H2020: Funding opportunities for Social Sciences and Humanities in 2020

29 October 2019 / , ,

Horizon 2020 offers numerous funding opportunities for Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH), especially through the “Inclusive Societies” societal challenge. However, SSH related topics can be found many other calls! In our blog: a panorama of the SSH calls for proposals for 2020. 

Societal challenge 6: Europe in a changing world: Inclusive, innovative and reflective societies

Societal Challenge 6 in Horizon 2020 aims at providing a better understanding of European society and innovative solutions to support the integration of citizens. With a budget of over €400 million, the 2018-2020 Work Programme focuses on three major themes:

  • Migration;
  • Socio-economic and cultural transformations in the context of the 4th industrial revolution;
  • Governance for the future.

For the last year of the programme, 23 calls for proposals for Societal Challenge 6 open on 5 November 2019, with a total budget of €178 million for 2020. These one-stage calls will fund collaborative projects from €0.5 to 10 million. You can view the complete list of calls on the participant portal. Deadline: 12 March 2020 at 17:00 (Brussels time).

For more information: in November 2019, the European Commission is organising an Info Day on the 2020 SSH calls in Brussels (05/11/2019) and a brokerage event in Bratislava, Slovakia (12-13/11/2019). In addition, Net4society, the European network of National Contact Points for SSH, regularly puts information and advice online to support your proposal.

SSH in other H2020 areas

Many calls for proposals within the other Horizon 2020 societal challenges (health, transport, energy, climate…) include SSH components in the 2018-2020 Work Programme. For example,:

  • LC-SC3-CC-1-2018-2019-2019-2020: SSH aspects of the Clean-Energy Transition (deadline: 01/09/2020);
  • LC-SC3-EC-4-2020: Socio-economic research: non-energy impacts and behavioural insights on energy efficiency interventions (deadline: 15/01/2020)
  • EC-SC5-25-25-2020: Understanding the transition to a circular economy and its implications on the environment, economy and society (deadline: 13/02/2020)
  • RUR-05-2020: Connecting consumers and producers in innovative agri-food supply chains (deadline: 22/01/2020)
  • NMBP-38-2020: Citizens and industrial technologies (deadline: 05/02/2020)

Find out more: Net4society has identified all the topics related to social sciences and humanities in the 2018-2020 Work Programme in a guide for project coordinators (Download here).

Science for and with society: a cross-cutting issue

“Science with and for Society” (commonly known as SwafS) is a  transversal programme within H2020 which also supports collaborative projects. It aims at bringing science and society closer through various topics such as: gender equality, ethics, promotion of scientific careers, education, communication…

With a total budget of €165 million over 3 years, the 2018-2020 “Science with and for Society” work programme focuses on five strategic orientations:

  • Accelerating and catalysing processes of institutional change;
  • Stepping up support to Gender Equality in Research & Innovation policy;
  • Building the territorial dimension of SwafS partnerships;
  • Exploring and supporting citizen science;
  • Building the knowledge base for SwafS.

For 2020, 14 calls for proposals will be open from 10 December 2019 to 15 April 2020, with a total budget of €63.2 million.

In addition to collaborative projects, the programme supports many initiatives, such as the EU Prize for women innovators and ESOF (Euroscience Open Forum), which next edition will take place in July 2020 in Trieste (Italy).

European Research Council and Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions

The ERC (European Research Council) programme funds individual grants based on excellence for researchers researchers at all stages of their careers (early-stage or advanced researchers). A few figures? In 2017, 247 SSH projects were funded by the ERC for €431 million, including 21 for France.

Finally, the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) support the careers of European researchers, mainly through mobility and staff exchange programmes. All areas of research, including the social sciences and humanities, are concerned. The 2020 call is currently open until 14 January 2020.

You need support to prepare your H2020 project in Social sciences and humanities? Euronovia has created a special offer for a personalised assistance at every stage of your SSH proposal! For more information, do not hesitate to contact us.