Horizon Europe, the EU’s funding programme for research and innovation, contributes to achieving the European Research Area (ERA). Strengthening the ERA is not only a general objective of Horizon Europe but is also supported by a dedicated programme part 'Widening Participation and Strengthening the ERA' (WIDERA), with the following components:
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widening participation and spreading excellence
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reforming and enhancing the European R&I System
Horizon Europe regulation defines that this programme part shall
"support activities that contribute to attracting talent, fostering brain circulation and preventing brain drain, a more knowledge-based and innovative and gender-equal Europe, at the front edge of global competition, fostering transnational cooperation and thereby optimising national strengths and potential across the whole Europe in a well-performing ERA, where knowledge and a highly skilled workforce circulate freely in a balanced manner, where the results of R&I are widely disseminated to as well as understood and trusted by informed citizens and benefit society as a whole, and where Union policy, in particular R&I policy, is based on high quality scientific evidence." (HE Regulation, ANNEX 1 (4))
The budget for this Part is about €3.2 billion for 2021-2027. For more information on the WIDERA work programme and funding opportunities, please visit the Funding and Tenders Portal.
The component “Reforming and enhancing the European R&I System” is specifically designed to support the implementation of the four priority areas of the Pact for R&I and the ERA Policy Agenda. The graph below illustrates the alignment between the work programme part “Reforming and enhancing the European R&I System” (2021-2024) and the ERA Policy Agenda (2022-2024). The current ERA Policy Agenda 2023-2024 and the next Policy Agenda 2025-2027 will continue to shape the WIDERA Work Programmes.
