On 13 October 2015, the European Commission has published the Work Programme 2016-2017 for Horizon 2020. The new Work Programme was drafted last year during the formation of the new European Commission under its president Jean-Claude Juncker. Although the budget of the Framework Programme was decreased to support the Investment plan for Europe – the "Juncker Plan" – the main goals of the Work Programme are also focused on growth and competitiveness, sustainable development in the areas energy, environment and transport, standard of living in times of demographic change and a digital single market.
The Work Programme 2016-2017 is aimed particularly at fostering the development of applicable and marketable results. To this end, quantitative objectives are given in the "Impact" criteria and higher technology readiness levels are expected in the field of industrial technologies. Furthermore, drafts of business - and exploitation plans are prioritised in technology-relevant Societal Challenges.
Special attention should be paid to a novel part of the Work programme, the so called "Cross-cutting activities (Focus Areas)". This programme contains three calls: a) Industry 2020 in the Circular Economy, b) Internet of Things, and c) Smart and Sustainable Cities. These calls are closely related to the Work Programme parts "Leadership and Enabling Technologies" (LEIT) and the "Societal Challenges" "Environment" and "Energy".
Besides the calls published in the Work Programme 2016-2017, other funding opportunities are available in the calls of the joint undertakings Clean Sky 2, IMI 2, BBI, ECSEL, FCH, HPC, or SESAR as well as ERA-Nets, or the Joint Programming Initiatives (JPI).
See more about the Work Programme 2016-2017 for Horizon 2020: