10 September, ITRE committee discusses Horizon Europe proposal. EASSH calls for a strong SSH research access

In view of the Parliamentary discussion on the EU proposal for Horizon Europe, EASSH has submitted the attached recommendations to Mr Dan Nica and Mr Ehler for their report. Last week, EASSH shared the document with all the members of the ITRE committee. EASSH calls for the following issues:

• A budget which demonstrates the EUs commitment to the excellence pillar (especially ERC and MCSA) and a more balanced redistribution of funding across the clusters. In particular, better resources for cluster 2 which addresses key issues at the heart of the EU citizens like democracy and social transformation.
• More intervention areas per cluster that are driven by relevant social and humanities research perspectives and pursue social solutions rather than just technical ones. It remains extremely important to monitor the contribution from all the research fields, including Social Sciences and Humanities
• A stronger social dimension in the EIC
• Maintain and strengthen an SSH expert cluster management in R&I and a better access to be given to academics and experts in SSH in all aspects of the Horizon Europe implementation processes

In the paper on the Assessment of Horizon 2020 Implementation, the ITRE Committee has recognised that Social Sciences and Humanities research is fundamental for addressing many of the most pressing societal challenges oftoday, which should feature in the planning for the Horizon Europe. The Committee also recognised the value added of SSH research for an holistic approach to research across the current challenges, which draws on the widest set of expertise and reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring that research on society and the social impact of research are better integrated in Horizon Europe.

We trust that ITRE committee will continue to pursue its support to SSH research

Horizon 2020: Struggling with Interdisciplinarity. The 3rd SSH Integration Monitor Report Reveals the Truth about Top Down Interdisciplinarity (June 2018)

If we take the integration of Social Sciences and Humanities as the best effort to foster interdisciplinarity in Horizon 2020, the third EC monitoring report demonstrates that largely the programme is struggling with the implementation of the interdisciplinarity approach.  Read our analysis in the latest position paper.