and National
Research Foundation (NRF).
Academy of Finland has an on-going discussion with the National Research Foundation (NRF)
regarding funding for joint research projects between Finnish and Korean researchers.
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4. Science, Technology and Innovation of the EU Member States ●
153
Science, Technology
and Innovation
of the European Countries
10 FRANCE
1. Policies and Strategies in Science, Technology and Innovation
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FRANCE
Country Outline
■ GDP: 2,639,092 million euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ GDP Per capita: 33,180 euros (Eurostat 2022)
Contact Information
■ Organisation: Embassy of France
■ Name / Position: Mr. Sébastien Codina / Scientific and Academic Cooperation Attaché
■ Phone no. / e-mail: (+82) 2 317 8530 / [email protected]
France is a major R&D country, well connected in Europe and internationally, equipped
with large world-class research infrastructures. In 2018, its gross domestic spending on
R&D (GERD) would amount to 2.20% of the country’s PNB. With estimated EUR 51.8
billion of global R&D expenses in 2018 France is the second major player in the EU, just
behind Germany. The research effort came from the private sector, which carried out
65.3% of all R&D conducted in France in 2017 (EUR 33.0 billion), and the public sector
(34.7%, EUR 17.6 billion). 441,500 people in 2017 (full time equivalent) were involved in
R&D activities, 61% of which in the private sector.
In 2017, SMEs (including micro-firms) contributed to 18% of GERD and focused more
than 50% of their funding on services. Large enterprises, which accounted for 58% of
GERD, focused 40% of their funding on high technologies (17% aeronautics and space,
12% optical, electronic and computer devices, 10% pharmaceutical industry) and 33% on
medium-high technologies (including19% automobile industry). EUR 24.9 billion (75.5%)
were dedicated to industry, while the remaining EUR 8.1 billion (24.5%) were dedicated
to services. In terms of scientific publications, France was ranked 6th worldwide in 2018
(2.8%). In terms of patent filing, according to the European system, France ranked 4th
in 2018 (6.2% of patent issued) with a significant role in transportation, fine organic
chemistry, mechanical components, special-purpose machines, chemical engineering.
Enshrined by the law on Higher Education and Research enacted on July 22, 2013, the French
National Strategy for Research (FNSR) was released in March 2015 The FNSR, developed
in line with European policies for science and innovation and Horizon 2020, is based on a
consultation with scientific, academic, economic and social partners.
The FNSR identified 10 societal challenges and outlined 5 action programmes, which are the
priority for the French research bodies and will define the strategic plan of public funding
agencies such as French National Research Agency. Those 10 societal challenges are:
• Management of resources and adaptation to climate change: including the intelligent
monitoring of planet Earth, the sustainable management of natural resources, the
evaluation and control of climate and environmental risks, the development of eco-
and biotechnologies and the study of the coastline. France ranks 5th in number of
publications on earth science and 4th for atmospheric science, which means it is an area
in which France already has some expertise.
• Clean, safe and efficient energy: comprising the dynamic management and multi-scale
governance of energy system, energy efficiency, the reduction of the dependence on
strategic materials and the search of fossil carbon substitutes.
• Industrial renewal: including the digital economy, green industry, human-centred
manufacturing procedures, and design of new materials, sensors and instrumentation.
• Health and well-being: focusing on the multi-scale analysis of diversity and life evolution,
the processing and collection of biological data and the establishment of a national
network of centres of excellence for research and healthcare. France ranks 5th in basic
biological research and can rely on a renowned academic system to meet this challenge.
• Food security and demographic challenge: aiming at the achievement of healthy and
sustainable food supply, an integrated approach for productive systems and the
production and diversified use of biomass. France plans to rely on its National Institute of
Agricultural Research (INRA) and on public-private partnerships in this area.
• Sustainable cities and transports: creating observatories for cities, new mobility concepts,
new tools and technologies to ensure sustainability in urban environments and
integrating infrastructures and urban networks for resilience. This is an area of research
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that is relatively new in France but can rely on well-established economical actors,
particularly when it comes to the mobility and water management technologies.
• Information and communication society: focusing on the development of 5G network
infrastructure, IoT, Big Data and man-machine collaboration. In this area, researchers can
rely on a dense and reliable digital infrastructure as well as on an industry base of high
technicality.
• Innovative, integrative and adaptive societies: aiming at the study of cultures and
integration factors, and their abilities to innovate as well as the exploitation of data
to understand the societies and the development of social, cultural and educational
innovations.
• Space: building on the French expertise on spatial science, development of new services
for earth observation and universe exploration, of the telecommunication and navigation
sectors. France is the first space power in Europe and the second in the world in terms of
public effort by inhabitants.
• Freedom and security of European territory, citizens and residents: aiming at the prevention
and anticipation of risks and threats, the integrated approach to crisis management and
the resilience of security systems.
Five action programmes are implementing in the following areas:
• Big data: focusing on the research of generalised solutions for the analysis of nonstructured
data adapted to the use of a wide range of interested parties, the programme will
also comprise the establishment of interdisciplinary communities targeting specific
challenges, the development of infrastructures for the storage and big data processing
and the training of data and knowledge scientists.
• Earth system (Observation, forecast and adaptation): this programme will focus on the
conception and development of disruptive technologies for the observation infrastructure and
processing of associated data, favouring the development of climate and environmental
services and a sustainable food production system with optimal use of biomass through
experimentation within living labs.
• Synthetic biology: this programme aims at the establishment of a scientific community
and multidisciplinary centres on this subject with a view of favouring the training of
researchers and the collection of “omic” (e.g. genomic, proteomic, etc.) data for modelling
life mechanisms.
• From bench to bedside: this programme will support research projects with a strong
potential of fast technology transfer to society and/or industry, thus stimulating health
innovation.
• Human culture: this programme will support the development of multidisciplinary
platforms, large data infrastructures on the study of human culture and behaviour,
research on the influence of human factor on risk management and the transfer of
humanities and social science research into the socioeconomic world.
In addition to the FNSR, France aims to promote the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
technologies, as stated in the Villani Report that was released in March 2018. The objective is
to allow for better circulation of data in order for the public authorities, public research actors
and smaller economic actors to benefit from them. France aims to create “data commons”
and a single-window for AI technologies. The Villani report highlights four priority areas:
health, transport, environment and defence. Presented in November 2018, the French AI
research strategy has two objectives: establish France as a global expert in AI and make the
country a European leader in AI research. Four AI research institutes have been launched in
Grenoble, Nice, Paris and Toulouse.
In March 2019, France presented the Nano Plan 2022, which is a programme of work
and investment in R&D and pre-industrialisation aimed at controlling the production
of new generations of electronic components to meet the need of the automotive, 5G
communications, embedded AI, connected objects, aerospace and security sectors.
However, the French research policy can’t be based solely on those strategic papers. The
government has embarked on a Big Investment Plan worth EUR 57 billion, which will
respond to four major challenges facing France: carbon neutrality, access to employment,
competitiveness through innovation and the Digital State.
The French National Strategy for Research has been reviewed in December 2020 under the
Research Programming Law (LPR). This new initiative, that represents an unprecedented
investment in research, will allow France to remain among the world’s leaders in research and
to address global issues. That is why, LPR will put an emphasis on three main axes:
- Enhance attractiveness of scientific careers
- Reinforce linkages between research and society
- Strengthen funding mechanisms and structuring of research
Under this plan, France aims to allocate 3% of its PNB to R&D before 2023, which amounts to
a budget increase of 1 billion euros every year.
Lastly, France also intends to fully embrace the quantum technological revolution with
a national strategy. The five-year €1.8 billion plan, announced by French President
Emmanuel Macron on January 21st, 2021, aims to finance research in quantum computing,
communications and sensing. The French government will invest €1 billion. The remaining
€800 million will come from commitments made by industrial players (€500 million),
European funding (€200 million), and investors revolving around the French startup ecosystem
(€100 million).
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2. National STI Programmes and Initiatives
International Cooperation Programmes/Initiatives
org/fr/star ■■ Matching fund from Korean government: NRF (Provides funds for
Call on Artificial ■■ Project Duration: 1 year (to start when the sanitary conditions will
Intelligence permit)
■■ Funding Scale and Funding Scheme: up to 50,000 € / project
researchers
Venue: Paris
on higher education,
■■
(KARI)
Technology (KIOST)
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Public research organization
IRSTEA
■■
land management
French-Korean laboratories:
• One International Joint Research Unit:
- UMI 2B-FUEL (Building Blocks for FUture Electronics Laboratory) devoted to the development
of functionalized two-dimensional (2D) materials-based multilayer heterostructures and
molecularly-thin devices for future printed, organic, and large-area flexible electronics
towards autonomous and integrated smart systems.
• One international associated laboratory: France-Korea Particle Physics Laboratory (FKPPL)
• Three international research networks:
- Nano and Micro Systems (NAMIS)
- Reaction-Diffusion Network in Mathematics and Biomedicine (ReaDiNet)
- Gravitational behavior of antimatter at rest
• Institut Pasteur Korea (www.ip-korea.org)
11 GERMANY
1. Policies and Strategies in Science, Technology and Innovation
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GERMANY
Country Outline
■ GDP: 3,876,810 million euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ GDP Per capita: 36,010 euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ Areas of marked S&T specialisations: Automotive & Traffic Technologies, Aviation Technologies,
Contact Information
■ Organisation: German Embassy Seoul / Division Scientific Affairs
■ Name / Position: Ms. Anett Schwarz / Counsellor
■ Phone no. / e-mail: (+82) 02-748-4114 / [email protected]
Research and innovation form a basis for Germany’s present and future prosperity und
progress. They substantially contribute to respond to the grand challenges of our time. In
2023, the German government has launched its “Future Research and Innovation Strategy” in
order to better unlock and seize the potentials of research and innovation.
The Future Research and Innovation Strategy defines the key priorities and milestones of
Germany’s research and innovation policy in the years to come. Thus, it lays the foundation
for an innovation ecosystem, which contributes to protect and preserve our climate,
environment and natural resources, to secure and reinforce Germany’s economic power and
competitiveness; and to strengthen the resilience of society.
Internationalisation Strategy
Internationalisation is now firmly rooted in politics, science and business. The challenges
Germany is facing are global challenges, which are also concerned by other countries in
Europe and countries across the world. That is why the German Federal Government adopted
an updated strategy for the internationalisation of science and research in December 2016 as a
response to the challenges of globalization like climate change, questions of nutrition and food
production, securing our future energy supply, combating poverty and infectious diseases.
The internationalisation of the German science and innovation system has developed
considerable momentum over the last few years. Both the state and the private sector have
made many resources available to secure and extend the scope of Germany’s international
competitiveness. German stakeholders from the worlds of science, business and politics are
heavily engaged in the international arena and numerous initiatives have been launched.
In our globalized world scientific and technological progress are no longer achievable by
individual countries but depend on cooperation and the exchange of ideas with leading
international experts. The five main objectives of the internationalisation strategy are: (1)
Strengthening excellence through global cooperation, (2) Developing Germany’s strength
in innovation on the international stage, (3) Internationalising vocational training and
qualification, (4) Working with emerging and developing countries to shape the global
knowledge-based society and (5) Overcoming global challenges together.
Two examples of academies of sciences and humanities are the National Academy of
Sciences Leopoldina (www.leopoldina.org/en) and acatech – National Academy of Science
and Engineering (www.acatech.de/uk). Founded in 1652 Leopoldina is one of the oldest
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academies of science in the world. In 2008 it was appointed as National Academy of Sciences
and it provides academic advice to both policymakers and society as a whole. Acatech –
the National Academy of Science and Engineering – represents the interests of German
science and technology communities at home and abroad. It provides scientific opinion and
recommendation to policymakers and society.
Besides the academic field non-university research institutes play an important role in
Germany. The following table gives an overview of the German Research Organisations
as well as the Research Funding Organisations including information about activities in
international cooperation and funding programmes.
environment.
■■ Fraunhofer Institutes are cooperating with partners worldwide.
Fraunhofer Society ■■ Many Fraunhofer Institutes have cooperation projects with Korean
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■■ 97 non-university research institutes are part of the Leibniz Association,
twelve of them are currently cooperating with Korean partner
institutes.
■■ Cooperation extends to all five sections of Leibniz-Association:
aim of bringing excellent scientists and scholars from all over the
world to Germany to collaborate and work together.
■■ The alumni network of the Humboldt FoundationAvH is outstanding.
Over 200 Korean Alumni are members of the Humboldt Club Korea
Alexander von Hum- and the Humboldt Society in Korea. Ambassador Scientist in Korea:
boldt Foundation (AvH) Prof. Tsche Kwang-Jun, Kyung Hee University in Seoul.
www.humboldt- ■■ Every year the Humboldt Foundation organises two major colloquia
in all branches.
German Research ■■ Korean Partner: NRF
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Activities with the RoK in 2023-2024
■■ 3 Projects funded
buero.de
■■ First German-Korean call for joint R&D projects for SMEs in July 2014
■■ 9th call: April 2023
■■ Joint R&D projects, focusing on developing innovative products
of Technology (KIAT)
■■ www.zim-bmwi.de, www.kiat.or.kr
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4. Science, Technology and Innovation of the EU Member States ●
171
Science, Technology
and Innovation
of the European Countries
12 GREECE
1. Policies and Strategies in Science, Technology and Innovation
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GREECE
Country Outline
■ GDP: 206,620 million euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ GDP Per capita: 18,710 euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ Areas of marked S&T specialisations: Agrofood, Life Sciences & Health – Medicine, Information
Contact Information
■ Organisation: Embassy of Greece
■ Name / Position: Mr. Konstantinos Daskalopoulos / Counsellor
■ Phone no. / e-mail: 02-729-1397 / [email protected]
In Greece, the efforts so far to mobilize key players through the development and support of
structures that promote research and innovation and through financial support for research in the
public and private sector, led to an improvement of the countrys performance. However, it was
not possible to reduce the gap from the European average or to achieve the national targets
concerning domestic expenditure on Research and Development (R&D). The total gross
domestic expenditure on research as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased
from 0.57% in 2003 to 0.80% in 2013 and to 1,13% in 2017 (provisional), while the relevant
EU-28 indicator increased during the same period from 1.85% to 2.07% (2017). This increase is
mainly due to private sector’s impressive investments on R&D from 488,7 in 2013 to 990,8 in 2017.
The Greek Research, Technological Development and Innovation (RTDI) System shows
strengths including good performance in co-financed EU Framework Programmes, a
substantial Greek representation in international research networks and projects of the
European Research Infrastructure Road Map, a strong Greek research community abroad,
manpower quality and ‘islands’ of excellence in the public research institutions and the private
sector, and also successful Greek presence regarding scientific publications (above the EU
average). On the other hand, the main weaknesses include low expenditure in R&D compared
to the EU average, extremely low performance in patent filing as well as underperformance
in risk financing and venture capital. Recent economic crisis has dramatically affected some
critical aspects of the Greek RTDI system, such as research careers and opportunities, leading
to severe brain drain of junior and senior scientists to advanced countries in Europe, in the US
and beyond.
Responding to the current situation, the Smart Specialization Strategy (RIS3) is inspired by
the vision of Greece that gives priority to people and society, with high quality of life and
low environmental footprint, and takes advantage of the cultural heritage and creation. The
objective of RIS3 is the targeted reform of the country’s productive sector, having as main
driving forces RTDI activities, in order to better balance the existing regional disparities and to
create sustainable employment to the benefit of people and society preserving environment
and culture. In the new emerging era, the innovation policy goes beyond the simple
strengthening of research and technological development in businesses and the research
fabric. It aims to support the improvement of the innovation system as a whole. Components
of the this whole are the human factor producing the new knowledge, the firms, especially
those who experiment on new ideas, technologies and business models to grow and become
more competitive, and a system that creates and diffuses new knowledge removing the
barriers to innovation.
Research bodies (Universities and Research Centres) have an important role to play in
ensuring the robustness of RIS3 as they form the dynamic and internationally recognized
part of the national innovation system and they provide the broad technological base that
is necessary for innovations. One of the concerns of the strategy is not to trap the spectrum
of activities of research institutions through sectoral specialization, but to ensure their
mobilization towards the new business model of the country, increasing the synergies
between public and private investments.
On the other hand, the emergence of new innovative firms and the strengthening of those
who currently persist and are distinguished internationally are important in order for the
country not invent here, exploit elsewhere”. Key factor in this effort is the encouragement of
risk taking attitudes risk and the identification of opportunities arising from the uncertainty
of RTDI activities. In this direction, the learning from failure” process is also element of RIS3.
Thus, RIS3 ensures the development of all RTDI types:
• Innovation from the market needs (demand driven)
• Innovation from scientific curiosity (curiosity-driven) and
• Innovation produced to fulfill strategic mission (mission-led)
To achieve the vision, the country has set a target, in the context of the Medium Term Fiscal
Strategy and the National Reform Program, that investments in research will reach 1.25%
of GDP in 2020 starting from 0.80% in 2013. Respectively, business investment in research is
expected to rise from 0.27% of GDP in 2013 to around 0.38% of GDP in 2020. These targets
could be amended upwards in the mid-term revision of RIS3.
Through the process of entrepreneurial discovery carried out so far, the National RIS3
identifies 8 priority sectors, as follows:
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• Agrofood • Life Sciences & Health – Medicine
• Information and Communication Technologies • Energy
• Environment and Sustainable Development • Transport and logistics
• Materials - Construction
• Culture - Tourism - Cultural & Creative Industries.
The most important financial tools for the implementation of RIS3 are the European Structural
and Investment Funds.
About
Bilateral research agreements aim to enhance cross-border research
collaboration.
About
The Government supports the Greek participants to the Joint Initiative
ERA-NETS (7th Framework programme and Horizon 2020) in specific
thematic areas. The main objectives are to facilitate the networking
of Greek research teams and dynamic SMEs in terms of European and
International Cooperation in specific sectors and the exchange of
technological know-how and best practice.
Instruments
The beneficiaries are universities, technological institutes, research
and technological organizations, enterprises and public organizations
which participate successfully to evaluation procedures of Joint Actions
and Calls of the respective Networks.
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3. Joint Activities with Korea
Joint Bilateral activities with Korea are not currently implemented.
However Greece cooperates with Korean in R&D issues in the context of the EU Framework
Programmes for Research, Technological Development and innovation, by participating
research institutions/enterprises of both countries in joint projects.
Specifically, under the European Unions Research and Innovation funding programme
for 2007-2013 (FP7), participants from Greece and the Republic of Korea cooperated in 15
projects. The majority of those projects (10) were under the Cooperation programme while
the others were under the Capacities programme.
A detailed description of all Research & Technological Organizations under the supervision of
GSRT is provided in the following link:
http://www.gsrt.gr/Financing/Files/ProPeFiles74/Entypo%20GGET%20EU_white.pdf
13 HUNGARY
1. Policies and Strategies in Science, Technology and Innovation
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HUNGARY
Country Outline
■ GDP: 168,865 million euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ GDP Per capita: 14,350 euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ Areas of marked S&T specialisations: health research, automotive industry, biotechnology,
advanced materials, laser science, ICT, energy technologies, brain research, material sciences,
natural sciences
Contact Information
■ Organisation: Embassy of Hungary
■ Name / Position: Mr István MUSZA / first secretary, science and technology counsellor
■ Phone no. / e-mail: (+82) 2-792-2105 / [email protected]
Hungary was the first country from the former Eastern Bloc that established diplomatic
relations with the Republic of Korea, and shortly afterwards the two governments signed
a bilateral Science and Technology cooperation agreement.
In 2014 the Hungarian National Assembly adopted the Act LXXVI of 2014 on scientific
research, development and innovation (RDI Act) that created the National Research,
Development and Innovation Office (NRDI Office). The NRDI Office develops Hungary’s
national strategy for scientific research, development and innovation and manages the
National Research, Development and Innovation Fund as the research funding agency of
Hungary.
The main focuses of science and technology in Hungary are digitalization, ICT, industry 4.0,
electric and autonomous vehicles, smart cities, start-ups, laser research, water research,
biotechnology, life sciences and agricultural sciences.
The RDI policy aims to put Hungary among the strong innovator countries in the EU by
the end of the decade, through the value-creating capacity of the RDI ecosystem, intensive
improvement of the innovation performance of the business sector and consistent
implementation of smart specialisation. To this end, the Government has committed in its RDI
strategy to increase R&D expenditure as a share of GDP to 3% by 2030.
To achieve the government’s goals, competitiveness needs to be enhanced with a high value-
added, innovation-open economy and a business sector that uses and develops modern
technology and is able to respond flexibly to global trends.
The RDI strategy sets out three main overarching objectives for domestic innovation policy:
1. making more use than at present of the research results of public research institutions
(research institutes and higher education institutions);
2. improving the innovation performance of domestic enterprises, especially small and
medium-sized enterprises;
3. strengthening cooperation between actors in the R&D and innovation system.
The objectives of the RDI strategy are structured around three main pillars, as outlined below:
• strengthening knowledge production by expanding and modernising the capacity of the
RDI institutional system and ensuring a supply of researchers;
• enhancing knowledge flows by encouraging more effective cooperation between
actors in the RDI ecosystem, increasing interoperability between sectors and expanding
opportunities for knowledge transfer;
• making more effective use of knowledge by boosting innovation in enterprises.
Increasing the efficiency of knowledge production, knowledge flows and knowledge use is
the basis of the strategy, but to achieve its vision, it is also necessary to move forward on
horizontal issues that have a major impact on the functioning of the innovation ecosystem.
However, RDI actors have only limited influence on these, so government intervention is
essential.
In parallel with the development of the RDI strategy, Hungary also designed the 2021-2027
National Strategy for Smart Specialisation (S3). S3 can be seen as an umbrella strategy for
the strategic planning documents of three areas. These are: the RDI Strategy, the Strategy
for Strengthening Hungarian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, and the National
Digitalisation Strategy, which is about to be adopted by the government.
The integration and alignment of the S3 and the RDI strategy are essential to boost Hungary’s
RDI performance in this decade. While the former defines the horizontal objectives and RDI-
specific areas of intervention necessary for the development of the innovation ecosystem, S3
builds on the pillars of the strategic objectives of the three areas and sets priorities with high
development potential, where the concentration of resources can contribute to increasing the
competitiveness of the economy.
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The Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3) is a policy tool that has been used in the European
Union since the 2014-2020 period. In the EU financial programming cycle 2021-2027, smart
specialisation strategies are expected to contribute in their implementation to the EU’s
“Smarter Europe” policy objective, as well as to the development of regional economies and
the strengthening of structural adjustment to industrial transformation and digitalisation.
In the European Union, Hungary currently ranks among the emerging innovators according
to the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS), which is produced annually by the European
Commission. The Government’s goal is to become one of Europe’s major innovators by 2030,
through boosting the value creation capacity of the innovation ecosystem and the productivity
of the business sector.
In the seven-year period starting in 2021, S3 will contribute to this government goal by
identifying our national strengths and setting out the so-called smart specialisation priorities.
The development of the National Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3) for 2021-2027 was
launched in late 2019 under the professional supervision of the Ministry for Innovation and
Technology and coordinated by the NRDI Office. A change compared to the previous strategy
is that the new S3 was designed with the active involvement of the government departments
responsible for ICT and enterprise development, in addition to that responsible for innovation.
The sectoral deputy state secretariats of the Government will continue to work together
throughout the implementation of the strategy.
The selection of the S3 priorities started with the application of the so-called “entrepreneurial
discovery process” (EDP), in line with EU methodological recommendations, and with the
involvement of a wide range of stakeholders.
One of the instruments of the national EDP was a national questionnaire survey, in which the
NRDI Office assessed the experiences, suggestions and needs of smart specialisation among
the participants of the innovation ecosystem at national level.
Another important step in the entrepreneurial discovery process was the setting up of the
Territorial Innovation Platforms (TIP) network, building on university centers. The platforms
will also play a major role in monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the strategy.
The Government adopted the National Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3) with Government
Decision 1428/2021 (VII. 2.).
In S3, eight national economic priorities identify smart specialisation pathways where the
concentration of resources and the promotion of RDI development can provide a significant
competitive edge for Hungary.
S3 also includes two horizontal priorities on skills development and modernising the business
environment, which support the effective delivery of the national economic priorities. The
objectives of the priorities must be contributed to by the proposals receiving funding in the
2021-2027 programming cycle.
The Innovation ecosystem in Hungary consists Territorial Innovation Platforms, the University
Innovation Ecosystem and the National Laboratories Program. The Territorial Innovation
Platforms (TIP) initiative aims to facilitate territorial partnerships across the country based
on university knowledge bases with an aim to ensure direct access to information about
innovation policy directions, enable and strengthen cooperation between local innovators,
and create new professional foundations. University Innovation Ecosystem: it is a top priority
among the comprehensive objectives of the renewing Research, Development and Innovation
Strategy to encourage active knowledge and technology transfer between the actors of
the innovation ecosystem, including in particular making greater use of the knowledge
dissemination function of higher education institutions. Eighteen National Laboratories
already launched another nine will be launched in 2023 around four headline initiatives:
A safe society and environment, Health, Industry and digitalization and Culture and family.
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2. National STI Programmes and Initiatives
International Cooperation Programmes/Initiatives
https://www.eurekanetwork.org
EUREKA https://www.eurekanetwork.org/countries/hungary
https://www.eurekanetwork.org/countries/south-korea
Stipendium Hungaricum
The Stipendium Hungaricum scholarship was established to provide
Scholarship
support for foreign students studying in Hungarian higher education
http://studyinhungary.
institutions. Based on the Eastern Opening, the program primarily
hu/study-in-hungary/
finances the studies of students from Far East countries, Central
menu/stipendium-
Asian countries, Arabic countries and from the Western Balkans. The
hungaricum-scholarship-
call for the 2024/25 round will be published in November 2023.
programme
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4. Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation Partners
National Research,
Development and ■■ Organisation type: Research funding organisation
Innovation Office ■■ Major research product: It funds research projects in all branches.
(NKFIH) ■■ Current cooperation status with Korea: joint call with NRF
about-the-office
https://nkfih.gov.hu/for-the-applicants/territorial-innovation-
platforms/participating-organisations
■■ https://nkfih.gov.hu/for-the-applicants/innovation-ecosystem/
national-laboratories-programme
National Laboratories
■■ Description of the National Laboratories:
Programme
https://nkfih.gov.hu/for-the-applicants/innovation-ecosystem/
national-laboratories-programme/laboratories
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4. Science, Technology and Innovation of the EU Member States ●
187
Science, Technology
and Innovation
of the European Countries
14 IRELAND
1. Policies and Strategies in Science, Technology and Innovation
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IRELAND
Country Outline
■ GDP: 506,282 million euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ GDP Per capita: 77,430 euros (Eurostat 2022)
Contact Information
■ Organisation: Embassy of Ireland
■ Name / Position: Mr Alan McGreevey / Deputy Head of Mission
■ Phone no. / e-mail: (+82) 010-4997-7202 / [email protected]
As a small, open economy, Ireland relies on external demand and international markets
for sustainable and continued growth. Research and innovation have long been
recognised as the engine of sustainable economic growth. Now they must play a role
in helping to address emerging trends, urgent climate action, digital transformation,
pandemic preparedness and building resilience to shocks in the context of rising global
competition and instability. Building long lasting and meaningful relationships with
international partners of excellence is important to drive Ireland’s research and innovation
performance. Ireland has a strong reputation for scientific excellence and is a world leader
in generating and using new knowledge for economic and social progress. Our global
rankings for individual subject areas further demonstrate that we continue to play an
important role globally. Ireland is now 2nd in immunology, 3rd in agricultural sciences, 3rd
in pharmacology and toxicology, and 4th in neuroscience and behaviour. By transforming
the level and quality of interactions between our higher education research institutions
and businesses, and investing in a network of Technological Universities across the
country, we have developed a world-beating capacity to commercialise our public
research. We are proud that Ireland remains first in the world for knowledge diffusion, but
are continuing to make the necessary reforms to remain competitive in a highly dynamic
EU and global research environment.
transformation, economic competitiveness, health and well-being, and agriculture, food and
the marine.
The most important action in the Strategy is the amalgamation of Science Foundation
Ireland and the Irish Research Council, into a new multidisciplinary body, currently under
establishment. The streamlined architecture will create benefits across a range of areas, such
as deepening enterprise R&I, building capability across the network of research institutions,
talent development across a whole-of-career, researcher mobility, and research culture. It will
also include the establishment of science advice structures across Government.
In the space of 25 years, Ireland has gone from a base of 800 R&D active firms, with a research
spend of €300 million, to approximately 1,800 R&D active enterprises spending almost ten
times that. In 2019, 72.5% of total R&D expenditure in Ireland was performed in the business
sector. The top 100 enterprises in terms of R&D spend account for almost 75% of BERD. This
reflects a trend observed across OECD members where a smaller concentration of larger
enterprises account for an increased share of R&I investment.
Pillar 5 in particular places a strong emphasis on our cooperation within EU frameworks and
programmes, including Horizon Europe. Ireland currently participates in 3 so-called Important
Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEIs), on batteries, high-performance computing
and microelectronics. We will build on already strong participation by Irish researchers in
cross-EU initiatives, with a goal of securing €1.5 billion from Horizon Europe. The strategy also
aims to deepen footprint beyond the EU, including in Asia, and specifically Korea.
Ireland does not have specific programmes targeted at the Republic of Korea. However, there
are a range of programmes which can facilitate interactions (both business and academic)
with Korean counterparts.
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Programme Title Contents
SFI Industry Research, The SFI Industry RD&I Fellowship Programme 2023 seeks to support
Development and academia-industry interactions in order to address industry‐
Innovation Fellowship informed challenges. Awards under this programme can be made
programme to academic researchers (at faculty and postdoctoral level) wishing
SFI Industry RD&I to spend time in industry worldwide through the temporary
Fellowship Programme placement of academic researchers with an industry partner.
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4. Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation Partners
15 ITALY
1. Policies and Strategies in Science, Technology and Innovation
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ITALY
Country Outline
■ GDP: 1,946,479 million euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ GDP Per capita: 28,180 euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ Areas of marked S&T specialisations: Life sciences, biotechnology, aerospace, aeronautics,
Contact Information
■ Organisation: Embassy of Italian Republic
■ Name / Position: Dr. Massimo Passera / Science and Technology Counsellor
■ Phone no. / e-mail: (+82) -2-7500240 / [email protected]
The public research system, with HERD (High Education Research and Development)
of 0.37% and GOVERD (Government Expenditure on R&D) of 1.50% of GDP in 2019,
performs the greater part of R&D. Higher education and Public Research Institutions
(PRIs) contribute to innovation in a number of ways but their co-operation with business
firms needs to be improved. In order to improve public research performance, a reform
of funding mechanisms for and management of universities was approved in 2010 by
Parliament and is being implemented. The reform of the PRIs under MIUR has also
recently been undertaken.
Various initiatives aim at bridging the gap between academia and industry. Technological
districts and high technology poles as well as public-private laboratories are established
in different parts of the country. The National Innovation Fund (FNI) was created in 2012
by MiSE to facilitate the financing of innovative projects based on the exploitation of
industrial designs and patterns. In addition, the Innovation Package introduced in 2011
supports the patenting activity of SMEs. The National Technology Platforms and Industrial
Innovation Network (RIDITT) were set up in 2010 to ensure dissemination of innovation
and technology between research system and enterprises.
Italy is addressing various cross-cutting research issues considered crucial for enhancing
economic growth, e.g. research on the natural and cultural heritage and on the complex
systems of smart cities.
Moreover Italy has improved its Revealed Technological Advantage (RTA) in environment-
related technologies over the past decade and will soon develop a specialization if this
trend continues.
Business
enterprise
24% Public Research
organisations
41%
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as public-private laboratories are established in different parts of the country. The National
Innovation Fund (FNI) was created in 2012 by MiSE to facilitate the financing of innovative
projects based on the exploitation of industrial designs and patterns. In addition, the
Innovation Package introduced in 2011 supports the patenting activity of SMEs. The National
Technology Platforms and Industrial Innovation Network (RIDITT) were set up in 2010 to
ensure dissemination of innovation and technology between research system and enterprises.
Globalization : The Strategy for the Internationalization of Italian Research (SIRIT 2010-
15) integrates the national research priorities, notably the EU’s 2020 Strategy. Italy actively
participates in EU R&D programmes, the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures
(ESFRI) and other European initiatives such as EUREKA (for international S&T cooperation)
and Erasmus (for mobility of students and researchers).
Emerging technologies : Italy is addressing various cross-cutting research issues considered
crucial for enhancing economic growth, e.g. research on the natural and cultural heritage and
on the complex systems of smart cities.
Green innovation : Italy has improved its RTA in environment-related technologies over the
past decade and will soon develop a specialization if this trend continues. The government
provides a number of incentives for renewable energy production. The Energy Account (Conto
Energia) initiative promotes solar photovoltaic, and a Kyoto Fund was set up to finance
measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Green Certificates (CV) promote electrical
energy produced from renewable sources and White Certificates – energy efficiency labels
(TEE) – encourage energy-saving measures. A package of fiscal incentives for energy efficiency
interventions in existing and new buildings was approved by Parliament in 2011.
The Industry 2015 programme (2006-15) sets out to support business networks and industrial
innovation projects and includes a fund for enterprise finance. However, the National
Reform Programme 2011-12 requires general policies to have a small impact on the national
budget. The country’s south and SMEs have attracted special attention in STI strategies
and policies. The National Strategic Framework 2007-13 includes the National Operational
Programme (PON) Research and Competitiveness 2007-13, funded by the European Regional
Development Fund (ERDF) and by the national Revolving Fund (Fondo di Rotazione), which is
of high importance for regional cohesion and competitiveness.
In 2019 GERD (Gross Expenditure on R&D) was just 1.80% of GDP, about half of the OECD
average, and more in line with the R&D intensity of emerging economies. The business sector
performs only around half of GERD, a low share for an advanced economy. At 0.80% of GDP
in 2019, BERD lags behind the OECD average, with business sector innovation performance
varying across firms and regions. In fact, a segment of innovative firms, including flexible
SMEs, coexists with many non-innovative firms operating at low levels of productivity.
Moreover, much R&D and innovation capacity is concentrated in northern and central regions
of the country. The low share of industry-financed public R&D is indicative of weak industry-
science linkages. Venture capital is in short supply and the patenting rate of young firms is
low. In general, Italy tends to perform better on indicators of non-R&D-based innovation (for
example, it leads in Community designs).
Joint labs:
• Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and the Sustainable economic
development (ENEA) – Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST): Fuel Cells and
Hydrogen applications
• University of Pavia – Korea National University of Culture Heritage: Applied technologies
to the conservation of textiles and wooden manufacts
Bilateral projects:
• Italian Institute of Marine Sciences (CNR-ISMAR) – Korea Institute of Ocean Science and
Technology (KIOST)
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2023~2024 Science, Technology and Innovation in Europe
• Italian Institute of Polar Science (CNR-ISP) – Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI)
• Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) – Korea Institute for Basic Science (IBS)
• Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic
• Development (ENEA) – Korean Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
(ETRI)
• Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic
• Development (ENEA) – Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR)
• Italian National Institute for the Treatment of Cancer (INT) – Korea National Cancer
Center (KNCC)
• Polytechnic of Milano – Sungkyunkwan University
• University of Bergamo – Inha University, Kyungpook National University
• University of Firenze – Korea University, University of Seoul, Sungkyunkwan University
• University of Padova – Korea University, Seoul National University, University of Seoul
• University of Palermo – Pusan National University, Busan University of Foreign Studies
• University of Pavia – Korea National University of Culture Heritage
• University of Pisa – Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and Dankook University
• University of Rome “Tor Vergata” – Hoseo University
• University of Siena – University of Seoul
• University of Torino – Ewha Womens University
• University of Trento – Chonbuk National University and Hallym University
ITALIAN KOREAN
RESEARCH AREA TITLE
COORDINATOR COORDINATOR
EV-C@p: Plant-derived
KIM Kwang-Pyo
Agrifood for biotech Extracellular Vesicles as POCSFALVI
(Kyunghee
and biopharma novel biotechnological Gabriella
University-
applications platform for biopharma (CNR-IBBR)
Global Campus)
applications
Development of a gas
sensor fabrication method
Advanced COMINI Elisabetta
for the integration of a YOON Jun-Bo
materials and (Università di
highly selective sensing (KAIST)
nanotechnologies Brescia)
material and low power-
consuming heater
Understanding Holocene to
Prevention of natural historical volcanic eruptions GROPPELLI SOHN Young-Kwan
disasters, including and related hazards in Korea: Gianluca (Gyeongsang
Vulcanology Lessons from active (CNR-IGAG) National University)
volcanoes of Italy
200 ●
2023~2024 Science, Technology and Innovation in Europe
Italian National Agency
Organisation type: Research Organization
for New Technologies,
■■
16 LATVIA
1. Policies and Strategies in Science, Technology and Innovation
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2023~2024 Science, Technology and Innovation in Europe
LATVIA
Country Outline
■ GDP: 38,870 million euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ GDP Per capita: 13,280 euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ Areas of marked S&T specialisations: Knowledge-based Bio economics, Bio medicine,
Contact Information
■ Organisation: Embassy of the Republic of Latvia to the Republic of Korea /
LIAA Representative office in the Republic of Korea, Foreign Trade Promotion
Department
■ Name / Position: Mārtiņš Baumanis / Counsellor of the Ministry of Economics /
Latvia is a country with strong scientific traditions with a high share of the population
having completed tertiary education. The overall business conditions are good and
that provides an opportunity for innovation-driven growth. The main goals for research
in Latvia as defined in the Smart Specialization Strategy is to specialize in five priority
areas that will transform the national economy towards the production of the goods and
services with greater added value.
In order to achieve this goal, major reforms in the research and development sector
were implemented that allowed to modernize the existing research infrastructure and
consolidate research potential in 20 internationally competitive research institutes that
are integrated with higher education and industry.
As a result, the share of high technology products in Latvia’s exports and the overall
productivity of the economy are gradually increasing and our research system is
becoming more open and internationally competitive what can be seen in our high
activity in Horizon 2020. The overall goal is to increase the total R&D investment to 1.5%
of GDP. These investments should also include an increase in private R&D funding from
21% in 2016 to 48% in 2020.
Research environment
Finance
Human resources
Priorities
Ongoing projects
The Investment and Development Agency of Latvia as the National Technology Transfer Centre
provides different kinds of activities to support technology transfer and cooperation between
research institutions and industry. The agency supports international cooperation opportunities
for foreign investors, researchers, enterprises and governmental organisations.
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2. National STI Programmes and Initiatives
International Cooperation Programmes/Initiatives
https://www.viaa.gov.lv/ Latvia
en/latvian-state- ■■ Call Opening/Closing Date: Follow on: https://www.viaa.gov.lv/en/
scholarships latvian-state-scholarships
■■ Project Duration: 2023/2024
University of Latvia studied at the UL. For local students the UL offers Asian Studies,
www.lu.lv including Korean regional studies module (e.g. courses like
“Contemporary Korean Society”, “Philosophical and Religious
Streams in Korea”) at both bachelor and master levels. It is
possible to study Korean language at 4 different levels of difficulty.
In March 2016, the Korean Study Centre was established at the
University of Latvia. In July 2015, the student-sportsmen of the UL
participated in the Summer Universiade in Gwangju, Korea.
■■ Future Plans: UL plans to intensify the exchange of students and
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■■ Organisation type: university & research institutes
■■ Major Research Area/Product: Riga Technical University (RTU) is
the largest university in Latvia and leading engineering university
in Baltic States with more than 15,000 students in nine faculties.
RTU offers engineering and business programmes, e.g. Business
Management, Civil Engineering, Chemistry, Chemical Technology,
Mechanics, Computer Systems, Telecommunications, Aviation
Transport, Power Engineering, Medical Engineering, Applied Linguistics,
at bachelor, master and doctoral level fully in English. Modern
laboratories and approaches in all engineering, natural science
and business study programmes. Students from more than 50
countries. Multicultural Environment at the university campus and
Riga Technical
all university faculties.
University
■■ Major Activities with Korea: RTU has bilateral cooperation agreements
http://www.rtu.lv/en
with the following universities in South Korea: Kyungpook National
University, Pukyong National University, Kongju National University,
Handong Global University.
■■ RTU has been working with exchange students from Korea since
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4. Science, Technology and Innovation of the EU Member States ●
209
Science, Technology
and Innovation
of the European Countries
17 LITHUANIA
1. Policies and Strategies in Science, Technology and Innovation
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2023~2024 Science, Technology and Innovation in Europe
LITHUANIA
Country Outline
■ GDP: 67,399 million euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ GDP Per capita: 15,100 euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ Areas of marked S&T specialisations: 1. Health technologies and biotechnologies / 2. New
Contact Information
■ Organisation: Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in the Republic of Korea
■ Name / Position: Ms. Asta Slavinskaite / Minister Counsellor
■ Phone no. / e-mail: (+82) 2-2031-3500 / [email protected]
What makes Lithuania the perfect partner in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI)?
• Lithuania ranks first in EU for GDP per capita growth (2000-2020).
• Lithuania is the 11th freest economy in the world.
• Lithuania is among the top 5 of the most rapidly growing countries in the EU in the field
of R&I in the time period from 2015 to 2022 according to the European innovation
scoreboard 2022.
• By the end of 2030, public funding of R&I is to reach 1 % of the GDP, thus ensuring further
growth of high value added economy and fruitful international cooperation opportunities
in STI.
• Lithuania has a world-renowned players open for collaboration in the field of biotechnology
(for example, Nobel prize-candidate prof. Virgnijus Šikšnys from Vilnius University with
revolutionary CRISPR-Cas9 technology), photonics (with Teltonika, Light conversion, Ekspla,
Brothers Semiconductors and etc.) and fintech.
• Lithuanian industrial parks are hubs of industrial collaboration, providing ready-to-use
facilities for R&D and production.
• With two unicorns and more than 760 active startups, Lithuania is a hotbed for developing,
testing and scaling cutting-edge innovation.
• In Lithuania 58% of 25-34-yearolds have tertiary education (7th in the OECD).
• Lithuania is the 2nd globally for digital skills.
To strengthen R&D role in all policy fields the Research Development Program envisages an
establishment of the positions of science and innovation advisors in all ministries and the
Government office. To boost visibility of Lithuanias science sector internationally the Horizon
Europe acceleration plan with specific measures was created.
The concept of smart specialization for 2021-2027 was approved in 2022. It aims to strengthen
research and innovation capacities, create new technologies and simultaneously increase the
countrys competitiveness and positions in global markets.
Three R&I priorities have been approved, which will be the basis for the promotion and
support of research and innovations in the country:
1. Health technologies and biotechnologies,
2. New production processes, materials and technologies,
3. Information and communications technologies.
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2. National STI Programmes and Initiatives
International Cooperation Programmes/Initiatives
(www.lmt.lt/en)
■■ Call Opening/Closing Date: Two times per year
(earliest – 07.14-09.14)
■■ Participation Qualification: The project consortium is led by an
org/countries/lithuania/ ■■ Matching fund from Korean government (if yes, what is funding
eurostars process?): If you are based in South Korea and seeking funding for
Eurostars R&D project, your first point of contact is with the Korea
Institute of Advancement of Technology (KIAT). KIAT supports
South Korean organisations interested in international collaboration
giving them access to expertise and supporting their growth
(https://kiat.or.kr/front/user/main.do).
■■ Others: The budget of the SMEs from the participating countries
(www.lmt.lt/en)
■■ Call Opening/Closing Date: To be confirmed.
process?): If you are based in South Korea and seeking funding for
Networking project, your first point of contact is with the Korea
Institute of Advancement of Technology (KIAT). KIAT supports
South Korean organisations interested in international collaboration
giving them access to expertise and supporting their growth
(https://kiat.or.kr/front/user/main.do).
■■ Others: No single organisation or country can be responsible for
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Activities with the RoK in 2023-2024
Lithuanian and taking place in Lithuania and Korea in order to start forging
Korean researchers collaborations
■■ Target Participants: Researchers
Date: agreement came into force on May 9, 2022 and valid for
■■
scientific projects
■■ Contact point: [email protected]
Research Council of
■■ Others: The Research Council of Lithuania is open to any kind of
Lithuania
cooperation aimed to support and promote bilateral and multilateral
www.lmt.lt/en
scientific activities and to facilitate networking and mobility of
researchers. The Research Council of Lithuania can help organisations
collaborating on international R&D projects to find project partners
and offers advice and support ranging from a concept to
commercialisation of research results.
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■■ Organisation type: budgetary institution, providing independent
expertise and advice to the parliament and the Government on
research and higher education, culture, social development,
economy, environmental protection, health care, technology, and
The Lithuanian other issues.
Academy of Sciences ■■ Major research areas/product: consistent encouragement of high-
(Email: [email protected])
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4. Science, Technology and Innovation of the EU Member States ●
219
Science, Technology
and Innovation
of the European Countries
18 LUXEMBOURG
1. Policies and Strategies in Science, Technology and Innovation
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2023~2024 Science, Technology and Innovation in Europe
LUXEMBOURG
Country Outline
■ GDP: 77,529 million euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ GDP Per capita: 86,130 euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ Areas of marked S&T specialisations: Environment
• The first one aims to consolidate the public research organisations with, in particular, the
merger of the Tudor and Lippmann Public Research Centres. This merger should allow
for the building of critical mass in areas with major prospects for cooperation with
Luxembourgish industry such as materials and sustainable development with some less-
promising research subjects being discontinued.
• The second one aims to reform FNR which allocates funds on a competitive basis. This
reform targets better valorisation of research results notably through enabling actions
to support ‘proof-of-concept’. In this context a reform of the FNR’s researchers training
scheme (AFR) is foreseen. It will foster inter-sectoral (public/private) mobility. Many
initiatives have been developed to foster private R&D, public-private cooperation,
innovation and entrepreneurship:
- The law of 5 June 2009 provides state aid for the private sector with a special focus on
SMEs and services-sector innovation. The law of 18 February 2010 provides public aid to
the private sector in the field of eco-innovation. The law on Intellectual Property (IP) tax
incentives (21 December 2007) encourages companies to patent and licence the results
of their R&D work, and also fosters spinoffs and start-ups based on IP.
Moreover the new government announced its intention to put in place a process to enable
public research organisations and firms to develop common research agendas focused on
middle- and long-term targets.
core ■■ Funding Scale and Funding Scheme: The total budget allocated
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3. Joint Activities with Korea
Not Applicable
email: [email protected]
19 MALTA
1. Policies and Strategies in Science, Technology and Innovation
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MALTA
Country Outline
■ GDP: 17,450 million euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ GDP Per capita: 24,650 euros (Eurostat 2022)
Contact Information
■ Organisation: The Malta Council for Science and Technology
■ Name / Position: Ms Ramona Saliba Scerri / Deputy Director
Strategy, Policy & Internationalisation Unit
■ Phone no. / e-mail: (+356) 23602121 / [email protected]
Malta has a population of 436,947 (2016) living in an area of 316 square kilometres,
making the country one of the smallest and most densely populated countries in the
world. Whilst having a very open economy, the country has a narrow export base and
this makes Malta highly susceptible to external economic fluctuations. Therefore, when
looking at Malta’s Research and Innovation system, the international context cannot be
ignored. At a macro level, Malta has a stable political, economic and financial system, and
a number of high value-added economic sectors stimulated by foreign direct investment.
On the other hand, Malta’s R&I system is very young and small, resulting in a relatively
fragmented system and sub-optimal critical mass. Brain drain is an ongoing threat and
the lack of public research institutes and large-scale research infrastructures can provide
a challenge when attracting local and foreign researchers. However, Malta’s National R&I
Strategy 2020 attempts to address the gaps of the system and provide measures to build
a stronger and enabling R&I framework, whilst making the most of the opportunities at
hand, such as Malta’s geographical location, its membership to the European Union, its
international linkages thanks to the diasporas of Maltese researchers and innovators, and
marketing Malta as a test-bed for new technologies due to its small size.
s approach to R&I is strongly business oriented and focused on close to market research and
transition to innovation. Supporting the route from ideas to market in a holistic manner is a
prime goal of Malta’s new R&I Strategy. Within this context, industry-academia collaboration,
support to private sector investment and effective transfer of knowledge are of crucial
importance in making sure that good ideas and research efforts yield the desired results. The
document may be downloaded from the following link http://mcst.gov.mt/policy-strategy/
national-research-innovation-strategy. Following the finalisation of the National R&I Strategy,
Malta also prepared an R&I Action Plan in order to map out the operationalisation of the R&I
Strategy.
As stated, one of the Strategy’s pillars is Smart Specialisation, a new strategic approach
conceived within the reformed Cohesion policy of the European Commission and hence
tied with funding of research and innovation under the respective priority axis. Smart
Specialisation is a place-based approach characterised by the identification of strategic areas
for intervention based both on the analysis of the strengths and potential of the economy
and on an Entrepreneurial Discovery Process (EDP) with wide stakeholder involvement. It
is outward looking and embraces a broad view of innovation including technology-driven
approaches. Malta’s areas of specialisation were identified through a bottom-up process
and work is ongoing to continue developing our competitive areas through focus groups,
workshops and dedicated seminars, the monitoring system and technical and political
committees. The current areas are high value-added manufacturing, health with a focus on
e-health and healthy living and active ageing, aviation and aerospace, aquaculture, maritime
services, resource efficient buildings, tourism product development and ICT.
One of the main indicators for monitoring the implementation of the Strategy is investment
of R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP. Over the years, R&D expenditure as a percentage
of GDP and also in real terms, show that Malta’s investment has been increasing over time,
and in the past few years has remained more or less stable, reaching an investment of 0.61%
in 2016 (latest available data). Most of R&D investment comes from the business sector, yet
over the years the higher education sector showed the largest increase in expenditure, and
investment from government remaining mostly stable. Another indicator used to measure
progress is the number of researchers expressed as full-time equivalents, which since 2011
has shown a steady increase towards the targets set in the Strategy (746 in 2011 compared to
829 in 2016). The number of PhD holders as a percentage of the active population increased
substantially since 2009 and over the past few years has remained stable (0.19% in 2009
compared to 0.40% in 2016).
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2. National STI Programmes and Initiatives
20 NETHERLANDS
1. Policies and Strategies in Science, Technology and Innovation
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NETHERLANDS
Country Outline
■ GDP: 958,549 million euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ GDP Per capita: 43,800 euros (Eurostat 2022)
Contact Information
■ Organisation: Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
■ Name / Position: Mr. Peter Wijlhuizen / Senior Officer for Innovation, Technology and Science
■ Phone no. / e-mail: (+82) 2-311-8600 / [email protected]
Through their interactive approach to finding innovative solutions to the big challenges
facing the world today, the Dutch way of thinking and working has been shaped by
centuries of living in the low-lying delta of the Netherlands. Through the ages, the
Dutch have joined forces to find ingenious ways to tackle challenges related to water,
urbanization, energy, food, health and security. By being inventive, pragmatic and
open to new challenges, the Dutch have created a flourishing and resilient country.
The Netherlands is a consistently evolving ecosystem of cities, industry, agriculture
and nature, all integrated through smart infrastructure. It is a source of knowledge and
experience that the Dutch are keen to share with others. Learning from the past to create
a better future. Together, seeking sustainable solutions for the most liveable world. The
Netherlands is one of the most competitive and innovative countries worldwide as it has
ranked the No.5 from the Global Innovation index in 2020. The Netherlands is the world’
s second-largest agriculture exporter after the United States. The port of Rotterdam is
one of the world’s largest harbours and it is a gateway to Europe. The Dutch University
researchers are among the most productive in the world, and the Netherlands is one of
the most wired countries in the world.
The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (Min. OC&W) focuses on scientific research
and education. It is responsible for funding basic research and for the public research
infrastructure. The policies of the Min. OC&W’s are implemented by agencies and research
institutes that fall under its remit.
November 2014, the government’s new white paper on science was released: Vision for
Science 2025. Choices for the Future. It identifies three challenges that the Netherlands need
Innovation Policy
Innovation policy is closely related to science policy. The Ministry of Economic Affairs &
Climate Policy (EZK) bears primary responsibility for innovation policy in the Netherlands. It
focuses on fostering knowledge development in companies and on collaboration between
research institutions and companies.
The core of the policy is the government’s plan to make targeted investments in nine leading
sectors of the economy. The idea is to tackle problems hampering growth in these sectors. The
cooperation between enterprises, scientific institutions, regions and the government will be
continued within a new financial framework. The government has chosen nine sectors in which
the Netherlands excels as a result of its geography and history: water, agro-food, horticulture,
high-tech systems & materials, life sciences, chemicals, energy, logistics and creative industries.
Over the next few years the government plans to tackle administrative problems. This will
involve improving professional education, removing obstacles to trade, strengthening the
infrastructure, scrapping unnecessary rules and ensuring easier access for knowledge workers.
In addition, 1.5 billion euros of research funding will be targeted at the nine leading sectors
across the entire government budget. Entrepreneurs, the authorities and research institutions
in each sector have drawn up their joint research agendas.
In 2021, the Netherlands spent 19.5 billion euros on R&D. The government invested about 6
billion euro in R&D via direct and indirect funding. Most direct funding goes via intermediary
organisations (like NWO and RVO). Indirect funding are tax incentives whereby the Dutch
government pays a proportion of the wage costs and other costs (e.g. equipment) associated
with research and development. The total R&D expenditures in the Netherlands in 2021
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amounted to 2.2 percent of Dutch GDP.
■■ https://www.eurekanetwork.org
JTI / EUREKA ■■ https://www.eurekanetwork.org/countries/netherlands/eurostars
■■ https://www.eurekanetwork.org/countries/south-korea/clusters
■■ http://english.rvo.nl/subsidies-programmes/wbso-rd-tax-credit-
andrda-research-anddevelopment-allowance
WBSO / RDA
■■ Tax incentive for companies and institutes located in the
country-and-the-netherlands/south-korea/trade-mission
Mission Korea for cooperation. They will attend H2Meet, join the seminar,
participate in B2B matchmaking events and site visits.
■■ Target Participants: Hydrogen related companies and institutes
Joint Innovation ■■ Objective: Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the
Committee Meeting Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate policy will have a
and Korea EUREKA Day Joint Innovation Committee meeting to discuss about mutual
cooperation on Innovation subject. Furthermore there will be some
Dutch companies joining the Korea EUREKA Day event.
■■ Target Participants
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■■ Major topic or agenda: Semiconductor Mission
■■ Date and Venue: 25-27, October, 2023, COEX
■■ Objective: Dutch Semicon companies will participate in the SEDEX,
Semiconductor
they will also have a seminar and B2B matchmaking event to meet
Mission
with Korean companies.
■■ Target Participants: Semicon related companies, universities and
institutes
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Brainport is an innovative high-tech region, responsible for a quarter
Brainport, of all private investment in R&D in the Netherlands. Brainport
http://www. generates 37% of all patents registered in the Netherlands each
brainport.nl/en year. Focus areas are renewable energy, safe mobility and smart
remote care.
21 POLAND
1. Policies and Strategies in Science, Technology and Innovation
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POLAND
Country Outline
■ GDP: 654,594 million euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ GDP Per capita: 14,620 euros (Eurostat 2022)
Contact Information
■ Organisation: Embassy of Poland
■ Name / Position: Mr Karol Peczak / Counsellor
■ Phone no. / e-mail: 02 723 9681 (ext. 654) / [email protected]
Poland has a lot of young, qualified scientists and one of the highest Gross Enrolment
Ratios (GER) in Europe (51%). Poland continues to allocate more and more funds to
science and R&D support. In 2019, its gross domestic expenditure on research and
development (GERD/GDP) was 1.32% (1.21% in 2018). Its R&D spending per capita was
PLN 789 and was 18.2% higher than a year earlier. The number of R&D businesses grew
by 1.5% (Statistics Poland data for 2019).
According to European Commissions data, the most important sectors of Poland’s
economy in 2018 were wholesale and retail trade, transport, accommodation and food
services (26.2%), industry (25.6%), and public administration, defence, education, human
health and social work activities (14.0%). Trading with other EU Member States accounts
for 80% of Polish exports (28% to Germany, 6% each to the Czech Republic and France).
Exports to both Russia and the USA represent 3%. When it comes to imports, 69% is from
EU Member States (27% from Germany, 6% from the Netherlands, and 5% from Italy).
Imports from China account for 8%, and from Russia for 7%.
Every year, the European Commission publishes the European Innovation Scoreboard1), a
ranking to illustrate the rates of growth of all European countries in innovation. In 2020,
top positions on the scoreboard were taken by Scandinavian countries. Since 2012, EUs
innovation performance has grown on average by 8.9%. Globally, Europe was better than the
USA for a second time. This ranking shows that the efficiency of the innovation system within
the European Community, and in Poland, is steadily growing year by year. As a result, we are
catching up with some more innovative countries, such as Japan.
In the European Innovation Scoreboard 2020, Poland is 24th, ranking only above Hungary,
Bulgaria, and Romania. Poland ranks among countries referred to as Moderate Innovators.
This is the third leading group of countries after Innovation Leaders, which include Denmark,
Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Sweden, and Strong Innovators, including Austria,
Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, and Portugal. Poland is among EUs 13 Moderate
Innovators, which include Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia,
Lithuania, Malta, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain. The last group, Modest Innovators, includes
only two countries, Bulgaria and Romania.
In this report, Polands performance was the strongest in two areas, Innovation-friendly
environment, where we ranked 8th in the EU, and Employment impacts, where we ranked
14th. Moderate Innovators, such as Poland, Malta, Lithuania, and Spain, do well in Innovation-
friendly environment, performing above the EU average. These results improved significantly
between 2012 and 2019, with the highest performance increase recorded in Poland (by 182%),
Finland (by 162.3%), Malta (by 128.6%), Spain (by 127.6%), and Portugal (by 109.2%).
The report praises Poland for its entrepreneurship and top talent, especially in the innovative
sectors. And our weakest innovation dimensions are Innovators and Attractive research systems.
NCBR is the largest agency to finance R&D projects in Central Europe. Every year, it allocates,
on average, PLN 5 billion to support R&D projects. Our applicants can find attractive
opportunities in NCBRs competitions. We announce several dozen competitions every
year. These are mainly R&D projects, but there are also initiatives to improve the quality of
work and science in domestic scientific organisations. NCBR also serves as an intermediary
between the worlds of science and business to facilitate innovation. Since its inception in
2007, NCBR has provided to Polish companies and scientific organisations more than PLN 60
billion worth of funding to drive innovation by funding R&D projects.
NCBR acts as the Intermediate Body for two major Operational Programmes, Operational
Programme Smart Growth and Operational Programme Knowledge Education Development.
Both these programmes are supported from the EU. In addition, NCBR manages a number of
initiatives to implement domestic and strategic programmes into R&D. In NCBR, we also run
competitions to support national defence and security, through which we finance innovative
solutions for the Polish Army and national security agencies, such as the police, border guard,
fire service, etc. NCBR is involved in many partnerships with key government institutions in
Poland, and with strategic Polish companies. Our applicants can find attractive opportunities
in NCBRs competitions. We announce several dozen competitions every year. These are
mainly R&D projects.
In the new EU perspective for 2021-2027, the National Centre for Research and Development
will serve as National Contact Point for Horizon Europe. Based on the previous, long experience
of our National Contact Point experts in implementing Horizon 2020, and in connection with
the launch of the new Horizon Europe, NCBR is planning to develop a comprehensive support
package for Polish applicants to increase the involvement of Polish entities in Horizon Europe.
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International cooperation
NCBR enters into international partnerships to find global markets for domestic innovation.
With this in mind, we participate in 90 international initiatives, implement bilateral
collaboration programmes, coordinate a research programme supported from Norway Grants
and EEA, carry out multi-lateral and international research programmes (ERA-NET, ERA-NET
PLUS, ERA-NET COFUND), cultivate international relations, support Polish entities in Teaming
for Excellence, and represent NCBR during assembly meetings, initiatives and international
programmes. We are involved in international programmes and projects across the world,
from Nevada to Taiwan and South Africa.
In addition, we enter into and contribute to international relations and agreements, and
have signed 10 such agreements. As it initiates and concludes formal bilateral partnership
agreements with foreign partners, NCBR takes into consideration the following factors – R&D
level of that state, priority target areas, economic benefits, Polish scholars best experiences
from international cooperation, cultural relations, and historical links at state and research
unit levels.
To sum up, NCBRs international cooperation rests on three pillars, which create synergies and
complement individual measures to contribute to strengthening the international position of
the Centre, while also providing support to Polish entities in their international efforts. These
pillars are:
• participation in international programmes and initiatives, where NCBR supports international
projects involving Polish entities
• actions in Brussels to, e.g., support negotiations and decision-making connected with Horizon
Europe
• providing assistance to Polish applicants in preparing project applications, and involvement
with Horizon Europes Programme Committees.
As it designed its financial perspective for 2021-2027, the European Union took measures
against climate change and environmental degradation, recognising these as major threats
to Europe and the world. As a result, it developed a new strategy to transform the EU into a
modern, resource-efficient, and competitive economy
• which by 2050 will have achieved zero net greenhouse gas emissions,
• which will separate economic growth from resource consumption,
• where no individual or region is left behind.
The European Green Deal is a plan of action for a sustainable EU economy. This can be
achieved by transforming climate and environmental challenges into new opportunities
across all policy areas, and by making sure that this transformation is fair and socially
inclusive. In its operations, NCBR has responded to todays challenges, initiating a number
of projects that embrace the philosophy behind the European Green Deal. In order to make
the implementation of these solutions possible and successful, NCBR is announcing projects
and starts processing grants on a Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) basis. With PCP,
economic operators can propose specific solutions, which are often innovative, to meet the
requirements defined for the project. Research is conducted simultaneously by several entities
working for the Contracting Authority, i.e. NCBR. PCP-based programmes usually have several
stages followed by outcome selection and a reduction in the number of contractors.
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2023~2024 Science, Technology and Innovation in Europe
Description: Type of collaboration: Required consortium with a
Polish company.
Financing institution: National Centre for Research and
Development
Opening/closing dates: From 23 December 2020 to 19 March 2021
Innovative
Thematic area: The main goal of “Innovative Biogas Plant” is to
Biogas Plant
develop and present an innovative universal biogas plant
technology characterised by efficient processing of a diverse
stream of organic substrates into biogas, and then cleaned and
upgraded into bio-methane.
Competition budget: PLN 32,500,000
Programmes planned for 2021 within the European Green Deal. These programmes will be
implemented according to their thematic scope:
• Heat and cold storage (extension of a system based on the development of green methods
for heat and cold storage, characterised by low costs of use)
• Electricity storage (extension of power systems for storing electricity)
• School and house ventilation (improving comfort in schools and houses, while reducing
the costs of construction and limiting energy consumption)
• House water retention technologies (efficient water management in buildings and improving
local water retention)
• CHP plant of the future (extension of the energy system largely based on distributed sources
of renewable energy supplied at very low marginal costs but irregularly)
• Heating plant of the future, or RES-based heating system (developing an energy-efficient,
affordable, and easy-to-install technology to reduce energy consumption, energy poverty,
and smog)
For detailed information on how each programme is progressing, please visit our website (gov.
pl/NCBR, gov.pl/innowacje).
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4. Science, Technology and Innovation of the EU Member States ●
243
Science, Technology
and Innovation
of the European Countries
22 PORTUGAL
1. Policies and Strategies in Science, Technology and Innovation
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2023~2024 Science, Technology and Innovation in Europe
PORTUGAL
Country Outline
■ GDP: 242,340 million euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ GDP Per capita: 19,310 euros (Eurostat 2022)
Contact Information
■ Organisation: Embassy of Portugal - Trade Section
■ Name / Position: Ms Joana BARROS / Economic and Commercial Counsellor
■ Phone no. / e-mail: (+82) 02 766-7960/1 / [email protected]
FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology is the Funding Agency for Science and
Research in Portugal. FCT supports the scientific community in Portugal through a
range of funding schemes, tailored for individual scientists, research teams or R&D
centres. Through its funding schemes, FCT supports graduate education, research and
development, establishment and access to research infrastructures, networking and
international collaborations, conferences and meetings, science communication and
interactions with industry. Scientists from all nationalities, and in any research area, may
apply to FCT for funding.
The national technology and scientific ecosystem has evolved considerably, not only through
diversification but also through promotion of scientific career, on one hand, and increased
integration in existing networks for knowledge and science and reinforcing the connection
between the R&D institutions, Collaborative Laboratories, public administration and
companies, on the other.
The Strategy 2030 will continue the afore mentioned measures, and established new goals
until 2030: increase the R&D expense to 3% of GDP; create 25.000 R&D jobs in companies,
double the number of technology companies, increase in 25% the number of national patents
and increase the ration of high tech exports in our total exports by 9%.
The underlying goal, through this new strategy, is to transfer and apply the results from
R&D into the economy/market, while also supporting companies with reduced internal R&D
infrastructure (in particular, SMEs) and promoting qualified entrepreneurship in emergent and
R&D intensive sectors.
It includes a total of 56 RIs in six thematic domains: Energy (4 RIs), Environment (7RIs), Health
and Food (20 RIs), Physical Sciences and Engineering (14 RIs), Social and Cultural Innovation (7
RIs) and Digital infrastructures (4 RIs).
Regarding the cooperation between economy/industry and the R&D institutions, the
Recovery and Resilience Plan (2021-2026), approved by the European Union, operationalizes
the Strategy 2030 and offers further insight on the sectors and respective allocated public
budget, as follows:
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International Cooperation Programmes/Initiatives
(https://recuperarportugal.gov. ■■ Forestry;
Programme 3- i01: Blue Hub, it will also promote an innovative concept of Blue Hub
Infrastructure Network for the School. There will be areas reserved for companies, their
Blue Economy (87 M€)/ technological development and their specific intellectual
MEASURE C10 – Sea property, but also areas for interaction between companies,
(https://recuperarportugal.gov. between companies and science and knowledge centres,
pt/?lang=en; https://www.fct.pt) between companies, universities and training centers.
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INESC TEC is a private non-profit research association, Present
INESC-TEC Instituto de in 6 sites in the cities of Porto, Braga and Vila Real, INESC TEC
Engenharia de Sistemas e incorporates 13 R&D Centres, structured in four themat-
Computadores ic domains - Computer Science, Industrial and Systems
https://www.inesctec.pt/pt Engineering, Networked Intelligent Systems, and Power and
Energy.
Universidade de Braga
https://www.uminho.pt/EN/
The School of Engineering focus its activities on the traditional
uminho/University-Bodies/
areas of Engineering, as well as on emerging and unique
Unidades-Organicas-Ensino-
areas with a strong research component.
Investigacao/Pages/Escola-de-
Engenharia.aspx
CBQF (Centro de Biotecnologia The CBQF (Centro de Biotecnologia e Química Fina – Centre
e Química Fina – Centre of of Biotechnology and Fine Chemistry) is a Research Cen-
Biotechnology and Fine Chemistry) tre created in 1992 within the Faculty of Biotechnology of
https://www.cbqf.esb.ucp.pt/en/ the Catholic University of Portugal (ESB). It is interested in
cbqf collaborating with Korea in the agrifood sector.
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4. Science, Technology and Innovation of the EU Member States ●
251
Science, Technology
and Innovation
of the European Countries
23 ROMANIA
1. Policies and Strategies in Science, Technology and Innovation
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ROMANIA
Country Outline
■ GDP: 284,173 million euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ GDP Per capita: 10,040 euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ Areas of marked S&T specialisations: Energy, Environment and Climate change, Advanced
Materials
Contact Information
■ Organisation: Embassy of Romania
■ Name / Position: Mr Cătălin PETRUȘ / Minister Counsellor
■ Phone no. / e-mail: (+82) 7974924 / [email protected]
The quality of research facilities is high in Romania. Romania has now top-level research
infrastructure and is considered more than competitive by the highest Western standards.
This could support the implementation of successful and complex Horizon Europe
projects. There is an excellent available infrastructure, not only in universities, but also at
national level. Romania is hosting a European research infrastructure with global impact –
the ELI Extreme Light Infrastructure and other 10 research facilities of European interest in
engineering, energy, socio-economic sciences, physics, environmental, marine and Earth
sciences, material sciences, chemistry and nanotechnologies, as well as life sciences.
The National Strategy for Research, Innovation and Smart Specialization is structured around
four general objectives:
SNCSI is implemented by the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalization through the
National Plan for Research, Development and Innovation (PNCDI) which includes 10 specific
programs as financing instruments for RDI projects.
For 2022-2030 the PNCDI budget is up to 60 billion Lei and is provided from amounts from the
state budget, external non-refundable funds and contributions from project partners.
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2. National STI Programmes and Initiatives
International Cooperation Programmes/Initiatives
■■ Cluj Innovation City is the major project for our community and the
region. Cluj Innovation City is bringing together t local authorities,
the universities and the business community to foster the development
of the city, region and country. Cluj Innovation City represents a
collaboration ecosystem and synchronized urban development
project based on education, innovation and entrepreneurship, with
the main goal to create a sustainable community in years to come.
■■ Cluj-Napoca has built a solid reputation in recent years as the most
Also, there is a direct cooperation with Korean researchers within the EUREKA Initiative. Thus
between 2015-2023, through the National Plan of Research, Development and Innovation,
Romania allocated from the State budget, grants for 4 joint EUREKA projects.
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4. Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation Partners
Ministry of Research, ■■ The RDI policies are implemented by the Romanian Government
Innovation and through the MCID
Digitalization (MCID) ■■ Contact Information: Phone no. +40-21-319.23.26 /
24 SLOVAKIA
1. Policies and Strategies in Science, Technology and Innovation
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SLOVAKIA
Country Outline
■ GDP: 109,645 million euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ GDP Per capita: 16,340 euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ Areas of marked S&T specialisations: Materials and nanotechnology, Biomedicine and
Contact Information
■ Organisation: Embassy of the Slovak republic
■ Name / Position: Mr. Michal Bordean / Head of Economic and Commercial Affairs
■ Phone no. / e-mail: (+82) 2-794-3981 / [email protected]
While Slovakia has become for RoK in the past decade a country with one of the most
intensive foreign investments in the whole Europe, as well as top 4th export destination in
EU, cooperation in S&T has only started recently. So far, the cooperation between Korea
and Slovakia in the field of S&T has been developing mainly through various mobility
programmes, minor individual projects and multilateral research platforms. Based
on the Agreement on S&T cooperation between the governments of both countries
that entered into force in 2014, the first Joint Committee took place in October 2016.
Launching of the Joint Committee has created new windows of opportunity for Korean
and Slovak researchers, students and science related capacities to participate in diverse
and appealing S&T projects in years to come. Moreover, during the summit of V4+RoK
in December 2015, two new MoUs were signed to boost S&T cooperation. One is related
to platform V4 and RoK and the other MoU was signed between the Slovak Academy of
Science and Korean Institute of Material Science. In 2018 another two MoUs were signed:
(i) Slovak Academy of Science and National Research Foundation of Korean; (ii) Slovak
Innovation and Energy Agency and Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and
Planning; to foster the cooperation. 2021 is expected to be a year the second round of the
Joint Committee will take place.
As for many developed economies, science and innovation has become one of the
focal points of Slovakia for sustainable economic development, employment and future
growth. However some challenges still remain, such as the gap in R&D expenditure
compared to the rest of EU (1% of GDP), as well as an issue to get more private
companies involved in the research and innovation process. The aim is to increase private
funds in R&D and achieve ratio at least 2:1 between private and public funds, while the
total expenditure in R&D is planned to double in the near future.
The key authority for the implementation of RIS3 is the Government Council for Science,
Technology and Innovation with two independent agencies appointed for implementation:
Research Agency and Technological Agency.
The main tools of funding of research and development under current legislation Slovak
Research and Development Agency (SRDA) – the main agency for distribution of public
finances for research and development on the competitive basis in Slovakia. SRDA is
responsible for research and development promotion in all research fields, including
international research cooperation. In the 2021-2027 period there are planned expenditure on
operations and programmes of SRDA in total sum of EUR 300 million, which is supposed to
be increased in the later part of the period. (http://www.apvv.sk).
Incentives for research and development are provided to entrepreneurs. In the 2015-2020
period the total amount of R & D incentives provided from the National budget was 51 million
EUR. Solely in 2019 funds allocated to the business sector (including funds from the European
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2023~2024 Science, Technology and Innovation in Europe
Structural Funds) ammounted to 0,45% of GDP and are expected to slowly grow in upcoming
years. It is an essential tool for promoting and stimulation of R&D in business sector.
Grants under the of Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic
to legal persons and individuals and Grants for scientific and technical services in the
following period have planned budget of 10 million EUR from the National budget.
Businesses also have the opportunity to apply for funds provided by the Research and
development agency or the Research Agency based on currently open calls ammounting to
30 mil. EUR, or 250 mil. EUR respectively.
The main executive and self-governing scientific institution in Slovakia is Slovak Academy of
Sciences which comprises of 23 research institutes and 69 organisations. (www.sav.sk)
As an example of excellent R&D work can serve R&D projects with worldwide potential like:
• Tachyum with development centers in Bratislava and Santa Clara (USA) develops a high-
performance, universal processor chip for data processing, artificial intelligence (AI) and
supercomputers (HPC);
• MultiplexDX , which develops highly accurate diagnostic tests for effective and personalized
treatment of breast cancer and has launched the first Slovak PCR test for COVID-19;
• Sensoneo , which develops an intelligent solution for waste management (combining
advanced sensors with cloud software and transport management) for cities and
transport companies;
• AeroMobil , a flying car
On the level of national programmes there are regularly mobility initiatives available, such as
SASPRO (http://www.saspro.sav.sk). Please check more for current mobility initiatives at www.
sav.sk.
(Asan)
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■■ Organisation type: National Science Institute
■■ Major Research Area/Product: 23 research institutes
http://www.sav.sk/?lang=en&doc=activity-offers-results-products
■■ Major Activities with Korea: Various partnership programmes, such
as:
SAV
• ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC: A study of strong interacting
Slovak Academy
matter properties at high energy densities
of Science
• K2 Mobility - Sustainable Vehicle Technology
(SAS)
■■ JRP Program V4 (SAS) – Korea
www.sav.sk
■■ The Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS) and Slovak Academy
(sav.sk)
V4 & Korea
■■ Contact Information: [email protected], [email protected]
25 SLOVENIA
1. Policies and Strategies in Science, Technology and Innovation
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SLOVENIA
Country Outline
■ GDP: 57,037 million euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ GDP Per capita: 21,860 euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ Areas of marked S&T specialisations: See Smart Specialization Strategy - S5
Contact Information
■ Organisation: Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation
■ Name / Position: Ms Tanja Vertelj / Head of Science Division,
Mr Domen Petelin / Deputy Head of Mission / Embassy of Slovenia
■ Phone no. / e-mail: +82 (0)2 7979971 / [email protected], [email protected]
Research and innovation has always had an important place in Slovenia, with a clear
recognition that it is key for our social development and equality. Slovenia has a long
tradition in science, technology and innovation, which stems from the time it was considered
to be the development powerhouse of former Yugoslavia. Slovenia has a very strong R&I
base in terms of capacity with above average number of researchers both in EU and OECD
terms. The R&I ecosystem covers all fields of research and is in its innovation and technology
segments connected to the automotive industry, pharmaceutics, nanomaterials, IT and
robotics, and recently artificial intelligence (AI). The strength of the system derives from
a relatively highly educated population with tertiary educational attainment at 49.2% in
2021 (above EU and OECD average) and the highest share of population with doctoral or
equivalent education (3.8%) among OECD countries (2018 data).
Policy and executive: The Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation is the primarily
responsible policy authority in the field of R&I policy in Slovenia.
Advisory bodies: Development Council of the Republic of Slovenia is the governments expert
advisory body for scientific research and innovation. It is composed of ministers, responsible for
policy areas directly connected with R&I (science, innovation, economy, finance, development,
digitalization, energy, environment, agriculture) and representatives of the key stakeholders in
R&I (Academy of Sciences and Arts, Chamber of Commerce, Rectors’ Conference, Coordination
of Independent Research Institutes (KOsRIS), trade unions, students, researchers, researchers
from abroad, strategic R&I partnerships, …).
Research funding: The Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (ARIS) is the principal Re-
search Funding Organization (RFO). As an independent public funding organisation, it performs
tasks relating to the Resolution on the Slovenian Scientific Research and Innovation Strategy
2030 (ReZrIS30) and co-creation of the European Research Area (ERA).
Research performing organizations (RPOs): Slovenia has 4 public universities, 3 private universities,
19 national research organizations and more than 600 R&I industry units. Together they repre-
sent the principal landscape of the RPOs in Slovenia.
Centres of excellence: Centres of Excellence (CoE) are defined as high quality multidisciplinary
teams of researchers from academia and business. Eight CoE were established and cover a wide
variety of scientific fields and societal challenges, among them health (CO BIK), space (CO SPACE),
chemistry and biology (CIPKEBIP), low-carbon technologies (CO NOT), biotechnology (ENFIST),
polymers and pharmaceutics (POLIMAT). With support from Horizon 2020, The InnoRennew
Centre of Excellence was established in 2017 and is dedicated to carrying out cutting-edge
scientific research on the use of renewable materials, to innovative and interdisciplinary
research on wood and its applications, and to the transfer of knowledge and results to the
economy and society. The Centre for the Technologies of Gene and Cell Therapy was approved
for support from Horizon Europe in 2022 and represents a Centre of that will set new milestone
in the Slovenian healthcare system.
Strategic development and innovation partnerships (SRIPs): SRIPs are an effective instrument
for connecting actors in the fields of research, development and innovation, thus contributing
to the development and added value of the economy, Currently, Slovenia has 9 running SRIPs
in fields of Smart Cities and Communities, Smart Buildings and Home including Wood Chain,
Circular Economy, Sustainable Food Production, Sustainable Tourism, Factories of the Future,
Health – Medicine, Mobility and Materials as end Products.
Key documents
Resolution on the Slovenian Scientific Research and Innovation Strategy 2030 (ReZrIS30)
ReZrIS30 is the principal strategic document in the field of R&I in Slovenia. It sets several ambitious
objectives and provides concrete measures to achieve them by 2030. The objectives are out-
lined within five (5) distinct policy objectives that form the foundations of a modern research
and innovation ecosystem:
(1) Effective governance of the scientific R&I system;
(2) Enhanced investment in R&I;
(3) Researchers’ career development and excellent science;
(4) Excellent and internationally competitive Research Infrastructure;
(5) Accelerated cooperation between science and industry, knowledge transfer and innovation.
A number of horizontal objectives also form a part of the strategic priorities and include (1)
Openness and participation in the international space, (2) Open Science to improve research
quality, efficiency, and responsiveness, (3) Socially responsible science (ethics and integrity in
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research and among researchers), and (4) Ensuring Gender Equality in Research and Innovation.
One of the key novelties of the ReZrIS30 is that it sets a very ambitious target in terms of financing
R&I in Slovenia with an objective to increase public investment in R&I to 1.25 % of GDP by 2030,
with public investment at 1 % of GDP by 2027, and total investment in R&I to reach 3.5 % of GDP
by 2030.
Budget year
*E
stimates for 2023 and 2024 are based on the provisions of the Act on Scientific Research
and Innovation and do not yet present the adopted level of funding by the Government.
Strategy for the Internationalisation of Higher Education and Science in the Republic of
Slovenia 2030
The purpose of the strategy is to ensure an attractive research environment both in the national
and international context. The Internationalisation Strategy for the first time addresses two key
areas (science and higher education) of the knowledge triangle together in a single strategic
document. The strategy focuses on key aspects of strengthening international cooperation in
higher education and scientific research.
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3. Joint Activities with Korea
Activities with the RoK in 2023-2024
Agreement on
Joint activities with Korea are undertaken on the basis of the
scientific and
■■
medn/dvostr/drzave/Koreja/rezultati/arhiv.asp
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■■ Organisation type: Public university
■■ Major research areas/products: UL is the oldest and largest higher
education and scientific research institution in Slovenia, founded in
University of Ljubljana 1919. It has approximately 40,000 undergraduate and postgraduate
- UL students and approximately 6,000 staff. With its 23 faculties and
(https://www.uni-lj.si/ three arts academies it covers all research fields and areas. It is
university) the central and largest research institution in Slovenia with 30
percent of all registered researchers.
■■ Current cooperation status with Korea: n/a
26 SPAIN
1. Policies and Strategies in Science, Technology and Innovation
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SPAIN
Country Outline
■ GDP: 1,346,377 million euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ GDP Per capita: 24,910 euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ Areas of marked S&T specialisations: Bio including Health, Green technology including
Contact Information
■ Organisation: Spanish Office for Science and Technology to South Korea
■ Name / Position: Dr. Jordi Espluga Bach / Director
■ Phone no. / e-mail: +82(0)7041170888 / [email protected]
The main funding agencies in charge of the management and funding of the Master Plan are
the “Agencia Estatal de Investigación” (AEI) and the “Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico y la
Innovación” (CDTI), both under the Ministry of Science and Innovation. The main actions of the
Ministry are found around these four pillars,
1. Personnel, talent promotion and employment: Human resources, Mobility, Incorporate
talent in research
2. Enhance the research and technology system: Knowledge, Infrastructures and equipment,
Encourage participation of research institutes
3. Industrial Leadership: Foster Industrial research & Experimental development, Promotion
of horizontal technologies, Industry 4.0
The second pillar is in regard of the digitalization of the economy, the 2025 Digital Agenda
(“Agenda Digital 2025) around 10 major pillars: 1. Reduce the digital gap; 2. 5G technologies; 3.
Knowledge building in digital technologies;4. Cybersecurity; 5. e-Government; 6. Digitalization
of companies, including e-commerce; 7. Digitalization of the industry; 8. Contents; 9. Big data
and artificial intelligence; and 10. Digital rights.
The State Secretariat for Research under the Ministry of Science and Innovation is responsible
for the planning of research and development, including the supervision of international rela-
tions. The funding programs are largely managed by the funding agencies of CDTI and AEI.
Following the agreements with Korea, the collaboration is centred around industrial leadership
and societal challenges, implemented mainly through multilateral programs like the Horizon
Europe and EUREKA, as well as of Bilateral scope subject to joint calls for proposals in Mobility,
Smart Manufacturing, Energy, and Information & Communications Technologies. There are also
initiatives in view of Mobility of researchers funded under the Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions
(MSCA).
In this line, the joint activities are planned under the agreements with the Korean Ministries
MSIT and MOTIE, covering various forms of joint research collaboration between Spain and
Korea.
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2023~2024 Science, Technology and Innovation in Europe
List of Joint R&D Programmes of Activities with the RoK
KSSP and one SME. Research institutes and universities are encouraged to
participate
■■ Project Duration: From 12 to 36 months
27 SWEDEN
1. Policies and Strategies in Science, Technology and Innovation
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SWEDEN
Country Outline
■ GDP: 563,030 million euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ GDP Per capita: 46,280 euros (Eurostat 2022)
■ Areas of marked S&T specialisations: Life Science, Sustainable Urban Management, Aerospace,
Energy and ICT, Mining, Minerals and Steel, Forest Products and Biomass
Contact Information
■ Organisation: Embassy of Sweden
■ Name / Position: Mr. Lars Hammarström / Science and Innovation Counsellor
■ Phone no. / e-mail: (+82) 2 3703 3700 / [email protected]
Innovation Policy
The Swedish research and innovation policy will be geared towards Excellence, Internationalisation
and Innovation. For that purpose, a new research and innovation bill will be presented.
The Swedish business community is a hotbed for prosperity and innovation, and nowadays
also a world leader in sustainability and green transition. The government is an active partner in
that work. Free economy and free enterprise are the basis of prosperity in Sweden.
Universities and colleges contribute strongly to the development of society and the
competitiveness of business. Science and research must be free from political control. The
rules for highly qualified foreign researchers and doctoral students are improved to strengthen
Swedens competitiveness as a research nation.
The country’s R&D expenditure as % of GDP was 3.53% (World Bank 2020) and about 70% of
this R&D spending comes from the industry. The Swedish Parliament grants R&D funds and the
Ministry of Education and Research is responsible for overall coordination of research policy in
the government offices.
There are four main research funding agencies in Sweden. The Swedish Research Council (VR)
is the largest civil recipient of the R&D fund in Sweden and provides around SEK 7.4 billion
(730 million USD) in funding for basic research in all areas of research each year. The Swedish
Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (Formas) supports
basic and needs-driven research in the fields of environment, land-based industries and spatial
planning. Formas distributes about 1.7 billion SEK (176 million USD) annually. The Swedish
Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (Forte) supports and initiates basic and
needs-driven research in the fields of the labour market, work organization, work and health,
public health, welfare, and social relations. The organization distributes 800 million SEK (78
million USD) each year. The Swedish Innovation Agency (Vinnova) contribute to sustainable
growth by improving conditions for innovation by funding innovation projects and research
needed to develop new solutions. Vinnova distributes 3 billion SEK (293 million USD) annually.
Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE), is a single holding entity and a group of public research
institutes that receives government funding. The overall objective of RISE is to support sustainable
development of Sweden and help the country to gain more international competitiveness. RISE
budget is 3.6 billion SEK (351 million USD) annually and is expected to serve as a knowledge
partner for businesses, an intermediary between academia and industry, and a nexus for
participation in EU R&D projects.
Four research funding foundations were established by the government in the mid-1990s.
These include the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF), the Foundation for Strategic
Environmental Research (MISTRA), the Knowledge Foundation (KK) and the Swedish Foundation
for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education (STINT). Annually, about 180
million USD is contributed for basic research by these foundations. Support from other public
research foundations is also important contributions to research. For example, the Bank of
Sweden Tercentenary Foundation (RJ), foundation is a public fund and supports research in
Humanities and Social Sciences.
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Private financiers are also important and provide significant contributions to research in
Sweden. Notably, the Wallenberg Foundations distributes 253 million USD worth of grants
every year. Sweden’s second biggest research-oriented foundation based on assets, is Torsten
Söderbergs Stiftelse , that provide grants of 8 million USD each year. The third largest private
research foundation is Jan Wallanders and Tom Hedelius Stiftelse.
Swedish Research ■■ Previous calls have focused on the exchange for use of national
■■ Research project grants are annual calls within medicine and health,
natural and engineering sciences, humanities and social sciences,
educational sciences, development research and artistic research.
The calls within the different topic areas open in spring every year.
Research project grant
■■ The purpose of the project grants is to give researchers the freedom
(Vetenskapsrådet/
to formulate by themselves the research concept, method, and
Swedish Research
implementation, and to solve a specific research task within a
Council)
limited period (usually between 1-4 years).
www.vr.se/inenglish
■■ The main applicant must be employed by a Swedish administrating
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3. Joint Activities with Korea
Activities with the RoK in 2023-2024
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4. Science, Technology and Innovation of the EU Member States ●
283
Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Korea
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +82-2-3704-1755 Fax: +82-2-739-3514