The European Commission has published a report evaluating focus areas of Horizon 2020

Newly published report provides lessons learned from H2020 in the context of focus areas and their impact on missions.

Focus areas, or areas where financial and human resources should be focused across societal challenges, have been introduced for the first time in the context of Horizon 2020. They are one of the European Commission's main objectives, focusing on more targeted funding of science and innovation. These are societal challenges that Europe and the world are now facing, such as the transition to sustainable use of resources, the digitalisation of services and industrial processes, and security related threats.

The report is divided into three main sections and assesses initial experience with targeted R&D funding in the Member States of the European Union, analyzes the implementation of focus areas in relation to the relevant Directorates-General (DGs) and evaluates the scope of involvement of Horizon 2020 beneficiaries.

According to the report, focus areas have become a useful tool and intermediary for raising internal awareness of research project activities in individual DGs and have also contributed to better communication between individual DGs and other stakeholders. The report also mentions that there has been an increase in cooperation with various stakeholders and greater synergy between research and innovation projects in the European Union's science policy. Building on the experience of national and European initiatives, the report also offers a set of recommendations that can be helpful in the process of mission implementation under Horizon Europe.

Download the full report from the European Union's publications website.