European Union invests €411m in 73 Horizon Europe research projects

The European Union has announced a €411 million investment to support 73 new Horizon Europe projects. These initiatives aim to improve researcher access to technologies, services, and research infrastructure across sectors such as health, climate resilience, agriculture, transport, and manufacturing.

The funding is distributed across four main research infrastructure categories:

• INFRASERV: €154 million for 12 projects focusing on health research, digital transformation, and the green transition. • INFRADEV: €109 million for 30 projects to optimize the European research infrastructure landscape. • INFRAEOSC: €85 million for 13 projects centered on open data sharing and the European Open Science Cloud. • INFRATECH: €63 million for 18 projects involving next-generation scientific instrumentation and digital solutions.

While these investments aim to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness, concerns have been raised regarding the distribution of elite grants. Critics note that while the Horizon Europe program has a massive budget, countries in the widening group—representing approximately one-quarter of the EU population—receive only about 5% of European Research Council (ERC) grants. There are calls for the European Commission to establish concrete goals to reduce this gap before the next budget cycle.