Horizon 2020 is the new EU funding programme for research and innovation running from 2014 to 2020 with a €80 billion budget. The first calls for proposals for Horizon 2020 were published on 11 December 2013. Its simplified rules and submission and grant management tools should facilitate participants' tasks. For practical guidance, see the H2020 online manual.
H2020 supports SMEs with a new instrument that runs throughout various funded research and innovation fields, so it should be easy for SMEs to find opportunities in many calls.
H2020 also aims to enhance EU international research cooperation so there are more opportunities for Third Country participation.
Having built H2020 around the main societal challenges like an ageing population, food security, energy efficiency, the EU attaches high importance to integrate social sciences and humanities into the work programme.