Over 1,7 billion euros to companies participating in Horizon 2020

With more than 1,7 billion euros, the European Commission supported the Greek institutions that participated in European projects under the EU’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research & Innovation.

According to the most recent data of the European Commission, the 1003 Greek institutions in the thematic units of the Horizon 2020 programme for which the PRAXI Network is a National Contact Point, were funded with 684,118,031 euros, in particularly important programs for the period 2014 – 2020.

It is characteristic that our country is 11th out of 28 European countries in terms of EU funding, while in the thematic field “Secure societies – Protecting the freedom and security of Europe and its citizens”, Greek institutions collected the highest funding among European countries.

Horizon 2020 is the European Commission’s funding framework for Research and Innovation for the period 2014-2020. The PRAXI Network has been operating as a National Contact Point for the EU Framework Programmes since 1998 and for Horizon Europe (continuation of Horizon 2020).It is an official information and support body of Greek institutions for their participation in the program and offers its services to businesses, research and academic institutions, public and private sector bodies, local government and individuals throughout Greece.

Subsequently, the PRAXI Network published statistical data on the Greek participation in Horizon 2020 for the period 2014-2020, for the following thematic units:

“Secure societies – Protecting the freedom and security of Europe and its citizens.”

The Greek participation focused on the thematic areas “Cybersecurity”, “Fight against crime and terrorism”, “Disaster resilience” and “Border security and external security”.

Specifically, in the period 2014–2020, 145 organisations from Greece participated in projects, with funding of 177,065,363 euros (12.1% of the total EU funding). It is important to mention that in this thematic unit, Greek institutions collected the highest funding in the 28 EU countries.

Almost half (49.5%) of Greek participations come from research organizations and institutions of secondary and higher education, while 33.88% come from private companies.

Similarly, in terms of funding, private companies collect the largest funding (40.32% of the total Greek funding) followed by research organizations, with a percentage that amounts to 25.01% of the total Greek funding.

The regions with the highest participation are Attica and Central Macedonia with 359 and 70 participations respectively, followed by Crete with 27, Western Greece with 8 and Central Greece with 7 participants.

“Nanotechnologies, Advanced Materials, Advanced Production and Processing and Biotechnology”

The Greek participation is mainly focused on the calls for tenders concerning the enhancement of skills and innovation in fields such as efficient and resilient value chains, sustainable food production systems and the exploitation of marine life.

Specifically, in the period 2014-2020, 165 organisations from Greece participated in the programme’s calls for projects, with funding of 99,995,509 euros (3.17% of the total EU funding).

It is also important to note that 74 small and medium-sized enterprises (44.85% of all organisations) participated in the calls for “Social Challenge 2”. The majority of Greek participations come from companies that participate with a percentage of 41.1% of the total participations. They are followed by institutions of secondary and higher education with a participation rate of 32.9% and research organisations with a participation rate of 16.6%.

However, in terms of funding, secondary and higher education institutions receive the biggest funding (40.3% of the total Greek funding) followed by companies, with a percentage amounting to 22.8% of the total Greek funding.

The regions with the highest participation are Attica and Central Macedonia with 206 and 82 participations, respectively, followed by Crete and Central Greece with 27 and 19 participants, respectively.

“Smart, Green and Integrated Transport”

The thematic unit of transport attracts great interest from Greek institutions, both from the academic community and private organizations.

The Greek participation focuses on air transport, mainly through the actions of Clean Sky 02 and the “Mobility for Growth”. The thematic units “Intelligent Transport Systems”, “Urban Mobility” and “Infrastructures” are also of great interest.

Specifically, in the period 2014–2020, Greek participations received 108,074,142 euros (2.5% of the total funding) in 192 projects, which corresponds to 366 entries from 143 organisations. Of these holdings, 145 come from private companies.

The majority of Greek holdings come from private companies that joined with a percentage of 39.6% in the total participations. They are followed by research organisations with a participation rate of 27.3% and institutions of secondary and tertiary education with a participation rate of 26.8%.

Similarly, in terms of funding, research organizations gather the largest funding (33.9% of the total Greek funding) followed by private, profit-making companies with 29.7% of the total Greek funding.

The regions with the highest participation are Attica and Central Macedonia with 193 and 100 participants respectively. They are followed by Western Greece with 27 participants, Crete with 15 and North Aegean with 9.

“Climate Action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials”

The Greek participation focuses primarily on thematic units related to water protection, circular economy, raw materials, low carbon emissions and climate change. Specifically, in the period 2014–2020, 164 organisations from Greece participated in the programme’s calls for tenders, with funding of 111,762,877 euros (3.97% of the total EU funding).

It is also important to note that 90 small and medium-sized enterprises (54.9% of all organisations) participated in the calls for “Social Challenge 5”. The majority of Greek holdings come from private companies participating with 33.1% of total holdings. They are followed by institutions of secondary and higher education with a participation rate of 23.8% and research organisations with a participation rate of 22.5%.

Similarly, in terms of funding, private companies receive the largest funding (32.2% of the total Greek funding) followed by secondary and higher education institutions, with a percentage that amounts to 31.8% of the total Greek funding.

The regions with the highest participation are Attica and Central Macedonia with 234 and 49 participations, respectively, followed by Crete and south Aegean with 30 and 9 participants, respectively.

“Space”

The Greek participation is mainly concentrated on the notices concerning the field of Earth Observation (Copernicus), the development of space technologies (European Space Technology (COMPET) and satellite navigation (GALILEO-EGNSS). Specifically, in the period 2014–2020, 55 organisations from Greece participated in the calls for the programme, with funding of 23,330,784 euros (2.6% of the total EU funding).It is also important to point out that 42 small and medium-sized enterprises participated in the calls for tenders.

Half of the Greek participations come from private companies, while the participation rate of research organizations and institutions of secondary and higher education is 43.6%. The Region of Attica has the largest participation in projects, with 59 participations, followed by Central Macedonia with 29 participations. In Crete, 6 participations are recorded, of which 3 are related to project coordination.