In a recent report published by Science | Business, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel was among the top 20 universities for Horizon Europe funding granted in 2023. With its four research centres being part of the VUB research portfolio, the BSoG is a key contributor to this success of the university.
Horizon Europe is the European Commission’s research and innovation programme for the period 2021-2027, and has a total budget of €95.5 billion. The main goals of the programme are to address climate change, help achieve UN Sustainable Development Goals and promote EU competitiveness and growth. It encourages cooperation across borders and strengthens the impact of research and innovation in developing, supporting and implementing EU policies while addressing global challenges.
Researchers at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel secured a total of nearly 37 million EUR in research funding from the Horizon Europe programme for 2023, which puts the VUB in the top 20 of European universities. The VUB is the smallest university with a full curriculum in the top 20, which confirms its leading role in the European research and innovation landscape.
BSoG share
With about 60 externally funded research projects managed every year, many of which have a European scope, the Brussels School of Governance contributes significantly to the VUB’s share in European research funding: in 2023, the BSoG managed three Horizon Europe projects:
- ReMeD: Resilient Media for Democracy in the Digital Age
- SoMe4Dem: Social Media for Democracy – Understanding the Causal Mechanisms of Digital Citizenship
- TITAN: AI for Citizen Intelligent Coaching against Disinformation
In addition, the BSoG managed in 2023 two ERC and five Horizon 2020 projects, which is the predecessor of Horizon Europe:
- Curiae Virides: worldwide progressive transformation of human rights litigation into ecocentric litigation
- SINATRA: Sino American Competition and European Strategic Autonomy
- BRIDGES: Assessing the production and impact of migration narratives
- INDEED: Strengthening a comprehensive approach to preventing and counteracting radicalisation based on a universal evIdeNce-based MoDEl for Evaluation of raDIcalisation prevention and mitigation
- Whole-COMM: Exploring the Integration of Post-2014 Migrants in Small and Medium-Sized Towns and Rural Areas from a Whole of Community Perspective
- 4I-TRACTION: Innovation, Investment, Infrastructure and sector Integration: Transformative policies for a ClimaTe-neutral European UnION
- NDC ASPECTS: Assessing Sectoral Perspectives on Climate Transitions to support the Global Stocktake and subsequent NDCs
