Lithuania Allocates EUR 18.5 Million for the Breakthrough of Lithuanian Science and Business under the Horizon Europe
Lithuania is the first in Europe to respond to the call of the European Commission (EC) to take advantage of the unique opportunity and transfers EUR 18.5 million from 2021-2027 EU Funds Investment Programme to the Horizon Europe directly managed by the Commission. The funds to be used by the middle 2026 are intended for the more active participation of the country's researchers and business representatives in international projects, increasing their awareness and recognition at the international level, and promoting the availability of the general EU research and innovation programme Horizon Europe.
"One of the fundamental goals of this Government is the promotion of a high added value economy, which is inseparable from the development of research and innovation. We want to encourage our country's researchers and businesses to more actively create and participate in projects, promote the synergy of science and business, and search for the best solutions for our country. We are contributing to this by being the first in Europe to transfer additional funds to the research and innovation programme Horizon Europe, which will be dedicated specifically to our country's researchers and businesses," - noted Minister of Finance Gintarė Skaistė.
Funds transferred from the European Regional Development Fund to the programme Horizon Europe will be used exclusively for projects implemented by Lithuanian tenderers and highly rated in 3 areas of activity: "Advanced Science", "Innovative Europe" and "Dissemination of Progress and Development of the European Research Area", calls for grants from the European Science Council and Marie Skłodowska-Curie postdoctoral fellowships, European Innovation Council and European Research Area fellowships for one beneficiary.
Although Lithuania's participation indicators are improving both in terms of the number of Lithuanian tenderers participating and receiving funding in the programme Horizon Europe, they are still not high enough. One of the reasons for this is that the tenders under the Horizon Europe invitations are large and the funds allocated to them are limited, so even high-quality and well-evaluated projects do not receive funding. In order to create opportunities for an even larger circle of research and business representatives to receive funding, the funds allocated to Lithuanian tenderers under the Horizon Europe are being increased accordingly. Another advantage of the transferred funds is that administrative and time costs are saved, because in many cases, project operators, if they do not receive funds from the Horizon Europe for qualitatively prepared projects, look for other sources of funding.
In addition, the funded projects will be administered according to the rules of the Horizon Europe, so this will additionally develop the abilities of Lithuanian institutions to implement and coordinate such projects and increase the awareness and recognition of the country's scientists, researchers and innovators.
The Lithuanian tenderers willing to take advantage of this additional funding opportunity in the calls under the programme Horizon Europe are encouraged to actively submit tenders under the Horizon Europe calls in the usual manner. For more information, please contact the National Contact Points (NCPs) under the thematic areas.
Last updated: 02-06-2023
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