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South Korea will join the growing group of countries associated to Horizon Europe, the EU research and innovation programme.Today, Iliana Ivanova, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, and Lee Jong Ho, South Korean Minister for Science and Information and Communication Technology concluded negotiations on South Korea's association, marking a significant milestone in our commitment to foster mutual collaboration in research and innovation.

The EU Commission, together with the European Research Area countries and stakeholders, has put forward a set of guidelines to support the European research community in their responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (AI).

The European Commission's second strategic plan sets out the main guidelines for a green, digital and resilient future for the next and final three years of the Horizon Europe programme (2025-2027).

Europe is striving to become a world leader in battery innovation. To this end, the public-private partnership BATT4EU has published a new strategy for research and innovation, recommending the priorities for battery research and innovation that should receive public funding.

Last year, the Scientific Council of the ERC adapted the review process for ERC calls for proposals - in favour of even greater consideration of qualitative aspects in the evaluation of project ideas and principal investigators. Scientific excellence remains the sole selection criterion. Among other things, the (already applicable) principle of focussing on the project proposal in the review process has been strengthened. In addition, there are no longer any predefined applicant profiles and research achievements can be contextualised through short, factual descriptions.

On 6 March 2024, the Universities of Applied Sciences Network (UAS4EUROPE) published a position paper on the future of the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. The position paper outlines a vision for the 10th Framework Programme on how UAS can make an even greater contribution to the success of European research, innovation and competitiveness.

The European Commission, EU Member States and Associated Countries have joined forces to fund two major Research and Innovation partnerships in key areas of agricultural production. They will work over the next seven years on agroecology and on animal health and welfare, essential issues for sustainable farming and food systems. The European Partnership on Agroecology and the European Partnership on Animal Health and Welfare are being launched under the umbrella of the EU’s Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon Europe, following a co-creation process of several years with close involvement of the European Commission.

Munich/Trento (Italy) - One of the greatest challenges of the 21st century is the transition to climate-neutral energy sources. Here, reliable energy storage plays a key role, as production and load peaks in the electricity grid require flexible storage systems that can be used for a wide range of applications. The recently launched EU project SMHYLES aims to develop innovative, sustainable, and safe salt- and/or water-based hybrid energy storage systems. These combine two storage technologies and their respective advantages: long duration capacity and high power density. The new low-CRM (critical raw materials) systems will also contribute to Europe’s energy independence. The SMHYLES project, coordinated by the “Fondazione Bruno Kessler” (Italy), is funded by the EU under Horizon Europe with around €6 million for a period of four years from January 2024 on. The consortium includes 16 partners from seven countries.

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The European Commission (DG RTD) announced the launch of „futures4europe“, a platform aimed to facilitate engagement with strategic foresight activities towards a Research and Innovation (R&I) foresight community. It brings together foresight experts and R&I policy-makers from across the EU, collecting national and European foresight projects and promoting futures literacy through educational material and relevant newsletters.

On 24 January, the European Commission presented five proposals to strengthen Europe's competitiveness and economic security at a time of growing geopolitical tensions. Two of these are directly relevant to the R&I sector. The Commission launched a public consultation (deadline: 30 April 2024) on the promotion of dual-use technologies, which can have both civilian and military applications.