Aurora Emphasises Need For Early-phase Collaborative Research In FP10
With the new EU funding programmes starting in 2028, the preparations for the legislation and the outlines of the respective programmes is ongoing.
For research and innovation, the next framework programme FP10, Horizon Europe, several drafts have been published. Based on this, the academic sector shares its wishes, needs, recommendations and concerns over the plans. Among the concerns is the fear that early-phase, pre-competitive and collaborative research will not remain embedded bottom-up in the research programme but in the new European Competitiveness Fund (ECF). This would imply that this type of research falls under the ECF policy priorities and rules strongly connected to applied research, start-ups, scaling up, deployment and marketable activities.
Therefore, in this statement together with other academic associations, the Aurora network conveys its recommendation to the European Commission, Member States and the European Parliament, to leave early-phase collaborative research fully under Horizon Europe rulings. This joint statement is co-signed by: Coimbra Group, EU-Life, Yerun, ECIU, Aurora, European Alliance for Social Sciences and Humanities (EASSH), European University Association (EUA), Initiative for Science in Europe (ISE), All European Academies (ALLEA), Marie-Curie Alumni Association, UNICA and European Children’s Hospitals Organisation (ECHO).
