At the end of 2025, the European Commission approved the Horizon Europe Work Programme for 2026 and 2027, marking a milestone in the final stretch of the current EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. This document goes beyond listing calls and budgets: it sets out the political and strategic framework that will guide European investment in R&I over the coming years.
The new programme will mobilise around €14 billion, aiming to strengthen Europe’s scientific and technological leadership, support key political priorities, and address far-reaching structural challenges. These include the transition towards climate neutrality, the digitalisation of the economy, strengthening Europe’s industrial base, and enhancing the EU’s ability to respond to crises with greater social and economic resilience.
In this context, research and innovation once again take centre stage in the European strategy—not only as drivers of growth, but as essential tools for building a more sustainable, competitive, and values-driven development model.
Cross-cutting Calls: Integrated Responses to Shared Challenges
The 2026–2027 Work Programme puts a stronger emphasis on cross-cutting calls designed to tackle challenges that cannot be addressed by a single discipline. This approach promotes interaction between fields such as technology, industry, environment, and social sciences, and acknowledges that major European challenges require systemic and collaborative solutions.
Within this framework, a highlight is the Research and Innovation strand linked to the Clean Industrial Deal, with approximately €540 million allocated to accelerate the decarbonisation of energy-intensive sectors and to boost clean technologies with real market potential. In addition, a call on Artificial Intelligence applied to science will provide around €90 million to support the development of trustworthy, ethical, and scientifically sound AI applications in areas such as health, agriculture, and advanced materials.
The urban dimension also features prominently in the new work programme. Through the New European Bauhaus Mechanism, endowed with more than €210 million, the European Commission is backing projects that translate the major green and digital transitions into tangible improvements in everyday life.
The New European Bauhaus is thus consolidating itself as a space where sustainability, inclusion and design quality converge, promoting initiatives that rethink cities from a more human-centred perspective. The aim is to transform urban environments into more resilient and accessible spaces, aligned with the values of the European Green Deal and integrating innovation and social participation from the outset.
Research Talent: Attracting, Retaining, and Providing Stability
Another central pillar of the 2026–2027 Work Programme is research talent. The European Commission reinforces its measures to improve career conditions, support international mobility, and provide greater professional stability—recognising that human capital is key to Europe’s scientific competitiveness.
In this regard, €50 million has been allocated to the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, with a particular focus on long-term fellowships, postdoctoral stability, and relocation incentives. The goal is clear: to consolidate Europe as an attractive and competitive environment for developing high-level scientific careers.
This approach is not just a political priority—it’s already a reality in Europe’s research ecosystem. At Kveloce, we are actively engaged through MSCA-funded projects, and we will soon welcome a new doctoral researcher under a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network contract. This reflects our commitment to training, international mobility, and supporting research profiles that combine scientific excellence, social impact, and European vision.
Simpler Processes, Smoother Access
The design of the new programme also incorporates feedback from the R&I community, with a clear effort to simplify application processes and reduce administrative burden. This simplification aims to facilitate access to funding and allow teams to focus on what matters most: the quality and impact of their proposals.
What the Evaluations Say: Key Lessons from Clusters
Beyond political priorities, the latest evaluation reports from Clusters 4, 5, and 6 offer a clear insight into what differentiates successful proposals from those that fall short of funding.
Evaluators consistently point out that scientific excellence alone is no longer sufficient unless it is accompanied by solid execution, credible impact, and a well-argued implementation plan. Common weaknesses include vague objectives, poorly defined indicators, or weakly justified impact pathways.
Methodology remains a critical aspect. Proposals with overly general or conceptual descriptions are penalised, while those that clearly explain each phase of implementation, risk management, and interconnections between work packages are rewarded.
Another key message is the real integration of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH). Evaluators expect SSH to contribute to the design, social acceptance, and impact assessment—not just to communication. The same applies to gender, which must be embedded in the research content.
In the impact section, common weaknesses include poor definition of end-users, lack of scalability, and weak exploitation strategies. Evaluators also stress the importance of realistic implementation plans with balanced consortia, clear roles, and well-justified resources.
These conclusions highlight a key message for the 2026–2027 Work Programme: anticipating evaluation expectations is just as crucial as aligning with political priorities.
Kveloce’s Grant Writing Expertise: Turning Priorities and Evaluations into Competitive Proposals
At Kveloce, these evaluation insights are not theoretical—they are part of our day-to-day experience in providing grant writing services and strategic support in programmes such as Horizon Europe and the ERC. Working regularly with evaluated proposals allows us to identify patterns, common pitfalls, and distinguishing features that make a difference in highly competitive contexts.
Our approach combines EU policy analysis, deep understanding of evaluation criteria, and hands-on experience in proposal writing and structuring. We support teams from the initial idea through to crafting solid narratives, credible methodologies, and impact strategies aligned with evaluator expectations.
In a Horizon Europe 2026–2027 landscape that is increasingly competitive and demanding, this support becomes essential to turn good ideas into strong, coherent, and competitive proposals.
A landscape that calls for vision and anticipation
The adoption of the 2026–2027 Work Programmes reshapes the framework within which European research and innovation will operate in the coming years. Strategic priorities are now clearly defined, and recent evaluation outcomes provide valuable insight into the types of projects that are most likely to succeed at European level.
For companies, universities, research centres and public authorities, this marks a decisive phase in which early planning will make a real difference. Competition will be intense, but so will the opportunities for those able to read the priorities and translate them into coherent, ambitious and well-structured proposals.
The conclusion is clear: starting now is the best way to be fully prepared for the upcoming calls.
