SSH in Horizon Europe: How to Integrate Social Sciences and Humanities into Better European Proposals

Integrating Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) into Horizon Europe is not simply about adding a social dimension to a project. It is a way of improving the quality, relevance and impact of European projects, particularly in areas where technology, innovation and major societal challenges need to advance in ways that are closely connected to society’s needs.

This reflection draws on the topics addressed at the SOST-Brussels Specialisation Programme Managers’ Meeting and the CDTI 15×15 Seminars, held in Barcelona on 15 June 2026. The session, delivered by Aïda Díaz, NCP for Cluster 2 and WIDERA, focused on the role of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) as a cross-cutting dimension in Horizon Europe.

Beyond the context of the event, the topic remains particularly relevant for those designing European proposals: integrating SSH effectively can make the difference between merely formal participation and a genuine contribution to the project’s approach, methodology and impact.

At Kveloce, we closely follow these types of initiatives because they directly connect with one of our areas of expertise: helping European proposals incorporate a robust social, interdisciplinary and impact-oriented dimension from the initial project design stage.

Moreover, this connection with SOST forms part of a well-established track record at Kveloce. Colleagues such as Maite Ferrando, Sandra Vilaplana, Rebeca Lucas and Alba Matamoros have also taken part in SOST-related initiatives in previous years. This reinforces a shared vision across the team: staying close to the forums where European priorities are interpreted, funding programme approaches are discussed and useful insights for preparing stronger proposals are identified.

SSH in Horizon Europe: Much More Than Social Participation

Horizon Europe recognises the importance of integrating Social Sciences and Humanities into its clusters, missions, partnerships and activities, particularly in relation to the green and digital transitions. The presentation highlighted that this integration forms part of the programme’s political and legal framework and that SSH are a key component of European research and innovation.

However, integrating SSH does not simply mean adding communication activities, organising workshops or consulting stakeholders at the end of a project. It involves incorporating expert knowledge from disciplines such as sociology, economics, law, ethics, communication, cultural studies, political science or psychology to enrich the research questions, methodology, consortium, work plan and the way in which results are generated.

Aïda Díaz summarised it clearly: SSH integration means including research expertise from the Social Sciences and Humanities within projects focused on science, technology, engineering or health, and this integration must be reflected in the methodology, consortium and work plan.

Not Every Participatory Approach Constitutes SSH Integration

One of the most relevant messages from the meeting was the need to distinguish SSH integration from other concepts commonly used in European projects.

The multi-actor approach, stakeholder engagement, communication, citizen science, the gender dimension or social impact can help strengthen SSH integration, but they are not automatically equivalent to it. The presentation emphasised that these cross-cutting aspects of Horizon Europe do not in themselves constitute SSH integration, although in many cases they can facilitate and enhance it.

This distinction is particularly important during the proposal preparation stage. SSH are sometimes presented too superficially, as though including a survey, a communication activity or a stakeholder consultation were sufficient. However, genuine integration requires SSH disciplines to contribute to defining the problem, designing the methodology, analysing data, interpreting results and building impact.

For example, a communications professional responsible for newsletters or blogs within a project does not necessarily represent a case of SSH integration. However, if that expertise is applied to researching behaviours, perceptions, public trust or communication processes related to the subject of study, it can form part of genuine SSH integration.

Integrating SSH from the Outset Changes the Quality of the Proposal

SSH integration should be considered from the earliest stages of project design. It should not appear as an isolated component or as a work package disconnected from the rest of the activities.

The presentation emphasised the importance of involving SSH experts early and actively in defining research questions, objectives, additional perspectives and social and economic impacts. It also highlighted the need to integrate SSH methodological expertise, such as interviews, focus groups, case studies, participant observation or narrative approaches, and to ensure balanced representation of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and SSH experts within the consortium.

For Kveloce, this is one of the most important aspects of preparing European proposals. Effective SSH integration cannot be improvised at the end. It must be designed from the outset, translated into specific tasks, connected to the technical work packages and clearly explained in the proposal.

This enables the project not only to be technically robust, but also to be more sensitive to its context, better able to understand real needs and better prepared to generate results that are accepted, applicable and useful to society.

From an Interdisciplinary Approach to Real Impact

The meeting also focused on the differences between multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches. While a multidisciplinary approach brings together different disciplines working in parallel, interdisciplinarity involves active collaboration between disciplines to address a common problem. Transdisciplinarity goes one step further by also incorporating knowledge from practice and society.

This distinction is key in Horizon Europe, where many projects need to go beyond technical excellence to demonstrate how their results can be understood, adopted, regulated, scaled up or adapted to different social and territorial contexts.

SSH integration can add value precisely in these areas by helping to analyse barriers to adoption, ethical dilemmas, legal frameworks, social perceptions, governance models, inequalities, user acceptance, training needs, consumer behaviour or impact on public policy.

In health projects, for example, the presentation showed how an artificial intelligence-based diagnostic platform can benefit from SSH disciplines such as philosophy, ethics, sociology, law or communication. These disciplines can help analyse dilemmas in clinical decision-making, explore liability and data protection frameworks, assess acceptance among healthcare professionals and patients, or design strategies to strengthen public trust.

A Strategic Area for Kveloce

This approach directly connects with Kveloce’s experience in European proposals and projects. Our work in grant writing, impact, exploitation, communication, stakeholder engagement, responsible innovation and sustainability enables us to support consortia that need to translate complex European priorities into coherent, assessable and results-oriented proposals.

SSH integration is particularly relevant to Horizon Europe proposals, collaborative projects, responsible innovation, health, the green transition, digitalisation, sustainability, security, cities, the bioeconomy and artificial intelligence. Across all these areas, the question is not only what solution is being developed, but also how it is designed, who participates, which needs it addresses, what effects it may have and how to ensure that the results are meaningful in real-world contexts.

For Kveloce, participating in these forums is therefore not simply about keeping up to date. It is a way of strengthening our ability to interpret European priorities, anticipate evaluation expectations and support universities, research centres, companies and international consortia in preparing stronger proposals.

The objective is clear: to help design European projects in which the social dimension does not appear as an add-on, but as an integral part of research, innovation and impact.

Preparing Better Projects Starts with Asking Better Questions

Integrating Social Sciences and Humanities highlights something essential: Europe’s major challenges cannot be addressed solely from a technical perspective. They require an understanding of behaviours, institutions, values, inequalities, regulations, cultures, territories and forms of collaboration.

Incorporating this perspective from the outset makes it possible to prepare more comprehensive proposals, build better-balanced consortia and develop projects with a greater capacity to respond to society’s real needs.

For companies like ours, where the SSH approach is embedded in our DNA, identifying where Social Sciences and Humanities fit and integrating them into the proposal from the very outset is not only a competitive advantage, but one of our greatest strengths. This is what truly enables us to transform scientific and technical challenges into solutions with real and, above all, social impact. In the Grant Writing Department, we are clear about our goal: to lead proposals that move us towards a more inclusive and resilient society and Europe, one that is more closely connected to citizens’ needs.

At Kveloce, when we write proposals, we ensure that SSH are embedded throughout the entire proposal, from the objectives and methodology to the work packages, consortium and impact. How do we do this?

Objectives: We integrate SSH from the outset so that project goals are not limited to technological or scientific milestones, but directly address the needs, barriers and dynamics of human behaviour.

Methodology: We incorporate co-creation methodologies, participatory design and multi-actor approaches. We design these processes from the outset to ensure that end users, citizens and key stakeholders actively collaborate in the research, helping to ensure the feasibility and real-world uptake of the solutions developed.

Consortium: We identify the role of SSH from the very inception of the proposal and build a balanced consortium by bringing in key partners with expertise in sociology, psychology, economics, ethics or communication. Together with Kveloce, these partners can work effectively alongside technical experts and provide scientific legitimacy to the proposal’s social dimension.

Work Packages: We ensure that SSH tasks are neither diluted nor overlooked. Depending on the topic, we include dedicated work packages or specific tasks focusing on social acceptance, the analysis of socioeconomic barriers or gender impact, demonstrating that the human dimension is fundamental to the project.

Impact: We define and integrate qualitative and quantitative indicators (KPIs) into our proposals to measure social wellbeing, behavioural change, equity and sustainability.

Ultimately, for Kveloce and the Grant Writing Department, anticipating how SSH should be integrated is not a cosmetic exercise; it is the difference between a theoretical proposal and a successful project with genuine social impact.