The University’s new research strategy 2023-2026 aims to make LU Sweden’s primary participant in the EU’s framework programme, both in terms of the number of projects and the amount of money awarded.
Lund University has been attaining this goal so far: LU has been awarded SEK 53 million, by far the most in Sweden, and our 89 individual project participants make us second in Sweden, only one project behind KTH. LU’s participation by programme type:
| Programme type in Horizon Europe ERC | Amount awarded in EUR | Number of projects |
|---|---|---|
| European Research Council, ERC | EUR 19.3 million | 15 |
| Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, MSCA | EUR 10.2 million | 28 |
| Research Infrastructures | EUR 0.9 million | 2 |
| Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness | EUR 16.7 million | 35 |
| European Innovation Council, EIC | EUR 5.3 million | 7 |
| Widening Participation and Spreading Excellence of ERA | EUR 0.8 million | 2 |
Lund University is also doing well from an international perspective. The proportion of the Horizon Europe budget that has been given to researchers at LU has increased somewhat. LU is ranked 18 among participating higher education institutions (out of a total of 1,685). This is up from place 23 in Horizon 2020. LU is 6th in the Nordics in terms of the amount of funding awarded, and 7th in the number of projects.
It is difficult to compare our achievements in Horizon 2020 to Horizon Europe, however, in part due to the difference in how the programmes are built and also because countries such as the United Kingdom and Switzerland are not participating in Horizon Europe to the same degree, due to their complicated political relationship to the EU.
Two things of particular significance to emphasise in the Horizon statistics are:
- Lund University recently became the first Swedish higher education institution to reach the milestone of 100 ERC projects since it was launched in 2007.
- Lund University ranks in 8th place among all higher education institutions in the European Innovation Council, EIC. EIC is the part of Horizon Europe that LU has performed the best in, relatively speaking.
- Research Services have particular responsibility for the EU’s framework programme and are there to give support and help for anyone wishing to apply for funding from Horizon Europe. Read more on the Staff Pages.
*Statistics come from the EU Commission’s Horizon Europe Dashboard and apply to contracts that were signed before 9 June 2023. The statistics do not take into consideration around 15 projects that LU has been awarded but that do not yet have a completed contract in place.