Horizon Europe – an opportunity for nurse researchers (2021-2027)
The EU is increasing its efforts in improving growth and development while creating a better quality of life for its citizens. As part of those, Horizon Europe is the most ambitious research programme ever implemented. Its proposed budget is of €75.9 billion and a €5 billion boost from the COVID-19 pandemic recovery fund. The huge investment link to this research programme is justified by the need for alleviating many common problems for the EU citizens – among those, there is a need for improving our healthcare systems.
Horizon Europe uses a complex funding structure with a consortium of public-private partnerships to enhance opportunities for all Europeans. A different between Horizon Europe and the preceding Horizon2020 is that the former will have simpler rules, cutting red tape for beneficiaries. It will fund research that falls under the following three pillars: 1) Excellent Science, 2) Global Challenges & Industrial Competitiveness, and 3) Innovative Europe.
Nurse researchers from all EU countries can and should build strong pan-European consortiums that prepare solid project proposals and apply to these funds. By doing so, they can come up with innovative solutions to make our healthcare systems more resilient, address the frontline needs of the nursing workforce, and improve the quality of care received by patients.
More information on the Horizon Europe programme can be found here.