European research funding

Here you can read about European funding opportunities from the EU, private foundations and business sector.

Specific program support at KI

The Horizon Europe program

The Horizon Europe funding program is a political research and innovation framework program covering a period from 2021 to 2027. The Commission starts to work on a new work program several years before the actual calls are official and open. The current program has a budget of EUR 95,5 billion. The Horizon Europe program is one of the tools to put the strategies from the Horizon Europe strategic plan into reality.

Basic Overview (pdf) of the Horizon Europe program:

  1. Pillar I is one of the three pillars of Horizon Europe and aims to support excellent scientific research of the best researchers and their teams (European Research Council - ERC) and supports researchers’ training, mobility, and career development (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions – MSCA). The Research Infrastructure program, as part of pillar I, provides access to world-class research infrastructure.
  2. Pillar II also called Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness aims to tackle major global challenges, address Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and promotes European industrial competitiveness through research and innovation activities.
  3. Pillar III also called Innovative Europe aims to support breakthrough innovations. 

Widening Participation and strengthening the European Research Area is a sub-program aiming to support countries lagging behind in research and innovation to increase their performance and potential by improving their research and innovation systems. Strengthening the Widening Countries would strengthen  European Research and the EU as a whole.

Information about future calls (requires KI-login)
Horizon Europe - Research and innovation framework programme
Horizon Europe Reference Documents
Horizon Europe's first strategic plan 2021-2024
Horizon Europe stratigic plan 2025-2027
Horizon Europe strategic plan 2025-2027 analysis
Funding & tender opportunities

The second pillar of the European commission’s 9th framework programme, Horizon Europe, consists of six clusters with a focus on Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness. These collaborative calls concern health, culture, inclusive society, civil security, industry, space, climate, energy, food, bio-economy and environment.

European Commission - Funding and Tender opportunities Portal
Grants awarded to KI from the European Commission
Funding opportunities within Horizon Europe pillar II
Information about future calls (requires KI-login)

Budget and related financial information
Find EU rules, budget templates and what to consider while preparing the financial part of the Horizon Europe pillar II application.

ERC provides long-term funding to support excellent investigators to pursue ground-breaking, high gain/high risk research. Scientific excellence is the sole criterion on which ERC frontier research grants are awarded. These grants operate on a 'bottom-up' basis without predetermined priorities. The ERC awards funding to excellent investigators looking to set up or consolidate their own independent research team or programme, as well as to already established research leaders.

Open Calls
ERC Funding at KI

ERC Grant Types overview

ERC Application Guidelines
Read how to apply for ERC grants with KI as the host institution, find call deadlines and required documents

ERC Budget Instructions
Get advice on how to prepare and justify your ERC budget

Step by step to ERC Grants
The ERC has prepared a comprehensive overview video of the ERC application process.

MSCA supports all stages of researchers’ careers and focuses on training of researchers with advanced skills acquisition and career development with focus on international, intersectoral and interdisciplinary mobility as well as transfer of knowledge. The research topic and field is chosen freely by the researcher in a bottom-up manner.

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions | Staff Portal

MSCA Grant Types:

The EIC is a part of the European Union’s Framework Programme for research and innovation (Horizon Europe), aims to identify, develop and support innovative, high-risk projects. The EIC suppors frontier research and innovation projects with a high potential impact on technology.

Read about the EIC
EIC Pathfinder Grants - support for KI applicants

EIT Health (European Institute for Innovation & Technology Health) is an EU-funded, pan-European consortium of top universities, healthcare providers, leading healthcare companies and public and private research centers, and an integral part of Horizon Europe. EIT Health supports entrepreneurship and innovation to promote healthy living and active ageing, to improve the health of European citizens and to transform the way healthcare is delivered in Europe. KI is an active partner of EIT Health.

EIT Health activities in 2023

EIT Health strives for obtaining socio-economic impact along its three strategic objectives:               

  • Better health for all
  • Competitive health economy
  • Sustainable health systems.

By 2030 EIT Health aims to be Europe’s leading health innovation platform, facilitating longer, healthier lives and more sustainable healthcare systems.

The Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) is a public-private initiative aiming to accelerate cross-sectoral approaches to facilitate the creation of new products and services for people-centred healthcare.

Read about IHI and get support at KI
IHI Strategic Research Agenda
The IHI newsletter

Erasmus+ supports international collaboration and exchange within education, training, youth and sport.

KI application support within Erasmus+
Open calls

European research funding

Documents