The „Alliance“, of which the DAAD is member, asks to increase the budget of the new Framework Programme Horizon Europe (2021-2027) to € 120 billion so that it can have a real impact.

The paper furthermore calls to maintain excellence as a selection criterion throughout the programme. Excellence is the guiding principle of EU-funded research. Open Science must not be equated with scientific excellence. For this reason, the first pillar of Horizon Europe should continue to refer to excellence and should not be renamed Open Science.

The organisations also want to safeguard the plurality of research approaches and methods in the new programme. The proposed missions are designed to help demonstrate the benefits that research and innovation funding provide to society. Therefore it should be clear what possible outcomes the missions could have. Regarding innovation, the Alliance welcomes the establishment of a European Innovation Council (EIC) which should primarily fund research-driven collaborative projects.