A version of this blog post first appeared in Finnish on the University of Turku’s blog – Turun yliopiston blogi on 14 April 2025. The writer, Anniina Jaako, is the Head of EU Affairs and Advocacy at the University of Turku, Åbo Akademi University, Turku University of Applied Sciences, and Yrkeshögskolan Novia.
The University of Turku brings together strong research excellence rooted in interdisciplinarity, openness, and international collaboration. Our researchers develop future technologies and produce research-based knowledge that addresses pressing societal challenges, from climate change and population ageing to digital transformation and democratic resilience. European research funding is a key enabler of this work and of our global research partnerships.
At the European Union, boosting competitiveness, growth, and productivity is now a top political priority. Main initiatives such as the European Competitiveness Compass and the proposed European Competitiveness Fund aim to accelerate the development of critical technologies and speed up pathways from research to impact. These priorities are already shaping the next EU framework programme for research and innovation, Horizon Europe.
While the current Horizon Europe programme runs until 2027, overall decisions on the next programme (2028–2034) are made in the upcoming year while European parliament and Council are negotiating them as part of the broader discussions on the EU’s long-term budget. The European Commission’s next Horizon Europe proposal, published in summer 2025, includes several promising elements for researchers, such as continuity of the programme structure, a strong push for simplification, and a nearly doubled overall budget of €175 billion. Together, these create opportunities for more ambitious research with less administrative burden.
At the same time, important questions remain. The links between the European Competitiveness Fund and Horizon Europe Pillar II, as well as new instruments such as Moonshot initiatives and defence-related research, still need clarification. It is also essential that funding for the social sciences and humanities is clearly protected.
Beyond the programme architecture, the content of Horizon Europe, its themes, priorities, and work programme, are shaped continuously throughout the programme lifecycle. Researchers are not only users of Horizon Europe but also shapers of its future. By engaging in content-level discussions and communicating research priorities to policy and programme officers, you can help ensure that future calls reflect the needs and strengths of our research community.
Horizon Europe has long provided unique opportunities that no national, regional or another global programmes can offer with this intensity. It enables participation to large-scale international consortia, collaboration across disciplines and sectors and cutting-edge research. Looking ahead, the next programme must remain ambitious, balanced, and open, supporting both researcher-driven and policy-driven projects across all technology readiness levels, while keeping Europe open to global scientific collaboration under clear, secure and predictable rules.
University of Turku and European networks are actively contributing to advocacy efforts to ensure that programme is strengthened beyond 2027 (for example Unifi´s press release 17.9.2025 ja Coimbra group, European University Association et al. statement 1.12.2025).