Low success rate for H2020 applications
Health research is particularly oversubscribed © Darko Stojanovic

Low success rate for popular H2020 applications

Project proposals for the EU’s latest research and innovation framework programme have exceeded 45,000, according to reports from ScienceBusiness.

It is understood that the European Commission is pleased with the participation rate so far in Horizon 2020, which started in January 2014. The EU institution is also thought to be satisfied with the participation of the private sector.

ScienceBusiness says that the particularly popular, and thus principally ‘over-subscribed’, schemes amongst applicants are health, nanotechnology, ICT and security research. It is suggested that a potential reason for the significant number of applications to Horizon 2020 is due to the lack of national funding for science and research in the EU following budgetary cuts.

There is also thought to be concern within the Commission over the success rate of applications in Horizon 2020, which is currently between 14% and 15%. This is a particular decline compared to the Seventh Framework Programme, which had a success rate of between 19% and 22%.