Ghent University among the top five universities in Horizon Europe
September 2024 - Ghent University has emerged as one of the fastest-rising higher education institutions within Horizon Europe and has significantly expanded its multidisciplinary footprint. While we remain exceptionally strong in certain domains, our participation across all domains is a pivotal element to our success. In this article, we will explore several key ingredients that make up our recipe for success.
Strategic investment in support for EU projects
In 2019, Ghent University's Governing Board set a strategic goal: to enhance success in obtaining European funding. To that aim, the Board doubled the capacity of the central EU Team to provide support for the pre-award preparation and post-award management of European research projects. Since then, the EU team has been offering guidance across all stages of the project lifecycle. This includes initiating concepts, strengthening storytelling, identifying suitable call topics and partners, scrutinizing budgets and eligibility, helping kick-start the project, and managing all administrative, financial and legal aspects throughout the project.
The strategic decision of the Governing Board has already yielded a remarkable success. Our university currently occupies eleventh 11th place in the Horizon Europe ranking, making it the 5th most successful university in the ranking. Notably, within three years of Horizon Europe, we have already secured 72,5% of the total EC contribution obtained during the entire seven years of the previous frame work programme, Horizon 2020. The success of our university has not gone unnoticed, as an article by Science Business demonstrates.
More qualitative proposals
The comprehensive expertise of the EU team has propelled the number of successful projects to an unprecedented high. Within the highly competitive environment of Horizon Europe, the consistent support offered by the team has played a pivotal role in enhancing the quality of proposals. This makes a decisive difference. Whereas the success rate of all participants in the framework programme stands at 16%, Ghent University can currently boast one of 24%.
In 2022, fresh off the heels of its 100th ERC Grantee, Ghent University won a record number of twenty ERC grants, outranking any other university participating in that call. The headcount is now 135 ERC grantees, who have together won a total number of 182 ERC projects. In Pillar 2, our institution stands as one of the top five universities, and within Cluster 6 specifically, we are even among the top six institutions overall. We rank fifth in EIC and have been granted three Transition projects – a unique feat.
Multidiscipinary participation
Ghent University drafts participants from all of its eleven faculties. While we have a strong reputation in research areas such as photonics, food security, marine biology, big data and pharmaceutical sciences, we have helped many departments discover their potential and have welcomed almost 350 first-time participants to Horizon Europe. Impressively, several of these newcomers have achieved success on their very first try as a coordinator of large research projects, for example in the area of international politics, environmental law and nature-based coastal protection.
The success of individual researchers and departments has created a positive ripple effect and is influencing the academic culture at Ghent University as a whole. The 2024 call of Cluster 2, for instance, has seen a record number of six coordinator project submissions. Furthermore, picking up on the increased participation and success of several departments within its ranks, the faculty of Economics and Business Administration has implemented an incentive policy that allows researchers to free up time for writing Horizon Europe collaborative proposals. The faculties of Sciences, Bioscience Engineering and Medicine & Health Sciences have developed similar strategies to boost Horizon Europe participation in ERC and Pillar 2.
Innovating together
Finally, the EU team is a key player in the R&I ecosystem of Ghent University. Collaborating with a large network of business developers, IDC coordinators and innovation officers, the team assists researchers in exploring and securing funding for the economic and societal valorization of their research results. In the newly established Funding Academy, in addition, all profiles with a strategic, supporting or intermediary role in funding acquisition for research and education at our university come together to pool expertise and inform as well as train the entire Ghent University research community. This initiative fosters internal networking, enhances capacity building and promotes the interdisciplinary exchange at our university.
Furthermore, European Affairs policy advisors in the EU team monitor EU policy developments and take up advocacy toward the EU institutions via stakeholder organizations (such as CESAER and The Guild). These broader (policy) efforts contribute to a productive R&I environment in which Ghent University researchers can thrive and excel.
Want to embark on a European journey?
The EU team offers support to every researcher at Ghent University, regardless of their experience or the maturity of their ideas. We organize trainings, workshops and brainstorm sessions and have extensive experience in tailoring these to the needs and expectations of individual research groups. Do not hesitate to reach out to us!